Kris stared intently at Emi, an unfathomable expression on his face as he held her head in place, not moving an inch. She heard her let out a shaky breath, his face softening at the traces of tears on her face and his hand started twitching at a tear that slowly rolled down her cheeks, tempted to wipe it away.

          “Kris? What are you…doing?” He heard someone asking and he lifted his head up, seeing Yun standing there, leaning against a tree, furrowing his eyebrows.

          “What do you mean by that?”

          Yun gestured to his hand holding Emi’s head and he followed Yun’s eyes, blinking rapidly at his hand before he snapped out of his daze, withdrawing his hand back.

          “No-nothing.” Kris replied, slightly flustered and Yun widened his eyes slightly at Kris’ flustered state.

          Am I dreaming?

          It’s my first time seeing Kris getting flustered over something.

          Emi’s head landed against her horse, the impact causing her eyes to burst open and a soft moan followed after that. She rubbed at her head, slowly sitting up as she blinked sleepily, totally unaware of surroundings.

          “…ow…” She whispered out, lifting her head up and her face expression utterly defenseless as she glanced between Kris and Yun.

          Kris and Yun were both taken aback by the expression on her face, since they were both used to seeing the hardened expression on her face and this was their first time ever seeing such an expression on her.

          Slowly, her eyes lighted up in recognition and her vulnerable look transformed into the same hard look that they both used to seeing.

          “Was it necessary to interrupt my sleep?” She hissed out coldly.

          “Oh, sorry, we didn’t mean to-“

          “Yes.” Kris cut Yun off, the soft look on his face completely gone now.

          “What’s the reason for that?”

          “We’ll keep you here for a month, before passing you over to our contract.”

          Emi bolted upright, her eyes wide in disbelief. “A month? I have to stay here for a month?”

          “That’s what I just said, didn’t I?” Kris answered her coldly and Emi just looked away, a thoughtful look on her face.

          A month.

          I have a month to escape.

          I can do this, I can escape.

          “Alright, I understand and if that is all, please leave me alone now.” Emi nodded her head, not bothering to face them as she prepared to lay back on her horse again.

          “…you can’t possibly think of sleeping here, do you?” Kris questioned hesitantly, frowning at her.

          “Why can’t I?”   

          I’ve slept in places worse than this before.

          Kris only let out an incredulous scoff while Yun sighed, deciding to step into the conversation.

          This woman, is she not afraid of sleeping with bugs or any wild creatures?

          Kris thought, stepping back and letting Yun control the conversation now.

          “Aren’t you afraid of sleeping in the wild?”

          “Not at all.” Emi said, an emotionless look on her face and Yun just blinked in shock.

          What a strange woman.

          Kris thought again, letting out another scoff.

          “Well, we are not that cruel to let you sleep out here, we have prepared a room for you to stay in for a month.”

          Emi was surprised that she kept quiet for a moment, not knowing what to say.

          “…you prepared a room...for me?”

          Yun let out a little smile, nodding at her.

          I thought they hated people like me…

          “Since you went through the trouble for me, I gladly accept it.” Emi answered, standing up slowly and Luna did the same.

          “I’m glad to hear that.” Yun replied while Kris looked unhappy, since they had to prepare a room for her. If he was more uncaring, he wouldn’t have prepared a room for her.

          …how kind of them, they only need to keep me alive but they went further than what they needed to do…

          “The room is up in the attic, don’t worry, there’s window there for ventilation. There’s also an empty stable available for your horse.” Yun told her as she started to walk off, her horse accompanying beside her.

          After a few steps, Emi stopped and spun around, looking Yun in the eyes and completely ignoring Kris’ presence.

          “You didn’t need to do this for me but—thank you.” Emi spoke, sounding grateful despite the impassive look on her face before she spun back around, walking back again.

         

         

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

         

         

          Entering the house, Emi heard snores throughout the whole house, along with some laughter and she was suddenly reminded of the bandits back at her base, her hair standing when she imagined the mercenaries giving her the same lecherous looks along with the bandits.

          Calm down, Emi.

          Inhaling a deep breath, she walked down the hallway through the living room, which had only a board and a table. It seemed that the whole house was purely made from wood and nothing else, even the doors and furniture were the same. She hurried down the hallway, passing by dozens of rooms until she arrived at a ladder, which lead to the attic.

          Letting out a sigh of relief, she climbed the ladder, pushing the trapdoor open and she wasn’t surprised to find that the attic was slightly cramped. However, there was a comfy bed accompanied by a bedside table and the window which provided enough space for the moonlight to stream in.

          “How nice.” Emi let out a small smile, taking her satchel off and placing it inside the cupboard of the bedside table, pleased to find that they even placed a small candlestick for her on the bedside table, along with a matchbox inside the cupboard.

          Taking out her clothes from her satchel before keeping it inside the cupboard, she changed out of her clothes but hesitated when she glanced at the trapdoor. She bit on her lip, a wary look in her eyes as she stopped changing her clothes, deciding to move the bedside table to the trapdoor.

          It wasn’t heavy as Emi expected, but it wasn’t that light either and she panted slightly as she placed the bedside table on the trapdoor before proceeding to change out of her clothes. She felt a cool breeze caress her as she changed into her comfortable clothes that resembled men’s clothing. Walking to the window, she paused when she wanted to close the window.

          The attic would be utterly dark if I closed this window, wouldn’t it?

          Emi shook her head, leaving the window open since she couldn’t sleep in a dark room. She squeezed her eyes close when she imagined sleeping in a room with no source of light, a horrifying memory flashing past her mind.

          Don’t think about it, Emi.

          Emi inhaled in a shaky breath, dragging her feet to the bed as flopped onto it, closing her eyes and immediately falling into a deep fitful sleep.

         

         

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

         

         

          Bolting awake, Emi gasped and panted heavily, drenched in sweat and her eyes were wide open. She glanced around her surroundings and remembered her conversation with the man called Yun about the attic as her room now. She realised it was just right after sunrise and she assumed that everyone was still asleep, since it was so early in the morning.

          “Urgh.” She grimaced, feeling sticky and wet all over her body, not liking the feeling. She remembered the river she found yesterday and held a contemplative look on her face before she glanced at the window, noting the tree just outside of it and walking towards it.

          Thankfully, the window was big enough for her to squeeze through and she climbed out onto the roof of the house, her whole body sliding down since the roof was slippery like she expected. Reacting quickly, she grabbed onto the tree branch and landed on the ground safely, hurriedly heading to her destination.

          Within minutes, she reached the river and let out a sigh, relieved to find that no one was around. Scanning her surroundings once again, she removed her clothes, slowly submerging herself into the river, the coolness of the water causing her body to tense a little.

          “…it’s slightly warmer…” She muttered out, the water reaching up to her waist as she started to wash herself up. Overtime, she felt her body starting to warm up and she let out a relaxed sigh, plunging herself into the water before pushing herself up again.

          “This is nice.” She smiled to herself.

         

         

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

         

         

          Kris yawned loudly, heading to the river since he wanted to take a shower to wake himself up fully. He blinked sleepily, dragging his feet to the river and when he neared it, he frowned when he heard someone humming nearby.

          Someone’s here?

          Instantly becoming alert, he held himself in a defensive stance, approaching the river with caution. The humming became increasingly louder as he slowly stepped forward and to his surprise, the humming came from a woman.

          A woman?

          Why would a woman be humming in this area?

          He crouched down slightly to avoid the leaves from the tree branch, pushing it away and his breath hitched at the sight in front of him, his eyes wide.

          There was a woman bathing herself in the river, her back facing Kris and he definitely knew she was completely , the source of humming coming from here. Her melodic voice drifted past his ears as she continued humming softly, splashing herself with the water and Kris couldn’t take his eyes off her.

          The way the sun reflected on the water along with her hair, and the way the droplets of water slowly rolled down her body mesmerised him to the point where he couldn’t think of anything. The woman hummed, sweeping her hair to one side and Kris frowned when he noticed something on the woman’s back.

          Are those…scars?

          There were small scars all over the woman’s back and he thought it was a pity, to have such scars on such a smooth and pale skin. Without thinking, he took a step forward and the branch that he was holding up with his hand released automatically, causing a rustling sound to echo throughout the silent forest.

          “Who’s there?” The woman said, her voice sounding familiar to Kris as she tensed up, spinning around and covering herself up with her hands.

          Taken aback, Kris recognized the woman to be the same woman he detested so much. Both of their eyes were wide in shock as they stared at each other, neither of them daring to move or utter a word.

          For Kris, the water droplets from Emi’s hair dripped down slowly onto her slim body and the sun shining onto her whole body made him unable to speak or move, along with the slight exposure of her chest. Whereas, for Emi, it was the shock of a man she disliked peeping at her while she was bathing.

          “Oh my god!” Emi shrieked out, quickly sinking herself into the water, only leaving her head out as she felt heat rising up to her face.

          Kris snapped out from his daze, letting out an awkward cough as he turned his head away.

          “My-my apologies, I didn’t mean to peek at you.” Kris stuttered out, squeezing his eyes close when he realised what he just said.

          “So-so you were planning to peek at others?” Emi asked in disbelief and Kris immediately turned his head towards her, shaking his head at her.

          “No, no! I didn’t mean it like that! I don’t have any intention of peeking at anyone at all! I didn’t mean to see your body…”

          Emi blushed and Kris was speechless at the wonderful blush on her face and at his words.

          “…alright, fine. Can you just please look away…?” Emi said shyly and Kris let out another awkward cough, quickly turning his head away. He heard her getting out of the water and his eyes unconsciously drifted to the side without him knowing.

          “Don’t you dare peek at me.” Emi warned dangerously and he quickly stopped himself, turning his eyes away again. He heard the rustling of clothes and waited patiently for her to get dressed, not daring to open his eyes.

          Emi cleared and Kris took it as a signal that she was done, opening his eyes hesitantly and he found her standing in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest, shocked to see her dressed in shabby clothes meant for the males.

          “…how much did you see?” She glared at Kris who took a step back.

          “No-not much.” He answered her truthfully, unable to stop himself from stuttering.

          “That better not happen again.” Emi hissed at Kris, who nodded instantly and she stomped off, while Kris watched her go, letting out a sigh.

          That was…unexpected.

          He removed his clothes, chucking it to one side as he entered the water, his mind suddenly recalling the scars on her back he saw earlier.

          What does she have those scars?

          Shaking his head, Kris tried to clear his mind by sinking himself down into the water, squeezing his eyes close.

          Why am I even thinking about her anyway?

         

 

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

                   

                   

          Sitting on a tree branch, Emi leaned against the trunk of the tree as she observed the mercenaries training. She saw the different skills they were trained in, from archery to different forms of physical combat and she held an impressed look on her face.

          They really are skilled, like how Sergi is.

          How did I even manage to escape from one of them from that one time?

          Emi frowned, feeling someone’s eyes on her as she glanced to that direction, seeing a familiar man glaring at her.

          That man…

          Her eyes widened in recognition and she immediately pushed herself up.

          It’s that man from that time! The one I managed to defeat miraculously!

          “Aman dislikes you ever since you escaped from him.” Someone said to Emi and she glanced down, realising that Yun was leaning against the tree below her, talking to her.

          “Aman?”

          “The man that is currently glaring at you right now.”

          Emi frowned, tilting her head to one side. “If all of you are this skilled, how was I able to defeat him the last time?”

          “That’s because he was seriously injured and you managed to hit him in the right spot.”

          “Is that so…”

          Emi relaxed back against the tree, a little disappointed that she didn’t defeat him fair and square.

          What a shame.

          That means that they are way out of my league.

          “Yun, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be training with the others?” Kris questioned Yun, walking towards him and Emi glanced down, looking at them.

          “I’m taking a small break and I decided to chat with her at the same time.” Yun shrugged at Kris who furrowed his eyebrows, lifting his head up to look at Emi.

          Emi’s mind recalled him peeking on her while she was showering, her face instantly warming up and she quickly looked away. Kris, who recalled the same thing, hurriedly turned his away too. Yun glanced at the both of them, both eyebrows raised at their strange behavior.

          “What? What’s happening? Is there something I don’t know about? Did something happen between the both of you?”

          “Be quiet, Yun and go back to your training.” Kris growled out, narrowing his eyes at him.

          Yun chuckled, glancing at Emi and letting out a grin. “Nice talking to you, Shadow Rogue.”

          Emi stared at him, a blank expression on her face and Kris just glanced between the both of them before walking away.

          What a weird man.

          Emi thought, leaning back against the tree again and she continued her observation.

          Sometime later, a loud commotion was heard and Emi directed her attention towards the commotion, noticing the mercenaries slowly crowding around the middle of the training area and her eyes widened slightly when she saw a few men appearing out from the ground.

          They were congratulating them and she assumed that they were mercenaries who just arrived back from a mission. However, her attention was focused on how they appeared out from the ground and something clicked in her mind.

          Hm, a secret entrance.

          A secret entrance in and out.

          Rapt in her discovery, her mind wrecked with thoughts and she glanced up at the sky, a small sigh escaping when she realised it was still daytime.

          Once it’s night time, I’ll investigate it further.

          She smirked, relieved at the fact that there might be a chance for her to escape from here after all.

 

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