“Boss, you okay?” Olive asked and handed Ashriel a coffee. They had been flying for eight hours now, and the clouds were getting thicker. “Want to change position?”
“Yes,” Ashriel answered and shifted position with Olive. Olive heard the small sound of Ashriel’s bones as she stretched her body. “I didn’t have the chance to stretch today. My body felt stiff.” She said with a hoarse voice as her hands reached for both of her feet. Olive chuckled.
“Boss, can I ask?”
“Hmm?”
“How did you managed to let the First General allow you? I mean, he knows that we are going to the boundary of Kauis and the Seiron Kingdom, right? He knows how dangerous this mission is.” Olive asked carefully. Ashriel sat besi
“Which among the two of you is my Atarah?” His lips gave a slight twitch, and his fingers held his chin. Seeing the brawny man in General’s uniform, Olive fell on her knees. The man motioned his hand, and his secretary closed the double door. Ashriel was still unable to speak as what she was looking at slowly sank into her mind. When the man walked towards her, she stepped back. “No, this is impossible.” She whispered and took another step back. Olive remained kneeling with her head flat on the floor. “Ah! You’re Atarah!” The man exclaimed. Ashriel gulped and shook her head. “I don’t believe this. Prove your identity.” She said with a warning tone, and the man stopped walking closely. He then burst into laughter. &ldq
“Grandpappy, good morning.” Ashriel greeted as soon as she saw Valor’s back after walking for more than fifteen minutes from the Palace. “Good morning, dear one. Why are you up so early?” Valor asked and stood up from his seat to greet Ashriel. “Come, have tea with me.” Ashriel kissed his cheeks and sat in the chair opposite to him. A small table with a tea set stands between them. “You’re right on time. I did not yet brew the tea. Can I ask you to brew a delicious one for me? I think I missed it.” Valor asked with a small laugh. “Of course, Grandpappy. I bet you missed Granny’s tea, not mine.” “Ha-ha! Meredith was the one who taught you how to brew it, so your tea is the same as hers as well.” Valor rubbed his beard, which made Ashriel mope
The night was quiet, but not the people gathered around the old-looking shack inside the dark forest. The place looked desolate, but in reality, it was a meeting place. Donovan threw his wine glass on the wooden wall, making the people around him shudder in fear. “That bitch! Arrgh!” He stood up, pulled his wooden chair, and thwacked it on the floor, breaking it to pieces. Everyone trembled in fear and fell on their knees aside from the two firm-bodied men who wore expressionless faces standing beside Donovan. “How about the system? Did you get anything? Even a damn little piece of information about their plan or anything?!” He fumes, and the hacker assigned to hack Aparctias’ system fell his face flat on the floor. “S-Sir, I’m really sorry. We used all of our prominent hackers but-“
Xieaniel leaned back on his chair, gazing into the fire. His laboratory was silent. He strained his ears, trying to hear through the walls, listening for sound from outside. There was nothing save a gentle scraping of the rose tree at the window which faced the forest. Where was Olive? He sighed deeply. “You’re not even that talkative but it felt so silent now.” He whispered in the air and removed his glasses. He pressed his eyes down, reminiscing his memories with Olive. It’s been almost a month since Olive and Ashriel left. Xieaniel then remembered the first time Olive dashed inside his office eight years ago. Xieaniel was busy tightening the system of Austere and he flinched when the door burst open, revealing a woman with short brown hair and tired-looking brown eyes. She did not even bat an eye at Xieaniel and quickly slammed herself on the small bed, good
Raith looked intently at Kate whose eyes widened. She then pointed her index finger to herself. “Yes, I’m talking to you.” Lady Octavia said. “Raith’s ideal type is totally ideal, my daughter. Unlike you who’s ideal type was worthless.” Kate’s ears burned as she clenched her jaw. Lady Octavia really like Elias for her daughter not until the Great Revolt happened and Elias and Luis were forced to stay with Amber. “I hope your ideal is someone who is the total opposite of Elia-“ Lady Octavia stopped when Kate stood up from her seat angrily, making her seat fall on the ground. “Manners-“ “My ideal type is someone who has the guts to call me ugly and weak, mom. Someone who’s brave enough to steal m
Kate hugged her pillow tightly but… “When did my pillow become this hard,”She asked herself and stopped when she felt something moving above her. “Since when did my pillow stroked my hair?”She asked herself again. Slowly, she opened her eyes. For a moment her vision was blurry then she saw a foggy familiar face smiling at her. “Good morning.” His voice was husky. She blinked a couple of times before realizing the state she was in. Her hands wrapped tightly to Raith’s waist, and she just removed her face from his firm chest. Her head pillowed Raith’s arm, and his free hand gently strokes her hair. Her eyes widene
Ashriel looked at her reflection in the mirror and her eyes caught the necklace Nathan gave. She took a deep breath and looked at Olive who was staring at her for a while now. “Boss, will you be okay?” She asked worriedly. Ashriel sighed deeply before nodding her head. “This will be a dangerous mission.” Olive added and Ashriel walked towards her. Ashriel and Olive’s mission will take place at the Seiron Kingdom but before they can enter that forsaken place, they needed to pass through the border and the dreadful security. Dreadful because when the system detects unknown people, it automatically releases bombs. And the most unwanted person in the Seiron Kingdom is Ashriel, causing their mission to be more dreadful. “If not for the innocent people, I already sent nuclear bomb or hydrogen b
“Why are you scared of the Ruler?” Ashriel asked her. “I heard that she is vicious and merciless. And she kills people who are useless.” The woman felt her body slightly shudder. “I never saw her face but I think, I’ll faint in fear if ever I do.” She chuckled and gave Ashriel the paper bag containing the food and drink she bought. Ashriel’s face distorted.“Is that really my image for my people?”She asked herself. “You said you are a new recruit. Do you have any place to sleep?” The woman asked and Ashriel stopped. It was her mission to enter Seiron but having a place to stay was out of her mind. She held her head. “For Pete’s sake how can I forget that?”She asked herself angrily. Seeing what she did, the lady l