Consciousness returned gradually to Ambrose as his eyes fluttered open. He carefully slid away the jacket that had been covering him, taking in his surroundings with growing curiosity. The structure around him seed to straddle the line between shelter and ruin - he could see the rising sun clearly through gaps in its construction.
A commotion drew his attention, and he turned to witness what felt like an oddly familiar scene playing out before him. Marcus lay pinned beneath Hualing, desperately trying to keep her knife from his throat while pleading his case.
"I'm telling the truth! I found him lying there. I didn't attack him!" Marcus's voice carried genuine desperation.
"Hmm, why does this dialogue sound so familiar?" Ambrose mused as he pushed himself into a sitting position, recalling his own recent encounter with ihua.
His maid wasn't having any of Marcus's explanations. "Still not admitting it?" she pressed, her voice taking on an almost gleeful edge. "I saw your blood there. You tried to attack the young master but he bit you, causing you to bleed. You then knocked him out and carried him." She delivered this entirely fictional account with absolute conviction.
"What's with that crazy story? Are you an author or sothing?" Marcus questioned, bewildernt montarily overriding his fear.
Marcus tried again, attempting reason: "I found him sleeping and I carried him here. As for the blood, it was self-inflicted."
"So you found the young master sleeping and decided to stab yourself?" Hualing's tone dripped with sarcasm. "Do you really think I'm an idiot?"
"Well, when you put it that way..." Marcus began.
"Stop making excuses and just die already!" Hualing cut him off cheerfully. "It only hurts the first ti!"
"Yeah, because the first ti will also be the last," Marcus retorted, though it did nothing to improve his situation.
As his strength began to fade, Marcus's thoughts turned introspective. Had Hualing always been so unreasonable? She wasn't giving him a chance at all. In his past life, their first eting had revealed a shy, almost docile girl. What could have happened to transform her so dramatically? His eyes darted to his sword, tantalizingly close yet impossibly far given his current predicant. Although he had been formidable in his past life, he had yet to awaken in this one. anwhile, Hualing's trained strength was evident in every movent - he could feel it in the inexorable pressure forcing the knife closer to his throat.
"Dammit! Will you really kill in both lifetis?" he thought desperately. "Just what did I ever do to you?"
As the blade pressed closer, Marcus squeezed his eyes shut, awaiting the inevitable. Instead, a soft yet commanding voice cut through the tension: "Stop!"
At Ambrose's command, Hualing's entire deanor transford instantly. The bloodthirsty assailant vanished, replaced by a concerned servant who rushed to her master's side. "Young master?" she cooed, already lifting his clothes to check for injuries. "Are you hurt anywhere?" Her hands moved toward his pants, apparently intent on a full inspection.
"Stop it!" Ambrose pushed her away before she could proceed further. "You're the one hurting ," he added with an exasperated sigh.
"I'm sorry, young master," Hualing bowed deeply, the picture of contrition.
Ambrose regarded her with growing concern. This wasn't the sa girl he'd first t - she was an entirely new species and seed to be becoming more unstable by the day. If he couldn't find a way to keep her in check, even he might not be safe. With another weary sigh, he extended his palm toward her bowing form. She stared at it in confusion before understanding dawned, and she reluctantly surrendered her knife.
As he added this latest weapon to his growing collection, Ambrose couldn't help but wonder if she owned so sort of knife factory. The thought of how many more weapons she might be concealing sent a chill down his spine. Yet he didn't know where she was getting them from, he had already inspected her body multiple tis and still couldn't find anything.
...
ihua and Adelaide walked together through the open terrain, their footsteps marking ti as they conversed casually. After nearly an hour of following ihua's seemingly aimless direction, Adelaide's patience finally wore thin.
"Where are we going?" she asked directly, studying her companion's face.
ihua paused, carefully considering her response. It's not like she could tell her that she had read the novel and was using this knowledge to find the main character to seek protection from him.
"I don't know, but my talent tells to go this way," she offered instead. It was a convenient excuse - she had a unique intelligent type talent so it wouldn't matter if he blas everything on it. It's not like soone can confirm. Besides, asking people about their abilities was considered disrespectful. As expected, Adelaide accepted the explanation without further inquiry.
Minutes later, voices drifted through the air, drawing them forward with quickened steps. They erged into a clearing to find a crudely constructed shelter that looked more like an ambitious pile of sticks than actual housing. Near the entrance, Hualing crouched by a small fire, coughing as smoke billowed in her face from her overzealous attempts to fan the flas.
But it was the scene beyond that stopped both newcors in their tracks. Marcus sat on the ground, his face flushed crimson as Ambrose knelt beside him, ticulously bandaging his arm. From their angle, the tableau appeared startlingly intimate.
ihua unconsciously adjusted her glasses, her inner fujoshi awakening at the sight. "Holy yaoi! What is gracing my eyes right now?" she whispered, perhaps a bit too loudly.
A/N - What am I doing with my life
The group finally noticed their arrival, all heads turning toward them. Ambrose finished his dical ministrations and rose gracefully, approaching the newcors with his usual asured steps. Adelaide's face colored as she watched her master's approach.
"Master, Marcus is a man," she ventured hesitantly.
Ambrose's blank look of incomprehension only made matters worse as he responded with a simple, "And?"
"What?" Adelaide's eyes dropped to the ground, her mind spinning with implications she dared not voice.
"Anyway, I'm glad that you ca," Ambrose continued, seemingly oblivious to the misunderstanding. "I actually have sothing I want to say." He turned and gestured for her to follow, then paused to add, "You too, ihua."
They gathered around as Hualing quickly arranged the roasted hare at she'd been preparing. Though food sat before them, all eyes remained fixed on Ambrose, awaiting his words. He surveyed the gathered faces - Adelaide's still flushed with embarrassnt, ihua's bright with curiosity, Marcus's carefully neutral, and Hualing's practically vibrating with anticipation.
"Actually," he began, his voice carrying quiet authority, "I want the five of us to form a party."
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