Time passed and Eva fully recovered from her wounds. However, it was to get poisoned almost immediately. The moment she ingested a mouthful of food, BaoBao warned her that there were signs of poison in her body. Just as she found it weird that she would be the one poisoned when the target was Austin, an idea flashed in her mind. She hastily snatched the utensils from Austin's hand. However, he had already taken two more mouthfuls than her.
Later that night, everyone in the household fell sick like Eva expected. They puked so much that they continued to lurch even after there was nothing left to puke out. They itched so badly that they would have scratched their skin off in their delirium if they were not bounded up. Eva was the least affected, followed by the others who were at the table with Eva that night. Since they were only lightly poisoned, their symptoms were more bearable. Unfortunately, the doctor's wife was weaker, so she had to be restrained like the others.
"This is for you." Austin gave her a large brown box. Eva stared at the gift in surprise. Then, she quickly took out her notebook and scribbled messily. "I didn't prepare anything for you." "You don't have to. You already gave me something precious on my birthday. This is just something small in return." Austin said with a smile. She sighed lightly, then carefully took the box from Austin. Austin looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to open it, so she did. Inside the box was a pair of brown boots that would reach up to her calves. Just as she reached for it, Austin placed his hand over hers and whispered, "Be careful. There are hidden blades in the soles and here..." He moved his hand to take the boots up for her to inspect more closely. "You can store your smaller weapons." Eva's eyes sparkled. She had considered creating something like this for herself but she had shelved the idea, prioritising ones that would help the bodygua
While everyone was busy cleaning up the aftermath, Austin sat cross-legged on the floor with his arms propped on the bed. He gazed at her sleeping profile sadly. "Why is it always you who's getting hurt...?" He whispered.After a few seconds, Austin's eyes slowly grew wider as an idea surfaced in his mind. /It's always her... It's always her! Everyone else only gets injured when they're with her. The target has never been me!/The moment he arrived at that conclusion, everything else made sense to him and he immediately have a prime suspect in mind. He got up and stormed out to catch the bastard himself. /Damn it! We've wasted a year for nothing! All because I saw things from the wrong perspective! And that bastard dares to act loony to throw off my suspicions... The moment I get my hands on him, I'll tear him to pieces!/When he went out to the garden and saw the familiar uniform of royal guards, he wasted no time in ordering for them to follo
While Eva was still unconscious, Austin had been doing some research into ways that he could help Eva in the event that she really lost her hearing. This was how he found out about a small community that started teaching something called sign language. It took more time for Austin to get someone he could trust from the community to be a live in tutor since they were from a faraway town. In the meantime, Eva pretended to practice lip reading and improved quickly. Eventually, the only difference from the past was that everyone now had to make sure that she was looking at them before they spoke. By the time the tutor arrived, Eva had largely recovered and was well enough to resume her exercises. Her wounds left bad scars all over her body. One of it covered slightly more than half of her face. If she was already unattractive before, it was even worse now. Although she knew that most would deem her as unsightly, Eva did not mind. She never felt attractive before. She even though
For the rest of the day, Austin became even more clingy and persistently stayed by Eva's side. He also allowed only the most trusted people in the household to be on the second floor of the central wing, which constituted only a handful of people. The next morning arrived together with a letter for Eva which Edwin delivered to her room. Eva and Austin frowned at the pink envelope in her hand. It was not the usual cream coloured one Austin received from Esmeralda. However, he gave it a benefit of the doubt, thinking that Esmeralda may have changed the colour since it was addressed to Eva instead. However, Eva stayed cautious. Why would Esmeralda send a letter to her? She opened the envelope with extreme care. There was no string or trap within it. It was really just a pretty envelope holding a pretty scented paper. However, the writing was dark, harsh, and messy. Anyone could tell that it was written with much anger and hate. "I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU. You
BANG! BANG! BANG! Drey's wide smile stayed on his face as the light in his crazed eyes slowly faded away. His body fell onto the floor like a marionette whose strings got cut. Austin put his gun down, fired the green flare right up above them, then crawled towards Eva very slowly, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Austin had momentarily passed out due to the pain, then was brought back by a different pain. It was like everything that touched his skin carried static. Through the pain, he located Drey and found him fighting with Eva. As much as he wanted to act immediately, he had only one shot left. Drey was the healthiest and fittest there. A slip up from them and Drey would slip away. Worst still, Eva's life would be lost. Austin's patience paid off in the end. Upon reaching Eva's side, he took out the antidote that was in his ring and tried to put it in her mouth. However, Eva kept her mouth shut, and shook her head ever so slightly. He knew that
Luna opened her eyes and a breathtakingly beautiful mural of a night sky full of stars greeted her. There was a prominent moon in the middle of the mural. It looked graceful and outstanding. Although it was just shades of grey and black paint on a white ceiling, it looked like a masterpiece to Luna. It was piece that brought tears to her eyes. Her heart thumped loudly as her hands moved to feel what was beneath her. It cannot be. Did she return home? She sat up and took a good look around. It was indeed her room, but it was not either. Everything in her room looked the same. Erica's mural on the ceiling and the elaborate paintings hanging on the white walls. The green plants by the corners. Her study table and chair. The tall and wide bookshelf beside it. The only strange difference was the falling plum blossoms outside her window, which also seemed to give off a dim glow.BaoBao appeared at the doorway of her room. "Surprised, aren't you?" He beamed."What's going on?
It did not take long for BaoBao to receive their next assignment.A book with a brown cover and gold trimmings and words appeared between them. Luna returned the previous book to BaoBao then took the new book. BaoBao made the previous book disappear then informed her that he left the book on her study table."Why?""You don't want to keep it?""Well, it's not like this is the first time we got rewarded for our performance... And I don't really see the need to collect it.""It's never too late to start~ And they're like trophies! Every time we see them, we can be reminded of our accomplishments! Isn't that great?""Well... You have a point." A small smile tugged on her lips. "You've indeed grown, BaoBao."Her compliment made BaoBao beam and puff his chest out with pride.On her way to the sofa, BaoBao glanced at the dining table that was not too far away and asked, "It's funny how there's food here when you don't eve
A soft beeping sound woke Luna up. She sat up on the small but comfy white bed and looked around. The room looked futuristic and minimalistic. Everything were shades of white. Blue light that indicated the time shone through the wall above the study table opposite her bed. It was still 7am in the morning. The window behind her was opaque and merely gave off an ambient light.Suddenly, BaoBao appeared by the study table then touched a device that looked like a bluetooth earpiece in her original world. His body started to look like television static as he faded away."BaoBao?"After a brief moment of silence, BaoBao's voice rang through her mind.[Woah!! This place is awesome! Everything in your tiny home can be controlled with thisONE communication device! What would you like to do first? Bathe? Eat? Surf the web? Watch a show?]While BaoBao threw out his suggestions, he simultaneously activated them in her room. The sound