10. Confidere

Seeing that Heath—a towering 1.8-meter-man with black hair, black eyes, and a slightly bulky frame—stood up to trail behind Kai, Edward rushed toward Violet. He placed his back right against her, standing directly between the levelled revolver and Kai. Raising both hands to gesture for Kai to hold his ground, he worked to console him.

“Stop! Stop, Kai. Let’s not let the heat of the moment get the better of us.”

Kai stopped his advance, but he didn’t unravel his clenched fists.

Edward continued, “Before you start doing anything rash, I would like to remind you all that there’s only one bullet left in that chamber. Stuart might have already told you about that.” Edward pointed directly at Stuart before adding,

“And trust me, she knows exactly how to handle firearms.”

Without releasing his clenched fists, Kai retorted, “And why should we trust a single word you say? For all we know, you two might be conspiring together. I saw you crawl right over to her when Heath was talking to Betheny.”

Edward let out a light chuckle. “Oh, that? That was just me flirting with her. I wasn't conspiring or doing anything vicious like trying to provoke her. As for why you should trust me? I think Stuart has already told you what I'm capable of, haven't you, Stuart?” Edward finished, shifting his finger to point toward their designated leader.

Stuart confirmed the truth in a low, careful voice. “Yes, but…”

Edward interrupted him smoothly. “I know your core concern: how could someone of her slender build handle a grown man in a struggle?”

Stuart offered a wide smile that stretched nearly from ear to ear, but he didn't stop Edward from speaking. “I will be at the very front of the line, with Violet right behind me. That way, we don’t have to worry about anyone being overpowered. Besides, Stuart already told you exactly how I managed to acquire the gun in the first place.”

With a confident smile stemming from his military background, Edward finished speaking while looking Kai dead in the eye.

Twitching his left eye in sheer annoyance, Kai muttered a reply. “Violet, you could have just told us that from the beginning. I wouldn’t have had to stand up.”

Violet opened her mouth to reply, but Edward cut in to answer in her stead. “She’s just shy.”

Hearing this, Violet closed her mouth. She smoothly holstered the revolver back into her belt, a minute smile forming on her face as she reached out and patted Edward firmly on the shoulder. Edward turned around, seeing that the weapon was put away safely. He smiled back at her, then used a single hand gesture to signal Stuart to resume control.

Stuart quickly returned to his normal, smooth demeanour. Gesturing toward Kai and Heath with a broad smile, he spoke up in a loud, commanding voice. “Okay, it’s decided then! Edward will be the first to enter, followed immediately by Violet. After that, we will follow the lineup of Heath, Quin, myself, and then Kai, with the rest following behind.”

Soya and Betheny nodded in swift agreement, thoroughly relieved that they didn't have to think about anything or take any risks while being at the very back of the line. May remained silent, accepting that she just had to stay behind in the cellar. Neither Violet nor Edward expected any alterations to the plan, as Edward had been the one to volunteer for the vanguard position. The core trio of Heath, Kai, and Quin offered no further words against Stuart's updated lineup.

Stuart paused briefly, looking over the group. “Let’s take a few minutes to get ourselves mentally prepared, and then we will march upstairs.”

Hearing that, everyone split off to occupy themselves. May was left alone with nothing to do, so she busied herself by offering water to everyone, regardless of whether they actually needed it or not.

Her anxious generosity brought their total remaining supply down to nine pouches. Nobody wanted to touch the stone-hard bread, as it required far too much time and saliva to make it edible. Soya and Betheny huddled close to one another; Soya was working to calm Betheny down, and the two looked as if they had known each other for many years.

Heath was the first to claim the wooden bat. Edward chose not to argue over the club; he had already successfully protected Violet’s right to keep the gun. If he pushed his luck by demanding the bat as well, the others would undoubtedly retort, and the whole hostile argument would erupt all over again.

Watching Quin, Kai, Heath, and Stuart huddled tightly together, plotting like a closed group of four deciding which areas they should check out first, Edward turned his eyes back toward Violet. She was observing the exact same scene.

Edward walked over to her side, lowering his voice to initiate a casual conversation. “Shouldn’t you praise me a little?”

Violet raised her left eyebrow subtly. “For what?”

Edward stared at her, genuinely shocked by her complete ignorance. “What? What do you mean for what? I just helped you out big time back there, didn’t I?”

A slight smirk crossed Violet's face. “Oh? So should I beg you, Mr. Edward? Beg you to keep taking my side?”

Edward offered a forced smile. “Why do you always have to go to such extremes? Can’t I just get a simple thank you?”

Violet let out a soft chuckle. “Well, you should have just said that from the start.”

Edward stood there, his forced smile widening as the seconds ticked past. When Violet remained entirely silent, he finally blurted out, “Why aren’t you saying it?”

Violet shot him a sideways glance. “Saying what?”

“This…” Edward manually controlled his swelling urge to shout at her. “The two magical words that make a person glad that what they did was actually worth the effort.”

“Oh… but if I say it right now, wouldn't it just feel forced? You would feel like I’m only saying it because I want to make you feel good. If I did that, what would be the difference between me and Stuart?”

Hearing Violet speak that many words continuously actually made Edward completely forget his irritation. But then the reality hit him—she still wasn't going to say it. Driven by a sudden agenda to probe her personality further, he replied, “You are a woman.”

Violet looked thoroughly confused by the sudden choice of word. “What?”

“Stuart is a man, and you are a woman. That would be the exact difference.”

Baffled by his bizarre line of logic, Violet chose not to reply at all. Finding himself met with a complete wall of silence, Edward let out a dry, thoroughly awkward laugh. He slowly backed away from her, sensing that he had completely lost the capacity to maintain a normal conversation with the woman.

Soon, everyone stood up to get ready. Heath took his place directly in front of the stairs with the wooden bat held ready, followed by Quin, Stuart, Kai, and the two ladies. Seeing the queue forming, Edward walked toward the vanguard position, with Violet stepping into line right behind him as they reached the front.

As they adjusted their spacing, Violet leaned in close, her lips practically brushing his left ear as she whispered, “I will trust your judgment on where to go.”

Edward jumped slightly, completely spooked by the sudden whisper. However, a small smile quickly crept onto his face. He knew that after Robert, there was finally another person here who would not harm him—at least for the time being. Edward turned his eyes toward the stairs, ready to march up into the unknown, when a voice called out from the darkness behind them.

May waved a hand, her voice carrying a loud, cheering tone meant for all of them.

“Good luck, guys!”