“Card of Betrayal”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUiPZjrsYj
The girls Assembly Hall the following morning is the venue for the second Tribunal. Curtains drawn; bell silent. Only selected prefects, Order affiliates, and nominated students have been summoned. The rest go about their normal school routine mostly unaware of the tension in the hall.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkTgqc9cp8
Naomi stood at the podium under dim, deliberate lighting.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdLQ8BP3RH
To her left: June and Mary. To her right: Kim, silent, unreadable. In front of her: the M.O.3 crate, now cleaned, re-sealed, chalk mark intact.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLBa1J87L9
“Today,” Naomi began, voice crisp, “we close a page.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqDphzBN0z
“The ledgers within this crate represent the past we choose not to forget—but to contain.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdH044xnkVl
The prefects stood still. No movement.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaXyUxvJkj
Naomi leaned forward. “Let it be known: Mercy’s ledger, last of its kind, is here. And this assembly will witness its archiving.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWD95MstV3K
She lifted the lid slowly. Tissue and canvas inside.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXavK7Vlw3
Perfectly wrapped.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaUvZABwqkY
She reached in.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYHLoGpCCB
Paused.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh2xu4OlQd3
Her hand emerged—not with a ledger. But with a flat black card, stamped with a silver serpent.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8crs3uKBhd
Gasps rang through the hall.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGPG5EUu51
Naomi stared at it, frozen.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLX506OPGQv
She whispered sharply, “That wasn’t in the crate.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hK3VyNbwr
Mary stepped forward, too late.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRutQ8JMrv
“There’s been a switch—!”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQNRpHx2MD
But the room had already turned.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2AjtmOssyY
“Is that… Mercy’s mark? Did Naomi fake the crate?”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzgrmWfdNy
“Was this whole thing a setup?”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHplvoqfGe
From the back of the hall, a junior whispered to another:100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YVCRotiMh
“She said she had nothing left to hide. Then what’s that?”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdVC3txYUB
Naomi placed the card down without a word.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMp1dUI5QoG
The silence was suffocating.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhVovthnzY
Then she said, slowly:100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQT7L6qNUkM
“This is not the card we inspected last night.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2A5p9sCqTn
Murmurs spread. A few laughed nervously. Others stepped backward.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Q54EFLx8X
Kim whispered, “There were two?”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7f4G1G9bB
June’s face hardened. “Or someone replaced ours after we destroyed it.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuG0nF07bg
The room was already vibrating with uncertainty.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFO0IcoC5yU
Naomi's fingers hovered over the black card, but her composure had cracked. Whispers were no longer whispers.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2K6Jxu10g
“She’s not in control.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ971iQchm7A
“This was never about safety.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTaaQHOcBI
“Mercy’s winning.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMJ1eyfqRI
Suddenly—100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGIA0HspfT
June stepped forward. Without asking.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpz3fPrk3HD
She snatched the card from Naomi’s hand — held it up to the hall’s filtered light.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmknhnx5GNG
Gasps rang out.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zxbsSfhh9
In the upper right corner, only visible at an angle under the glow of the nearby reading lamp:100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWH10sAwV8o
A faint signature. In soft gold ink.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8jUEFkoUf
One name:100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNQqwu1uQ8
Ayo.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCAOQozdwu
A prefect shouted, “One of the boys?!”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXaAV9HYsdt
Another hissed, “So they set us up?”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9eNkpkUcI
Kim’s jaw tightened. “That’s why the card wasn’t just symbolic. It was bait.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrDZ2SHB6o
Naomi stood frozen — trying to catch her breath, the weight of the card finally gone from her hands.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUNPpU9iBi
June turned to the room:100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCOLP548pU
“This is not Mercy’s card. This is a forged threat. It carries the signature of a boy who helped deliver the crate.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTqMZeaajc
Gasps deepened into murmurs.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIIOhqzmHF
“It was a plant. So, the alliance wasn’t fake—someone tried to make it look fake.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIYARknxc0
June turned toward Naomi — not confrontationally, but like a scalpel in a surgeon’s grip.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfGrI8IpJH
“You need to decide, Naomi. Either call this what it is — sabotage — or let them write your ending for you.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgytoBZhdou
Naomi finally nodded.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiabQR6YhnR
She turned back to the room.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbn23MgBTtS
Naomi quietly sealed the box again, her voice calm.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hiNRB40rR
“The Tribunal is postponed.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8ZwTBbKk2
The Tribunal Hall had half-emptied. Girls were filing out in low whispers after Naomi’s announcement suspending the boys’ alliance.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGKSSpZYon
But Mary stayed behind, unmoving. June stood by the crate. Kim lingered at the base of the lectern. Naomi had turned to leave.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VzWtkkS4l
That’s when Mary stepped forward.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGMJMVPsYP
“There’s something else,” she said quietly.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBQSoycnCq
Naomi turned.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKo28kZtJo
“Not now, Mary—”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8MHrFxPBI
“Now,” Mary repeated, louder.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVfeuXv7MA
From her jacket, she pulled a tightly rolled bundle. The room stilled again.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesuuGA2jQo
“This passed through the old herbarium drain vent.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKfJmHjrKP
She unrolled the pages on the center table.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoKaccPFSh
Real ledger pages.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84jdlQlXAF
Stiff, yellowed, handwritten. Dated.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdmQV3Zuhk
June stepped in, scanning the topmost page.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMG4sDI0Ceh
Mercy’s handwriting. Pages of surveillance. Fabricated claims.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRCJlD9O6W
Invented correspondences.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZTHRzGkBc
Mary flipped to one marked in red:100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCU8TCr3L2
“Naomi collaborated with external prefects to remove dissenters in Form 3. False medical reports approved.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1dZRSkcU3R
Naomi stared at it.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6I7tcUO28X
Kim stepped forward. “Is it real?”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSufzTGEMl
Naomi didn’t speak for a long time.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rIUeXZeHo
Then — finally:100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIJSI5Lez3
“Partially. The cover-ups happened. But I didn’t know about all of them. I let the fear run the archive. And I let Mercy control that fear.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HqoAnnX2J
She stepped back from the lectern.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iVHsXiDM2
“I wasn’t innocent. But I wasn’t the architect either.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZj9o1rl2m
Mary rolled the pages up again.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYjBgYDcgl
“How can we trust that you are not trying to protect yourself. We need to decide what to do with this. Not the Order. Not even you, Naomi.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4SipyvKIi
Naomi nodded.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Y71VrOimp
She looked at Mary with a hint of something close to gratitude.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYa66QBEMm
“Then make sure whatever truth you choose next… doesn’t turn into another cage.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQjzMhPUbL
As Mary rolled up the real ledger pages and Naomi sat in quiet resignation, a slow clap echoed from the back of the Tribunal Hall.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGU64P93iU
All heads turned.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJYiJPKBqx
Seline stepped forward, eyes blazing.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPOCl87f14
“So that’s it? We’re supposed to believe the Order was never complicit? That Mercy lied, but Naomi just… forgot?”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpB6naHUQeC
June’s jaw tightened. “Seline—”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31Emqb3hSU
“No. I’ve listened long enough.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgILbr8GJz
She pointed at Naomi, then Mary.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkvpXle4ZL
“You covered for each other. You buried girls under perfect files and soft threats and fake silence. And now you want to be forgiven because someone else did worse?”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQF1H8toqIx
Kim stood, but didn’t speak.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjozEG6CojY
Seline stepped onto the tribunal platform.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnII8Fg4mN
“You all failed us. Naomi with her scripts. Mercy with her games. Even June with her riddles.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0rRNg1i4O
You think you saved us by picking the cleanest villain.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSka5GqHsmN
She pulled a thin red ribbon from her wrist and tied it around her thumb.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLq00CLWHfd
“I don’t owe this school another secret. I don’t owe this Order another name.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAsNfk8Kqcb
She faced the remaining prefects.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzDrd2Gten
“As of today, I start my own record. One that doesn’t vanish in burn bins or whisper vents. One that remembers.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMTdE1U8xy
She turned.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEDXKfW3CD
“You can keep your confessions. I’ll take the truth.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFWvFOZFuf
And she walked out.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgub7Ddo3nq
No one followed.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCR4d24kmq
But several girls looked at each other with new uncertainty.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNsY3x2d5v
As Naomi walked out, her fingers are trembling though nobody notices.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBh0jNKv2m2
In the archive box beneath Kim’s bed that night, a second folded black card is found — unsigned, but marked with a blue thumbprint.
*****100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UB1TrT0aO
The Assembly Hall had nearly emptied.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKsgCsuz4lX
Seline’s vow still echoed in the minds of those who remained. Naomi had retreated behind the archive walls. Mary and June spoke in hushed tones beside the crate.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbYUsQsDFJ
Kim slipped outside.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1JYfUl8GXT
She didn’t notice the breeze at first, or the swirl of jacaranda petals on the stone steps. Only when a shadow moved beside her did she exhale.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOXePgpdaY
Shiko.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4MYqPeJWNd
No words — just presence.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22TcDyt2ZM
For once, Kim didn’t resist the comfort. She leaned in, and Shiko placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8eauWmnuW
“You were right,” she whispered.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCrltscdoZ
“You didn’t flinch.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4bRVzChl4
Shiko gave a nervous smile. “I still wanted to.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOuPLk3Zd8j
Then — just above the wind, quiet enough to be mistaken for breath:100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiobph6Lulh
“I think I’ve always wanted to tell you.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOp9Io9ztoX
“That night by the wall. The message in the atlas. The fake card I planted to protect you.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbEy8JT6IF
Kim turned her face toward her.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAl6FxnIilA
“Why?”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzVmfZ49TH
Shiko swallowed. “Because… if they ever turned on you, I wouldn’t be able to stand behind a wall.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡql36uLLWPP
A pause.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh90UfyEG3P
Their foreheads touched for half a second. She almost let it linger.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLQnKqTyO5
But then — her eyes flicked.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVBZlYY9Uy
Across the courtyard. Toward the boys’ side.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGo3OzBM37
Toward Jabari, standing with Musa beneath the awning, just beyond reach — half-shadow, fully watching.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVDpiUw5OA
Her breath caught.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKjzk0Pvdw
She pulled back gently.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjKnk7x5Cuu
“You’re brave, Shiko. You always have been.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1KdPB8Noh
“But sometimes the person you trust the most… isn’t the one who unlocks the map.”100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMROoVxlWi
She squeezed her hand once. Then walked back away.
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