Blossoms of the Dark Continued

CXCIX Selene: Korokke

Trigger Warning:

- mention of alcohol abuse

- mention of alcohol poisoning

_________________________________________________________

As February nears to an end, a meeting is necessary.

One between Ahearn-san, Sasaki-san, Shouto, and myself.

At my age, the only kind of meetings that should be happening are classes, extracurriculars, and group projects.

But no. I am not lucky enough to have that kind of life. Here we are gathered to discuss our strategy for arresting Hanada-sama. Or, at the very least, to expose his misdeeds to the world. The drug Daruma-san gave me worked almost instantaneously. I hear from the butler often that Hanada-sama has multiple emetic episodes, periods of drowsiness, skin flushes, and feverish temperatures every day. The alcohol poisoning has taken place. Just yesterday, Hanada-sama had to be admitted to the critical care unit of the hospital because he had a seizure. The doctors told him to regulate the alcohol consumption, but of course, Hanada-sama did not listen. The deaths of his sons killed his desire to live. Maybe if I had a bigger heart, I may feel a milligram of pity for him. Yet I do not.

If anything, I anticipate his demise. The people I care about are working so hard to incriminate him, and I do not want their efforts to go to waste. After his death, I want to release the information. Make it public. As the Bone Crusher Killer, I submitted concrete evidence to English news companies. The reports caused quite the stir in the country. Investigations were launched; the families of those killed were questioned, charged, and arrested; elite members of society were caught red-handed trying to hide their involvement; and most interestingly, the valiant masks hiding criminal activities of heroes were removed.

After Hanada-sama's crimes are revealed, I imagine the same thing will happen in Japan. Public pressure will force the government to thoroughly investigate him and the other names mentioned. Eyes will fall on me, too. However, because I used to be the fourth child who was suddenly thrown into a position of immense responsibility, scrutiny on me will be a little lenient. Furthermore, since it will also be made known that I had a critical role in garnering this evidence, people will be kinder. Hanada-sama's own daughter divulged her father's secrets, is what they will say. If anything, the public will see me as a saint of sorts. That I did the right thing in spite of Hanada-sama being my only family. And other nonsense like that.

All of it works in my favor, ultimately. Clause 3 of Hanada-sama's will be nullified, meaning that I will no longer have to seek his approval to conduct my affairs. No more threats to my reign. I can secure a stable future for myself. Sure, the path will be a little tumultuous. Without Hanada-sama to guide me to managing the empire, I will have to learn partly by myself and partly from tutors who will seek to use me for their own gain. But that is a sacrifice I am willing to make for my own good.

What helps is that I have orchestrated a partnership between Daruma-san, Yotsubashi-san, and Hanada-sama. After so many calls of two different conversations, Daruma-san has made a barista out of me and Yotsubashi-san has added to my inventory of bad jokes. Due to time constraints, I made both of them talk to Hanada-sama on the same day. Definitely was not easy keeping Hanada-sama sober for that long. But he has invited them to the head office in three days time to work out the technicalities of their deals. Overall, a success.

All that remains is arranging a meeting between Aunt Ahearn and him and pretending to work on the hero alliance with Shouto. In fact, that is the excuse Shouto provides Sasaki-san with when he asks what our cover-up will be.