Chapter 86 - Baffled Condition

It was 8 am in the morning already. Warm tropical sunrays were drifting inside the living room through the partly open large glass windows. Eva was sitting on the sofa glancing at several paper pamphlets with a frown expression. Sometimes, she was gazing outside the window at the endless blue horizon, fidgeting anxiously as if she was concerned about something internally.

"I hope...Zeus has reached his home safely... Darn it, I shouldn't have listened to him... I shouldn't have left the terrace--"

"UGHHH MY HEAD HURTS SO BAD!!"

Suddenly, she flinched hard with the unusual grouchy noise beside her. As she peeked a glance, Clara had already woken up from her deep slumber, looking all tipsy and dazed out. Scratching her head, she flipped her hair and glanced at Eva who was looking all confused, sitting opposite to her. 

"Eva...you are awake already? Ughh damn, I think I overslept... but still, my head is killing me, ughhh!" She sounded a bit cranky, clenching her forehead.

"Ahh, I guess, your hangover is troubling you again, Clara. Here, take this medicine. It will surely help to overcome this trouble." Gently, she stood up from the couch and came walking closer, handing her a glass of water along with medicine. She obediently took it and gulped down with some water, allowing herself to calm down a bit.

"Eva, as far I remember, the whole room was a mess last night... Did you clean it all alone? And, why do your eyes seem so puffy? Didn't you get any sleep last night? What are you doing so early?" Tossing several queries at once, she continued staring at her furrowing her eyebrows.

Facing so many queries at once, a bit nervously she cleared her throat and tried to stay calm not to arise any suspicions for her, "yes, of course, I had a good sleep last night. And... I was making a list of the places I market out from these pamphlets."

"Pamphlets?"

"Clara, you already know I am currently stuck in a messy situation. I need to look for several jobs at once as I can't decide it based on my preferences... Also, I need to start packing my stuff as I have been given only a time limit of 15 days..." Her voice appeared much gloomy as she lowered her gaze down from her making a sad face.

Immediately, she stood up from the couch. Watching her getting all gloomy, she couldn't contain her concerns inside and boldly grasped her arm before answering, "Eva, you don't have to wait here till your given time period. You can move in with me and I swear, my room will be extremely comfortable for you. I promise to take good care of you as you are my best friend, Eva. Look, you can move out anytime once you find a much stable job--"

"Clara, we had already discussed it last night." Intervening between her sentence, she softly tapped her arm while releasing herself from her grasp. Holding a small smile she further continued, "you have already done more than enough for me, Clara. I can't make myself dependent on you forever... After all, I need to sort out everything by myself as soon as possible." 

She stood still hearing her persistence and took a deep sigh of the distress out. "You never listen to me, Eva." She sulked her face murmuring in an irked note.

"I do listen to you, Clara. But this time, let me deal with all this stuff on my own. And, besides worried about me, you should hurry and take a shower to dress up yourself, or else you will be terminated from your job too, like me. Don't worry, I will make you some breakfast first." Softly poking her chin, she propelled a warm smile at her before walking away.

She gently nodded her head a bit and looked at the way she marched towards the kitchen trying to represent herself as composed as possible. She knew it quite well, Eva was badly troubled inside but trying hard not to make her worry about her. Taking a deep sigh out, she continued gazing at her clenching her wrist wearing the deep blue 'moonstone bracelet', shimmering on those sunrays.

.....

"Uhhh..."

Quivering in a painful resonance, slowly Zeus opened his eyes and blinked nonchalantly a few times to clear his blurry vision. As he gazed around himself, he was lying over his sumptuous bed in his room along with Aelia and Antonio, as well as Ivory eagerly waiting beside him. Moreover, those two men who were summoned by Aelia from last night were also present in the room, watching him from a bit far. Everyone's frowned facial expression seemed to be relaxed a bit as soon he woke up. It seemed as if they were intensely waiting for him to regain his senses back.

As soon as he opened his eyes, his gaze shifted directly towards Ivory who was stood all stiff, gawking at Zeus with a perplexed eloquence. As soon as their eyes met, she gulped down her saliva and tried to avert her eyes away from him.

"My son, are you feeling better now?" Aelia anxiously broke the silence inside the room asking him in a timid tone. Softly, she took her seat beside him and caressed his forehead to check whether his fever has gone down or not.

"Uhh, ye-yes, mom. I...I feel much better now..." Confused with the ongoing situation, he murmured while stealing a glance at Ivory again. But this time, she didn't bother to glance back at him.

"My gosh, why did you bother to exercise in such a weak physical state? How could you stress on your injury again?" She sounded much displeased, glaring at him vividly.

"Wh-What?"

"Ivory told us that despite her disapproval, you tried to train your physical strength last night conducting strenuous exercises. You put too much pressure on your fragile state and even got a fever! Why did you bother to do it? It's not like your physical strength will abolish if you refrain from training for a few days. Do you like to torment our worries that much?" Grumbling in a furious tone, Antonio seemed much vexed at him, with a frowned grimace.

"Training? Physical strength? Wh...What are they talking about?" Wondering inside his baffled mind, he blinked his eyes a few times trying to peek a glance at Ivory again.

"Master, even we had tried to stop you last night from conducting those strenuous exercises but you didn't even listen to us. You mustn't exert too much restraint on your frail state...or it will be worsened furthermore." The guy from whom he had borrowed his physical strength last night, came walking a few steps closer to his bed looking very concerned and mumbling in a gentle voice.

Swirling his pupils wider, Zeus listened to his response which bewildered him to a greater extent. "What? When did they stop me from conducting training? Didn't he really remember last night I hypnotized both of them to sleep for escaping? What the hell is happening here? Am I dreaming or something?" He was lost in his perplexed thoughts inside.

"Zeus, you are really blessed to find a partner like Ivory who always has your back like a rock pillar." Softly patting his head, Aelia whispered her words holding a small smile, sneaking a glimpse at Ivory who seemed a bit restless from her eloquence. "If she hadn't taken care of you since the last night, your condition might have worsened, son. She really cherishes you preciously, and you are lucky indeed to find a beautiful yet capable strong partner like her in every aspect. She will be definitely the perfect luna just like our perfect alpha..."

Hearing out her earnest longings, somehow his heart ached a bit with an urge of agony arousing inside. She seemed too pleased while proclaiming her wishes and that's what made it difficult for Zeus to look at her happy face. Making a distressed expression, he first took a peek at Ivory who was standing all numb, holding a sullen fake smile, then lowered his eyes down.

"You should take as much rest as you can, Zeus. We have many things to discuss but you need to recover first completely. I guess we all must allow him to get some rest." Antonio declaimed his proposal in a deep resonance echoing inside the room to which almost every member present inside the room agreed.

Tapping his head tenderly, Aelia too stood up and walked towards the door following after Antonio. Ivory was the last one standing inside the room, lowering her head down and standing tall stiff like a statue. As everyone else left away from the room, she raised her chin up, looking at him with a pair of sad eyes. 

"Uncle Antonio is right, you should have some rest at first." She muttered and turned back to walk out of the room taking a deep huff of breath.

"Wait! Don't leave yet, Ivory!"

Suddenly, Zeus groped her arm from behind, looking all perplexed and desperate. "What the hell is happening here, Ivory? Why are they all talking this nonsense? Have... they gone crazy or am I the only one going crazy now?" He probed aloud.

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