"Fine. Deal with them, then. Kill them if that’s what you believe is right."
Atlas raised his hands and rested them on the table. Unlike the others — the elderly who were bound, and Draken and Marceline, whose feet were cuffed — Atlas was not restrained. The cardinal knew Atlas was the most logical person in the room and wouldn’t act recklessly when his wife and people were in danger.
Atlas clasped his hands together on the table, his eyelashes fluttering ever so slightly. His gaze remained fixed on the cardinal as he continued.
"Hugo, Slater, Penny, Zoren, Nina, Finn, my father..." he trailed off. "I’m not going to stop you. Go. Deal with them... if you can."
His answer made everyone furrow their brows. Even the cardinal was slightly caught off guard. Everyone knew Atlas had become head of the Order to protect his family — his siblings — from the complications of the secret society.
Atlas narrowed his eyes until they sharpened, then tapped the phone resting on the table.
"My little siblings will happily take you on. Isn’t that right, Penny?"
"Heh."
To everyone’s surprise, a voice suddenly came from the phone.
Penelope Bennet-Pierson.
"Yep, yep!" Penny’s jolly voice echoed, even though the phone was clearly not connected to a call. "Goodness, what kind of nonsense was that cardinal talking about? Did he drink too much holy water?"
Then another voice followed—it was Hugo’s.
"I didn’t catch all of that. Cardinal, since you’re so kind, can you tell me which wing my wife is in? Kiara—Kiara, my love! Husband is here! Please don’t divorce me!"
"The Pope isn’t here," Slater’s voice chimed in, sounding genuinely concerned. "Isn’t he supposed to be in this region?—Hey, Mint! Why are you drinking the holy water?! Spit it out!"
Slater’s voice, along with Mint’s faint protests—the former head of Homeland Security—echoed from the phone. Then Zoren’s voice followed.
"First Brother, I apologize, but—"
Before he could finish, Charles’s voice cut in.
"Hey, cardinal, is it?" Charles’s voice trembled with fury. "How dare you pick on my children, huh?! No—how dare you try to kill me and make my children and wife cry?! Do you know what kind of sin that is?!"
Then came Finn’s softer, apologetic voice. "Dad... you said you would calm down."
As their voices echoed through the phone, Atlas kept his gaze on the cardinal. Then, finally, he shifted his eyes to Iris.
"Madam Bellemonte," he called. "Why are you here?"
Iris flinched, shuddering at the sudden murderous aura emanating from him. "Huh?"
"Shouldn’t you be in your territory, ensuring it remains stable instead of attending this meeting?" Atlas inquired calmly. "What I’m saying is... Henrik is not dead yet, is he? Haven’t you considered what might happen if, while you were away... he returns?"
"What?!" Iris shot up from her seat, her shoulders trembling, her eyes shaking as she stared at Atlas.
She had been here for quite some time, and Atlas had remained mostly quiet. Even when he spoke, there had been nothing unusually intimidating about him.
But now... her body wouldn’t stop shaking, no matter how hard she tried to steady herself.
When Iris caught the expressions on Draken and Marceline’s faces, she instinctively took a step back.
When did they... start feeling so big?
*
[House of Bellemonte]


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