The moment the cloth was untied from Emi’s face, along with her ropes, she was greeted by a sight she didn’t expect to see. She scanned her surroundings, she was clearly still in the forest, but the sight in front of her didn’t seem like a forest. It was filled with people, who were all males, strolling around, laughing or either sparring with one another or training themselves with some equipment.

          “It doesn’t seem so bad, does it?” Someone muttered into Emi’s ear, making her jump and cover her ear, narrowing her eyes at the person who did that to her.

          She met a pair of black eyes, putting out his hand towards her, his back slightly hunched to meet her eye to eye.

          “Sorry for not introducing myself before, I’m Yun.” Yun grinned at Emi, who stared at Yun’s hand warily, not even making a move to shake his hand.

          “Yun, don’t even bother introducing yourself to her.” Another voice said, a voice that Emi was extremely familiar with and definitely a voice she detested.

          Yun’s hand was smacked away by Kris’ hand and Kris narrowed his eyes at Yun, who sighed in response. Their interaction and the new arrival of a stranger slowly captured the attention of the other mercenaries who stared curiously at the beautiful woman among their two leaders in the group.

          “This grumpy gentleman here is Kris, don’t worry, he isn’t always like this.” Yun’s grin was plastered back on his face again and Emi just took a cautious step back from them, raising her eyebrow.

          Gentleman?

          You have got to be joking.

          Yun noticed Emi’s expression, his grin appearing sheepish now.

          Well, he’s only grumpy towards people like you.

          “Boss, who’s that woman?”

          “She’s pretty.”

          “Is she your lover?”

          “Why did you bring her here?”

          “Is she allowed to even be here?”

          Kris and Yun were immediately bombarded by questions from their comrades. Observing them closely, Emi raised an eyebrow at the crowd around Kris and Yun, cocking her head to one side at seeing the bright expressions on all of their faces.

          Why do they seem so happy to see the both of them? Especially the man called Kris, his personality is the worst.

          Taking the opportunity of their distraction, Emi tried to slip away from her kidnappers, until someone suddenly grabbed onto her wrist, making her stumble back, a silent gasp coming out from .

          “She’s someone you all should know very well, isn’t that right, Shadow Rogue?” Kris smirked coldly at Emi, who stared intently at his hand that was clasped onto her wrist.

          “She’s the Shadow Rogue?”

          “What a beauty!”

          “She’s the girl who defeated Aman?”

          The mercenaries broke out into a loud commotion, causing an annoyed frown to appear on Kris’ face as Yun let out a small sigh.

          “She’ll only be here for a few days, so there’s nothing to worry about. Just make sure doesn’t do anything funny while I’m gone, that rule also applies to all of you.” Kris said, not realising that his hand was still wrapped around Emi’s wrist, but Emi didn’t seem bothered by his hand, instead she stared blankly at his hand, not struggling to get out of his grip.

          …warmth…

          How long has it been since I’ve felt proper warmth?

          This warmth…this gentle warmth…

          I missed it so much, so very, very much.

          The gentle warmth from Kris’ palm caused another short memory to pass through Emi’s mind, her eyes widening in shock.

          “Emi! Let’s go, the festival is about to begin!”

          “Coming, mother!”

          A young Emi scrambled over to her mother’s side, who chuckled at her messy state as her mother squatted down to adjust her messy looks.

          “You silly child, why do you look so messy?”

          The young Emi grinned sheepishly and her mother let out a sigh, a resigned smile tugging at her lips. Grabbing onto her daughter’s hand, she pulled her daughter along outside of the house.

          “Let’s go, Emi.”

          The loving warmth from her mother’s palm made Emi smile blissfully as she nodded eagerly, skipping along in her steps.

          Emi let out a shaky breath, glancing up at Kris, who was explaining the unexpected circumstances to his comrades and Emi could look at him in disbelief.

          This man disdains people like my kind without finding out the reason why.

          It’s normal for this kind of judgmental person to seem cold-hearted to others, but I wonder why he gives out such a gentle warmth…

          Especially to someone like me.

          Absorbed in her thoughts, Emi didn’t realise that Kris was calling out to her, making him frown as he started waving his hand in front of her face, releasing his hand from her wrist once he noticed Emi staring intensely at them. Startled, Emi flinched and blinked rapidly, looking up at Kris who narrowed his eyes at her.

          “You’ll be staying here for a few days, until the owner of the request comes to claim you, got it? So, don’t even think about escaping, it’s useless.”

          Emi ignored his words, walking off and pulling her beloved horse along with her as he only glared at her back, muttering something out.

          “If it weren’t for the request, I wouldn’t even leave you alive.”

          Managing to catch the threatening words, Emi’s heart skipped a beat but she kept a neutral expression on her face as she continued to walk off from everyone.

          I must be insane.

          This man has no warmth at all, he’s a cold-hearted man. How could have excreted that kind of gentle warmth?

          Unbelievable.

          Emi let out a scoff as Kris walked into their headquarters, Yun accompanying Kris but not before throwing Emi a sad smile at Emi’s disappearing back.

          *********************************************

          Emi wandered into the forest, scouring her surroundings, truly understanding that there was no way out of here, unless she had a compass which she didn’t have. In addition, she could feel stares on her back, knowing that they were spying on her, ensuring that she didn’t do anything funny, like what Kris said to them.

          Emi let out a long sigh, walking a little longer until she heard the sound of water flowing, perking up at the familiar sound, frantically finding the nearby water source, she maneuvered past several trees and finally reached another clearing. This clearing just showed a long river down the whole forest and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to escape through the river anyway, since their base has never been infiltrated by anyone, the river could probably be sealed off to the public or blocked off by something.

          The moment her legs sank into the water, Emi shivered at the sudden coolness surrounding her legs but the coolness made her smile a little as she started to kick her leg around the water, enjoying the splashing and enjoying the atmosphere around her. The sound of the insects, the flowing water and the wind made her utterly relaxed as she closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath.

          Luna neighed beside her and she smiled wider, her horse lovingly as the horse drank the water from the river.

          “Luna, this is…beautiful, isn’t it?” Emi whispered to her horse, observing the water, the moon reflected on the water as Emi’s legs caused the water to ripple.

          “One day, I promise you, Luna. I promise we’ll live freely and we don’t have to do those jobs anymore.” Emi whispered firmly, caressing her horse who let out a sound, agreeing with Emi.

          Letting out a soft yawn, she recalled that it was the time she would usually be sleeping in her bedroom at the base.

          Sergi.

          He would probably be finding me by now, since I’m his precious treasure hunter.

          A bitter scoff escaped Emi’s lips, feeling pathetic at the fact that Sergi didn’t treat her like a person. Slowly, her eyes started drooping close, another yawn coming out from again.

          “Luna, let me lie on your for a second.” Emi uttered sleepily and her horse complied, lying down beside her and she let out a smile, laying her body down on her horse.

          “Thank you, Luna. You’re the only one who truly sees me for what I am.”

          Emi drifted off, not caring that she was sleeping alone in the forest with her horse, while there were mercenaries spying on her. She was simply exhausted by the activities she did just to escape, only to end up being caught by her worst nightmare.

          The Dragoons.

          I have to get away from them, somehow.

          ************************************************

          Kris patiently waited for the pigeon he sent off to arrive back and a few hours later, his pigeon arrived and he quickly took the tied note from his small body, reading the note.

          Bad news, Kris.

          The requester, M, will only be back in a month’s time, due to a business trip.

          You’ll have to ensure she’s alive until then and the pay for this request will be increased.

          “Bloody hell.” Kris cursed, crushing the paper in his hands and throwing it into the fireplace behind him. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he ran his hand through his hair.

          A month?!

          You’ve got to be joking.

          How can I take care of her for a month when I detest her so much?

          He heard someone walking up behind him, the person resting his arm on his shoulder, holding a cup in his hands as he gulped down his drink.

          “What’s the problem?” Yun questioned him, taking another sip from his drink.

          “A month, we have to keep her here for a month.”

          Yun choked on his drink, coughing a few times as he hit his chest. “What? A—a month?! How can we do that?”

          “What an unlucky timing to be off for a business trip.” Kris let out another sigh, ruffling his hair.

          “Guess we have no choice but to comply to that request then.” Yun shook his head, letting out a breath.

          “At least, there is an increase in our payment.” Kris snatched the drink from Yun’s hands, taking a gulp from it. 

          “That’s better than nothing.” Yun said, frowning at his empty hand and Kris returned his drink a second later, the frown disappearing from Yun’s face.

          “Where’s that woman?”

          “The river, the scouts spotted her there.”

          “The river? What is she doing there?”

          “Who knows?” Yun shrugged and Kris furrowed his eyebrows, walking off.

          “And Kris, don’t you think you should at least know her name since she’ll be staying here for a month?”

          “Hmm.” Kris hummed, continuing to walk off again while Yun held a puzzled look on his face at Kris’ answer.

          Is that a yes or no?

          *******************************************

          Kris glanced around, maneuvering past the trees until he arrived at the river, glancing around again and his eyes landed on a horse, who looked oddly familiar.   

          That horse…

          It’s that woman’s horse.

          Marching to the horse, who was laying down the ground, Kris wanted to pull the horse back to its feet, only to notice a familiar-looking woman laying down on the horse’s body, her eyes closed. A peaceful expression was on her face as her chest moved up and down, a sign that told Kris she was in a deep sleep.

          Kris gave her an incredulous look, wondering what kind of woman would be able to sleep in a forest, full of men, right beside a horse. He crouched down beside her horse, staring intently at her face and a thought occurred in his mind.

          This woman…

          She’s half, half of whatever race her parents was.

          I see, that’s why her looks stood out, her parents must be of different races.

          The moonlight shined down on her and Kris realised the sudden twitch that Emi made, causing her to turn her body around. Kris frowned at that, unsatisfied at his unfinished observation of her and he moved himself to the other side, contented at seeing her face again when he noted the change in Emi’s beautiful features. Her once peaceful expression contorted into pain as she started mumbling incoherent words in her sleep, shaking her head, her body twitching from time to time.

          …what’s wrong with her?

          Kris felt his heart skipping a beat when he saw a tear rolling down the side of her face, a concerned look on his face.

          What is she dreaming about that’s making her this…sad?

          “…please…you can’t…” She muttered out forlornly, making Kris’ heart skip another beat as he heard her broken voice, another tear slipping out of her eye.

          What exactly is she dreaming about?

          Kris reached his arm forward towards Emi, looking upset, his hand was just inches away from her face.

          “Hey…you-“ Kris said hesitantly, only to be interrupted when Emi shot her eyes open, tears freely flowing down her face as she grabbed onto Kris’ arm, lifting her head up to look at him.

          “Please…don’t abandon me…” Emi whispered weakly, a doleful look on her face..

          Kris stared at her in shock as her eyes slowly fluttered close again, her head slowly falling back and her hand releasing her grip on Kris’ arm. On instinct, he caught her head as he gazed at her, his eyes wide, a mixture of emotions running through them.

          “Mother.” Emi whispered out again, before falling back into a deep sleep, while Kris held her head in his hand, staring at her in a way he never did before.

Sorry for the late update guys, I'm busying helping my mum with some stuffs ><. I'm super sleepy right now, I only had less than 4 hours of sleep, sorry for any mistakes!