章 3: I Am Alive?
Located in the western province of Edinburg was a giant mansion, right in the center of the McGrath Woods. The mansion was built with designs hailing from the 1800s, using limestone floors and exquisite vintage furniture.
In the living room, Amelia lay unconscious on the velvet couch. Her blood-stained clothes had been changed into a sleeveless, loose white gown. She wasn’t awake yet but her breathing had gotten stronger since arriving at the mansion, proving her condition’s improvement.
With her long wavy black hair spreading on the pillow, she looked like an ethereal princess that was immersed in peaceful slumber.
Cassius sat on the adjacent couch with a compact posture while gawking intensely at her sleeping face. He twirled a wine glass in his hand, gazing curiously at her as he took a small sip of the red wine.
“She still isn’t awake?” The sudden cold, familiar voice caused him to flinch. He was no other than Silas, who quietly marched closer to Cassius with a grimace.
“Not yet. But she should have woken up by now.” Cassius replied.
“It’s already early morning, and how come she is still unconscious? You have even treated her wounds, but wait, did you change her clothes too?” Scrunching his brow ridge, Silas sounded a little vexed.
“Well…”
An impish smile spread wider on his face as Cassius quietly placed the wine glass on the table and stood up from the sofa.
“Her clothes were blood-soaked and torn, so it was better to change with this spare woman’s gown I had in my closet. However, initially, I didn’t try to peek much, but I couldn’t help it; she is divinely gorgeous. But I didn’t touch her lewdly, I swear!”
Making a disgruntled expression at his remark, Silas scoffed at him with a frown. “What a lunatic you are. But most importantly, where is Aziel? Did you talk to him about bringing this trouble here?”
“Not yet,” Cassius sighed. “I went to meet him and knocked on his door several times but that jerk didn’t respond even once! He isn’t even picking up my calls… maybe he is still asleep.”
“Gosh, both of you equally get on my nerves.” Pushing the rim of his specs above his nose ridge, Silas glared at him. “He might be unaware now but I bet I gotta face his annoying tantrums once he notices this human. Besides, why isn’t she waking up yet? What if she falls into a coma or something–”
“U-Ugh…”
Suddenly, their intense bickering was interrupted by a faint groan that escaped from Amelia.
They turned to look at her and noticed she was frowning, her soft lips were trembling a little. Her hands that were crossed over her chest twitched a little, indicating that she was slowly regaining consciousness.
“Finally! Our wait is over.” Cassius victoriously smirked and walked closer to her couch followed by Silas from behind.
Slowly, after an anticipated moment, Amelia opened her eyes and flicked her eyelashes with a bit of difficulty. Her blue eyes were half-closed and she seemed to be trying to peek a glance around herself.
In that blurred vision, she could see the unclear faces of two fair-skinned men, hovering their curious gazes over her. The sudden hazy vision startled her a little as she quivered out, “I-Is… t-this heaven?”
“Huh?” Hearing her question, both of them exchanged confused glances at each other.
Amelia struggled a bit more before finally opening her eyes wider. Slowly, she glimpsed Silas’s ice-cold face before she shifted her glance towards Cassius, who wore a prominent smirk.
Watching such deadly handsome young men standing next to her, she furrowed her eyebrows and mumbled, “I didn’t know angels would be so handsome. A-Am I really in heaven?”
Seeing her baffled response, both of them understood that she thought she was dead after enduring such a fatal night.
While Silas scowled, Cassius flashed a smile at her and whispered, “That’s so kind of you to compliment our handsomeness, but let me clarify it, you are not dead yet. And this is not heaven. It’s our mansion where we have brought you.”
After a brief pause, Amelia sprang up on the couch with a jolt. Her complexion turned paler as if the realization of being alive was too shocking for her to process, rather than death.
“W-What? I… I am alive?”
Impatiently she started glancing all around her body, especially at her arms as if she was deliberately trying to look for something.
“How can I be alive? A-As far I remember… a car… yes, a black car had sent me flying off in the air! It was a huge collision! T-Then, why aren’t there any bruises on my body? W-What happened? How is this possible? And… most importantly, who are you both? What am I doing here? What the hell is going on?”
Her frantic queries sounded quite panicked as she tossed too many questions at them, all at once.
“Okay, please calm down.”
Watching her all frenzied, a sharp idea struck Cassius.
“You just woke up from a traumatic night, and I know everything must be confusing for you at this point. But still, you shouldn’t be stressing yourself too much, Young Lady.” He cleverly used his angelic tone with her.
“B-But…”
Panic-stricken, Amelia slowly averted her gaze towards Silas only to find out that his ash-brown eyes were shooting glares at her. The cold, stony expression on his face scared her a little as she quickly glimpsed back to Cassius again, who seemed the most cordial among them.
“Please tell me what happened, Mister. I am going crazy at this point!”
“Well, to be honest, we saved you from the brink of death.” Cassius crossed his legs while resting on the couch next to Amelia. He smartly intended to manipulate her innocent mind.
“What?” She gawked in disbelief. “Y-You b-both saved me?”
“You were lucky enough we were passing through that way. You were out cold but not too badly injured. That’s why we brought you here,” he asserted, trying his best to convince her.
‘What? B-But… I faintly recall the crash being bad. Was that all in my imagination? Did… Did they really bring me back from the brink of death?’ Hearing his response, Amelia sat awestruck, staring at him while the thoughts condensed in her mind.
Watching her numb expression, Cassius forged a concerned look and used his cordial tone to persuade her further.
“Well, I know the world is a kinda nasty place to live in but we’re not so cruel as to let you die there on the highway. We didn’t have any other choice but to bring you back. But if you are being skeptical–”
PLOP!
Before he could complete his sentence, Amelia jumped down the couch and kneeled before Cassius. Her eyes were filled with tears. Her sudden gesture startled both Silas and Cassius as they glanced at each other in surprise.
“W-What are you doing?” Confused to see her kneeling down before them, Cassius asked aloud.
“You are my saviors. I knew it… kind people still do reside on the earth! I can’t ever repay what you did for me. But still… I want to try. I have no money with me… but I promise, hic, I will do everything…” She sobbed hard while pleading before him in a trembling voice.
Awestruck to witness such an unexpected response from her, both Cassius and Silas were jaw-dropped in shock. Especially Silas, whose facial expression grew intense.
Cassius tried to stop her from pleading as he leaned closer to her, “Y-You don’t have to kneel down before us like this! We can talk normally–”
“Please let me stay here in your mansion for a few days!”
Suddenly, Amelia grabbed his hand, making him flinch a bit. She broke down in tears.
“I know it must be too much to ask for your kindness… but… I don’t have a roof above my head anymore, Mister. I lost every penny, and until I find a new place to stay… Can you please let me live here?”
Neither Cassius nor Silas replied, still staring at her wide-eyed. Taking their silence as hesitance, she continued to plead.
“Of course, I won’t live here for free. I can do everything! Cooking, cleaning, laundry, anything you want and I will gladly do it! Just spare a corner of your mansion for me and I swear… I will repay your kindness. Please!”
She bowed her head down on the floor, pleading ardently before them in a shivered, low voice.
‘How can someone be so dumb and naive in this world? What kind of human is she?’ Silas thought with a solemn expression.
On the other hand, Cassius wore an amused, wicked grin.
‘Okay, this is not what I had expected! Our little prey is falling into the trap on her own! Gosh… what an interestingly foolish woman. I can’t wait to show our new toy to Aziel!’
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