"By the way..."
Xiao, who was in the middle of drinking his lavender tea, suddenly remembered something and turned to Isaac. "Regarding... The traveler... I—"
Isaac, whose ear caught Xiao's words, immediately interrupted him. He then smiled at Xiao with a cold smile. "Oops— please refer to our fellow members by their code names... Mister Devil."
"..." Xiao, upon hearing Isaac's ludicrous request, momentarily fell silent as he was lost for words.
"Are we speaking with our code names?" Yae Miko, who has caught on to their conversation, joined in. Holding a book she had brought, she approached them. "If so, then Miss High Priestess is here to join in."
"Miss Magician and Miss Hermit, come here if you will." Yae Miko then raised her voice and called upon two more code names.
"Eh? Did someone call us?" Klee, along with Nahida, walked over next to Yae Miko. With a curious expression, her face looked at Yae Miko. "Miss Magician! Present!"
"Miss Hermit... Also present." Nahida said beside Klee as they both looked up at Yae Miko in front of them.
Seeing Yae Miko summon all the members of Isaac's club, a small smile formed on his face. Placing his hands on the counter, he smirked at Xiao. "We all agreed to refer to each other by code names when other customers are around to hide your identities."
"When talking about our fellow members... It is best to stay in character." Isaac said as he cleaned the teacup in his hands with a clean cloth.
Upon hearing Isaac, Xiao's eyebrows twitched with confusion. He then decided to speak up his thoughts, "And your code name is...?"
Isaac, who was expecting the question, curled up a smirk and replied a moment after his question.
"Hanged Man."
After saying this, Isaac pulled up his fingers and started counting more members in his little club. "There's also Mister Chariot, Mister Tower, Miss Star, Miss Moon, and... Mister World."
"Right now, they aren't here with us as they're all busy with their personal matters."
Chariot referred to Luocha, Tower referred to Moriarty, and World referred to Gehrman. Putting all of them together with their code names and identities, Isaac had practically made a good baseline for his identities to the other members.
Caressing his temples, Xiao took a moment of silence with his eyes closed before looking back at Isaac. "Then... Regarding Miss Star and Miss Moon..."
"My original purpose for coming here is to tell you that I've recently met them." He explained as he recalled his experience. "They told me that... Rex Lapis... had passed on, and they're being blamed for it."
Hearing this, Isaac was glad that everything was going according to the original story. He then chimed in, "I'm guessing since we had our agreement...?"
Xiao nodded in understanding. "After hearing their story, I made my own decisions and decided that... I will side with them."
'Although that would still happen regardless, I'm glad.' Satisfied with Xiao's response, Isaac exhaled a sigh of relief. "That's good. Miss Star and Miss Moon are valuable staff to my cafe. It would be a shame if something happened to them."
"As such, it's nice that Mister Devil is looking out for them." Isaac gestured at Xiao while looking at Yae Miko and the others.
"...I'm still not used to this name." Xiao shook his head as he turned his head over to his almond tofu. "But I'll leave it at that."
"I quite like it. It's like we're in some kind of a secret society." Yae Miko conjured her signature amused smile as she found the whole code names interesting.
"I like mine too! It's because I'm also a Magician... Like my mum!" Klee, who was talking with Nahida, turned her head and agreed with Yae Miko.
Following Klee, Nahida also agreed with the matter. With her usual soft voice, she spoke, "Hermit... It suits me well. It perfectly encapsulates who I am currently."
Hearing all of the members express their satisfaction, Isaac nodded his head with satisfaction as well.
He had grown tired of referring to the invited people as is, as such, he decided to form this little club to add a bit of a twist to their gatherings. The result was far better than he expected.
"Well, I'm glad that you all liked your code names. Be sure to use them whenever someone else is with us to avoid confusion." Isaac placed down a teacup and smiled softly. His warm amber eyes then glanced at all of them as he spoke, "Carry these names with dignity for our club... Our..."
"Hah..." Smiling as if finding it amusing, Isaac scoffed for a moment before continuing his sentence.
"Tarot Club."
---
In the blink of an eye, a few days have already passed. Despite this, Isaac's peaceful life never changed.
Enjoying each moment of the day, Isaac managed his cafe diligently for the past few days. Be it new or old customers, he welcomed them with his signature amiable smile and reaped wealth from their pockets.
Occasionally, all the members of the club would gather and Isaac would host either a board game or something interesting.
However, most of the time, only a few members of the club actually visit, with the ever-so-energetic Klee being the most frequent.
Other than that, everything else was nothing but a regular day for the same old Isaac.
And today was no different.
"Hawn~" Staring outside the cafe, Isaac, who had just gotten up and cleaned himself, looked at the clean street outside with hazy eyes. He then mumbled to himself, "Another day... Another grind."
Placing his hand over his nape, he tilted his head slightly to relieve his neck of any stiffness.
Feeling satisfied, he exhaled a soft sigh. "Alright... Let's do this."
Rejuvenated for another day, Isaac cleaned up the cafe and made sure everything was prepared.
After making sure everything was tidy and clean, he flipped the signboard outside, thus opening the cafe for another day.
Afterwards, Isaac, behind the counter, took a bag of beans and placed it in the cabinet beneath the counter, directly under the coffee machine for easy access.
Ding~
'So early?' Hearing the bell of the door chime, Isaac took his head out of the cabinet beneath the counter and poked his head out to greet the new customer.
"Good morning... Oh?" Isaac greeted the customer with the same amiable smile but then recognized who it was. "Your grace? You're quite early today, aren't you?"
Yes, it was none other than the Warden of the Fortress of Meropide, Wriothesley.
With the same sharp yet languid eyes, Wriothesley looked at Isaac before forming a soft smile. "Ever heard the saying? The early bird gets the worm."
Wriothesley then looked around the cafe before smirking. He then walked over in front of the counter and crossed his arms. "Well, since I'm your first customer for the day, I believe I deserve a good brew, yeah?"
"You must be joking?" Finding Wriothesley's words interesting, Isaac smirked. He then picked up a teacup. "I always make the best brew for my customers."
"What would you like today?" Isaac had already dropped Wriothesley's title as the Warden and comfortably spoke to him.
"Chamomile." Wriothesley answered as he went and sat down on one of the stools in front of the counter.
"Something sweet in the morning... No offense, but that's an odd choice." Isaac voiced his opinion as he went and prepared Wriothesley's tea.
"Just treat it as the Warden's oddity," Wriothesley replied with a wry smile. He then continued, "But it's more for the sugar rush. You get it, surely."
"That makes more sense." Isaac shared the same wry smile upon realizing Wriothesley's reason.
'Well, I ain't complaining.' Isaac then shrugged his shoulders and went to the kitchen to boil some water for the tea.
Inside the kitchen, Isaac patiently waited for the water to boil. As he did so, his thoughts started to wander off.
'I wonder how Furina is doing...' He wondered as his gaze drifted to the corner of the room. In his mind, the face of his Archon emerged. 'That movie we made... Should be released in a few days. I trust that her team did a good job editing it.'
'Regardless, as soon as they're done editing and publishes the movie, my side quest would be completed and I'd have a major boost in fighting prowess.'
'As for Lyney, Lynette, and Freminet, as well as the Hearth...' Remembering his current main quest, a quiet sigh escaped Isaac's mouth. 'Hah... Well, at least there's progress there.'
'Lastly... The plan.' Isaac wanted to avoid this thought the most, but it still rose in his mind. 'I need two important people for it to work... And they just happen to be the hardest people to approach.'
Remembering the details of his plan, Isaac habitually grasped his chin. 'Well, at least my bargaining chip is already done. Spending the nights reinforcing my Gehrman persona in the shadows... Paid off well.'
Isaac had been busy the last few nights— going around the shadows of Fontaine and hunting down thugs and making them obey him.
Traitors who used to serve Marcel were immediately subdued by Isaac and brought back under his control. Not only that, but the major crime rings connected to the Sinthe trade were also brought under his rule.
Now, most of the major crime organizations are under Marcel's, or rather, Isaac's control.
Unbeknownst to them, however, is that they are all nothing but a chip in Isaac's grand gamble.
- Whirr
Hearing the water boil, Isaac snapped out of his contemplation and returned his attention to the tea.
Shortly after the water boiled, Isaac brewed the tea and, after a few minutes, left the kitchen to serve it to Wriothesley.
"Here's your Chamomile. Still piping hot." Isaac stepped out of the kitchen door with the same amiable smile and spoke to Wriothesley. "Have a..."
"Good... Morning... Huh?"
However, his sentence was soon cut off when he noticed another person sitting beside the Warden of Meropide.
"Oh! Isaac! Just in time!" Upon noticing Isaac, Wriothesley turned his head and looked at Isaac with a look of anticipation. With a languid smile, he spoke. "A new customer just arrived— she and I have been chatting, and I'm surprised to discover another tea connoisseur here in Fontaine."
"Why don't you introduce yourself?" Wriothesley then looked at the person next to him. "I don't believe Isaac knows of you yet."
"Yes." The person next to Wriothesley replied with a relaxed yet intimidating tone. However, strangely, a sense of gentleness was present.
Isaac, whose eyes never left the person, almost felt like something was stuck in his throat. For a moment, he couldn't utter a word.
The person who Wriothesley was talking to turned her head, revealing her full face, and looked at Isaac. "Greetings. I am the current head of the House of the Hearth, and I believe you're already acquainted with my children. You may refer to me as..."
"Arlecchino."
That familiar pristine silver hair, coupled with those iconic crossed red eyes— Isaac couldn't mistake it for anyone else even if he wanted to.
'Number 4 of the Fatui Harbingers... Arlecchino.'
"Lyney, why did you call me here?" Lynette, wearing the same poker face and monotone voice, spoke to her brother.
Currently, both of them were atop a rooftop, stealthily avoiding the attention of anyone.
Lyney, on the other hand, was holding a binocular as he looked in the distance. With their current position, they had a good elevated view of their surroundings.
As he continued to look in a certain direction, he responded to his sister's question. "Father entered Mister Isaac's cafe."
"Isaac..." Hearing this name, Lynette's ears twitched as she recalled Isaac's face. Having remembered him, she continued, "What does Father want with him?"
"I don't know... But given that he had already been within Father's sights for a while now, I guess Father had seen something in him." Lyney gave his thoughts and speculation over the situation, though he was still unsure of the details.
"Father knew of him?" Lynette, the first time hearing of this, inquired further. She then walked over beside him and looked at the cafe not far away.
Lyney nodded his head as he continued his observation. "That's right. At first, it was a report about his identity, but as time went on, Father started requesting his habits."
"Habits... That means..." Upon realizing what their Father was planning, a thought blossomed in Lynette's mind.
Lyney, on the other hand, merely nodded his head as he let out a soft sigh while keeping a look out on the cafe.
"I just hope... Mister Isaac would get on Father's good side."
---
"It's truly a beautiful morning, isn't it, Monsieur Isaac?"
Arlecchino, who was sitting right beside Wriothesley, spoke to Isaac with a gentle yet heavy tone. She had yet to order anything and was thus just sitting down.
"It truly is, innit?" Isaac, on the other hand, remained calm and collected on the surface despite having inner turmoil.
'Why is she here?' Behind Isaac's calm façade, a question had repeatedly resurfaced in his mind while looking at the Knave. 'I haven't done anything to provoke the Fatui, right?'
'No— surely not.' He reassured himself with a false sense of hope. Still, he remained optimistic. 'For now, let's try to be as calm as possible and avoid any unnecessary trouble.'
With an amiable smile, Isaac spoke with the same gentle tone. "What would you like to have, my good customer?"
"Green tea. No additives." She answered, maintaining direct eye contact with Isaac.
"No additives... Got it."
Taking her order, Isaac went and grabbed his kettle in the kitchen which was still very hot.
He then started brewing her tea in front of her to let her see the process in person.
After a few minutes, the tea was ready and he placed it on top of a porcelain coaster along with a silver teaspoon before giving it to the Knave.
"Here you go. Freshly brewed." Isaac said as he slid the teacup to her carefully.
"Green tea with nothing else in it, huh? I'm guessing you like the natural flavors of tea?" Wriothesley, who was quietly enjoying his tea for a while now, looked at the Knave.
The Knave turned her head and nodded at Wriothesley's words. She then opened her mouth and spoke, "Indeed. I dislike overly flavorful things and prefer simpler and pristine flavors such as these."
"Hear that, Isaac?" Upon hearing this, Wriothesley smiled smugly before turning over to Isaac. "I told you she knows her stuff."
"It seems she does." Isaac nodded his head and agreed with Wriothesley. He had to admit, she knows her stuff.
"Very few appreciate the raw taste of tea without any additional contents like sugars, so it's refreshing to see someone who sticks by the classics," Isaac explained. Although he was scared, he couldn't help but praise the Knave as a tea enthusiast himself.
"It's just my preference, that is all." The Knave responded to Isaac while observing him closely.
However, she then turned her head to the person next to her— Wriothesley— and spoke.
"Moreover, I didn't know that Your Grace was also an enthusiast of tea. This is the first I've heard of this." She said as her crossed red eyes locked on to the Warden of Meropide.
"My hobbies... aren't widely known to the public, as you may know." Wriothesley, beside her, replied with a light smile. His languid sharp eyes then looked at her from the side. "As do you."
'...are they pretending to not know each other's identities?' Sensing an invisible tension between the two, the nervous Isaac decided to intervene.
"Ahem, from the looks of it, you two are already well-acquainted?" Isaac cleared his throat and said with a curious tone, indicating his lack of knowledge over the matter to them.
Isaac was well aware that Arlecchino was relatively less known than the rest of the Harbingers, as her line of work mainly tackles information gathering.
However, even then, The Duke of the Fortress of Meropide still has eyes and ears on the surface, despite it being under the waves.
The Knave was actively trying to infiltrate the fortress, while the Duke was capturing and interrogating her spies.
Naturally, the two know each other. What they did not know, however, is that Isaac, too, was aware of both of their identities.
'This feels like that one Spiderman meme with the three Spideys pointing at each other...' Isaac thought humorously amidst the tension. During such a tense moment, he couldn't help but lighten up the mood, at least for himself.
Wriothesley first looked at the Knave before looking back at Isaac. He then curled up a soft smile before speaking. "Not really. I've just known her from... some colleagues, that's all."
"I believe everyone in Fontaine who has read the newspaper has heard of the Duke of Meropide." The Knave answered as she also took her eyes off Wriothesley.
"Ah, I see. That makes more sense now." Isaac nodded his head in understanding, acting as if everything had just clicked in his mind.
"Well, that's enough from me." Just then, Wriothesley finished drinking from his cup and stood up. "I should be heading off soon."
He then took out some Mora and placed it stacked on the counter, right in front of Isaac.
"Once more, the brew was rich." Wriothesley complimented Isaac as he paid for his drink. "If I find myself some free time again, I'll drop by once more."
"Of course. Great minds who think alike are always welcomed in my humble cafe." Isaac smiled softly at him as he took the stack of Mora. He then bid him farewell. "Have a good day, dear customer."
"Thanks." Wriothesley nodded as he turned around. But not before looking at the Knave one last time from the corner of his eyes.
With a light smirk, he spoke to her with a concealed sarcasm hidden in his tone. "It was nice chatting with you. I hope to have another wonderful time next time we meet."
"I could say the same, Your Grace." In response, the Knave didn't turn her head and merely replied with a cold tone. "May we meet again in the future."
Lightly scoffing at her response, Wriothesley didn't say anything further and turned around before walking away.
Ding~
And just like that, the Duke of the Fortress of Meropide had departed, leaving only Isaac and the dangerous Harbinger in the cafe.
'...why is she here again?' After seeing Wriothesley leave, Isaac turned his eyes to the Knave and warily looked at her. 'She's not here to... hurt me, is she? Heavens, I hope not.'
Just then, while Isaac was in the middle of his thoughts, the Knave, who was stirring her green tea, spoke. "You and my children have been working on the same movie, have you not?"
'Why's she asking that?' Curious to her question, Isaac reciprocated and answered her question. "That's right. Lyney and Lynette have been good actors so far. They're great at it "
"They also said the same to you." The Knave said as she closed her eyes for a moment. "They told me about your excellent acting skill, almost as if you were experiencing your character's every bit of sensation— projecting it to the audience."
Isaac thought he was praising her, but a moment later, her tone became cold and heavy, immediately forcing a tense atmosphere between them. "Truly a great performance, Monsieur Isaac. Or should I call you..."
She then opened her eyes, revealing her crimson-red crossed eyes, looking directly at Isaac with nothing but a menacing glare. Her lips parted, uttering another name: "Gehrman?"
"..." Isaac, upon hearing this, almost jumped out of fright. But he restrained himself and kept a composed composition.
Lifting his head, his warm amber eyes locked in with her and he spoke as calmly as possible. "Gehrman? I don't get what you mean. Have you confused me with someone else?"
The Knave, upon hearing this, scoffed coldly. She then lifted her green tea and took a sip before speaking. "You know, I'm not an avid believer of coincidences. But when they stack up too high, you can't help but see a common pattern among them."
"The establishment of your cafe, the grand thievery, the controversial gift, and the abduction of the Archon..." She recounted every major operation Isaac had done in order while speaking calmly. "All appear to be disconnected, yet share one common denominator."
"A lead actor was present in all of them, pushing the plot of the performance forward." She said as she put down her teacup before looking up at Isaac. "In just a short amount of time, they had caused quite the stir in Fontaine."
"Isn't that right, Monsieur Isaac?"
"...Is that so?" Isaac, who was originally frightened of the Knave since earlier, was now, on the contrary, calm both internally and externally.
Staring at the Knave eye-to-eye, his warm amber eyes locked in with her red crossed eyes, and a moment of silence enveloped the two.
"Hah..."
Then, a soft sigh escaped Isaac's mouth. He then put his hands behind his back and looked at the Knave before smiling softly. "So what's your purpose here, I wonder?"
"To determine if you are an obstacle to be eliminated." The Knave didn't sugarcoat her words and went straight to the point. "You are a strange variable. And determining your worth is how I'd deal with you."
"My worth, eh? Haha..." Upon hearing this, Isaac first smiled before bursting into a laugh. "I see."
'I didn't think it would come to this so easily...' He thought as his warm amber eyes squinted.
"Then, are you interested in what I have to offer?" He asked with a calm façade. "To show my worth."
"It depends if it will be in my best interest. If not, well..." She said to him but didn't continue her sentence, knowing he knew what she meant.
Upon hearing her answer, Isaac nodded lightly before opening his mouth and uttering his offer.
"Are you interested in a collaboration?"
"And by collaboration, you mean?" The Knave asked him while maintaining her cold tone.
"Well, you are aware of the current situation of Fontaine, yes?" He said as he looked outside the cafe, and onto the streets. "I believe you, too, know that the prophecy is slowly coming true."
After saying this, Isaac turned his head back to her and continued speaking. "What I want to do is simple. It's to find a way to minimize that catastrophe's casualties as minimal as possible."
"Minimize... You aren't trying to stop it?" The Knave asked as her eyes squinted and looked at him solemnly as she spoke with a heavy tone.
"Prophecies cannot be stopped, and can only be prepared for." Isaac lifted his hand as he tapped his temples while smiling at the Knave. "Arlecchino, I want to offer you a collaboration that would benefit the Hearth, Fontaine, and... Heh, me."
Upon hearing Isaac's offer, the Knave became silent for a moment, and took the moment to listen to him, seemingly interested in his offer. Still, her menacing and solemn look was present on her face. "I'm listening."
Isaac, with his hands behind his back, softly smiled at her before speaking.
"Are you interested in crowning a king?"
"A... Nameless King."
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