"I thought I no longer had the right to choose." Curacao looked at the butterfly knife still unopened in Tangze's palm. As she spoke, she could not help giving a self-mocking smile. "No... perhaps I never did."
She had not chosen to come into this world incomplete. Nor had she chosen to be taken in by an orphanage, only to be taken away by the Organization.
She had always been pushed forward passively, never knowing where the end lay. Other than enduring everything fate gave her, she had learned nothing.
Rum was not an easy leader to work with, but he was wealthy, valued material comforts, and never treated his people poorly. After following Rum and becoming his confidante, she at least no longer went hungry. Her material life was reasonably comfortable, and she could barely be said to have lived decently.
As for freedom...
"A life with choices is a luxury, Tangze." Curacao's gaze moved from his palm to his face. She sounded as though she were delivering her last words, yet also as though she were offering comfort and reflection. "Even the smallest choice is. Cherish it."
After crawling out of such a deep abyss, stepping over countless bones to finally reach the sunlight, do not betray that good fortune, Kumeru.
With that thought, Curacao raised her hand, intending to take the knife from Tangze's hand herself and use it as her answer.
She still had a chance to run. Curacao knew that very well.
No matter how capable Kumeru was, he was alone here now. He also had to consider the identity he was currently using. In front of people connected to Tang Ze Zhao, he could not do anything too extreme.
As long as she found a suitable opening to leave, Kumeru would presumably turn a