"Tsar, we have arrived."
Staring out the car's window, Caesar saw an old man in a pristine 3 piece suit. In his hand was a light handkerchief, flusteredly dabbing away at his sweat.
"Tsar, it's an honor to receive yo-"
Raising a hand to stop him, Caesar got out of the car to meet the fidgeting old man.
Having to look down to meet his eyes, his towering figure made the school's headmaster gulp in reflex.
"Rodrick, just call me Caesar. I don't want to frighten the children."
"Of course! Of course," Headmaster Rodrick agreed readily, not daring to take offense at the other man's lack of ceremony.
Rubbing his hands together, he ushered the other man into his office.
It was only when Rodrick's secretary served the tea that he took a sip, his gaze darting from the brown liquid to the man sitting opposite him.
"Tsa- Sir Caesar, what brings you here to my humble school?"
He asked tentatively, fidgeting with the cup.
The man was at his wits' end. Imagine Rodrick, who was enjoying a 'loving' night, was suddenly called in the middle of the night because the head of the Sokolovs sent notice of a visit.
Rodrick's dick fell limp. Not caring if his booked room still had 8 hours to use, he quickly went to his office to sort his affairs, running purely on coffee, as he had spent the night devoid of rest. He made sure to hide anything that could warrant trouble.
"Nothing much, I was simply in the area. The education sector has been having difficulties."
On que, one of the men Caesar brought with him laid down a briefcase, opening it to bundles of cash.
Rodrick's heart skipped a beat, his eyes glued on the bills. His mind was spinning as he tried to make sense of how much could possibly be inside.
"1.2 million. That's how much I want to invest in your school."
Eyes widening, realizing how he wasn't caught, flattery soon fell from Rodrick's mouth, going on and on about how the recent batch of students showed great promise and would help the Sokolov's business for this quarter. Ensuring that this batch's size was double that of the usual.
Letting the man carry on, Caesar took out a cigar from his trench coat's inner pocket, letting his men light it, white smoke soon enveloped the space. Noticing the man's indifference, Rodrick shut his mouth.
The room descended into silence as Caesar eyed him. "Not the smartest, huh."
"I thought you'd recognize the amount, but I guess I expected too much of a traitor."
Rodrick's pupil constricted; he stood to make a run for it, but two men apprehended him, seating his ass back down as they clamped over his shoulders.
"Tsar, please! I never intended to- hmmp! Mmm!"
Gagged, Rodrick struggled to make noise in desperation.
"My dearest brother gave you an initial capital of 300k Euros, in your partnership, not only did you siphon off 500k from the child trafficking business you two made. You even went behind your business partner's back to open a gambling den. Raking in a total of 1.2 million."
Drumming his fingers against the table top. Caesar blew a puff of smoke at the old man's face, his tone even colder.
"Don't think I don't know you use your very own students in that illegal fighting ring of yours. Or that you opened it in my family's name."
Rodrick shook his head desperately, trying to deny everything, but Caesar only grabbed his hair still.
"Not only did you steal while parading yourself to be one of ours, but you even have the guts to partner with my rival. You must not have known that very partner of yours was a traitor."
Throaty groans rang out. Shaking in his place, Rodrick struggled, tears streaming down his face. Caesar felt that Rodrick, being a traitor of a traitor, felt nothing more than karmic retribution for his brother.
If he had been smart, he should've run away when Caesar gave him a chance, but just like its owner, it was stupid and greedy, confident in its own ability to hide the truth as it did to its owner.
Caesar wondered, had he known, would Finnick have laughed in anger? No, how could he? He was dead.
Caesar, taking a wet wipe from his men, wiped away the sweat and dirt from when he grabbed that old man's damp hair.
Scowling in disgust, he remarked, "Have him disposed of."
"Yes, Tsar."
DING DONG!
Hearing the lunch bell ring, children made their way to the courtyard in droves, laughter making all the way up to the headmaster's office.
Hearing the cacophony of noise, Caesar turned his head to the window.
He did choose to visit this school first due to proximity, but he didn't realize how it would bring about certain gains.
For Albert to have missed something as huge as this, heh, he's been meaning to find ways to cut that masochistic man down. Now, the opportunity has presented itself.
What's more…
Locking his gaze on a boy with golden locks, a smirk played on his lips.
When he looked through the children's profiles, he wasn't able to connect how one of those kids would grow up to be the menacing male lead who sought to kill him.
But if he thought of it, a certain excerpt from the book came to mind.
[Unlike previous Tsars, the villain Caesar didn't choose heir candidates from his kin. No, he was childless. He chose children from all sorts of backgrounds, one being a golden-haired boy sold off in an illegal fighting ring in his youth.]
Although it was never confirmed how this excerpt was connected to the male lead, many readers had suspected it was his past, since it wasn't odd for people to be born blonde and grow up later to have darker hair. The backstory would have also justified how, out of his peers, the male lead was more advanced in combat.
To think Finnick would have a hidden easter egg like this.
—
"Kid, pay up."
"Just because you transferred here doesn't mean you can skimp on paying the protection fee."
"Yeah, wimp, hand it over!"
Surrounded by boys much taller and older than him, the young boy stepped back, shielding his fanny pack, hiding it behind his back.
His brother had given him that money to buy snacks; why should he give it away? Especially to these meanies.
Seeing his refusal, one child shoved the boy hard, his bum landing hard on the concrete.
But the kid didn't cry; instead, he gathered the dust under his palm, throwing it at his attacker. The older kid screamed as he clutched his eyes, his hands frantically rubbing his burning sclera to get the dust off.
Caught off guard, the other kids, angered by the action, ganged up on the golden-haired boy, throwing kicks and punches.
"Tsar, how would you like to proceed?"
Hidden in the shadows, Caesar took a glance at the sorry figure. With all the circumstantial evidence pointing to him, Sasha Gusev was without a doubt the kid he was looking for.
In truth, he was in a quandary on how to proceed with the young male lead.
Should I kill him?
Indeed, removing the male lead early would remove the chances of him getting killed by the male lead would be null. However, knowing how this was a world of a novel, what if it would collapse in itself when its main characters were to die. How would he find his way home then?
He was lost in his thoughts when he felt an intense gaze on him.
Caesar looked on as the small child had puffed out his cheeks, trying to fight the tears. The crystal watery eyes stared straight into his.
"..."
The oldest of the bullies. Who had just pried off the fanny pack, stood stiff. A looming shadow engulfed him and his lackeys.
Looking up, they saw a tall man, his presence oppressive and chilling. With features hidden against the sun's rays, the mere act of that man's gloved hand reaching out to them made all 3 children make a dart for it.
Dropping off the fanny pack as they did.
With such sharp survival instincts, a thought surfaced in his mind, signaling for his men, he had one tract those kids down.
Left alone, Sasha sniffled, but instead of running away like Caesar thought he would, the young boy looked up with those big, round, green eyes.
Now that he thought about it, even when on the brink of crying, not once had those eyes shown fear.
Handing him the fallen fanny pack, Caesar watched as the child beamed, showing off a toothy smile.
Hamster.
The boy crouched low, clung to his pant leg, looking up with an abashed admiration, "Mister, thank you. You're so cool like my hyung!"
Perhaps now relieved, the tears that Sasha fought hard not to spill fell one by one as snot ran down his nose.
The sight made Caesar's eye twitch. Reaching into his pocket for a handkerchief, he felt a force clamping down on his shoulder, hard.
Cocking a brow, Caesar tilted his head towards the heavy force on his shoulder.
The leather was ruined under a fair hand's firm grip. Though milky pale, the color had a building rosy hue, much more obvious against the black leather.
With slender fingers hooked around the fabric, knuckles red as veins bulged out, shaking lightly under the pressure of its owner's grip.
Following the hand, a lean figure stood ram rod posture. Straight brown hair messily tossed back to reveal a smooth, clear forehead.
Thick brows furrowed as emerald green eyes glared into him. A scrunched-up nose and small mouth shaped in a snarl, showing the same pronounced front teeth he just saw in the kid.
A bunny?
Crystal beads of sweat clustered at the temples, the liquid gliding down as it clung to skin.
From the temple to the round cheek, to the fair neck flushed red from exercise, then to the man's clavicle before sliding out of view into the perky chest strained against the fitted black shirt.
The fabric now soaked and stuck closer to every nook and curve of each and every muscle before finally hugging the slim waist snugly.
It was slender and small enough that Caesar couldn't help but wonder- if he wrapped his hands around it, would his fingers meet?
Noticing the assessing gaze, Daniel recoiled as if burned. Shoving his shoulder hard, his anger exploded into a punch at the man's jaw.
Oh. A lewd bunny with a temper.
Turning his body halfway, Caesar raised his hand to catch the fist.
"Hyung, stop it!"
But the punch never landed. Frozen, Daniel retracted his hand. Worry plastered on his face as he crouched down to check on Sasha.
"Gods, Sasha, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
"I'm okay. Why are you here, hyung?"
Seeing the hamster and bunny converse among themselves, Caesar raised his brows in mild surprise. So this was the older brother…
Noticing Sasha's clothes unkept and dirty, scrapes and bruises evident on the skin, Daniel's anger boiled over once again. His expression was gloomy as he grit his teeth to speak with Caesar.
"What did you do to my brother?!"
He yelled as he grabbed the other's collar. The action caused one of the buttons to pop off. Great, not only was his coat ruined, but so was his dress shirt.
"No, hyung you dummy! Don't hurt mister" but before he could reason, the boy had already defended him.
Confused at the way his brother was so protective of this stranger- "Sasha, can't you see? His clearly suspicious" his tone exasperated
"Before I get angry, come to hyung now" but before he could grab him, the child nimbly maneuvered to hide behind Caesar's legs.
"No!" Now clinging to Caesar's pant leg, the boy had morphed into a koala, even rubbing his face against the fabric while shaking his head, "Hyung you stupid dummy!"
Both hamster and bunny glared at each other, unwavering, as their hold tightened.
Caught in a stalemate, Caesar was bemused by how all articles of clothing on his body had been ruined between his 2 death flags. His future killer hung on his pants while the 'motive' of the murder grabbed his collar.
The silence was only broken when a growl escaped from Sasha's stomach. Embarrassed, the boy broke eye contact first, hiding his face away in the back of Caesar's calf.
Fighting back a chuckle, Caesar offered, "How about we settle this misunderstanding over lunch?"
His gloved hand over Daniel's.
Goosebumps rose on Daniel's hand, though the touch was cold, and he smacked it away as if burned.
"No, thank you, I've brought lunch."
"Do you mean that crushed and splattered sandwich the ants and birds are currently feasting on?"
Pointing to the floor, Daniel whipped his head in that direction. His eyes widening- indeed, lying on the cold, unforgiving concrete was a remnant of what could be called a sandwich.
Bringing up his left hand, Daniel groaned when he saw the crumpled paper bag had a gaping tear.
Fuck! No wonder I felt lighter mid-sprint- Caesar guessed that was what the man was currently thinking. Especially with such an honest expression.
"It appears to be so, but I can provide for my own brother's mea–growl"
"..."
"..."
"Hyung you're hungry too?"