Chapter 42 - WAKE UP!

The dark shadow moved closer to the sleeping Veronica. She was soundly asleep. That's why she heard nothing. The shadow moved away realizing she wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

Something went under her pillow and fumbled for a while until it touched something hard. After getting what it wanted, the dark shadow left the room.

Arthur went back to his study and opened the diary of Sister Ruth. In front of Veronica, he couldn't check some things. He wanted to test something. He didn't want to do it in front of Veronica.

He sat on the chair and lit up the candle. Then, he put an open page of the diary in front of the light.

Slowly, a dark mark started to become visible.

The corner of his lips rose. 'I knew it,' he thought.

Some parts of the diary were written in invisible ink. That's why he had to use light and high temperature to make it visible. Fire could give both light and the temperature he wanted.

Now, he could read everything in detail.

The person she was seeing was a man. She fell in love with him. They had mutual feelings. Later, that man proposed to her. She was delighted.

She wrote in detail about him. How they spent their time. How they dreamed about the future.

After that, the pages were torn. The last line before the pages was torn was – "I wish I knew at that time and warned him beforehand."

'What does she mean by that?' Arthur furrowed his eyebrow. 'What could have happened? Why did she want to warn him? For what reason?' His long fingers tapped on the desk in rhythm.

The torn pages were impossible to read. The last remaining pages were mostly empty. He didn't put more hopes in but still decided to check page by page.

On the last page, there was one passage he got to read – I can't hide anymore. I can't put the temple in danger. They are coming. They are…

'Why didn't she finish writing? Could it be that she was killed right after that so that's why she couldn't finish writing? Those who killed her must have torn the pages.' Arthur was in deep thought. 'But it doesn't seem right. They could have taken the diary or completely destroyed it. Why would they tear apart a few pages only?'

As he was pondering hard, he heard birds chirping gleefully as though they were trying to welcome a new day. Arthur looked outside the window and saw the sun was peeking out from the distance. He looked at the clock and realized it's almost time to wake her up.

He didn't notice how the time flew since he was attentively reading the diary. He stood up and went to his bedroom where Veronica was sleeping.

Veronica was covering herself with the thin blanket and was in a deep sleep. Arthur didn't have to be careful. Even so, he made no sound when he marched forward and placed the diary where it was before. After that, he stroked her head gently and said in a low voice, "Nica, wake up. It's dawn."

Veronica didn't move. She was dreaming about her stilling on a cloud. The cloud was gently floating in the sky. She saw birds were competing against her. She ordered the cloud to move faster. Later, she touched some clouds and they turned cotton candy. She liked sweets. She couldn't help it. With a jovial expression, she began to eat them.

From far away, she heard something calling her name – "Nica… It's time to get up. Wake up."

Veronica didn't want to listen to that voice. It was so disturbing. She ignored the voice and ate all the sweet clouds.

However, suddenly, she couldn't breathe anymore. The beautiful dream turned into a nightmare. She felt like someone was trying to choke her to death.

At that time, she heard loud noises and turned back. She saw a group of assassins was chasing after her. Terrified Veronica wanted to catch something but she fell from the cloud. She tried to scream aloud but she couldn't.

She was so scared that she couldn't do anything. In fear, she shut her eyes tightly.

Once again, she heard, "Nica, wake up!" This time, the voice was clear.

Veronica's eyes flew open. In a thin light, she could see someone looking at her up close. She blinked a few times and her vision gradually cleared.

"Arthur?" she muttered. Her voice sounded weird.

Arthur took off his fingers which were pinching her nose. It momentarily made her stop breathing and she woke up. "What were you dreaming? You looked scared."

"I was… being chased… I couldn't breathe… wait, this is all your fault. You are the one who was pinching my nose." Veronica rubbed her pitiful nose and blamed him. Her pale nose turned red under his assault.

"I was trying to wake you up but you didn't listen. What if you blame me for not waking you up?" Arthur sat beside her on the bed. "Do you want to take a bath? You look sweaty."

"What time is it?" Veronica yawned and stretched her arms.

Arthur stared at her beautiful form as he replied, "It's almost five."

"Great, I can take a bath. You better prepare the breakfast you promised me," Veronica warned him.

Arthur's lips were holding back laughter. "As you wish."

After taking a bath, Veronica went to the kitchen. A delicious smell entered her nostrils. Her mouth watered up in a second. Her stomach cried out noisily.

"Hungry already?" Arthur chuckled. He took off the apron and served her the dishes. "This is a beef curry. Eat it with bread."

Veronica didn't have time to rebuke him. Her eyes were on the food. "It smells so good."

"Have your fill."

----------

"Ahh… it's so spicy. My tongue…" Veronica stuck out her tongue and tried to cool off her tongue in the cold breeze. It felt like someone lit a fire on her tongue. She was going to the temple. The curry was so spicy that her tongue was still burning.

Arthur commented from behind, "This isn't spicy. I added a pinch of chili powder. I would never make any food spicy for breakfast."

Veronica could barely reply, "We eat plain food without adding any spices. Sometimes, our chef adds herbals and that's it. Never had anything so hot. Phew!"

"That makes sense," Arthur remarked. Afterward, he silently observed her.

When they almost reached the destination, he abruptly held her arm.

Veronica was surprised by his sudden action and turned around. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"When will we meet again?" he questioned her.