The thing I spoke of was an event that had traumatized Raphael in his childhood. Intel, he had told Leonardo about when they were becoming close with one another.
Xavier's tragedy. His death.
Just like me, many readers suspect Xavier was Raphael's childhood crush, regardless of the age gap. A taste of what could've been his first love. A tragic one-sided love story on behalf of the young Raphael.
It was because of how Raphael had spoken about Xavier when he told Leonardo about his courageous death. The way he described Xavier's righteous and gentlemanly personality.
Specifically, when Leonardo had described Raphael's soft facial expression. The tenderness in his blue eyes each time he said Xavier's name. The flush on his colorless cheeks as he spoke of Xavier's character.
A good man with a sense of morals, despite being in the mafia world. A dark and cruel place for someone like Xavier to take part in. A man with a positive impact on others.
Alas, the only person who believed there was a kind soul somewhere behind Raphael's cold heart.
Obviously, everything is written from Leonardo's perspective.
"But... I don't know if I can save him. Right now, I'm useless and powerless. I need to figure something out before then."
I frown, feeling sadness and guilt consuming my tender heart.
I didn't want him to die because he's a good person. A rare gem of a man in this awful and dangerous world.
After all, he was the very person who had saved me from Raphael's wrath, along with Sir Edward and Mariana. He deserved to live just as much as I did.
However, there was a problem. If I want to save him, I have to find out when the tragedy takes place.
Being so, I had to learn how to control Roselyn's powers until then. The mana power of the Selected. Precisely, her mana spirit.
'I need to learn how to use Navi. It could save lives including my own, but I don't know if Roselyn has already manifested her mana spirit.'
There was only one way to know. A life-or-death experience. One I had to experience myself.
In fact, the story hadn't said when Roselyn had manifested Navi. Yes, a mana spirit chooses the Selected because of strength, but they didn't automatically know how to control its power or know how to summon their mana spirit.
The Selected ones had to teach themselves how to summon their mana spirit, and each one had their own unique way of summoning them.
They even had to train themselves how to control their abilities and power because the spirits were secretive about their teachings of power.
No surprise, everyone strictly knew the spirits for refusing to share their teachings with anyone. Not even with the Selected, who were ideal to possess a portion of their power.
Mana spirits were recusant to the mysteries of their power because they only taught those they found worthy, which is extremely rare.
If they did, it was like an unspoken rule between the summoner and the mana spirit to keep it a dead secret. An agreement between their connected souls.
Only those few trusted summoners would know the full potential of their mana spirit's power. The control of it.
At that second, I recalled a fact.
By now, hadn't Roselyn experienced a life-or-death situation? Did she somehow fail summoning Navi before her death? Was it because she didn't know?
'Still... how did she survive in the novel, but not here?'
Sighing, I mentally erase the multiple theories that came to mind. I didn't wish to build up more of my stress.
Not when I have various issues to handle. Nor when I carry the heavy burden and weight of Roselyn's evil deeds. The future sub villain of this BL world.
Scanning the pages before me, I reread the information written inside and felt somewhat satisfied with it.
Now, I had to map out my plans of escape. A brainstorm of the minor facts I'd gathered from these past few days.
In short, plan A and plan B.
Right now, I had an idea of where I'd like to escape, which was the place Roselyn and Maximilian had hidden in the story. I only needed to find out where the place was located.
For my second option, I wasn't so sure where I could hide to avoid the mayhem that would occur in the future. Perhaps I could ask Mariana about it since she may know a few places that are safe and away from the eyes of the underworld.
A blind spot from those lunatics.
However, I can wholly hope that Mariana is someone loyal to me and not my father. A feared man, the big boss. I had to make sure by testing her loyalty somehow, yet my heart ached by the possibility of whose loyalty she'd have.
After all, I considered her my friend, despite the mental age gap. Regardless, she was worryingly mature for her age, including Raphael.
'Wait. Wasn't Raphael's injury and scar done on the same day as Xavier's death? I can't remember.'
If that was the case, I would have to somehow prevent two tragedies from happening on that same date. Of course, only if I couldn't control Navi to save them by then.
Sighing from all the plotting, I rubbed my head to soothe the tenseness before making a final decision.
"For now, I'll stay on the low to gather useful intel around here."
For the meantime, I knew it would be the wisest decision and smartest move to do. I could always investigate and figure something out later on.
Scanning the bedroom once more, my squinting eyes had landed on the trash bin. The place where I threw away André's fancy-looking letter.
A light-bulb lit up as my eyes widen and my expression quickly became brighter.
In a speed of light, I flip the page to an empty one before the pen in my hand begins to move across the blank page.
*Scribble, Scribble*
Smirking to myself, I circle the two words that I wrote on the white sheet of paper. The title of the page—THE MISSION. Soon enough, it'll be filled with information I planned to write beneath it.
"Yesss~This could be the start to my schemes of escape. Thanks to whatever quick trip André is going to send us. The mission may have useful intel for other things too."
I murmur, grinning like a lunatic as I stare at the two words. I hum a joyful tune at the thought of the mission actually coming in handy.
In a jiffy, a second teeny idea came to mind as I flip to a few empty pages with a brief gasp of excitement. One each page, it held a particular code name I had given to the male leads of the BL novel.
Simply for the future purposes and data I would have about them. Details left out from the novel.
'Okay. I just need to somehow lose my demon of a brother to do my investigation. Thankfully, it'll be easy since he hates my guts to even play chaperone.'
I was confident Raphael wouldn't be a problem because of his childish sense of character. A simpleton who loved to play a lone wolf.
The brat that claimed he didn't need assistance from anyone because they'd solely get in his way. A prideful and arrogant rascal.
The competitive idiot that'll do the bloody work in my stead while I effortlessly sneak off to do my exploring. Truly, the perfect plan to gather intel.
Though, I did feel bad for thinking in such manner because I understood he merely had trust issues, despite him being selfish and unreasonable.
In fact, Raphael admitted to Leonardo that back in the day, he had despised Xavier's guts because of it. He didn't trust his friendly demeanor.
He thought of him as an annoyance, which is why he'd leave him behind whenever they were assigned to missions. He'd always depart first thing in the morning to avoid poor Xavier.
The beginnings of his horrific mistreatment towards the clueless, yet humble man.
As a matter of fact, it took Xavier an eternity to get Raphael to somewhat warm up to him and gain his trust. Alas, his heroic death was the very deed that made Raphael realize what he truly meant to him.
'Yet, that was my beloved Xavier. I may not be as fortunate as him, unless I also die for Raphael's sake.'
Obviously, sacrificing myself to that brat was not my objective or intention whatsoever. I didn't plan to carelessly give up my second chance of life. The precious opportunity the celestial jerk had granted me with.
Overall, there were many tasks that I had to get done in one go for my mere survival. I had a time limit to accomplish everything, but failure was not an option, either.
Glancing at the moonlight through the balcony glass doors, I thought of going back to sleep before dawn would occur. I didn't wish for the lack of sleep to be reason I'd eventually lose my mind.
However, I just needed to find a secure place to hide the notebook from any unwanted eyes. I didn't want to risk placing it back to the drawer where I'd recently seen the maids use for extra storage.
Thinking of a place to hide the notebook, my eyes began to wander around the room before my eyesight landed to the drawer where the gun was hidden.
'Actually, that seems like a good place to hide the notebook, but I don't desire to be near that firearm.'
Still, there must've been a good reason why the gun was hidden inside there. I assumed none of the maids touched that place anymore. I hadn't seen or heard any of them go near there. Not a single time since I've spawned here. Nor when they come to clean the massive bedroom.
Clearing my hesitant mind, I get off the bed and close the notebook before holding it in my arms. I walk to the abandoned drawer with quiet and steady steps while glancing around with caution.
As I stood before the kid-sized furniture, I carefully open the first drawer I recall containing the gun. Oddly, the drawer was occupied with baby clothes.
'Roselyn's baby clothes?'
For a minute, I stared at the cute clothing before I dug my left hand inside the drawer. I placed it underneath the clothing prior to moving it around until I felt the cold touch of metal.
"It's still here."
I whisper, slightly surprised.
Briefly, I took a deep breath to calm my shaken heart and mind. I refused to even lift the clothes to look at the bloody thing.
For some reason, thinking about the gun made me feel uncomfortable. I even felt anxious by the mere idea of seeing it with my own eyes.
Taking a moment, I noticed the uneasiness from my tense body. The goosebumps creeping on my skin. The shakiness in my breathing as it gradually increased each passing second.
It was strange when I observed the situation. I didn't ever recall being scared of a gun before.
Honestly, when I first found out about the gun I was petrified at the fact that it was at arms length for a child. At first, I was merely paranoid about the dangers of a child possessing a deadly weapon.
Yet now, the reaction of Roselyn's body told me everything I needed to know. An evident sign of trauma.
'At this point, it's no surprise that the author left out such details about Roselyn in the novel.'
After all, Roselyn is a sub villain and not a protagonist. Apparently, her role was simply that and nothing more.
Calmly, I take another deep breath to collect my thoughts and emotions. I lift the notebook in my right hand, then place it underneath the baby's clothing.
For extra precaution, I made sure to set it down beside the gun, so I could identify if one of the two would go missing.
Eventually, I would burn the notebook after setting up a clear master plan for everything that was to come.
"I should really go back to sleep now."
I whisper, looking over at the king-sized mattress with a tired voice. Being so, I tiptoe my over there and lay down after staring at the ceiling for a good while.
Shortly, my eyelashes flutter as my eyesight turns blurry. My steady mind begins to fall into slumber after feeling the comfort of the mattress and sheets I bathed in.
However, somewhere across the huge mansion, I was unaware of what was taking place during my sweet slumber.