Early morning of 6 August, 2027.

Iliana took her bath earlier than usual and went down to the office. She began her day by collecting letters from the mailbox and categorising them into one that requires attention and the scams.

After differentiating the letters, she found a few of the urgent ones. The letter was from the court, which has the Judgement of the Ranberr's Case written and stamped by the court.

"I see.. It came earlier than I anticipated." Iliana said calmly before opening other letters. The letters were from the family of the defendants who had sent a cheque as ordered by the Court.

The money was the sum of all of the property that were squatted and the fine that was imposed upon them. With this, her family's name was also clear of all rumours.

Iliana smiled, feeling a bit bitter that it took so long. Originally, Iliana wanted to press criminal charges on every single person involved in the mob. But a long time had passed and most of those who were involved in that case had either died or left Luminae in its entirety.

Just as Iliana was about to delve deeper into her inner thoughts, the front opened and two familiar figure entered the office.

"Whoah! We are finally back." Eluya said with a smile as she ran towards Iliana, who was sitting on the sofa, tackling her and hugging her. "I hope you were fine with us gone.. We weren't there for emotional support." Eluya spoke softly, her tone laced with guilt, as she pulled Iliana into a warm, maternal hug.

"Don't worry. A hug is enough of a payback.." Iliana said with a smile, rubbing her cheeks against Eluya's, while looking at Abel with a light blush.

Abel smiled seeing the two of them so close and happy. Then he walked over to the sofa, kneeling down before pinching both of their cheeks. "I have two stethoscopes in my room. Left Cabinet, Second Drawer from bottom.. I'm gonna take a bath."

Then Abel stood up and walked up the stairs to his room, leaving Eluya and Iliana astonished. Was he actually allowing them to listen to him? He was fuelling their dirty habits?!

Eluya and Iliana looked at each other, dumbfounded for a second until they heard Abel open the door to his room. Then they got up from the sofa and ran up the stairs, barging into Abel's room with a smile from ear-to-ear.

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Abel, who still hadn't entered the shower, was standing shirtless as he picked his clothes from his cabinet. He smiled before speaking in a lightly teasing tone. "I changed my mind."

Eluya and Iliana heart sank at hearing this. How could he give them false hope, fuelling their desires only to break it. But before any of them could speak, he added. "I'm gonna take a bath with the door open. So as long as you don't peek in, I'm fine."

Then he walked into the en-suite bathroom, not even bothering to close the door behind him.

Eluya's cheeks turned red as the whole scene of a sweaty Abel taking a shower knowing well enough that there were the two of them waiting outside, played inside her mind.

And for Iliana, the effects were even more potent as she sat down on the bed, her eyes fixated on the door, hearing each and every noise made by Abel.

Eluya, sat down on the bed alongside Iliana, both of them holding each other's hand while carefully listening to the sound of Abel showering.

Then suddenly, Abel spoke. "Eluya, if you aren't aware.. Geppie will be here in half an hour. Please be ready." Abel spoke with a calm tone, and his words were meant to be taken seriously.

"May I take a shower with you?" Eluya said with a teasing smile on her face as she allowed her clothes to fall off her shoulders in a poised, delicate manner.

Abel chuckled as the sound of the shower stopped. "No." He spoke as the show was finally over for Eluya and Iliana.

Eluya pouted, "Hmpf! You don't need to tell me that." Then she got up from his bed and left the room, choosing to go back to her room to take a bath. She also had a light stench of Barbarians' blood on her.

Abel sighed as he walked out of the bathroom, dressed in cleaner clothes. His gaze fell on Iliana, who was sitting on his bed. There was a hidden grief still present in her, as that could be concluded from her plastered smile.

"Do you want to talk? We have some time before our guests arrive." Abel said calmly as he sat down on the bed, reaching his hand out to pat Iliana's shoulder. "You did good.. You can let it all out, Iliana."

"But.. you just changed into clean clothes. I'll wet them with my tears." Iliana said as she crawled on the bed until she was close enough to embrace Abel from the side, her head resting on his shoulder as she was barely holding back her tears. "Should have told me to cry before you went to take a bath."

"I reeked of blood.. Didn't want you to smell bad." Abel replied calmly as he caressed the back of Iliana's head. "Now then, go ahead.. Don't let anything stay in your system."

"I want to honour my family and maid.. You will help me." Iliana said calmly before she burst out crying. Her tears fell down her cheeks like a waterfall without an end.

Abel held her close, his hands still softly caressing her as she cried freely against him. While, Eluya could listen to Iliana's cries, as she bathed in her en-suite bathroom in her room.

After a while, the cries stopped and just as Eluya walked into Abel's room, she saw Iliana, who was no longer crying, holding Abel tightly in her embrace. Without saying a word, Eluya walked up to the two of them and wrapped her arms around both of them.

The three of them stayed silently like this for a few minutes before they got up from the bed.

Abel changed into a new shirt, while Iliana calmly apologized for ruining his shirt.

Then the doorbell rang.. It seemed that the guests had arrived.