Adage who opened the door looked at Keira who was sprawled quivering on the floor. He walked toward her in slow and steady steps, trying not to alert a scared rabbit from jumping away.

Keira looked up and see the black robe figure staring directly below her with his purple eyes like he once had the night before. He kneeled down and peer directly at her sorry figure. His eyes filled with undiluted worry, and his eyebrows furrowed in distress.

Keira could not even utter a single word or noise from her mouth from being too overwhelmed. The person in front of her spoke to her instead.

“Why are you on the floor? You do not want to aggravate your injuries once more.”

Those words snapped Keira from her trance.

“I—You…! W—what have you done?”

Adage attempted to reach out his hand toward Keira’s face. Keira slapped his hand away, while her other hand was supporting her upper body from falling straight to the ground. Her face was painted in both anger and extreme disgust.

Hurt was evident on Adage’s face as he looked at the back of his once outstretched hand, which was slowly turning bitter red. Keira closely observed Adage’s expression, scared that he would outright burst in anger at her actions.

Adage moved again and reached out both of his hands this time. Keira closed her eyes, afraid of Adage’s next move. Keira expected a forceful grip on her body but what arrived was a warm pair of strong arms that engulfed her. It wasn’t aggressive nor did it hurt her. It was a soft gentle embrace that seemed to soothe her tense nerves.

Keira stiffened in place as Adage continued to bury her face deeper into his chest. Keira wanted to push him back, but Adage only held her even tighter to his embrace. Keira was about to push him away with all the remaining force on her body when Adage suddenly spoke.

“I’m sorry Keira…” Keira stopped in her tracks. His voice sounded more shaken up than hers.

He continued, “T—this was the only way I could think of…”

“What… the hell are you saying?” She asked, her voice cracking.

His embrace became even tighter. Then he suddenly pulled back and looked Keira directly in the eyes. Keira could now clearly see his pained expression that intermingle with hysteria, and this caught her astounded.

Locking his eyes on her like casting a spell that made people feel dazed, Adage’s hand slowly made its way from her back to her bondage stomach, to her semi-exposed thighs, and stopped at the delicate area on her ankle. Keira’s inner thoughts and emotions were all chaotic that she could not properly respond to the Adage’s advances.

He lifted her feet up with his left hand. His cheeks softly rested on her raised foot, while his right hand slowly caressed the bandaged ankle.

His actions were slow and gentle, which even made Keira feel ticklish. Adage’s gaze never left hers. There were intense emotions laying beneath those amethyst-colored eyes. If one were to peer more closely, one could find yourself captivated and stuck in that hurricane of emotions.

He turned his head and landed a small light kiss on her ankle, akin to a dragonfly subtly touching a body of water. Keira’s heart thumped. Her brain could not process anything at the moment, all she could focus on now was the scene in front of her.

Adage softly muttered, “...To stop you from leaving me again…”

His hand on her ankle tightened causing Keira to wince in pain, “Ugh—!”

His irises glowed a dangerous color, “—And again…”

Horror dawned on Keira. Her whole figure was slightly trembling in fear from Adage’s crazed expression. The pain brought her back to reality. Keira’s turbulent emotions bubbled into anger from Adage’s nonsense. She clenched her fist and wanted to directly push him again, but was stopped again by Adage.

Adage picked up her body that had fallen to the ground, and back to the bed beside her.

He laid Keira on the bed and planned to securely tuck her back in. Keira who was laying on the bed wanted to stand up again despite the terrible pain in her stomach from the forceful movements.

Adage saw Keira’s pained expression and felt his heart prickle in pain. He pushed Keira to completely lay back on the bed. Without giving her time to react again, he grabbed the fallen quilt and covered her with it.

Adage could see the anger and annoyance in her expression. His heart sank even more that he could barely cover his expression. He usually is able to keep a stone-cold exterior but with his Keira around, he just couldn’t keep his emotions and expressions from leaking.

He knows that Keira was really angry at him this time, so he wanted to let her cool down her emotions first and let her process everything.

He planted a soft kiss on her forehead. He stood up and tenderly looked at her, “I’ll be right back. I’ll just get you something to eat okay?”

Adage left as abruptly as he came, not giving Keira any chance to react.

Slam.

The door shut tight. The room was empty once again, leaving only Keira and her swirling emotions to brew in the empty silence.

…

Keira buried her face in her hands.

She asked herself, ‘Why is this happening?’

Keira recalled the terrifying look in Adage’s eyes; the obsession, the mania, the hint of excitement, the relief, and… the guilt and sadness present in them. Keira internally snickered.

‘Hah! He actually displayed such a downcast emotion that it’s almost laughable. But… aren’t I in a more laughable state?’

Looking at her crippled feet, made her feel even more miserable, like all the strength in her body sapped right out of her. The bloodied bandage has yet to be changed. The crimson color seemed to glow and continue to taunt her that she won’t be able to walk in this world.

‘I could ask System 999 if it had the ability to mend these wounds. I mean, how would I be able to escape this place without two perfectly working feet?’

Then a scary thought popped out of Keira’s head.

‘But what if… System 999 actually doesn’t return? Won’t that mean…”

Shivers directly traveled down her spine.

Just the mere thought of System 999 abandoning her was terrifying enough. Now that she was crippled for life, with only having to rely on Adage to get to places, always being carried around, being pushed in a wheelchair… Keira doesn’t even want to think how her life would be if it were to flow that way.

‘Ahhhh! Get away negative horrifying thoughts! You have no place here!’

Keira grabbed her head and shook her head left and right at an impressive speed.

Another thought appeared, ‘How would I go to the bathroom in this state?’

All the colors on her face disappeared.

‘System 999, please quickly come back!’ Keira yelled out a desperate cry in her heart. 

Chapter Extra: 

Adage: You don’t want to aggravate your injuries once more.

Keira: To hell with don’t aggravate my injuries. It wouldn’t aggravate if you hadn’t caused cost these injuries in the first place!