Chapter 25 Stealth
\[Lilia\]
Aya directed me to the bathroom after I completed my meal, with a mischievous grin pasted on her face. She’s even more excited than I am and expressly instructed me to be done in a couple of minutes or ten, or else she would clean me herself. Not that she hasn’t done it before, but I am sure I am capable of doing that myself.
My body still protests in every movement I made, but it wasn’t that unbearable, unlike last night. Maybe I am just too dazed from staring at myself in the mirror in such disarray.
But right now, I will not let that beast break the last piece of my soul that I hold on to. If not, I don’t know what to do anymore.
He had taken everything from me. My innocence and all, but it’s not the end. I still breathe the morning air. There’s food prepared for me three times a day. Clothes that I can wear, though some of it I could even hardly call clothing.
Especially that thing I saw a while ago.
Like seriously, how does that even work as underwear? There weren’t any strings attached to it. Mainly, why do I have to wear it?
“This day could never be that bad, right?” I sigh, closing my eyes and lifting the top of my head, allowing the rushing torrent of warm water to crash against my cheeks.
I already cleaned up. Done lathering my hair with shampoo and conditioner, scrubbed my skin pink in hopes to remove everything from last night, including my memories from it. However, those had already been inscribed on my flesh.
“Oh, gosh, Lilia. I told you not to fret about it.” I grumbled to myself as I rubbed my palms on my face and raked them through my hair before three loud beatings on my bathroom door echoed.
“Lilia! Are you not done? Do you need my help? I’m coming in.” Aya’s voice drowned in the background as I turned the shower into a full blast just to annoy her.
“Can’t hear you, but I’ll be out in a minute,” I shouted back, giggling as I heard her incoherent words on the other side of the door.
And, of course, I did stay longer under the shower pressure for another minute or so until I noticed the pads of my fingers were becoming wrinkled.
I turned the lever off, reached for the towel, and wrapped it around myself before sliding the glass partition to the side. I was about to walk out of the bathroom, but my reflection in the mirror caught my attention, making me halt on my steps.
The bruises were turning into a deep shade of blue. Kael's handprints were strung together to form a necklace that I wore around my neck. My swollen lips looked like they'd been stung by a bee, which was a little too noticeable. Despite the fact that it is apparent, it was not unpleasant to look at. It even appeared as though I had used some sort of lip plumper. It's no surprise that it was the first thing Aya noticed when I woke up this morning.
I blink rapidly, swallowing the self-pity that has begun to gnaw at the back of my throat, inhaling deeply and exhaling with a trembling breath. I forced a smile onto my lips, wiping away all of the sullenness from my face before tearing my sight away from my own image.
I'd previously told myself that I wouldn't cry, but it's proving more difficult than I thought.
Aya’s scowling face was the first one that greeted me as soon as I opened the bathroom door. Her arms were akimbo on her hips, and one brow arched perfectly on her forehead.
“You stayed there for twenty minutes...” She grunted, marching on her feet in my direction, carefully grasping my arms and ensuring that she did not press on my bruises as she dragged me towards my bed.
She then pushed my shoulders lightly, forcing me to sit down. Just then, a deep voice spoke, almost sending my heart to leap out from my chest and down to the floor.
“Maybe, I should wait outside until Lilia is ready.”
What the hell?
Right at the corner, Val was seated on the weird wavy couch, his back resting on the upper section, his hands clasped behind his head, serving as a pillow, and his legs propped up against the sloping part.
My eyes were wide as I gawked at his colossal bulk. He’s a big man, yet I still haven’t even noticed that he was there.
Perhaps, he should change his name from Val to something more evocative as stealth. I internally frowned as I took in his presence.
He wasn’t wearing any arm sling on his arms, unlike the last time I saw him, and the casts were off.
In addition, he wore pale blue long sleeves that were tight enough to expand with every movement, as well as khaki trousers that were joined with black gartered suspenders strapped on his shoulders. Despite his gruff appearance, he appears to be dashing, completely handsome, terrifying, and all at the same time.
Then my heart started acting strangely once more, but I chose to ignore it. I didn't want to make a fool of myself in front of him.
What did catch my attention was the holster on his waist, which had a forty-five caliber pistol hidden inside it. Well, not entirely hidden because I could see the handle poking out clearly, but the idea is there.
I am not a gun expert, but that thing I could recognize, unless there are other terms it is called or whatever.
His gaze swept over my exposed skin, lingering intently on each mark that could be seen, especially on my arms, to my shoulders, collar, and then on my throat before he met my eyes. Though I have no clue what things were running inside his head. Like Kael, he’s a master of disguising his emotion as well.
Something that I will never be good at.
I abruptly became cognizant, fingers were fumbling with each other as I struggled not to squirm beneath his intense gaze.
I cleared my throat, trying to divert his attention.
“I see. You are no longer wearing your arm sling. How’s your wound?” I asked, remembering that he was on the frontline when the fire broke out back in the hospital.
I am still annoyed by him, with the insensitivity of his words, but I can't deny that he's a good man, or at least that's how I perceive him, despite the fact that he kills people. Especially with the line of job that he chose.
Val finally breaks his gaze away from me and looks down at his arm, flexing his muscles just to show me he’s fine.
“Good, I guess. It wasn’t that near to my gut.” While I understood that it was meant to be a joke, I didn't find it amusing at all, and I simply stared at him blankly. That is something so serious could never be used in a lighthearted way. He could’ve been killed. I have seen death and it's never been pleasing.
He sighs loudly, clearing all the amusement from his face, “Boss is already waiting for you in his study. I’ll be outside your door, so you can get dressed.”
Val nodded his head towards Aya behind me as if telling her to do her job, then his gaze went back to mine before he turned around and walked out the door.
“I found a perfect dress for you.” Aya suddenly jumps right in front of me, holding a black piece of clothing fitted for a ten-year-old girl.
Immediately, my face wrenched in protest and gaped, “What is that? That is a kid’s dress!”
She, on the other hand, merely rolled her chinky eyes at me. “Duh, it is not a kid’s dress. This fabric is called stretchable.” I was about to counter another protest when she lifted her hands right in front of my face to shut me up and pulled something from underneath the so-called dress aside, and tossed it on my lap. “Though, before you wear this, you have to put this on.”
That ‘thing.’
That weird-looking piece of thing I refused to call underwear.
“Like how exactly?” I stare down at it in wonder, and the more I look at it, the more it forms like a headband. Simply remove the lacy triangle portion of the design and it can be utilized as one.
“Just snap it on your crotch,” Aya instructed in a charades-style instructions. While pretending to grasp the object in her hands, she bends her legs apart and gesticulates on how exactly it will fit down there.
My expression distorted even more severely in disbelief just by merely observing her horrible demonstration.
“Like what?”
There’s no way I’m going to do that.
This thing has wire underneath the cotton fabric, and snapping it on my private part would be very uncomfortable.
“Snap it,” she repeated her action, even more slowly, “like this.”
“Isn’t it going to fall off?” I pondered, finally having the courage to pick it up and hold it close to my face, scrutinizing its shape.
“Nope, it is specifically designed to hold on.”
I put it down, still not convinced to use it on me.
“Can’t I just wear normal ones?”
Aya shook her head, put down the dress she held and rummaged through the bundle of other dresses on my bed. “No. It will ruin your look.”
There are literally dozens of additional outfits to choose from. Perhaps there are more decent choices than the one she insists I will wear.
“Was I even obligated to wear that dress?” I glum, my shoulders fell, and all I wanted was to lay in bed the whole day.
Val didn’t even tell me where we were going and why I needed to come along with them. The pit of my belly churned with incomprehensible anticipation at the thought of seeing that beast once again after what happened last night.
“Yes.” Aya panned at my side, taking me out from my brief reverie. Her hands crossed her chest as though she was ready to berate me. “Now, quiet your bellyaches and snap it on.”
This time around, I rolled my eyes on her and huff.
Looks like I don’t have a choice then.
Oh, well, since when did I ever have one?
“Fine.”