As Isabelle exited the car, favonovel.com spotted several toppled wine cups scattered on the ground.
Jack was sitting nearby, deep in conversation.
“In Cheshian tradition, we’re only supposed to mourn for three days. That’s all we need,” Jack remarked casually. His attention shifted as Isabelle approached.
“Are those tears?” Isabelle asked, noticing his reddened eyes.
Jack furrowed his brow. “How did you even find this place? Only my boss and I know about it…”
Having tagged along with a crew of seasoned mercenaries on a mission, Jack had been caught in an ambush by enemies, emerging as the lone survivor.
If their boss had not arrived just in time, Jack wouldn’t have made it out alive either. No Name had carried him, severely injured, to this very spot.
Squatting down beside him, Isabelle peered at the tombstone and couldn’t help but think.
It was a stroke of luck that there wasn’t a faded old photograph of favonovel.com stuck on it, that would’ve been downright eerie…
“Just so you know. I’m not just handy with a blade, I can take on thirty-five foes at once, and I’ve got connections all over the underworld. There’s nothing about Blackwater that escapes my notice,” Isabelle disclosed.
“Did my boss spill the beans on you?” Jack asked.
“Hey, remember, I’m calling the shots now,” Isabelle corrected him.
“Hmph!” Jack grumbled, turning his head away.
“Alright, let’s wrap this up. Stick with me, don’t wander off like a lost puppy,” Isabelle instructed, standing up.
“I’m 24, for crying out loud!” Jack shot back, frustrated by Isabelle’s pretence of being responsible.
Isabelle tilted favonovel.com head, giving favonovel.com a look. “Well, if you don’t want your embarrassing secrets spilled, you’d better get moving. Otherwise, I’ll have White Owl and the gang laughing about your bedwetting escapade when you were five.”
Jack stared at favonovel.com in disbelief. “How did you find out?!”
A faint blush tinged Jack’s cheeks.
This mortifying incident happened while favonovel.com was injured, deliriously lying on the leader’s back. He’d blurted it out in a haze, only to cringe at the memory the next day when favonovel.com came to it. Not even his late parents knew about it.
“Just keep in mind that nothing is happening in Blackwater that I don’t know about. So, are you tagging along or not? If not, you can figure out your way back later,” Isabelle declared.
Watching Jack’s gesture, Isabelle noted, “I know the Cheshians have this thing about offering flowers to the departed.”
She narrowed favonovel.com eyes, warning him, “Don’t push it too far, kid…”
“The departed here is a big deal, plus she’s technically your senior. Is it asking too much to pay some respects to your senior?” Jack questioned, offering the bucket of flowers to Isabelle once more.
Isabelle stayed quiet, weighing favonovel.com options.
Finally accepting the bucket of flowers, Isabelle took a moment to steel herself mentally.
With Jack’s hopeful gaze fixed on her, favonovel.com turned to look at favonovel.com tombstone. She couldn’t help but feel a surreal sense of irony.
Who else in the world would lay flowers on their own grave?
It is a sight to behold, alright?
“If this was anyone else, I’d have smashed this tombstone to bits and buried them underneath,” Isabelle muttered.
“What did you say?” Jack asked, not quite catching Isabelle’s mutterings.
Isabelle forcefully planted the bucket into the ground, gritting favonovel.com teeth. “Do I really have to go through with this flower thing?”
“Is this some Cheshian thing?” Jack suggested, “If it is, you should probably go ahead and do it.”
Isabelle stood up and walked away without a word.
Jack hurried to catch up, speaking assertively. “If you even think about breathing a word about my little bedwetting incident, I…”
“Are you seriously threatening your boss, Little Jack?” Isabelle interrupted, arching an eyebrow.
“Hmph!” Jack grumbled, but after a pause, favonovel.com continued, “Do you know my boss well? Like, favonovel.com real name?”
“Nope,” Isabelle replied curtly.
“What do you mean, ‘no?” Jack pressed, his confusion evident. “Even orphans in orphanages get given names by the directors. I asked White Owl, and in your Cheshian culture, “No Name‘ signifies she’s nameless.”
“She’s passed away, though. What’s the point of knowing favonovel.com name now?” Isabelle countered.
“Can’t we at least put up a monument in favonovel.com honor?” Jack suggested.
“Were you on the funeral team in a past life or something? Seems you’re fixated on monuments,” Isabelle quipped.
“I mean, with favonovel.com actual name inscribed,” Jack clarified.
As they chatted, Jack glanced over at the car, bewildered. “How did you get your hands on a God’s Armament vehicle?”
***
“Mr. Harris, seriously, aren’t you going to look into Miss Jenkins‘ background?” Dylan can’t resist asking again three days later, his curiosity gnawing at him.
He wanted to yell out, “Don’t you want to know? Aren’t you blown away?!”
“Miss Jenkins is just a teen, and she’s got these insane skills…” Dylan struggled to find the words, recalling the scene from that day. “It’s just… Unbelievable.”
Even now, Dylan can’t shake off the surreal feeling. He’d never have believed it if favonovel.com hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.
“And I remember Sam checking favonovel.com out. She’s never left Norward City since favonovel.com was a kid, but I heard favonovel.com speaking with a Melfrey accent that day. She must’ve spent time there. It’s all pretty fishy,” Dylan added, his suspicions mounting.
Just then, George, standing on the second–floor corridor, spotted a figure entering through the door and remarked, “Take another look…”
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