The White Rabbit and the Witch
I had arranged a relatively safe first meeting between Liberty and Victory this time. Thankfully, the two simply stared at each other like a cow looking at a chicken. Honestly, that alone counted as a huge success, so I let out a sigh of relief. I immediately headed toward Liberty to ask what she thought.
But that was when the problem started.
Clink!
The moment Liberty climbed onto my body, the sound of chains suddenly rang out from the opposite side. I slowly turned my head and saw Victory, who had been perfectly well-behaved until just a second ago, now glaring at Liberty with eyes full of jealousy. It seemed like her personality had switched.
The Liberty in my arms was being strangely quiet. I tried to check why right away, but she had buried her face in my shoulder, so I couldn’t see her expression.
In the Meeting Ground, where only silence hung in the air, Liberty tried to nibble on me like before. But Victory on the other side suddenly shouted.
"Pardon?"
That Liberty? Of course, when Liberty got angry, her hidden intelligence seemed to surface. I checked the face of the one currently in my arms.
"Papa?"
"Umm…."
It was Liberty, tilting her head with an expression that said she truly had no idea what was going on. But seeing her act like a puppy, Victory looked like she was about to die of frustration.
‘So even though she has her intelligence right now, she’s pretending to be a beast?’
Since the experiments on Liberty had been halted because of me, her intelligence might still be mostly intact. And in Black Cell, pretending to be a beast was the correct judgment if she wanted to survive as a test subject. The problem was that other researchers were watching from outside, so for now I decided to play along with Liberty’s act.
After that, Victory got so incredibly sulky that I tried to put Liberty down. But unlike before, Liberty squirmed and refused to let go. She was far stronger than me from the start, so forcing her off was impossible.
Faced with this total crisis, I eventually decided to end the meeting as a last resort.
Beep!
"Miss Victory!! I’ll just drop Liberty off and come right back!!"
I used the remote control from my pocket to lower the black curtain again. As our figures slowly disappeared, Victory on the other side desperately shouted all sorts of things—that I shouldn’t be fooled by him, that I shouldn’t fall for that dog, and so on.
On the other hand, once Victory was out of sight, Liberty became extremely well-behaved.
"Liberty, why did you do that just now?"
"Whine…?"
Liberty still wore a face that said she had no clue. Still, since she had complicated the situation, I settled for lightly pinching her cheek. After that, I removed Liberty’s shackles and immediately signaled outside. I was about to take her back to her detention room, so I warned them in advance: if they didn’t want to be torn apart by this little wolf, they should stay out of sight.
When I stepped outside with Liberty in my arms, there was no one around. Of course, thanks to her excellent sense of smell, Liberty seemed to notice the researchers hiding. But thankfully, she stayed perfectly calm all the way to the detention room.
"Then I’ll come back later, so wait for me, okay?"
"Woof woof!!!"
Liberty let out a bark that meant she’d see me later. After giving her one last pat, I hurried back to the lab.
When I returned to my original spot, panting, the other researchers must have gone off to do their own work. There wasn’t a single presence around me. Since the white rabbit left alone in the Meeting Ground was in a very bad mood, it seemed they had all made the correct decision.
Anyway, without even catching my breath, I entered the lab again. Inside, I could see that Victory was extremely pouty.
So our first meeting had ended in failure after all. Feeling a little bitter, I approached Victory when—
The white rabbit’s chilling gaze made cold sweat run down my back.
****************
Just like how Gloria and Liberty had fought the moment they first met, this encounter taught me that the children’s possessiveness and jealousy went far beyond what I had imagined. Of course, since the only things inside those children were a bed, an empty detention room, and me, I could understand why they acted that way.
Anyway, I coaxed and comforted the greatly sulking Victory.
"Then, Victory, would you like me to speak casually like this?"
The meeting with Liberty earlier was one of the foundations for us eventually living together. And after seeing me rush into the lab panting, Victory’s mood quickly improved. Once I started speaking casually like I did with Liberty, she returned to being happy.
Now that Victory, whose mood and personality could flip in an instant, had stabilized, I removed her shackles just like I had with Liberty. I tried to carry her to the detention room in a princess hold, just as I had when bringing her to the lab, but the moment we stepped outside, there was someone I really didn’t want to meet.
"Maxwell, you’re more proactive than I expected?"
"Director?"
The moment we stepped out, the Director was there, protected by agents. She glanced at Victory in my arms and gave a very satisfied smile.
"You’re treating her really preciously even though I didn’t tell you to?"
"In the end, only sincerity remains."
"Sincerity, huh… I suppose that’s true."
I didn’t know how she interpreted my words, but the Director nodded as if she understood on her own. The problem was how Victory would react to the Director, but the two already knew each other.
"Victory, is Maxwell’s embrace that nice?"
"Hehe, how cute."
In a way, they had the atmosphere of an older sister and younger sister. But when I thought about the superpower the Director wanted to obtain, a rather concise impression came to mind.
‘She really looks like a witch raising something just to eat it later.’
Of course, in the future Black Cell would self-destruct, Victory would escape, and the Director would create an entirely different evil organization, so the witch never got to eat the white rabbit. But right now, thanks to me, Victory had become extremely docile, hadn’t she? Since I didn’t know what that sociopath might do, I always had to stay on guard.
After that, the Director seemed to have only come to watch. She cheered us on and left a message that I should visit her office later.
"Again?"
"Oh my, do you hate my attention that much?"
"I’m truly sorry, but there isn’t a single subordinate in the world who enjoys being called by their superior."
"Tsk… you really have a way with words. Anyway, this time it’s not for work but for a meeting, so don’t worry."
"But that is work."
The witch who didn’t understand human hearts left just like that. Afterward, while taking Victory back to her detention room and talking with her, she told me about her relationship with the Director.
"Director Aileen gave me my name!"
"Is that true?"
"Yes!"
Currently, most test subjects like Gloria and Liberty had code-name style designations. But it seemed the Director had personally brought Victory in and even given her a name. And the meaning of Victory’s name was literally victor. If I considered Director Aileen’s goal as well… it looked like the witch wanted to become the true victor.
****************
The meeting between Liberty and Victory somehow came to an end. I immediately told Gloria about it. Surprisingly, she showed interest.
"…So what you said last time was true."
"Have I ever lied to you?"
When I smiled brightly, Gloria looked like she wanted to say something but stopped. Instead, she seemed to really like the fluffy blanket I had bought her last time. She sprawled out on the bed.
But if we were going to live together later, I needed to test the waters now. Telling her the full plan right away would cause massive resistance, so I spoke indirectly.
"Miss Gloria, do you perhaps not want to go outside?"
"I just hate anything bothersome."
As always, Gloria gave a vague answer, but I made a promise.
"It will definitely be a better life than staying here."
"…………."
Instead of answering, Gloria turned her head to the other side. Still, seeing that her range of behaviors had grown more varied than before, I could consider it progress. After that, she seemed to want to think alone, so I quietly left the detention room.
The problem was that I had to go meet the Director again…. What could a guy who had only been employed for a year possibly say in a meeting? I figured I was only there to fill a seat.
Thinking about overtime again today, I headed up to the Director’s office and found Secretary Min Chae-rin looking extremely tired. She hadn’t even been able to leave work and was still fiddling with the computer at her desk, so I looked at her with pity. She noticed me too, and we made eye contact.
"…………."
"…………."
Did the hearts of subordinates who couldn’t go home because of their vicious boss connect? Secretary Min Chae-rin gave me an encouraging glance and contacted the Director’s office.
Click.
"Mr. Maxwell, the Director says to come in."
"Understood. Have a good evening."
With a heavy heart, I stepped through the door. Inside the bleak Director’s office, the extreme workaholic was still handling documents. The moment she heard my footsteps, she stood up and welcomed me.
"Have you met all the children?"
"They were all very healthy. But why are we holding the meeting at night?"
"It’s not that important, so we’re doing it now."
The Director gathered various items needed for the meeting and told me why she had called me.
"To summarize, we’re increasing Black Cell’s external activities. Then wouldn’t it make more sense to talk with the other executives instead of me?"
"Considering the last incident, the other employees will obviously only say things I like to hear, right? That’s why I need your advice for this meeting."
So she called me because I always speak frankly. It seemed like I was bringing trouble on myself again, but during the academy entrance ceremony last time, I had seen not only the heroes’ hardships but also gems that had yet to shine. And since the Director had already said it wasn’t an important meeting, now seemed like the perfect time to bring those things up. So I followed her.