Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
Jack's body was covered in sweat as he swung his sword around.
Click.
Fardo opened the door. "Oh, Jack. Where's Kara? Did you get her back home?"
"I think she's at Marrow's clinic with Phina." Jack said as he put his sword down and grabbed a towel to wipe his sweat.
"You 'think'?" Fardo narrowed his eyes. He studied his brother's face, thinking it was one his stupid pranks. He sighed and asked, "Where did you leave her?"
"The...trade center." Jack whispered as he looked to the side.
"The trade center?!" Fardo's eyes opened wide. "Are you insane?! You know how many grade 5 nobles go there to trade for weaponry?!"
"Relax, she has her mask." Jack said as he drank some water.
"This isn't a joke, Jack!" Fardo was furious. "What if some dumbass grade 5, or even grade 6, young noble decided that he will 'punish' her for impersonating a noble?! Jack!"
"She has Seraphina...she'll be fine." Jack scoffed. He didn't wish death on Kara. He didn't mind if she got a little hurt or scared, but she was his brother's wife. If he could make her happy, he might do so for his brother, depending on his mood of course. If his mood was bad, he'd crack jokes and mock her. He might even bully her a little by not allowing her to go to the bathroom sometimes. After all, he was in charge of her safety. If he deemed an area as 'dangerous', he had the authority to force her to not go. While Fardo and Marrow knew of their little feuds, they still fully trusted Jack with any task. He was the strongest after all. Fardo pushed his brother's rank to Peak Beginner-rank. Jack was only a step away from reaching Intermediate-rank.
"I can hire some guards, if you hate being around her so much that you'd rather her die or even worse." Fardo looked at his brother with worry and a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
"Trust me. If I wanted her died, I wouldn't have left." Jack narrowed his eyes.
"..."
Silence overtook the room. Jack broke it with a sigh, "I'll apologize to her. I'll swing by the clinic and I'll buy a suit on the way. I'll go with her to the party, it's full of scum. I can't have my brother be cuckolded by some piece of shit noble."
"...Jack, you really don't have to." Fardo looked his brother in the eye. Jack looked at him with a hint of regret already in his eyes. Fardo smiled at his brother, "Thanks. I'll make it up to you."
"You better!" Jack smiled. "You better hurry. Cleo isn't one to like waiting. But be careful, she gives me the creeps."
"Come on! She's the reason we got all those potions for cheap." Fardo opened the door and left. He quickly came back to drop a letter on a table near the door. "Hey, Jack! Don't forget to give Kara this letter!"
"Got it!" Jack shouted from the shower. Fardo quickly left afterwards.
Jack finished up his shower and put on a plain white long-sleeved shirt and black pants. He put on his most important possession, a simple bronze locket. He kissed it lightly before putting it in his shirt. He picked up the letter Fardo left.
"Ew..." Jack cringed at the seal of the letter, which was a giant heart. "I can't believe that witch got him so entranced. He's usually wiser."
He carefully put it in his pocket as he opened a drawer in the table right next to the door. He took a pouch from there and tied it to his waist. It contained spending money. 10 Gold to be specific. It might be a little excessive for 'spending money', but he was going to a noble party. There was no way he'd let nobles make him a subject of ridicule by pointing fingers towards his clothes. He was more than willing to spend over 4 Gold if it meant that he'd hear the nobles speak even 3 seconds less, especially if it's about him.
After walking for a few minutes, he saw a woman walking towards his direction. He looked to her and said, "Where's Phina?"
"How'd you know it was me?" Kara's voice came from the blonde woman's mouth.
"Where is she?" Jack looked at her plainly.
"S-She's at my house." Kara looked to the side. She felt worse than Jack, since Jack always mocked her and she always just brushed it off. But this time, she slapped him square in the face. She saw the look in his eyes at the moment she slapped him. He might not have much experience, but even she felt his undeveloped killing intent. "I-I'm so-"
"Sorry." Jack cut her off emotionlessly. It was very obvious he didn't mean it, but he continued either way, "I shouldn't have left you alone in the middle of the trade center."
"Let's get you back home." Jack said as he started walking. He pulled out the letter carefully. "Fardo is not home now. He left a letter for you."
"Thanks...can we please talk?" Kara said as she looked at the ground.
"Talk about what? What are we going to talk about, Miss Kinus?" Jack turned to look at her. His voice was emotionless. He didn't want his emotions to take over again, so he decided that he won't look at Kara as his sister-in-law anymore. She was purely someone he had to protect. No more mocking, joking or unnecessary small talk.
"Miss Kinus? What..." Kara looked at him in confusion before she opened her eyes in realization. "Again? Come on, Jack."
"I talked to my brother. He was going to hire a guard, so it's either me or a hired guard. You have the final choice at the end of the day." Jack slowly turned and started walking to the clinic.
Kara had a look of guilt on her face. She hated Jack. She hated him to the very bones, but she hated Jack being like this even more. Whenever she was around, he'd turn completely professional. She hated it because it was obvious that it made Fardo's casual time with his brother even shorter, and it always showed on Fardo. Fardo was a very busy man. He barely had enough time for her and some days might go by when he doesn't see his brother. She had to go beg Jack to stop it last time.
"Let's move, Miss Kinus. I have to go to a tailor for me to get a suit for the party this evening." Jack said as he walked back and stood right next to Kara. She held back her words as she started walking. There was no point. She had to talk to Fardo this time.
They kept walking until they reached the clinic. Jack got Kara inside, then turned around. "Please excuse me, Miss Kinus. I will get dressed up and pick you and Miss Seraphina up. We will directly head to the party afterwards."
Whoosh!
The passageway quickly closed behind him. Kara looked at the wall for a while. She then sighed and moved upstairs.
"No...please..." Kara heard faint noises from her room. She entered and saw Phina asleep. She appeared to be having a nightmare.
"Phina. Phina." Kara shook Phina awake.
"I'm up." Phina yawned. "I had the weirdest dream ever...wait...THE PARTY!! Are we late?! What happened?!"
"Relax, we still have a lot of time. Jack will get dressed up and pick us up in a bit." Kara smiled slightly.
"Oh, you figured things out with Jack?" Phina asked as she yawned once more and stretched.
"It got worse." Kara sighed.
"How can it get worse?" Phina was taken aback. 'They are already trying to kill each other, how can it be any worse?'
Kara explained the situation to Phina. "Well, isn't that good for you? You get to enjoy your own time more, and you get to spend more time with your husband. I don't see how it's worse."
"It breaks my heart to see Fardo sad, and not being able to relax with his brother makes him very sad." Kara sighed again. "Jack also changes. Last time, he became colder. That's how he manifested his Battle Intent. He was always ready for battle at all times that it manifested on its own. I don't want to see Fardo as worried as he was at the time."
"You wanted him dead." Phina looked at her. "You were honestly disappointed when I missed him with my sword. You have no right to talk about how sad Fardo would be when you wish that the person that keeps you safe at all times is dead. Why do you even hate him so much?"
"He always invalidates me and mocks me. He also keeps telling Fardo to divorce me because he doesn't trust me, it's infuriating!" Kara grit her teeth.
"Okay. What reasons did you give him to trust you?" Phina asked.
"I...what?" the question struck her silly. "What do you mean trust me? I'm his brother's wife!"
"From what I've seen, he has all the right to not trust you." Phina said. She then started counting "One, you stole his time with his brother. Two, you are constantly annoyed by him even being around. Three, you want him dead. Who knows what else you've done to him or Fardo to warrant his distrust?"
"You're seriously taking his side here?!" Kara asked in shock.
"Of course." Phina looked her in the eye. "Him just being your guard is proof enough that he doesn't trust others with your safety, meaning he cares about your safety. He does more than I ever would."
"..." Kara couldn't look Phina in the eyes. "I-"
"Miss Kinus!" Jack's voice cut her off from the house's entrance. "I am ready, let us head out!"
"Just wait a bit, Phina still needs to get ready!" Kara said from the top floor.
"I'll wear the dress and come down." Phina pointed at herself then pointed at Kara. "You go down and talk to him."
"...I get it, fine! I'll go." Kara scoffed. She was already finished, except for her dress. Her make up and hair were both already done.
"Are you ready, Miss Kinus?" Jack looked at Kara as she went down the stairs.
"I just need to put on my dress. I'll wait for Phina to finish then I'll go put on my dress. We'll go afterwards." Kara looked at the floor before taking a deep breathe. "While Phina is getting ready, how about we chat?"
"I would rather not, Miss Kinus." Jack looked forwards at all times when in professional mode.
"Come on, Jack. Just stop it already." Kara looked at him with an apologetic face. "I'm sorry, I really am, so can you just stop?"
Jack looked at her and said in a clear voice. "I apologize, Miss Kinus. You have done nothing wrong. The fault lies with my inadequacy in my own job."
"Listen here you mis-"
"I'm done." Phina said as she came down the stairs. She simply just wore a dress. No make up, and no tied hair. The dress was a fiery red. It was a long sleeved dress with no designed on it at all. She wore simple and very short heels.
"Good evening, Miss Seraphina." Jack looked at her.
"Nah-uh, you do that shit with her not me." Phina looked at him.
"I apologize, Phina." Jack smiled slightly.
"You go get dressed." Phina looked to Kara. "I'll talk to him."
"Alright." Kara nodded and headed upstairs.
"Nice dress." Jack said as Kara left.
"What the hell is up with you?" Phina looked at him.
"Nothing works with her. I tried asking at first. I even begged her with tears in my eyes to let me have some time with my brother. She refused, telling me to man up." Jack said as he relaxed his straight posture. He leaned at the wall and recalled. "I tried ignoring her, but Fardo always wanted us to interact. He'd rather us hate each other than one denying the other's existence. I tried being a clown, even the butt of the joke. Always ended with her scolding me or something of the sort. She stabbed me once before on the excuse that 'her hand slipped'. Marrow fixed me up. I started acting cold then. She hated it, so I kept going. I took it so far that I lost myself in the act. She begged me to stop, but I didn't know how to. That was when I realized that she somewhat cares for my brother. Fardo helped me get out of that mentality with the help of Marrow. From that moment on, I stopped trying to get in the way of her and my brother's relationship."
"May I speak brutally for a moment?" Phina asked after listening carefully.
"Please." Jack nodded.
"You need to be blunt with her. She is a spoiled noble brat, so you need to give her no room to push in her weird logic." Phina said while looking at the top of the stairs. "Give her another chance. I'll try to help. From what I understand, she doesn't have many friends and neither do you. So let me be the unbiased mediator for your problems. In exchange, I need you to train me."
Jack gave it a long time, then took a deep breathe and chuckled. "You got a deal."
"Alright, so stop with the 'Miss Kinus' crap. It's creeping me out a bit." Phina smiled.