[Seven-Minute Semblance] GENIUSFORSALE & VORSTELLUNGEN

VORSTELLUNGEN || Chapter 8 - Alea Iacta Est

Joyeuse.

27. March.
Monday, 3:30 p.m.
Akureyri, Iceland.

"Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be defeated."

—Sun Tzu, The Art of War

I HAD DOUBTS.

I had a lot of doubts. It has reached the crippling point where I couldn't act nor decide what to do—because I couldn't trust even myself to do the right thing. To do anything.

To know what's right and wrong.

To know what's good and bad.

To know and be brave enough to face the consequences of my actions.

In fear of being wrong and hurt, I do nothing.

But Edward... he has made up his mind. Or it seemed like it.

When I turned to Nir Geis for a confidence scheme, I was looking for a place to stay, a place where we could be safe from Vorstellungen, Henrik's men, and every other "dickhead we angered" (Edward Dace's words).

When Edward said we'll help Nir bring Vorstellungen down, it felt like he meant it.

I talked to him yesterday and we clarified our con together, but even though I've seen him down a hundred times, he was so dark and dispirited that I felt, somewhere in my chest, that he meant it when he said he wanted revenge.

And I couldn't blame him.

He lost his brother. He was far from home. He was betrayed and dejected.

He has all the rights to feel mad.

The same way I have the right to hate Arthur Lukas for everything he's done. Lance, for abandoning me. Futhark, for...

For...

Why did he have to lie?

Why didn't he trust me enough to tell me the truth? Was he looking for the right timing to tell me everything before things went south? Was I not trustworthy enough? Did he think I'm too weak and emotionally unstable to handle the truth?

Didn't he want me in his life?

"William," called Nir.

I forced a smile upon hearing the name, Futhark's voice ringing at the back of my ear.

Nir knocked on the open door and made his way to the basement of his mansion, where he let us stay. Really generous. He said he didn't have rooms for his "new employees", and that the vacant rooms were for guests, which were not.

Edward and I didn't mind the basement. We were content as long as we had a roof above our heads and as long as we're hidden away from Lance, Futhark, and Arthur.