Sparkle stared at the trashed suite.
She knew she was likely too late.
"We're late. Someone else realized Robin's key role, so they snatched her first. When did you think to come find me?"
After Aventurine found Sparkle, she had immediately dragged him here to secure Robin.
As Sunday's crucial sister, Robin held an incredibly important position in The Family's grand play.
But even though they had rushed, they hadn't been able to act before the perpetrators.
"I was looking for you in The Golden Hour, but I couldn't find a trace of you for a long time. I only came to the hotel to find you afterward."
Aventurine explained the timeline of his actions.
"You were too late in finding me. We've lost our final chance to seize the initiative."
Sparkle briefly compared the timelines. Because she had been stabbed by Stelle & Noldrei right after they met, all her subsequent plans had lost their momentum.
Her initial job was mainly to cause trouble, creating a conflict between The Family and Firefly, thereby trying to stop the Stellaron Hunters from helping the Astral Express crew.
The Stellaron Hunters, ostensibly acting as agents of the Aeon of Finality, were in reality constantly giving the Astral Express crew cheats and benefits, all but announcing their defection.
On the surface, the Stellaron Hunters seemed to be stirring up trouble, but in reality, they had been in the Astral Express's pocket from the very beginning.
Sparkle's main job was to increase the difficulty for the Express crew while also pushing them to understand Penacony better.
But...
She got stabbed. All her attempts to get close turned to dust, a futile effort like a fleeting soap bubble.
The timing of Aventurine finding her was also affected. They were supposed to meet in The Golden Hour, but ended up meeting in the hotel instead.
This meant that someone had quickly formulated a viable plan in that time and had abducted Robin before the two of them could act.
Sparkle found it hard to describe her current feelings. It was as if she were living in someone's shadow, with their every move perfectly timed to preempt hers.
"The final chance to seize the initiative..."
Aventurine glanced at the wrecked room and sighed helplessly.
He knew how crucial Robin was. Getting close to her had long been scheduled in his notebook. And now, someone had gotten to her first, and with extremely crude methods.
Just look at the hotel room door. A slight miscalculation could have sent Robin on her way.
"The little mute is gone. The Nameless did it..."
Sparkle stroked the distinct gouge mark on the door. "At first, someone used something like a club to smash the door. The small dents are from that round-headed club. Then someone cleaved the door open with a single strike. The cut is very clean, as if they'd lopped off a person's head."
"The Nameless found a skilled swordsman as their backup, then openly abducted Robin. We can't find her location now. Maybe we can try a different approach?"
Sparkle didn't have many options. She decided to play the role of Robin herself.
Anyway, the Old Sampo identity was finished, and Robin was now missing. This gave her enough time to maneuver things from within.
"You're going to be Robin? Seriously? How are we supposed to fool that chicken-winged boy you mentioned?"
Aventurine didn't think it was a good idea. The Express crew was moving too fast, as if they were rushing everyone along.
Sparkle really had no choice. Her situation was different from Sampo's.
The Masked Fools knew very well what the God of Elation wanted to see. In her current situation, she had neither influenced the outcome nor helped the Express crew in the slightest. Not to mention...
She had come here full of excitement, even telling her brother Sampo before she left, "My fun will be greater than yours." But she had been slapped in the face right off the bat, then tossed aside like trash.
Whether she was amused or not, Aha certainly was. Like a clown, the joke had ended up being on her.
Sometimes, you just can't afford to lose. Once you've been the clown for Aha's amusement, it means Aha will want to see you be the clown a second time. And a third, fourth, and countless more times would surely follow, until you completely bored the God of Elation.
In the end, she would surely be cast aside like a worn-out shoe.
One misstep, and Sparkle even had to cooperate with people she despised, like Aventurine. One could only say, "What goes around comes around. The heavens spare no one."
"And then what? Even if we transform into Robin, what are we supposed to do with her identity? Just use it to do something bad? Or cause trouble at the festival?"
The transformed Sparkle was adapting to her new role.
Her portrayal of Sampo hadn't been very good; Stelle had seen through the fake Sampo's act to some extent. As for a superstar like Robin...
Sparkle's portrayal was surprisingly good, as if she had been a star before.
'*Could it be that she's done similar work before?*'
Seeing Sparkle get into character as Robin, Aventurine finally had a little more faith in her abilities. Regardless of whether this Robin was real or not, at least she could be of some use.
Just as the two had finished their preparations, a few uninvited guests stood outside the door.
'*The Family?*'
Aventurine frowned, taking two steps back and carefully positioning himself in a corner of the room.
"Ms. Robin, I apologize for coming at such an inopportune time, but..."
Members of The Family had subtly surrounded the entire suite.
Sparkle and Aventurine exchanged a glance, realizing that these were the real uninvited guests.
They were clearly here for Robin.
In Robin's suite, not a single person was on her side. It was as if this group had timed it perfectly, all crashing into this birdcage built for Robin at the same time.
And as for the real Robin?
"Are you from The Family? It seems what my brother is doing is indeed related to you. The people here have already betrayed the will of Harmony."
Stelle, Firefly, and Acheron looked at each other.
They had no intention of gagging Robin, and Robin seemed to know her place, not actively calling for help.
It was as if she were trying to reason with them, constantly revealing secrets about The Family.
Something about discovering that someone in The Family had betrayed Harmony.
Something about discovering the disharmony in Penacony.
Something about discovering the traitors within Penacony.
A barrage of inexplicable information assaulted the three women's minds. It was as comical as an NPC falling from the sky and chattering on xposing information.
Stelle scratched her head, completely bewildered. She was starting to wonder just how many people in this Penacony were ready to defect and cause trouble.