Trashes of the Counts' Families || Trash of the Count's Family || OC

70

Adara was going to rendezvous with Cale and the Whale Siblings at Harris Village. It had only been one day, but she was glad to be away from it. She can't remember how she had survived years in that horrid place, only seeing Cale every other week.

The moving carriage slowly awoke her from her slumber. Harris Village was a bit further from the Thornwin Estate than the Henituse Estate, so she had enough time to sleep. After all, sleeping in that melancholy room filled with books and distant memories had always been difficult.

She could not remember how she got into her bed, everything after she picked up the bottle was a blur. A few vials were on her nightstand when she woke up, but she did not know who put them there. But once the alcohol escaped her system, she could not fall asleep.

She was aware of Hong now, who was lying on her chest. She was aware of his breathing patterns and how he had been waiting for her to wake. She petted his fluffy fur, telling him she was awake now.

He spoke first, looking at her shyly with his golden eyes. "I don't like your house," he said before adding, "I'm sorry."

She placed a small kiss on his soft forehead. "Don't be sorry. I, too, hate that place."

Hong looked at her for a moment longer, seeing how tired she was. His small body filled with a fit of childish anger at the tall blonde woman who had screamed at Adara. He hadn't heard it all, but then screaming slowly rose in volume from the small room, and he was able to make out the words.

He still remembers how Adara had come out of the room, eyes distant but arms open. She had picked him up in a second, quickly walking back to her room. When in that cold bed after that weird woman put Adara back in her bed, Hong had transformed into a human and played with her hair until she was fast asleep. He felt pride overcome him, replacing the anger at how he had helped Adara.

Hong did not know how Adara slowed her breathing, how she let her body relax to quiet his worries over her. And he would not know how she stayed awake, staring up at the familiar ceiling, tracing the cracks over and over again. Nor how she could feel the dagger under her pillow, its metal seemingly digging into the back of her head, wondering at every sound if she might need to use it. And he would continue not knowing.

She smiled at the small red kitten now in her lap. After returning to her chambers last night, she had been too tired to do much of anything. Especially not anything to do with poison. But she hadn't forgotten them at the Thornwin Estate; even now, she had the vials in the carriage with her.

She picked up the small vials, showing them to Hong but hiding the labels. "Which one do you want to start with?"

The poisons were all clear, but the caps all had a different colour showing which type they were, and there were smaller stripes on the caps, showcasing which effects the poison had.

Hong touched the vial with the red cap and the smaller brown stripes. "This one!"

Adara nodded, taking the cap off and gently putting it against his mouth, slowly lifting it once he opened his mouth. Next was the one with the yellow cap and grey stripes, and he drank that one as well. By the time he finished drinking all the poisons, she could already see Harris Village come into view.

The carriage stopped with a small shudder, and she opened the door. She could hear people walking towards her, and she recognised Cale's indifferent— but hurried— stride among them.

The other two, she came to recognise as the two Whale Siblings. The regal one, the one with the heels, was Witira. The other was Paseton's, the walk that was slightly shuffled like he wasn't fully used to walking on land.