“Card of Betrayal”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLN4wVaGEc
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuDe0qgNFNi
Naomi stood at the podium under dim, deliberate lighting.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18m1nGP4hR
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9MLIjJ9QB
“Today,” Naomi began, voice crisp, “we close a page.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMoTXE7It7
“The ledgers within this crate represent the past we choose not to forget—but to contain.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxHllQ3mtK
The prefects stood still. No movement.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH90QIpm6xt
Naomi leaned forward. “Let it be known: Mercy’s ledger, last of its kind, is here. And this assembly will witness its archiving.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8ahkYRutN
She lifted the lid slowly. Tissue and canvas inside.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdX17JxI5k0
Perfectly wrapped.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XscC74Jfv
She reached in.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb6DSlP1TQw
Paused.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsWEkLREeI
Her hand emerged—not with a ledger. But with a flat black card, stamped with a silver serpent.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi98i763nRx
Gasps rang through the hall.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Uqxem9r1u
Naomi stared at it, frozen.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnb6OX1tivL
She whispered sharply, “That wasn’t in the crate.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FaQrpzk5G
Mary stepped forward, too late.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlKWRFfCcl
“There’s been a switch—!”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBWd7Kq4ZW
But the room had already turned.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48b8X0hbez
“Is that… Mercy’s mark? Did Naomi fake the crate?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeAaP6nmCO
“Was this whole thing a setup?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjvGacERfq
From the back of the hall, a junior whispered to another:60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnga3cR1VN
“She said she had nothing left to hide. Then what’s that?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu72qbFRmAv
Naomi placed the card down without a word.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFbcvad9lV
The silence was suffocating.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWj9ivqRxn
Then she said, slowly:60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nQDzowOQx
“This is not the card we inspected last night.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tgNjSU6Nl
Murmurs spread. A few laughed nervously. Others stepped backward.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJ3o2pgKKa
Kim whispered, “There were two?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX21hOuGv42
June’s face hardened. “Or someone replaced ours after we destroyed it.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNScNKCJzK
The room was already vibrating with uncertainty.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3c1k6oLof
Naomi's fingers hovered over the black card, but her composure had cracked. Whispers were no longer whispers.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPDYs3Pa5E
“She’s not in control.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPCsQSLmom
“This was never about safety.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmBa9JymE8u
“Mercy’s winning.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfRtugP3OI
Suddenly—60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrIQfeZTCR
June stepped forward. Without asking.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KTVPFy7gl
She snatched the card from Naomi’s hand — held it up to the hall’s filtered light.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GTEVAtbR2
Gasps rang out.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgdG3nfK6BG
In the upper right corner, only visible at an angle under the glow of the nearby reading lamp:60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TMre1J8I5
A faint signature. In soft gold ink.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzDGygSt4NI
One name:60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9H0qQOJUO
Ayo.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAj6CGlS4X
A prefect shouted, “One of the boys?!”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAn5SpMwB2q
Another hissed, “So they set us up?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkrrEDW1Tb
Kim’s jaw tightened. “That’s why the card wasn’t just symbolic. It was bait.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7O15G6vEPA
Naomi stood frozen — trying to catch her breath, the weight of the card finally gone from her hands.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGIzvS2yGe
June turned to the room:60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3u3banl1px
“This is not Mercy’s card. This is a forged threat. It carries the signature of a boy who helped deliver the crate.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNi9oMJjWK
Gasps deepened into murmurs.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFnHQpOTVK
“It was a plant. So, the alliance wasn’t fake—someone tried to make it look fake.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVwgLdAJR4
June turned toward Naomi — not confrontationally, but like a scalpel in a surgeon’s grip.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJjMJiNh50
“You need to decide, Naomi. Either call this what it is — sabotage — or let them write your ending for you.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zW0TNGASk
Naomi finally nodded.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdPAU1SydXH
She turned back to the room.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu70XAv29vL
Naomi quietly sealed the box again, her voice calm.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CKxAQkuBo
“The Tribunal is postponed.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2uQfQ7IzA
The Tribunal Hall had half-emptied. Girls were filing out in low whispers after Naomi’s announcement suspending the boys’ alliance.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBznMg1oyXF
But Mary stayed behind, unmoving. June stood by the crate. Kim lingered at the base of the lectern. Naomi had turned to leave.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0S8y7EzPd
That’s when Mary stepped forward.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtXrmhHqF4F
“There’s something else,” she said quietly.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhTnWvchgv
Naomi turned.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GOZkeE1eT
“Not now, Mary—”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3QWa4PcwR
“Now,” Mary repeated, louder.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpyF5X1xcm
From her jacket, she pulled a tightly rolled bundle. The room stilled again.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnD0XIWhQsV
“This passed through the old herbarium drain vent.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbESJ6B9tjt
She unrolled the pages on the center table.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfy0JhTigM6
Real ledger pages.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIipbzCEeh
Stiff, yellowed, handwritten. Dated.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOFqLVFFbu
June stepped in, scanning the topmost page.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwribGbTSU
Mercy’s handwriting. Pages of surveillance. Fabricated claims.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltlHebcgTg
Invented correspondences.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7vzeG40sF
Mary flipped to one marked in red:60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmRWflPLE5
“Naomi collaborated with external prefects to remove dissenters in Form 3. False medical reports approved.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9oaUxIVUrJ
Naomi stared at it.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIao9JP192
Kim stepped forward. “Is it real?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmwQKQrfBRA
Naomi didn’t speak for a long time.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxISIyvrKt
Then — finally:60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6jHSIOy4A
“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.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWup3ZpiXYo
She stepped back from the lectern.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIDgJUuxjr
“I wasn’t innocent. But I wasn’t the architect either.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gwUcj5r3h
Mary rolled the pages up again.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrf1yB20w1b
“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.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAl5oXivvQb
Naomi nodded.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIA1MpWvAm7
She looked at Mary with a hint of something close to gratitude.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVOwXhUypB
“Then make sure whatever truth you choose next… doesn’t turn into another cage.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuPFMusvYQ
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjEMwMQ7Yl
All heads turned.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1B08rm21W
Seline stepped forward, eyes blazing.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenx1xcoVZk
“So that’s it? We’re supposed to believe the Order was never complicit? That Mercy lied, but Naomi just… forgot?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoaXk77eugp
June’s jaw tightened. “Seline—”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMHVrYu1hP
“No. I’ve listened long enough.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynS3w2y5sK
She pointed at Naomi, then Mary.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3DgSX8lQu
“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?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEMiX9XND7
Kim stood, but didn’t speak.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAZluVELH8
Seline stepped onto the tribunal platform.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqJvG06IIQ
“You all failed us. Naomi with her scripts. Mercy with her games. Even June with her riddles.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJLUFnBgNN
You think you saved us by picking the cleanest villain.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdiIBRcPRU
She pulled a thin red ribbon from her wrist and tied it around her thumb.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2K8lnZSLQ
“I don’t owe this school another secret. I don’t owe this Order another name.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqow7qYOgX
She faced the remaining prefects.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKpA1FMNuV
“As of today, I start my own record. One that doesn’t vanish in burn bins or whisper vents. One that remembers.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRj1wudt7X
She turned.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9ILIsYsoB
“You can keep your confessions. I’ll take the truth.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQB6XvCe2g
And she walked out.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCwY4mFrXx
No one followed.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVyQEbQLDM
But several girls looked at each other with new uncertainty.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrudI8R6gmU
As Naomi walked out, her fingers are trembling though nobody notices.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGa4pzJDGlx
In the archive box beneath Kim’s bed that night, a second folded black card is found — unsigned, but marked with a blue thumbprint.
*****60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNGjF3Tc0x
The Assembly Hall had nearly emptied.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwW6Y6QcobK
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaupf1BgL2
Kim slipped outside.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mGOqscSPX
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymaMJgyKrD
Shiko.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpChPfeZVp
No words — just presence.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZO9ee1y7i
For once, Kim didn’t resist the comfort. She leaned in, and Shiko placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ia3fyQ67I
“You were right,” she whispered.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYopBocXmAI
“You didn’t flinch.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwVvMQqJkc
Shiko gave a nervous smile. “I still wanted to.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUB3jUvdh5
Then — just above the wind, quiet enough to be mistaken for breath:60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ9yU63dhUT
“I think I’ve always wanted to tell you.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIeC3SQUCz
“That night by the wall. The message in the atlas. The fake card I planted to protect you.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzjeGaYTQn
Kim turned her face toward her.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCT0lOwLxtF
“Why?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6sVwHYiR4
Shiko swallowed. “Because… if they ever turned on you, I wouldn’t be able to stand behind a wall.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlSpxbubH9
A pause.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFPBNWl7lg
Their foreheads touched for half a second. She almost let it linger.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFFIZuDEvNS
But then — her eyes flicked.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoR1h8PfGg
Across the courtyard. Toward the boys’ side.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81mFuw0YRT
Toward Jabari, standing with Musa beneath the awning, just beyond reach — half-shadow, fully watching.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTON2dXEQf
Her breath caught.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnFgHcF0u2
She pulled back gently.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfj1k0funwv
“You’re brave, Shiko. You always have been.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqA4T8VzeXI
“But sometimes the person you trust the most… isn’t the one who unlocks the map.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVQ2m4xhz3
She squeezed her hand once. Then walked back away.
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