Incidents like taking care of Nora's injury painted Uncle Jasper and Aunt Emma in a positive light, which made others look up to them. No doubt, Uncle Jasper was warm-hearted, fond of helping others, and had high prestige. Perhaps his personality appearing to be a bit eccentric to Clarissa and Nora was because of the local social customs and rules. This was something that Clarissa could not tell for sure. Fortunately, there was no obvious activity at the moment, except for some small signs that something was not right. As long as they did not do anything harmful to Clarissa and Nora, Clarissa did not want to make any false accusations. With her thoughts sorted out, Clarissa felt more relaxed. Then, she walked in front of Uncle Jasper who was busy smoking his pipe, and greeted him cheerfully, "Good morning, Uncle Jasper!" Uncle Jasper turned his head, peeped at her, and returned her greeting, "Good morning. Breakfast should be ready soon. Go and
Aunt Emma explained, "This is a custom we have in our hometown. We weave a red cord for ourselves on our birthday as a lucky amulet." Clarissa could not help being curious. She came over and chatted with a smile, "It's so beautiful. Does everyone here make one for themselves every year?" Her question stunned Aunt Emma who shook her head immediately and replied. "No, the people here won't." "Why?" Both their eyes opened wide in amazement at Aunt Emma's answer and asked in reply. Right at this moment, Uncle Jasper walked in. Immediately, Aunt Emma bowed her head and did not continue with the conversation. When Uncle Jasper saw the three of them sitting together, he asked, "What are you discussing?" Clarissa and Nora shared a wink and replied with a smile, "Nothing important. We were talking about the doctor who just left. He is amazing. Nora was complaining about the pain in her leg. After changing the dressing and medicine, Nora does
"If they accept the inevitable, it will be good for everybody. Then, you won't have to worry about her escaping when she is yours. Isn't that perfect?" Uncle Jasper explained, and the man agreed as he nodded. "Yes, Uncle Jasper. You're right." Convinced, he smiled and added pleasantly, "Well, that's settled then. I'll go back and raise the money. I'll be back when the money is ready. Uncle Jasper waved his hand in agreement, and the man left. Clarissa watched as the other man left while Uncle Jasper finished his pipe before going into the house. Without a sound, she stealthily crept inside through the backdoor. Upon returning to her room, Clarissa was all sixes and sevens. Nora was not asleep yet as she was waiting for Clarissa's return. As Clarissa walked in, Nora asked, "Are you better now? Is your tummy better?" With a nod, Clarissa replied, "I'm fine now." As she spoke, she secured the door and then listened for any
Finally, Clarissa stopped laughing and asked Nora, "Do you think that if we beat up the old couple downstairs, we can escape?" Nora blinked in surprise as the answer was obvious to her. However, Clarissa shook her head and disagreed, "No, you are wrong. Even if we beat them up and tie them so that they cannot come after us, we still cannot escape." Puzzled, Nora asked, "Why not?" Clarissa thought that it would be difficult for her to explain. Therefore, she related how in Kuddelkogh Village, Aunt Anne used children to keep surveillance on her. Then, she further elaborated. "Do you get it now? Although we are in Uncle Jasper's hands currently, the truth is that the whole village, even the few nearby villages, are working together." "The moment we try to escape, one yell from Uncle Jasper will bring out the entire village to help him capture us." "I'm sure you can beat up Uncle Jasper and Aunt Emma. But, can you beat up perh
Uncle Jasper and Aunt Emma were talking furtively in low voices. Clarissa could not hear what they were saying as she was standing on the other side. The small hill where Clarissa was had lots of flowers, and she was picking flowers of various colors. As Uncle Jasper watched her, he scoffed at her naivety and remarked, "What a naive little lady. She is still picking flowers under such circumstances." His words sent a chill down Aunt Emma, but she remained silent. When Clarissa had picked a big bunch of flowers, she ran over and chirped with a smile, "Uncle Jasper, Aunt Emma, don't you think these flowers are beautiful?" Uncle Jasper broke into a big smile and answered, "Yes, indeed." "Can I take them back and brighten up the living room?" Clarissa asked innocently. "Sure, it's up to you," Uncle Jasper replied. They thought that it was only natural for Clarissa, a young lady, to like flowers. Little did they know that the
All of a sudden, Aunt Emma stopped dead in her tracks. Immediately, Clarissa, who was walking behind her, also stopped. Clarissa cried out in surprise, "What's wrong?" In response, Aunt Emma turned around and faced Clarissa. She looked perturbed and asked, "Where are you from?" It was such a simple question. Clarissa smiled and answered, "Ascijan. Do you know where that is?" Clarissa's answer appeared to surprise Aunt Emma as her expression changed. Aunt Emma knew that people from different countries in this Meshistan region shared common facial features. When Clarissa and Nora first arrived, they spoke foreign language fluently. To further disguise her origins, Nora even spoke in the Ashax country language. This led Uncle Jasper and Aunt Emma to believe that they were from Ashax Country. Since Clarissa and Nora were good friends and were on the trip together, they were presumed to be from the same country. When Aunt Emma hea
The man rubbed his hands in glee and replied with a grin, "No rush. I'm just here to look around." He walked around the kitchen as he spoke. After a few rounds, he walked behind the stove. "Hey, aren't you the lady Uncle Jasper rescued? What's your name?" He was talking to Nora. Reluctantly, Nora raised her head and shot him a contemptuous, sarcastic look and asked in return, "What's that got to do with you?" The man was thrown off-guard. He did not know how to react for a moment. "What did you say?" "You can't even understand what I said, yet you want to ask for my name?" Nora retorted. The man froze. There was no mistake what she meant this time. Perhaps he had never met such a fiery personality, for it took him a while before he snickered, "Pfft. You're hot-tempered, huh. I like it." Nora glared fiercely at him again. How she wished she could hurl the fire tongs at him. But for now, she had to
"What?" Nora was stunned and propped herself up in bed. Once again, Clarissa pushed hard to open the door, but still, the door didn't budge. It was then she knew she was not mistaken—the door was indeed locked from the outside. Frustrated and angry, she turned and walked back to the bed, ranting pensively, "Things are looking bad. I suspect they found out that we are not who we say we are." Nora was equally frustrated and whinged, "Oh no. What should we do?" Before she answered, Clarissa thought for a while. "Let's not rush. Let's see what they are up to first. If it turns out bad, then..." If it turned out bad, then it would be a head-on fight. Even when the situation turned for the worse, Nora and she must not separate at all cost. Suddenly, Clarissa remembered the piece of paper that she hid in the corner of the bed. She took it out and examined the map that she had drawn on the paper. When she was done, she folded it and p