Chapter Text
Désire Mélodis. Current patriarch of the prestigious Mélodis Family, the wealthiest and most powerful of the Nine Families. A decisive and resolute young man who resolved countless internal conflicts in his family to take over as head before aggressively expanding the Mélodis Family's wealth and influence. Everyone in his family or anyone around him knew he was a man who’d tolerate neither disrespect nor imperfection, including his adoptive brother Siegfried Mélodis. Désire had asked many things of him in the past, and he knew better than anyone his brother would not accept failure and the punishment would be severe.
His face lacking any expression, Siegfried looked down at the bruises on his wrists, the proof of his brother’s cruelty as a result of his own past failures. And now, Désire had tasked him with yet another mission to steal the newest drug invention of one of the scientists who worked at Ulliel Laboratory. "Eternal Beauty" they called it, a formula meant to grant eternal youth was the scientist's own research developed for the Ulliel Family, the Mélodis Family's direct competitor in drug research. The formula was one that the Mélodis Family had been working on for over a decade and had made little progress despite all their effort. And now the Ulliel Family had the formula. Désire liked competition so long as he was on the winning side. This time, he was going to have to turn the tables in his favor by whatever means necessary, even if it meant cracking a few eggs along the way. He knew he had two options, either steal Ulliel's formula, or their scientist who developed it.
Siegfried grabbed the sheet of paper sitting on his desk and walked to his brother's office. He knocked twice before the door cracked open to reveal a young man with hair similar to his own and striking features and blue eyes that resembled gemstones. Siegfried looked up at the man for a split second, his eyes carrying both a hint of fear and admiration before averting his gaze down. The man stepped toward him and only held out a hand, taking the sheet of paper and turning away, strolling towards the window as he started examining the paper.
"That's his?"
Siegfried nodded.
"Name's 'Gatto'. Though I suspect that's not his actual name. He's worked for Ulliel for over 5 years now. His loyalty might be to them. If that's the case we're better off taking the drug along with parts of his research that might be useful and killing him. It's not going to be easy to--"
"I wouldn't think so," the man interrupted before turning to face him. His eyes were sharp, even his false smile couldn't hide the coldness behind the surface.
"You did well, Siegfried. You may leave."
Siegfried let out a barely audible breath as if afraid to breathe too loud before bowing so slightly and leaving, the door clicking shut behind him.
The man scanned the paper in his hand with a name on it and a not-very-detailed report on a scientist that worked at Ulliel Laboratory and his lips curled slightly.
"Is it always curiosity that kills the cat? I guess I should find out."