†Chapter 2: An Anxious and Unsatisfying Morning†
RAIN pelts the ground just before daybreak, cleansing the world at its darkest every single day. The flow of water blesses the earth with moisture and washes away any traces of the bloody hunts left by the beasts prowling the forests in the dead of night.
For humans, the rainfall becomes a silver curtain, concealing a criminal’s hidden crimes, an infant’s peaceful sleep, and a couple’s romantic tryst. And then, with the dawn’s light, the rains retreat. Such is the unbroken cycle, the never-changing promise between the heavens and the earth.
This is exactly why this world’s dawn is so incredibly beautiful—no matter what atrocities and absurdities will smear the day ahead.
✦ ✦ ✦
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THE sound of a slow drip mingled with the heavy beat of raindrops. The dripping, accompanied by the familiar aroma of roasted beans, was far more relaxing than the downpour.
Oh… Euphemia grinned, her eyes still shut. I know this smell. It’s coffee, isn’t it? Did I set my coffeepot on a timer last night? I can’t remember. I really need a cup, but I’m so sleepy.
Her body felt heavy enough to sink into the bed.
I can sleep in. Today’s my first day off in a while, and I came back home in a giddy haze from my spectacular research results. Yup, I’ll just cuddle my favorite pillow and go back to sleep.
Euphemia rolled over in bed and snuggled up to her favorite pillow—or that’s what she attempted to do.
Hm? My favorite…pillow? She frowned without opening her eyes. It’s harder than I remember. And it’s got a weird shape.
Her pillow felt like a thick log drilled into the ground. It was smooth to the touch, but harder than a rock and had curves. She ran her hands down to where the log could conceivably branch out, and indeed, the solid object was connected to smaller, root-like objects. Euphemia sleepily contemplated what she was touching with her eyes still shut tight, forming deep creases in her brow. She was none the wiser that there was a pair of eyes carefully studying her.
Oh, I know! This isn’t a pillow, it’s a log! I’ve always wanted a long log-like pillow, but this is a pillow-like log! But what’s a log doing jutting out of my bed?
Euphemia’s eyes snapped open. Something hard was close enough for her eyelashes to brush against. What she had rubbed her cheek on definitely wasn’t a log despite the similar cylindrical shape.
Shocked awake, Euphemia assessed the object her arms were wrapped around. It was a well-built arm.
Oh my gosh! What is this?!
“You’re up?” a deep voice asked above her.
“Uh-heh?” she squeaked.
She craned her neck up to see the face of a half-naked man, much farther away than she thought, but still right above her. The man looked down at her from where he stood bent down with one hand thrust into the bed, and her hands were coiled around his muscular wrist. The awfully firm and solid thing she was feeling up had turned out to be his arm.
She stifled a cry and chucked away the arm. Naturally, it was impossible to throw an arm connected to a body. Sure enough, it didn’t budge, and Euphemia was sent rolling back from the momentum of her shove.
“Oh my gosh!”
Euphemia quickly scooted sideways on the bed to get away. The perfectly fitted sheets wrinkled under her. The man cocked his head, curious about her reaction, but he didn’t seem to mind his messed-up sheets or Euphemia’s awkward escape.
“The rain will let up soon,” he said abruptly and stood up straight, removing his hand from the bed. He had an incredible body that bodybuilders worked a lifetime to achieve and models tried to imitate with nano-sculpting.
Wh- Who? Who is he?!
Euphemia mustered what little self-control she had and swallowed a shrill scream. Thankfully, she managed to keep quiet, but her mind was in complete panic mode. Her body froze with her hands clutching the comforter so hard her knuckles turned white. The man didn’t move. The two stayed locked staring at each other for a long, silent pause.
“You’ve got nothing to fear. Though…I doubt saying that will help.”
More silence followed.
The teal eyes studying Euphemia had a sharp glint to them, but they didn’t strike her with dread. The man stayed perfectly still like a statue, his breathtaking muscles looked like they were chiseled from marble. It was as if he were trying to show her he meant no harm by not moving.
After a long silence, Euphemia’s nerves eased up a little. She finally relaxed enough to shift her eyes away from the man’s impeccable six-pack and take in her surroundings.
Stark-white walls made the spacious room bright in the half-light of early morning. Thanks to the light, Euphemia could see the man very well. His appearance was remarkably distinct in so many ways she found herself instinctively captivated by him.
Sharp features with a wild, almost animalistic bent were exquisitely arranged on his chiseled face. The glimmer in his teal-blue eyes was so alluring she couldn’t pry her eyes from them again.
His long hair fell past his shoulders and its stunning silver-gray color stood out all the more against his swarthy skin. His skin looked like freshly tanned leather stuck firmly to refined, corded muscles.
He was an attractive man with an imposing figure that cast a shadow across the room. He could’ve been a model, for all Euphemia knew.
Meanwhile, he stared intensely at her with a mystifying expression on his handsome face. His powerful eyes studied her. Neither spoke a word, captured in each other’s eyes.
Eventually, the man tore his eyes away from hers and turned to the side. He let out a small sigh and shook his head, then brought his left hand over his mouth as if deep in contemplation.
The gesture was neither curt nor violent, but Euphemia felt such unexplainable dismay that she needed to put as much space between her and the man as physically possible. She sat bolt upright.
“Excuse me…who are you? And where am I?” The voice sounded too frail to be hers, but Euphemia was relieved she was at least able to talk coherently at a time like this.
“The man who happened to save you. And this is my house for the time being,” a deep voice befitting of the man’s appearance quietly answered her.