In a tranquil morning at Lucan's house, a sense of unusual peace filled the air. Lucan wasn't around much, always in meetings or working from the shadows, so the house was usually occupied by Nadia, Celia, and Axel. No new illegal activities had been reported, and the city felt relatively calm compared to the rest of the country.
In the living room, Celia was lying on the couch, lost in a book, while Axel, with near-perfect aim, threw darts at a dartboard.
"How long have they been gone? They were just supposed to get groceries," Axel asked without taking his eyes off the target.
"Exactly four hours and thirty-two minutes," Celia replied, checking her watch.
"That long for groceries..." Axel said, feigning surprise. "These young people with their crazy hormones." He let out a mocking laugh.
"But you're the same age," Celia retorted.
"You wouldn't understand," Axel said in a dramatic tone. "It's clear those two like each other, but Auren still thinks we don't know. My friend is a little blind. If Lilian whispered something to him that made him tingle, but I didn't hear any noise that night... Ha, I don't know if Auren is an idiot or if he's afraid of what Lilian said."
"Well, I think I get your point," Celia said, closing her book. "But it's true they're taking a long time just to get groceries. They must have taken a detour."
"A detour? No, no, no," Axel said with a laugh. "They know what they're doing. I just hope I don't become an uncle too early," he said, feigning exaggerated worry.
Celia burst out laughing. When she calmed down, she asked where Nadia was.
"She's in the basement again, watching YouTube videos about icebergs in our country. If she keeps it up, she's going to be traumatized," Axel replied.
"You must be exaggerating, though it's true I'm worried she's not very social, not even with us," Celia said.
After that, the two of them went to the basement. They entered without making any noise and found a woman with short red hair, her eyes glued to the screen. After a countdown, they agreed to scare her. As soon as they did, Nadia screamed, then, having recovered, asked what they were doing there. When Axel was about to say one of his silly jokes, Celia interrupted him.
"It would be better if you spent more time with us," she told her.
Nadia argued that she wasn't good at conversation, but Celia replied that she didn't need to talk.
"Just have fun," she said, inviting her to spy on Auren and Lilian.
Strangely, Nadia accepted without hesitation. Celia instantly got their location from Auren's GPS, a device they had put on his phone without him knowing. The GPS showed their location at a shopping plaza, with no supermarket nearby.
"Aha, I knew it!" Axel exclaimed humorously. "They're off being lovey-dovey!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Celia said. "We should go."
The three of them headed to their location. When they arrived, they discovered that they were at a hot springs resort, although it seemed that Auren had stayed outside waiting. The three of them were disappointed.
"Poor guy," Axel said. "They left him hanging."
A short time later, Auren, on his own accord, entered the place and didn't come out for a while. The three onlookers were impressed.
"You did it, buddy!" Axel said.
"This is what I think it is," Nadia said.
"That was unexpectedly... I don't know how to say it," Celia said.
Later that night, they returned home. The two lovebirds had not yet arrived. They put on a horror movie to kill time, but Axel was nearly scared to death by it. After a while, they finally heard Lilian and Auren's voices outside the house. Immediately, Nadia, Axel, and Celia turned everything off, pretending to be asleep. It was normal; it was eleven at night.
When the lovebirds came in, it was hard to hear what they were saying. Although by the way they were talking and whispering, it was obvious they were flirting. If they had paid closer attention, they would have seen the three kids in the dark, but they were too absorbed in talking to each other, too close to be just friends. Every one of those words was heard by those present. Even Lucan was with them in the darkness of the house, witnessing what was happening. They had prepared a surprise to see how they would react.
In the back of the room, a small lamp was still on, illuminating a small box. The lovebirds, curious, opened it. They only found condoms. They looked at each other, turning red with embarrassment. Auren felt a foreign gaze, immediately turning around. At that moment, the room's lights came on, revealing the three familiar faces and a guy dressed as a police officer.
"Hands where I can see them!" Axel exclaimed with a water gun.
Auren, looking at them with disbelief, saw the box, saw the others, and said, "It was you."
With apparent shame, Axel replied, "Who else could it have been?"
"The plan was mine," Celia interrupted.
Axel, speaking again, "And who else could it have been? It's very dangerous these days to have two young people in these conditions. I don't know what would have happened if we hadn't intervened in time."
The couple dropped the box, embarrassed, and both crouched down, suffering the shame.
"I thought one of you was going to stand up and face it..." Axel said. "I think... I don't know, ugh... Auren, we have something to tell you."
Auren composed himself as if nothing had happened. Lucan approached the group and said, "Thanks to your efforts and those of many others, we have been able to stop almost all crime in the country. The government officials are so cornered that they have started promoting the new monarch of a democratic country, according to an old legend that would bring prosperity to the nation. But they only want to use her for a coronation carnival. If that happens, we wouldn't be able to do things that aren't very obvious. But leaving the country in the hands of a small girl and her descendants worries me more. And besides, the politicians will take advantage of the carnival to flee to the neighboring country. In short, you will be in charge of making sure the girl doesn't go to the carnival, and we will intercept those who want to flee. The complicated part is that the skyscraper where the girl is located is protected by international special forces, known worldwide as The Graves. Although their greatest danger is their captain, Rover. You will go up the floors until you reach the top one, where the girl will be, and you will prevent her from going to the carnival. The government's openings will be empty, allowing people like me to enter. Did you understand?"
"Yes," they all said with great conviction.
"This will be your last mission," Lucan said.