"It's too early to judge anything. We don't know what caused its condition. If it's related to its host, we would only be sending another system to its demise. If there are more signs that indicate going towards a negative ending, it'll never be too late to end BaoBao. Give it a system upgrade immediately but quarantine its connections. The only ones it should be able to contact is us."

No one argued and everyone went to work. Some continued operations as per normal while others attended to BaoBao's situation. This was how they were. No fuss, efficient, and effective. When they were done, they reported BaoBao's vitality signs and current condition to the one who gave the command.

"How quickly it recovers now is up to it. Its host should be able to tide over by herself in the meantime. Our systems wouldn't keep themselves bounded with weak hosts."

Vanora woke up the next morning to find that BaoBao was still unresponsive. She sat on the bed with a troubled expression. BaoBao? BaoBao! ... ... ...I wonder what happened...

She calmed her emotions and walked towards the black curtain to leave the room only to stop in front of the curtain. 

She was suddenly very aware of how vulnerable and uncertain she felt. She did not notice it before but part of the reason why she had been coping fine with transmigrating into one strange world after another was partly thanks to BaoBao's surveillance. She would usually know what's beyond this curtain. She would know what's going on in places she cannot see. 

The power of knowledge was a huge advantage to have. She won't be caught off guard. She won't be surprised. She would have time to plan and react. Now, she had no idea of what lies beyond until she reveals it herself. 

Now that she was relying on herself again as it had been in her original world. Her observations, her calculations, her deductions. Would her fate repeat? 

She felt frozen. She gulped and took a deep breath. It's alright. I'm just getting emotional again. Because I am in this world. Because I have to be emotional in this world. I've practiced this so many times. I can just regain control. Regain control. 

She reached out for the curtain confidently but her hand ended up freezing an inch before it. Her fingers trembled slightly. She clenched her hand to stop the trembling but now her hand shook. She held her hand against her chest. Now her whole body was trembling. 

She could not help it. She could not control it. She could not find it in herself to believe that she could somehow make it by herself. Even though they may have started out roughly, she did work together with BaoBao from the first world. 

Even with his powers, I was barely making it through each world. Now that he's not here, how can it be the same? I'll just fail like I did back home. I'll fail to change anything. I'll die. BaoBao, where are you..? What am I supposed to do now? You're the one that brought me here with a mission to fulfill. If you're not here, then what am I doing here in a world where I don't belong? What's going to happen to me? Am I the cause for your disappearance? Is this you abandoning me as a host? So I've really been abandoned? Do I live and die here for the final time? 

Suddenly, the curtain was drawn open from the other side. It surprised Vanora so much that her legs gave way. 

Vlad had found it weird that Vanora was sleeping longer than usual. When it reached 8 hours and she was still not out, he began to worry and decided to go in to check on her.

He jumped when he found someone just behind the curtain. Immediately after the jump scare, he felt his heart wrench as he took in the sight of Vanora on the floor, hands to her chest, with wide eyes filled with fear and anxiety and tears threatening to fall. She looked so small and fragile, like she would fall apart any moment now.

He hastily joined her on the ground and gathered her in his arms, placing her on his lap while he sat cross legged. He hugged her tightly and many words flashed through his mind. He always knew what to say when it came to anyone else. After all, manipulating humans were part of their job. Yet for some reason, he felt at a loss for words right now. Nothing felt right for him to say. All he ended up whispering repeatedly was, "I'm here. I'm here. I'm here."

It took quite a while before Vanora stopped shivering.

"What happened?" Vlad asked in the gentlest tone he could manage.

Vanora simply kept quiet.

"A bad dream?" 

Vanora thought for awhile before shaking her head.

"Don't feel like talking about it?" 

She shook her head again.

"Then it's fine. Don't force yourself." He continued to stroke her head while they sat there in silence.

She took awhile to compose herself and clear her mind. After she calmed down, she knew that BaoBao was not the sort to leave without saying anything. She also knew that whether she liked it or not, she was stuck here alone till BaoBao returns, if he does. Until then, she could only live like she was given a second life in another world and reborn into it. I don't know if you're listening but just in case you are, I want you to know that I'll keep on doing what I've been doing. I'll try to pass this mission. Get well soon BaoBao, I'll be waiting for you.

"I'm fine now." Vanora said in a soft voice. 

"You still want to return to the surface to fight today?"

Vanora nodded.

His heart hurt looking at her. She looked so small and delicate in his arms yet she seems so much tougher than so many people and beings he know of. He smiled helplessly, "You're really amazing, do you know that?" 

Vanora looked at him with disbelief then suspicion reflected in her eyes. 

"I really can't win against you. Let's go."

As the day passed, Vanora realised two things. 

The only time she would be able to forget about BaoBao's absence was when she was fighting, otherwise she would be painfully aware of it. Because she had to monitor her surroundings by herself now with the use of her enhanced senses, she was always on guard and alert. It made her look a little withdrawn and listless. This made Vlad concerned about whether she was truly fine as she said. 

Another thing she realised was that her worry the previous night was for naught in the end, with a new worry replacing it. Rosa who had been treating her either coldly or hostilely for the past 6 months was suddenly treating her very well. She was also very skillfully diverting all the male hell beings away from Vanora such that it was only Vanora who noticed her true intentions. 

For the past 6 months, Rosa had been desperately trying to catch Vlad's attention in so many ways that even Vanora had lost count of it. She tried many different approaches such as being the strong and independent woman, or being the meek submissive woman, or being the damsel in distress. Nothing worked. 

Her pretty little delusion was finally shattered after 6 months of watching Vlad having only eyes for Vanora despite the fact that Vanora did not seem to give a hoot about him. She had no choice but to admit that Vanora truly did not seem to have any indecent intimate relationship with Vlad or anyone else for that matter. This led to her guessing that it was the reason Vlad was so interested in her. After all, Vanora lost to her in all other aspects. Killing her won't be good enough. I have to ruin her image in Lord Vlad's mind. If Lord Vlad sees her ugly side, he'll finally see that I'm better than her!

Despite how much she disliked it, she could only resort to getting friendly with Vanora in order for Vlad to notice her. Rosa was also careful not to get too close to Vanora either since she knew to her chagrin that Vlad would get jealous regardless of the gender.

Over the following days, Vlad's mood did improve and he began to recognise who Rosa was. After knowing that she was finally noticed by Vlad, she decided to move on to her next step. 

Knowing that Rosa was likely scheming something, Vanora became even more hyper vigilant, trying to pick up any hints of Rosa's scheme. However, there were still no signs. She was always fawning over Lord Vlad by herself or with others. All this hyper vigilance and planning wore her out each day such that she would knock out the moment she hit the sack.

It no longer mattered to Vanora that the plot seemed to be changing when Rosa was supposed to be scheming against Angela and not her. She did not have the capacity to wonder about the reason when she had her hands full with simultaneously envisioning the possible ways Rosa could harm her. She paid particular attention to the theme of her schemes in the book. That coupled with the fact that she was already being targeted by Rosa, helped her arrive at the conclusion that her initial plan to distance herself from Vlad has failed miserably. There was no longer any point in keeping up this farce. Seeing how she was powerless against that plot once more, she decided to use the plot against itself and returned to staying by Vlad's side. 

Vlad did not understand Vanora's actions but welcomed her back to his side nonetheless. It was clear for anyone to see how much it pleased him to have her back by his side. The hell beings may not recognise her as an individual fit enough to be their Lady, however they saw how much stronger and motivated Vlad became whenever it came to matters regarding her. This allowed them to accept her as their Lady since it seems to benefit their Lord in a weird way that they could not understand. Rosa was the only one who held grievance in her heart and could not share it with anyone else. This made her even more desperate to hasten the separation of Vlad and Vanora.

One day, Vlad received a letter from Raven. It laid on the black metal trolley that looked more like a table with a deep tray as its top. Raven would usually take over the command of the army for the night. However, the letter was informing Vlad that she could not do so for tonight. This would mean that Vlad would have to watch over the army at night as well. 

Vanora could not shake off the suspicion that Rosa had something to do with this oddity. After a short debate with herself, she decided that staying out with Vlad and the army may be safer than being alone in his castle so did not request for him to send her back at night. 

Normally, Raven would bring the troops to advance further in the night. The hell beings only got the minimal rest they needed. Now that it was Vlad instead of Raven, who has Vanora in tow, it was decided that they would rest for the night. The hell beings felt relieved after fighting almost non-stop ever since the day their demon lord returned. They had never done anything so intensely before. Although it took their fun and enjoyment away, they could not deny that they made good progress in the war. If they kept it up, they have no doubt about winning this war.

While everyone else relaxed and went to sleep happily, only Vanora was still on tenterhooks. Afraid that Rosa might try something while she was asleep, she tried her best to stay awake. However, her wariness really took a toll on her body and she could not stop her heavy eyelids from closing. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep. It was too bad she was not aware that they could have went on their night sneak attacks on angels' camp, otherwise she would definitely opt for it in a bid to stay awake.

Vlad was not oblivious to Vanora's condition. He concluded over the days that she was definitely still bothered by something. He wanted so badly to be able to comfort her but she chose to suffer alone. It hurt him to see the way she tried to force herself to stay awake despite the fatigue she was feeling. Could she not trust him to watch her back for her yet? He felt the strong urge to just possess her entirety even if it was against her wishes, to simply give into his desires, but something told him that he would regret it even more if he did so. He watched over her with sad eyes and only closed his eyes to sleep after she entered a deep slumber.