Jasmine POV:

Marina's hands trembled as she held Len's cold body close to her chest. She cried silently, rocking back and forth with Len in her arms.

‘Dammit...’

In the end, I couldn’t make a choice. Her breathing was growing fainter and fainter by the minute, but all I could do was watch. Leo would never forgive me if I let Len die here.

“S-sis... I-It'll... B-be... A-alright...”

Marina comforted herself as she spoke to Len. I clicked my tongue, unable to watch this any longer. If I couldn’t move from here, then I’d manually help her breathe.

My fingers fanned out, and I manipulated the air around me. I adjusted the influx of oxygen entering her body, forcefully stabilizing her breathing.

“J-Jasmine...?”

Marina looked at me with expectant eyes, but I quickly shook my head. The problem was that the moment my Ki ran out, Len's condition would deteriorate rapidly—I was essentially providing her life support.

Another issue was that I couldn’t move while doing this; the amount of concentration needed to ensure I wouldn’t accidentally poison Len was extremely high. I could only buy time, hoping that Leo would find us or Len would wake up again.

“Keuk!”

I turned my head to the side and coughed. Blood splattered over my hand, and I knew I was approaching my limit soon. It had been five minutes since I had started aiding Len, and she still hadn’t woken up. Fortunately, her condition hadn’t worsened either.

My vision had started to become cloudy while a throbbing pain shot through the back of my head constantly. I endured it, ignoring my trembling fingers and continuing to focus on keeping Len alive.

“J-Jasmine...!”

I looked at Marina whose eyes were locked onto something else. Her lip quivered slightly, unsure of what she should do.

‘?’

I glanced behind me and noticed the fake Lyon standing a few meters away from us. The black hood over his head, was tied tightly with a rope around his neck. The open wound from his blown-off arm, had completely sealed up.

My eyes narrowed as he lifted his remaining arm and tilted his head back slightly.

“Rejoice for Lyon has made a decision. Len will live.”

“...Copycat!”

As soon as he spoke, I knew it was his doing. I didn’t have any spare Ki remaining to deal with him, and I still needed to focus on Len's life support, so I was left helpless as I watched him close the gap between us and kneel down beside Len.

Marina looked at me confused while I told her with my eyes not to move. We watched Copycat place his hand over Len’s abdomen, and a bright green light flashed.

It spread out over her body very faintly. Colour slowly returned to her face as the many open wounds littered across her body barely closed.

‘!’

Marina and I made eye contact as we saw life flow back into Len. The healing ability Copycat was using wasn’t strong, but it was enough.

I moved my hand away, cutting off the aid I had been providing. As expected, her body had stabilized, and my support was no longer needed.

“Marina and Len. The two of you are his weakness, yet also a source of great strength at the same time. Because of you both, Lyon will suffer, but that too is a part of lif—”

“Shut up.”

I glared at Copycat, who started rambling out of nowhere, but he simply turned his head to face me. The glowing green light emitting from his hand dimmed before eventually fading completely. He fell back on his knees while his arm flopped down to his side, devoid of any strength.

“And you, Jasmine. As much as you try, there is no room for you in his heart. You are an eyesore, a cockroach that won’t die and so you will be left alone again. You can never stand by his si—”

My fist smashed into the side of his cheek, launching him through the debris and out of my sight.

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“...”

I looked down at my clenched hand that moved with a will of its own as my eyes widened.

I trembled.

I wanted to break his skull with that punch, to shatter his insignificant mouth into dust, but I didn’t have enough strength. I bit down on my quivering lip and forcefully pushed his words out of my head.

“J-Jasm—”

“I’m fine. He already healed Len, so don’t worry.”

Marina's concern for my well-being was written all over her face, but I paid it no mind. I felt sick to my stomach, and I was worried about Leo.

The bad feeling I had earlier was only exemplified once I knew Leo had indeed met Copycat on his side too.

“Marina, let’s go. Len's condition is stable, but she still needs treatment.”

“Y-yes...!”

I picked up Len's body while Marina got to her feet. Her external injuries had mostly healed, but there was still internal damage present—that was all I could deduce. I needed Ness to take a look at her.

The starry night sky illuminated the street below as we raced down back towards Comfort.

***

Lyon POV:

I reached Comfort and pushed open the door.

“Lyon!”

Ness reached my side quickly as she gripped my hand while the door closed behind me. Her eyebrows quivered before slowly rising up; her lips spreading into a content smile—she looked relieved, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

“Jasmine brought Len and Marina back safely. Len's condition isn’t great, but she’s stable. She recently woke up, you should...”

Her words trailed off as she stared at me. She sensed something was amiss but didn’t know what she should say.

I shifted my gaze towards the back of the restaurant and tapped her shoulder lightly.

“Lead the way.”

“R-right...”

Ness momentarily hesitated before turning around and walking ahead of me. I noticed her hands tremble slightly as I followed after her, but chose not to say anything.

Her feet gradually came to a stop while she twisted her upper body to look back at me. Ness opened her mouth, eyebrows curving into upward slopes, but no words came out.

I observed her clench her fists tightly as she bit down on her lip. Her deep hazel eyes shimmered before she reluctantly turned back around.

‘I’m fine, Ness.’

I wanted to tell her those words, but that would be a lie.

I wasn’t fine at all.

We walked in silence and soon arrived at Len and Marina's room. Ness opened the door while I reflexively hid behind it. Her eyebrow raised slightly, but I beckoned for her to go in.

Her expression crumpled again as her facial muscles struggled to get used to performing the variety of emotions she was feeling.

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her while I leaned my back against the wall. I heard their voices, followed by light laughter. Len sounded weak, but she was still with us.

I couldn’t face them right now, so I stared at the ceiling for a few moments, before heading back down to the basement.

I felt a faint sense of deja vu as I opened the door and descended the stairway. I walked through the open entrance and saw Jasmine standing in the middle of the room.

Her dark blond hair was down, reaching all the way to her shoulders where it slightly curled—it was rare to see her like this.

We made eye contact, but neither one of us said a word for the next few minutes. I examined her body and saw the full extent of her injuries. There was a large bruise on the left side of her ribs that was a deep shade of purple with specks of yellow surrounding it. Faint traces of burns could be identified at various locations across her body as well; she had fought hard.

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

The silence was broken by Jasmine as she stepped forward and placed her hand on my cheek gently. I looked away, moving towards the bedroom door instead.

“I’m grateful for everything you’ve done Jasmine. Let’s talk inside.”

I didn’t want to know what kind of face she was making, so I went in first and sat down on the bed. She walked in a few moments later, closed the door and sat down on a chair in the corner of the room. Her eyes were slightly red, but she simply smiled at me whenever our eyes met.

I took a deep breath and told her everything that had happened. From the fake ‘older Marina' all the way down to me becoming the new District Leader. She kept quiet while observing me with intense eyes.

“...”

Once I had finished speaking, Jasmine didn’t say a word. Time passed by like this when she suddenly got up and pushed me down on the bed.

‘!’

She got on top of me while gravity pulled her hair down by the sides of her face as she looked into my eyes. I clenched my teeth in annoyance when I noticed the faint shade of red spreading across the bridge of her nose despite her solemn expression.

“Jasmine, I’m really not in the mood for th—”

She bent down, pressing her breasts against my chest as her soft lips met mine. My eyes widened while her lips parted. She tilted her head, and I felt our lips gently intertwine with one another as her fingers interlocked with mine.

‘!’

I broke free from my first kiss and was about to push her off when my hands stopped inches away from the horrific bruise on her ribs.

Droplets of water splashed against my cheek as I shifted my gaze back up, only to see Jasmine crying. My heart thumped as I stared into her hazel eyes that bloomed like wild sunflowers.

“I’m always here for you. I can get stronger. For you, I can do anything.”

Her hand softly ran down my arm as she backed away slowly. I watched her bend down in front of me and place her head firmly against the bedsheets.

“Please... Don’t leave me...”

My whole body shook violently as I watched Jasmine. This wasn’t right, this shouldn’t happen. She... She hadn’t done anything wrong.

‘!!’

Two golden brown eyes peered down at me from above as a faint silhouette appeared in front of her. He crouched down and placed his hand on my head, just like all those years ago, while tears pooled at the sides of my eyes.

I watched his lips curve into a smile before vanishing into thin air.

‘Thank you...’

I thanked him in my heart, unable to stop the tears rolling down my cheek as I grabbed hold of Jasmine's hand.

“I’m sorry...”

She looked up at me and smiled through the tears while jumping into my arms. I hugged her tightly as the two of us embraced each other for a long time.

...

..

.

‘Master, why did you send me here? Was it to experience life like this? Or was it for something else?

I can’t be like you—a dominant, yet calm force that crushes everyone and everything in his path. But then again, you never told me to be you.’