For the rest of the day, Austin became even more sticky and persistently stayed close by Eva's side. He also allowed only the most trusted people in the household to be on the second floor off the central wing, who are essentially himself, Edwin, the doctor, and the doctor's wife. 

The next morning arrived together with a letter for Eva which Edwin delivered to her room.

Eva and Austin frowned at the envelope in her hand.

He found it weird that the pink envelope in Eva's hands right now was not the usual cream coloured one he would receive from Esmeralda. However, he decided to give it a benefit of the doubt, thinking that Esmeralda may have changed it since it was addressed to Eva instead.

Meanwhile, Eva found it weird that Esmeralda would even send a letter to her at all, leading her to open the envelope with suspicion.

As she expected, the contents of the letter turned out to be a threat that was obviously not from Esmeralda. The writing on the letter was dark, harsh, and messy. It was clearly written with much anger and hate.

"You will NEVER be forgiven.

Everybody else may be fooled by you into thinking that you're some innocent girl but being someone who fell for your tricks before, I know better than that. With your trickery, who knows how much you've planned the assassinations out for your family! Perhaps they were truly trying to call out the mastermind the whole time but everyone else was just too blind to see it!

Don't blame me for trying to seek justice for my beloved. You're the one at fault. Our lives were ruined because of your family! Austin told me to move on, and I tried! It's impossible! Nothing changed! Nobody treats me as seriously or as well as the love of my life did! Why did she have to die?! Why?! There'll never be a meaning for her death! How does it make sense that a good girl like her has to die while a horrible person like you get to live happily?! I'm done with the games! I want you dead even if I have to die for it! Meet me at my beloved's house at midnight. Let's end this. If you don't turn up, don't be surprised to receive news about the deaths of those around you. The servants. The bodyguards. Dylan. Esmeralda. And Austin. Perhaps you'll feel the pain I felt then. But I'm better than you, I'm giving you a choice."

Just as she finished reading the letter, BaoBao warned her. There's poison in your body again!

Her eyes widened as she realised that the letter must have been soaked in an odourless poison whose fumes would be dangerous to breathe in.

At the same time that she realised it, Austin tried to peek at the letter in her hand, intending to find out what seemed to be causing her distress. However, he did not manage to catch even a glimpse of a word before she bolted out of the door. Austin naturally followed closely behind her, wondering what in the letter could have upset her this much. While he watched her burn the letter in the backyard, he reached out to hold her in his arms. He wanted to comfort her and felt safer if she was in his arms since they were outside of the house. Instead, his hand was taken in hers and he got pulled to the bathroom in his room.

Eva roughly pushed him through the door to the bathroom then signed to him. "Bathe now. Properly and thoroughly!"

However, Austin stood there blankly, feeling dumbfounded and lost. He could not make heads or tails about his current situation. Eva frowned and puffed her cheeks slightly in annoyance then stepped forward into the bathroom to help him unbutton his shirt. Why is his brain short circuiting now? I didn't tease him or anything, did I?

Her actions shook him out of his stupor and made him blush real hard. He did not have any experience with a girl coming on to him this strongly and suddenly. He held onto her hands and spoke, "I'll do it. I'll do it. Myself."

She huffed a little then left the bathroom and closed the door behind her. He stared at the door in confusion while his hands continued to take his shirt off. What exactly does she want? What was in that letter? What's going on?

Eva returned to her room and pushed the windows wide open before showering as well. I should have known, especially after we found out that it was Drey... How pathetic... I was so used to thinking that I was someone small and unimportant but now it only clouded my judgement and caused this issue to drag on longer than it had to.

Well... You weren't the only one who took the wrong perspective... Sorry that I wasn't of more help...

Eva came out of the bath just as Austin entered her room. She was dressed in her simple white bathrobe because it was easier to don on than her more elaborate day dress, and she was in a rush to relay everything to Austin as soon as possible.

Austin froze in place with his hand still on the handle. The knowledge and sight of Eva fresh out of a shower proved to be a very strong stimulant. He gulped and his heart thumped loudly. He let go of the door handle and took long strides towards her.

He extended his arms out to hug her. "Ev-"

"There was poison in the letter." Eva suddenly signed, interrupting his actions and words, and immediately and effectively killing any sexual arousal he had felt.

His body became taut and a frown formed on his brows. "Poison?"

Eva nodded then proceeded on to explain how the letter was not from Esmeralda, but before she could get further in her explanation, Austin stomped to the door, opened it, and yelled for Edwin. His voice boomed through the mansion, causing every occupant who heard it to jump in fright. 

Everyone simultaneously wondered if Edwin was in serious trouble for the first time.

As soon as Austin saw Edwin running towards him, he dished out an order. "Track down the person who sent the letter!"

Edwin was shocked to standstill. However, with Austin looking like he could kill someone at the moment, it did not take him longer than a second to get moving again.

After Austin closed the door once more, he found Eva right behind him. She recounted the contents of the letter, almost word for word, with BaoBao's help.

"This makes things so much easier!"

Austin frowned.

"All I have to do-" Austin held onto her hands to stop her from continuing her sentence.

He kept on a stern expression and said through gritted teeth, "You won't be doing anything."

Her brows very slowly drew together into a frown.

He pursed his lips, let go of her hands, then turned away from her. They stood like that for a long time. Suddenly, Austin sighed deeply and wiped his face with a hand. He turned back to her and signed, "I can never agree with using you as bait. It's too dangerous. The letter gave us a clue about where he'll be. Let's just leave it to the proper authorities to handle this and we can continue our lives as usual."

This is not the reaction I'd expect if he just found out that I was the real target... I've always thought that he was simply being overprotective and possessive but... "You already knew that I was the target, didn't you?"

Austin did not say anything.

"When?"

"... Christmas night."

It was no wonder conversations about the culprit seemed to become a taboo topic in the household ever since then, impeding BaoBao's discovery of the person's identity. Everybody has recognised it as Austin's landmine.

"I can guess why you'd want to keep it from me and why you don't want me involved, but what if they still fail to catch him later tonight? You know how he's as slippery as an eel."

"He'll show up eventually. He has ran out of patience now that he knows that you're still alive."

"Even if it means sacrificing the lives of innocent people?" Eva could not not feel anything for the people whom she could be living the rest of her life with in this world, if everything went well. She could tell that she was growing attached once again. It was becoming something she could not help even though she knew that it would hurt when she left the world.

Austin was incredibly tempted to say yes although he knew how extreme he was being and how irrational he must look to others now. He could not help it. He felt terrified. There was an eerie feeling of deja vu each time he pictured her death and his life after. Together with that, he would be consumed by feelings of sorrow, reluctance, and fear that he could not explain.

Despite all those, he held himself back from answering rashly. Something within him was even more afraid that if he insisted on his way, he might get something worse in return. The plea and stubbornness present in her eyes was gut wrenching for him. He did not want her to start acting without his knowledge and leaving him behind. Being cut off from her, not knowing how she was doing or where she was, and not being able to render her assistance when he could have, terrified him even more.

Eva saw the pain in his watery eyes and could somehow feel the struggle he must be feeling inside himself now. She felt so sorry for him that she eased her expression and walked to him to cup his cheeks, wiping the tear hanging at the corner of his eyes, before taking him in her embrace.

His arms circled around her waist and he hugged her tightly, closed his eyes, and breathed in her scent deeply. After a long silent moment, he pulled back to convey to her his final decision. "Let's jump into the trap he has for you tonight. But I'll go with you. Promise me that you'll never, never, never, leave my side. ... ... Please."

Eva finally smiled proudly and warmly. She nodded, understanding that this was the best compromise Austin could give.

They spent the rest of the day planning a foolproof way of not letting Drey escape.

Now that she knew how Drey was making use of the darkness in the underground tunnels as a cover, they made sure that every entrance to the underground tunnel was manned so that they could prevent him from escaping back in there.

The remaining guards would surround the perimeter around Drey's dead fiancee's place as much as possible while staying well out of the range that Drey would spot them. The plan was for them to ensure that Drey would not escape another time. If he does try, Eva or Austin would fire a green flare to indicate his location, which is when the guards would converge in that approximate direction while closing in on him. If Drey turned out to be absent, she would fire a red flare to indicate all the guards to head towards the tunnel instead and comb through it.

This was going to be their largest-scale operation thus far and was the first time they were using Eva as the bait instead of Austin.

Everything was done as covertly as possible and by the time everything was settled, Austin already found himself on horseback with Eva, riding to the assigned place.

Along the entire way, BaoBao paid full attention to Eva's surroundings, ready to alert her the moment Drey was in sight. He only hoped that Drey would stop with his camouflages and disguises.

The moment their destination came within BaoBao's view, he warned Eva that he could not see Drey anywhere. I can be sure that he's no where among the trees. If he's here, watch out for anywhere with thick vegetation, especially shrubs and vines that he can hide amongst.

Eva conveyed the same caution to Austin and Austin nodded. He slowed his horse down to a walk while he kept his eyes peeled and tuned his senses as much as he could to the quiet surroundings.

Suddenly, there was the softest click that alerted BaoBao and Austin. While BaoBao relayed the information, Austin was already holding onto Eva tightly and slashing at the strap that held the saddle in place. It caused them to slide off the horse uncontrollably and fall onto the ground. Several sticks simultaneously flew up from the ground. It pierced the horse and would have pierced its riders as well if Austin had not reacted fast enough. 

The horse neighed loudly in pain and reared up on its hind legs, only to look frozen shortly after thus failing to land properly and collapsing towards Austin and Eva. Austin made sure to protect Eva's head while he rolled themselves away. From the muscle spasms and foaming at its mouth, Eva immediately recognised that the originally strong and healthy horse had been poisoned.

As much as she wanted to give the horse a quick death, they were not out of the woods yet, leaving them no room to care for anyone or anything else but their own safety. Although Austin rolled away, the first trap triggered a chain of traps that surrounded them. They were primitive in design, using only vines, sticks, and branches, but it was very effective since it was the perfect camouflage.

All of it flew at them from different directions and different angles that Austin and Eva had to move independently. The both of them had their swords drawn and got busy swiping, cutting, or dodging the flying projectiles. Austin helped Eva by knocking away what he could and into ones that were going Eva's way. As it carried on, the more nicks and cuts they suffered.

They did not have to suffer for long though. Suddenly, Drey stood up from the shrub he was hiding in, covered in foliage himself, then raised a gun. He had wanted to fire while keeping himself hidden but Austin incidentally covered her back well, forcing him to change his location. He could not wait too long because it was best to catch them now while they were still cornered and preoccupied.

It was only a matter of speed now.

Drey fired several bullets while moving.

Austin had immediately noticed the movement among the shrubs and decisively ignored the branches still flying at him at a high speed, prioritising Eva's safety over his.

Eva remained completely oblivious because she could not hear a thing and BaoBao guiltily made the decision to not inform her. He had seen how Austin immediately moved to cover Eva, thus ensuring her safety, whereas if he had distracted her by drawing her attention to her back, she would highly likely get impaled by the flying objects. As much as he liked Austin, his priority was still Eva's life.

Although one bullet still managed to make it past Austin and hit Eva in her left back, she did not pay much attention to what felt like a painful insect bite and continued doing whatever she was doing. 

Awhile later, the barrage of attacks finally stopped. She panted hard, finally noticing the growing pain in her back and feeling like all of her muscles were just about to cramp up. However, she ignored it all and immediately turned back to check on Austin. She had already noticed something off on his side for awhile but could only afford to look now. 

The sight that greeted her made her heart drop and eyes grow wide. Austin was lying unconscious on the ground with three bullet wounds in his abdomen and a branch impaled in his shoulder and thigh. 

Drey stood right by Austin's body and looked at Eva with a wide smirk on his face. It thrilled him to see Eva suffering.

Eva's mind blanked out with only one thought left on her mind. Bastard!!!

Even more adrenaline rushed through her system and the results from non-stop practice showed as her body moved based on muscle memory. She appeared in front of Drey unexpectedly fast, thus catching him off guard, managing to score a strike across his chest. If he had been any slower, he would have been cut into half. 

They fought intensely with Drey completely on the defensive. During one of his rolls that he used to dodge an attack, he took Austin's sword and started to parry her attacks. However, with a few more heavy swings targeted at his weak spots, she quickly knocked Austin's sword out of Drey's hands then stabbed her sword towards his heart.

Just as the sword pierced his skin, all of her muscles in her body cramped at the same time, causing her to freeze in motion. A soundless yelp escaped her mouth. Drey staggered backwards and fell onto his bum in shock. However, he quickly recovered when he saw Eva frozen on the floor, gritting her teeth in pain. The anger and frustration in her red eyes as she stared at him was as clear as day.

He started to laugh maniacally then went to retrieve his gun and pointed it at her.