Chapter 36: Chapter 36

JONEA

I woke up very early and was too excited. I rarely even wake up this early. The house is also still quiet. They are still in their respective rooms. But, I was dressed neatly and pacing in front of Daran's bedroom door.

I was very nervous about what I wanted to tell him. Finally, after we were separated for some time, Daran decided to stay at Blue Sapphire. Should I be happy? Why? Am I this weak that I need Daran's protection?

I know it's still too early to meet and talk to him. But I also can't procrastinate any longer. I'm really very anxious right now. What should I do?

Once again, I paced before the door to Daran's tightly closed and quiet room, biting my fingers. Suddenly, Daran was standing behind me, carrying an empty cup.

"What's wrong Jonea?" Daran scolded firmly but calmly.

I immediately stood stiff and looked at Daran shyly.

"Isn't it a little early to be dressed up like that?" Daran continued.

"No!" I argued quickly. "Indeed not. I mean, yeah, I'll go to campus later. But not now."

"Wait, to campus? On weekends?" Daran asked confusedly.

Why do I suddenly become stupid every time I face this monster? Gosh, what's wrong with me? Why am I so confused, and why is my speech incoherent?

I stood my ground and tried to calm myself. I even showed a tough attitude in front of Dalan this morning after the incident that happened to us yesterday.

"Daran, are you awake? Can we talk for a moment? I want you to explain about... I mean, how far you have gone in preparing to make..."

Daran looked at me with no expression at all. I don't know what expression he's showing me right now. Because his face was covered by a mask.

"Now? What do you really want to talk about?" he asked confusedly.

I cleared my throat and straightened my back. "Like the agreement we have agreed to. You will perform a ritual to release the seal that binds the wolf inside me, right? And you will report the progress every weekend to me. Isn't that our agreement?"

Daran waved casually and invited me to go into the living room. We sat on the sofa in the living room facing each other. Daran sat so gracefully and relaxedly. He piled one leg onto the other. Gosh, he's got great thighs and legs. Even just sitting relaxed, he exuded a lycan king's powerful aura.

I was very nervous, but I often tried hard to hide my feelings. I just need to look good in front of him. I can't be intimidated.

I started chatting first. "It just so happens that it's the weekend." I looked at Daran with a straight face. "So, when are you going to perform the ritual to remove my seal?"

"Still not," Daran answered calmly, as if this was no big deal to him.

Now, it's my turn to get angry. "You... Still haven't prepared any rituals at all? So what have you been doing for some time now? Didn't you go on a trip to prepare for the ritual?"

Unfortunately, I couldn't see the expression on Daran's face. However, I could slightly read his reaction through his body movements. Daran rubbed his knees and looked away from me slightly.

"You don't need to worry, Jonea. As I said before, I don't want you to die."

I reflexively stood up from the sofa and shouted at him. "What did you say? I thought you were gone for some time to prepare for the ritual to remove the wolf seal inside me. But, now you're giving me an uncertain answer? Actually, are you capable or not?"

Daran was about to speak, but with emotion, I cut him off first.

"You even deliberately sent me back here, to the Blue Sapphire, because you thought this was the appropriate place to carry out the unsealing ritual. But, what do I get now? Maybe I need to consider the information conveyed by those hybrids. Is there something you're hiding from me, Daran Carver?"

Daran patiently listened to my complaints without interrupting my words at all. When I was getting more and more explosive and wanted to vent my frustration further, I saw Owen come out of the room with messy hair. At that moment, my lips immediately closed, and no sound came out of my mouth at all. I wanted Owen to refrain from hearing our conversation.

Owen walked over, seeing us sitting in the living room while yawning widely.

"Okay, I guess that's all I wanted to say. Please don't be offended, Daran. I'm just worried about my situation. You know, what creature wouldn't be stressed when he found out he only had less than six months left to live? I can't even do anything other than wait in the very small amount of time I have left."

"What is up?" Owen was confused and looked alternately between Daran and me.

I turned curtly towards Owen. He also didn't escape my anger. "And there's something I need to tell you too, Owen. We live under the same roof, but we're not friends."

After saying that, I quickly left them in the living room. My chest was pounding. I'm so scared. Why was I so determined to say all that nonsense before them? Even though they could kill me at any time with just a snap of their fingers.

***

OWEN

After nagging me early in the morning, Jonea just left. Now, only my uncle and I are left in the living room. I was about to turn to my uncle and ask him for an explanation, but the old man just raised his chin indifferently.

"I've never seen her grumble like that since she got here. This is the first time. Did you do something wrong to upset her so much, Uncle?"

"What do you think, my nephew? Like what she said, what creature wouldn't be anxious to realize that his life is coming to an end without being able to do anything."

I glared at my uncle. "Then, you're just going to sit on the sofa with your legs folded like that, Uncle? Do something to that girl and leave Blue Sapphire immediately. I just want a quiet life like before you two moved here."

I started complaining and grumbling to my uncle. Instead of answering my complaint, Uncle got up carrying his empty cup and walked past me. Hah! Now I'm the annoyed one.

"Wait, could it be... Actually you don't know how to remove the cursed seal from Jonea's body?"

My uncle's steps immediately stopped. He turned and looked at me very sharply. I really got goosebumps seeing his reaction. I quickly looked away and went to the bathroom.

I locked myself in the bathroom, holding my pounding heart. "Jeez, what is this feeling? I'm really tormented. I miss my life as a single man without distractions. Look now, everything has become chaotic and messy. Not only were the two of them very noisy, but the house also became very dirty. I'm tired of having to clean it myself."

I opened the water tap in the sink and started washing my face quickly. Then I looked at my wet face in the mirror. Dew wet the mirror, and I wiped it with my hand.

"I've never seen Uncle that anxious. Am I correct in assuming that Uncle doesn't know how to remove the cursed seal from Jonea's body? Isn't this fact very scary? The poor girl only had less than six months left. What exactly is uncle planning?"