Adopted Soldier

Evangeline was put to sleep and blindfolded by the agents of the Shadow Mercenaries. It took them a few days before they were able to get back to the base which was always changing its location. Upon the return of the group, Richter was there to greet them.

"What of Drake?"

"He's dead."

"Good."

That was the quick interaction between Hektor and Richter as they talked about the death of a long time ally. Seeing as Drake was one of the weakest in the group of ten, losing him wasn't that much of a blow. After hearing Hektor's report, Richter shifted his attention to Evangeline.

"Place her in my study... Without her pawns she's pretty much a weakling. After you're done with that, I want you to prepare for a guest's arrival." The six who heard what Richter said saluted at him, and left. Hektor headed to Richter's study, while the other five started to prepare for the coming guest. It was easy for them to tell who this mystery guest was.

...

Evangeline who had been sound asleep opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was an old man wearing a similar yet different uniform from the other people in the Shadow Mercenaries. His presence alone made it easy to tell who this person was. Evangeline who was placed sitting on a chair in front of Richter stood up and did a curtsy.

"It's a pleasure to meet the grandfather of Alex. I'm Evangeline Kain a friend of your grandson." Richter smiled amused, seeing how Evangeline acted the complete opposite of how Rachel reacted upon meeting him.

"Hmm, interesting... Very well I shall introduce myself as well, I am Alex's grandfather, Richter Greyhound. Now the tedious pleasantries are over let's get down to business, little girl, I heard you like my grandson... What if I tell you, I can give you his love?"

Evangeline was already expecting this to be one of the question Richter would ask her. Ever since the death of Drake, she knew that she would stand face to face with Alex's grandfather at some point. With that scenario in mind she started to think of numerous ways of how their conversation would go, and how she would respond.

"Your offer is enticing, but I will decline. I want to gain Alex's love with my own efforts."

"I see... Another question then, aren't you angry at me?"

"Why should I get angry at you?" Evangeline said this line with a calm smile on her face, which betrayed nothing of her inner turmoil. Richter who was great at deducing what people really feel, couldn't get a good read on what Evangeline was truly feeling at the moment. If she were hiding her anger she was doing it so well, that she was able to fool even him.

"Aren't you angry that I have captured your friends?"

"Captured? Weren't they invited to a party like I was?" Evangeline looked genuinely surprised when she said this, which made Richter smile in amusement.

'She really is the total opposite of Rachel Regius.'

"I see, so you're going to keep up this charade." Richter who was sitting across the room from Evangeline, placed his hand on the table in front of him and leaned his head on it a bit.

"Hmmm?" In response to what Richter said, Evangeline tilted her head acting as if she was confused at the whole situation.

"Let's see if you can keep up this act of yours once I show you this." Richter took out a remote and clicked on one of the buttons, which made a huge screen come down from the ceiling.

When Evangeline saw what was on the screen, her facial expression twitched a bit, before returning to the confused expression she had. In the large screen six different locations were being shown. Each one of the locations had a friend of Evangeline's.

In a normal looking cell, Kei was there and for some reason he was doing pushups. In another jail like place, sat Emily who had both her hands and legs bound. Niel was also present and when Evangeline saw what was done to him, her facade nearly broke. Niel was placed in a small room, his whole body was being bound by chains, and there was a steel mask covering his mouth.

Oliver was also placed in a similar situation, while Rachel was being detained even more harshly. Rachel was placed in a similar small room same as Niel and Oliver. Rachel had not only been bound by chains, but she was also wearing a straightjacket, like both Niel and Oliver she was wearing a metal mask. Yet her mask was different from the other two, her mask not only blocked her mouth, it blocked her eyes as well. She was also being suspended up in the air using the chains that bind her.

Seeing her rival and friend being treated like that, made Evangeline extremely angry, yet she kept it hidden within herself, as she didn't changer her facial expression.

Evangeline then shifted her attention to the last person on screen, it was Alex. Unlike the others, he wasn't bound by anything, in fact he was only wearing some tattered looking shorts. Yet he looked like he was having the hardest time among them, Evangeline who saw Alex's expression was about to tear up, but she held it all in. She couldn't believe what she saw, Alex was sitting in a corner of the room crying while clutching his forearms while they bleed, and he also kept on mumbling "There must be a way, there must be a way," repeatedly like a broken record.

Evangeline who tried to to keep a confused expression, couldn't fool Richter. The moment Evangeline looked at the screen, Richter noticed some twitches in her facial expression every now and then. He also noticed that Evangeline clenched her fist involuntarily.

"Why are you showing me this? I already know you have my friends, so what's the point?" Evangeline still tried to play it cool, but Richter already knew what she was truly feeling. So before Richter answered Evangeline's question he stood up and took something from a nearby closet.

It was a chessboard which he placed on top of his desk and started to set it up. While he was placing the pieces on the chessboard, Richter finally answered Evangeline.

"Nothing much, I just wanted to know what you truly felt, and as I expected showing you that, gave me the answer I needed."

When Evangeline heard what Richter said, she knew that she somehow blew it.

"So now that I know what you truly feel, how about a game of chess?"