Chapter 132 - Seri's Little Hobby

I yawned and rolled around in bed until PoonPoon smacked me in the face to wake me up and feed him.

I sat up and frowned at him, "Why are you waking me up so early? It's my only day off."

"Ah ah ah." PoonPoon frowned and pointed out the window.

I stuck my tongue out, "Yes, 1pm in the afternoon is early."

PoonPoon chattered in disapproval.

I stretched, "But I had such a nice sleep last night. I didn't want to wake up."

I caught sight of something on the nightstand next to me. I picked it up and noticed it was a letter with my name on it.

How did this get here?

I read it aloud, "Dear Seri, I really enjoyed the ball and watching Prince William yell at you in front of everyone. I must thank you for the entertainment. It's not every day I get to witness something so tragic and fulfilling. However, I won't bore you further. I have placed the package in an alley near Theo street in the red light district. You'll recognize it when you see it. I decorated it especially for you. Until we meet again, Simon."

I scrunched up the letter and grinded my teeth in irritation. Simon seriously irritates me. Just once I would like to hit him in his nicely sculpted nose.

But wait... This letter wasn't here when I fell asleep last night... So when did it get here?!?

I glared at PoonPoon. He cooed silently as he scratched his head. "PoonPoon... How did this letter get here?"

He looked away with a guilty expression.

"Did Simon come in while I was sleeping?"

PoonPoon looked down in dejection.

Oh my God. This man seriously came in while I was asleep. What the hell is wrong with him?! Why is Simon so insanely creepy???

I scolded, "PoonPoon. You are my guard monkey. The reason why I can sleep so soundly at night is because I trust you to wake me up if there's an intruder. So why wouldn't you scream when he came in?!"

"Aaa ah ah." PoonPoon said in defense.

My eye twitched, "I don't care if you think he's scary. In fact, that's even more reason to wake me up!!! Seriously. What do I pay you for?!"

PoonPoon looked at me with a deadpan expression, "Aaah a ah."

"Yes, I do pay you. Do you think food is free??"

"Ah Ahh."

"No, I'm not giving you a raise."

I went to get out of bed and a book tumbled off. It fell to the ground and opened up on a rather erotic scene. My face grew dark.

Just before bed... Didn't I get out my collection and read until I passed out?

I spoke in a low voice, "PoonPoon... Did Simon see... My collection?"

PoonPoon looked away pretending not to have heard me. I looked at the last part of the letter.

"P.S. You have a rather vulgar, yet fascinating hobby. I never knew you were interested in such things."

F************CK!

My secret collection has been discovered!!!

Noooo! Even though I've been so careful!!! Ack. I just want to crawl into a hole. Can I just wallow in my bed in shame? Please?

Why wouldn't PoonPoon screech to wake me up?! Also, how the hell did he even get in?! It's a women only building!!! I know the dorm manager is old and not super alert, but this is just ridiculous!

Also, where the hell was Bertram? I know he's been distant and not as protective since I snapped at him, but he hates Simon. There's no way he'd let him just walk in here.

I sighed. That means he probably did some sneaky sh*t. Seriously. That guy is bad news.

I got up and lit the letter on fire. I watched it as it slowly burnt to my fingers. Then I placed it in the sink to wait for it to finish burning.

When I finished, I asked for food to be delivered to my room. I gave PoonPoon some and ate the rest. I looked at Mary's door and was surprised to see that she hasn't ran out to bombard me with meaningless conversation.

Actually, now that I think about it... I haven't seen her at all this weekend. I wonder where she ran off to.

Oh well. It doesn't really concern me.

I lounged around until night came. Then I put on my inconspicuous outfit and packed a bag with my mask. I slipped out of the window and met Bertram in our planned meeting spot.

We walked into an alley and placed on our masks and hoods. Then we made our way into the red light district.

Even though we wore masks, and had others wearing similar masks, everyone knew immediately it was us. The smiled and bowed to us.

Everyone still feared the Black Death, but they knew as long as you didn't sell anyone out and didn't anger the so-called phantom, then you would be fine. So their fear turned into a strange sense of respect and admiration.

I frowned at this under my mask. "Bertram. Aren't we supposed to be feared not loved?"

He answered, "What did you expect? Thanks to your influence, crime has went down. You also donate to soup kitchens and had a homeless shelter built. Of course you would become loved."

"But I did that anonymously. It wasn't even through the Black Death."

Bertram sighed, "You should know you aren't very good at keeping a low profile."

"Wait. So if I can't keep a low profile, how do other people not know I'm connected to the Black Death?"

"Because they would rather die than share your identity. People either fear the Black Death so much they won't reveal a thing, or they love the Black Death and would rather suffer than reveal anything."

I stopped and paid a newspaper boy two gold coins for a newspaper. The ragged boy had a large grin when he saw the coins, "Thanks Fi!"

I walked away with the paper. Bertram glanced at me, "See? That's exactly what I mean. You're known for your charitable nature."

My mouth dropped, "B-But that wasn't charity!! That was a bribe!"

"Hmm." Even under the mask I could tell that Bertram didn't believe me.

I mumbled to myself in irritation. When we got close to the alley I went to throw away the newspaper. I noticed a briefcase with a heart carved on the side of it.

That f*cking prick. He seriously wants to die.

I nonchalantly picked it up. I made sure to do it naturally so no one would question my movements. We continued to walk to the delivery area.

Bertram looked down at the case, "What do you think is inside?"

I surveyed it closely, "It's definitely a severed head."

Bertram gulped, "Really?"

"What else could it be? The briefcase is the perfect size for a head. Also it's a bit heavy, but not too heavy."

"Why would Simon want us to dispose of a severed head?"

"I don't know. Maybe because he's psychotic?"

Bertram nodded, "That's true."

We continued walking. Bertram glanced at me hesitantly, "So... Prince William's birthday is coming up..."

"Ah, I almost forgot about that. It's in a few weeks, isn't it?"

"Do you intend to go?"

"I suppose I will."

"Have you forgiven him?"

"Hmm.." I thought for a moment, "Even though I feel like I have gotten over it, I haven't forgiven him yet. I will wait until he begs me on his knees for forgiveness. Then, and only then, will I consider it."

Bertram looked at me with a shocked expression hidden under his mask. He spoke, "Has anyone ever told you that you have a rather twisted personality?"

I replied in a serious tone, "A few people may have mentioned it."

We walked to the edge of town and hovered in a cemetery. Bertram looked around with a frown, "Why do you like doing exchanges in a cemetery?"

"Because at night the cemetery is spooky and no one in their right mind would want to be here."

Bertram looked around and gulped, "Exactly. So why are we here then?"

I rolled my eyes, "Don't be superstitious. There's no such thing as ghosts."

A man walked out of the darkness causing Bertram to jump. He approached wearing a black mask and coat. He spoke in a foreign language, "S'aer?"

I nodded, "Yeah, yeah. S'aer. Now take the d*mn thing."

He took it from my hands and handed me something. I grabbed the parcel and raised an eyebrow, "What's this?"

"He said to bring it for you." The man answered in a heavy accent. He then turned and walked away.

Out of curiosity, I opened the parcel which revealed a book. The title read, "Forever and Tonight." I didn't recognize the name. It must be from a different country.

Bertram glanced at it, "What's that?"

I frowned looking at it, "A book of some kind. I've never heard of it before. I wonder if Simon put in some kind of secret message."

I flipped open the book until it stopped at a page. I read the first line I saw:

Her moans escaped her throat and echoed throughout the empty house. She finally gave in to her ultimate desire.

I closed the book quicky.

That motherf*cker.

_____

...A few weeks later...

Everyone looked at William with exhausted expressions. Everyone except Seri had arrived to the student council room.

Mary had bags under her eyes. She was no longer upbeat and filled with energy. She groaned, "Prince William... Please give her those chocolates today..."

Lucius nodded in agreement, "Yes, if I have to endure another meeting with you fidgeting and freaking out, I'm seriously going to go insane."

Artie held his head, "I'm already going insane from it."

Mathias spoke in a quiet voice, "What's the worse that could happen?"

William bit his lip and looked at the small bag of poorly made chocolates. He nodded slightly, "That's right... What could go wrong?"

Millie answered, "She could reject them or find them so disgusting she never talks to you again."

William's face paled, "Never?"

Lucius glared at Millie, "Stop trying to make things worse."

Millie just shrugged, "I only told the truth."

Dante just glanced at William, "Just do it. It's better than nothing."

William sighed, "You're right. You're right."

The door opened and William quickly grabbed the bag in front of him and hid it. Everyone groaned seeing his reaction.

....

I stepped through the door and noticed everyone grow quiet. I raised an eyebrow and sat down looking at everyone suspiciously.

They were definitely talking about me again.

I glanced at Mary and noticed her exhausted appearance. I raised an eyebrow, "Oi, pink hair. Are you alright? You look bad."

She yawned and nodded sleepily, "I'm fine. I've just been helping-"

William cleared his throat interrupting her.

She sighed, "I've been staying up late studying."

I frowned, "Aren't you one of the top students? Why do you need to study?"

"I-I just needed to go over a few things." Mary said unconvincingly.

"Hmm." I chose to ignore her and turned to my work. I noticed the room was more stifling than usual, so I looked up. Everyone glared at William who fidgeted in his seat.

Okay, something is definitely going on. But do I care enough to ask?

Artie cleared his throat, "Say Prince William, I don't suppose you have anything to give anyone?"

"Guh." William slumped in his seat with a nervous face.

Lucius shouted, "JUST DO IT ALREADY!"

William jumped and glanced at me before looking away. I sighed and put my pen down. I held my hands on the table. "Alright. I was just going to ignore this, but it seems I can't. If someone doesn't tell me what's going on soon, I'm going to get very angry."

Everyone looked at William with accusatory stares. He gulped. I turned to look at him with cold eyes. "Well?"

His body started vibrating as his eyes looked around the room in a panic. I could already tell that he was about to have a major tsundere moment.

He jumped out of his seat blushing bright red. He slammed the bag of chocolates in front of me, "Here!"

I looked at them in confusion. What the hell is it?

His face was so red you could almost see steam rising from it. "I-It's not like I'm apologizing or anything!!!" He slapped his mouth with wide eyes. His eyes watered and he ran out of the room.

Everyone groaned and threw their hands up in exasperation. Mary turned to me quickly with tears in her eyes, "Seri! Please! Don't listen to a word he just said!!! He definitely meant to apologize!"

Artie smacked his forehead, "An idiot. He's seriously an idiot."

Mary broke down into tears, "He tortured me for weeks to teach him how to bake!!" She grabbed my arm and sobbed into it, "Do you even realize how terrible he is at it?! It was so awful!! And chocolates aren't even that hard to make!! I did all the hard parts for him!!!!"

I looked at the bag, "This is... Chocolate?"

Mary's head hit the table as she broke into sobs. "I told him to make it with love!!! Not this!"

Artie sighed, "Can you just forgive him? He really did try hard on those chocolates."

I smirked as I pulled one out of the bag, "I can't forgive him just yet. Watching him squirm and panic is far too interesting to watch."

Everyone's mouth dropped in surprise. Mary cried even harder. Artie shook his head, "You really do have a twisted personality."

Why does everyone keep saying that?

I shrugged and placed a chocolate in my mouth. I froze immediately.

Everyone looked at me with anticipation. Mary sniffled, "Well? How is it?"

I spat it out, "It's disgusting!!!"