Inside a headquarters unknown to the public, six people were sitting and chatting amongst themselves. The door opened and a stout man with a long moustache appeared. "Hm? Where's my welcome?!" he protested, but was immediately shoved aside by the man behind him.
Making way for the man behind him to pass, "We're back," he said before walking in, ignoring his friend Caesar, who was protesting and grumbling at him.
"Shut up or I'll turn you into a golden statue," he threatened, but the man wearing the crown showed no sign of fear—SMASH—the glass bottle he threw shattered and scattered across the floor.
"You two, be quiet or I'll poison you before you've even had a chance to vomit up all your blood," said the woman with black hair and a purple overlay, continuing to stare at her own reflection in the mirror she was holding. "You're disturbing me whilst I'm making myself look beautiful."
Hearing this, Midas shot her a sharp look. "I'm amazed your mirror hasn't shattered after you've stared at it for hours on end, Miralda," he remarked, but it didn't faze the woman in the slightest.
"That's because my mirror absolutely adores looking at my beautiful face," she said with utter confidence, without so much as a glance at the man who had mocked her.
Midas walked over, followed by Caesar behind him; they approached the round table before sitting down in their respective chairs. He looked towards the woman with purple hair, wearing a long black gown that made her look elegant.
"You're the one who should be Pride, not Envy," Midas said before chuckling softly and glancing at the blonde girl beside him. "Isn't that right, Juliet?"
The girl turned her head; her red eyes met Midas's golden ones. "You two are always bickering like a married couple," she teased with an amused smile on her face.
"Not a chance," they both said in unison.
"Oh! Juliet, there's something I want to tell you!" said Caesar before helping himself to some crisps from a rather large bowl.
"Oh?! Have you found a lovely stray cat for me to keep, just as I asked?!" She practically leapt off her seat with a broad grin on her face; from his eyes, Caesar could tell she was desperately hoping he would say yes.
Midas chuckled softly as he watched it all; Caesar shook his head before letting out a long sigh. "No. But we saw a girl who looked just like you—could she be the twin you once told us about?" he asked, and this immediately made the girl look depressed and turn her face away.
"Hmph, I didn't hear anything you heard, and I don't care anyway," she said, folding her arms and puffing out her cheeks. Seeing this, Caesar felt annoyed because the girl named Juliet was so quick to sulk.
"You really are the worst," taunted the girl, who was a year younger than Juliet; she had orange twin-tails and emerald-green eyes. Beside her stood a boy a year older with exactly the same appearance. "Yeah, we don't even fancy eating you, you pervert."
"I won't let you lot eat me either, kids," said the man labelled a pervert, glancing at a man who was fast asleep. "Take old Rip as an example—he can still sleep soundly. Kids your age would be better off having a nap."
Before the girl could reply, Juliet had already slammed her hand down on the table with a broad, mischievous grin. "Yes! You'd better go to sleep—you look so adorable when you're asleep," said the girl with her tomboyish blonde hair parted at the sides, before dashing back to her seat.
"Wait, how did you know what I look like when I'm asleep—" Before she could finish speaking, she was already being hugged tightly by an exuberant Juliet.
"You forgot to lock the door, Gretty," said Juliet with a chuckle.
"You just barge into people's rooms! What on earth did you do to me whilst I was asleep?!"
"Hm? Not much, don't worry, Gretty."
"There must have been lots!"
"And don't call me Gretty! My name's Gretel," she said, trying hard to break free from the strong hug of the aggressive girl. Gretel glanced at the boy sitting next to her. "Hansel, help me!" But the boy remained focused on eating the roast meat in front of him.
"Seriously, we saw a girl called Alice, just as the boss described, and surprisingly, she looks just like you," said Midas, whilst the girl he was talking to was still rubbing her head against Gretel's. The orange-haired girl's mouth then landed on Juliet's left arm before she bit it, causing Juliet to automatically break free from the embrace.
"Gretty… you're so mean..." Juliet acted as if she were about to cry to elicit sympathy from Gretel, though it didn't work.
"Hey, answer my question—" Before Midas could finish, a bottle of potion was hurled at him, which he swiftly dodged. As he turned, the liquid from the bottle hit the wooden floor, instantly scorching and damaging the wood. "You're trying to kill me, aren't you?!"
"You won't stop asking questions and it's so annoyingly annoying!" the girl shouted before hurling various potions at Midas. "I don't know anyone called Alice—my twin's name is Red and I love her very much!" Midas caught all the potions and turned them into gold.
"Remind me why we joined this team?" Gretel muttered, glancing at her brother, who was still busy eating.
"Because we're paid well, and it's enough to fill our hungry bellies," said Hansel before pulling out a bowl of sweets for Gretel, who immediately tucked into them.
"Can't you lot be more like Rip? Even though he killed Mother, he doesn't make a fuss," said the woman, who was still applying make-up to make herself look absolutely flawless.
"That's because he's Sloth, obviously," said Caesar before leaning back in his chair.
Miralda finally looked around and noticed an empty chair. "By the way, where's that bearded scoundrel?" Hearing that, Caesar and Midas, who had just finished arguing, looked around.
"I don't know, nobody does," replied Gretel as she continued to eat the sweets without removing the wrappers.
"Juliet," Caesar called out, and he saw the girl was already glued to the orange-haired girl again, who was still munching on those sweets.
"Ugh, what do you want? I'm enjoying my meal here," protested Gretel. Upon hearing this, Juliet tilted her head slightly before flashing a mischievous smile.
"I know, and I'm sure you've eaten all my attention." she said, but Caesar immediately lifted her off the ground and finally, Gretel was able to breathe a sigh of relief. "Hey! Do you have a problem, you big pervert?!" she shouted angrily, throwing a few punches, though they only made Caesar feel tickled.
"You really weren't given the title 'Lust' for nothing, were you?" the man muttered before letting out a long, weary sigh; he wondered why on earth he'd ended up on the same team as this mad girl.
"I want you to find that hothead. You've heard me, haven't you, Juliet Alighieri?"