Back to the Vismont refugee's ward, more and more people woke up. At first, many of them flinched as if waking up from nightmares, while others just stared at the cream-colored ceiling in a daze.
Without exception, they sobbed when they realized they were finally safe in Alterra.
One of them was Okuri, the pretty narrow-eyed girl, who immediately looked around to find her boyfriend. "Ronny…" she sobbed, standing up from the bed and went next to her boyfriend whose head had bandages all over.
She was one of the people who got pulled back during the war. She was about to be molested then but Ronny went to fight them. The enemy guards cut off his ears while they were undressing her.
He went insane with anger and it broke her heart more than what was to become of her body.
However, fortunately, the war ended at that moment and everyone received the announcement that they wouldn't be harmed as long as they didn't fight back.
She had yelled at the enemies who didn't seem to want to stop their abuse. She screamed, asking if their lord was lying. The enemies begrudgingly listened, and she managed to save her chastity and Ronny's life.
At present, Okuri sobbed as her hands hovered over the area where Ronny's ears were supposed to be. He opened his eyes as if hearing her heart, and she could only sob even more.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry." She couldn't help but feel so guilty, as if this was partially her fault too.
They should've left Vismont earlier, but she got greedy and wanted to save up more funds before they moved. So she convinced him to delay their immigration, with them just joining the caravans to buy Alterran goods to sell back in Vismont.
They had just made enough to buy permanent residencies for both of them, including 'buying' contribution points from Crow and the others. They planned to immigrate in the next couple of weeks, but then the war happened.
Even when she was bawling her eyes out, Ronny smiled sadly at her. He held out his hand and she shakily took it.
Okuri watched as he weakly raised his finger against her palm, writing: It's Okay. It's okay now. We're Home.
It was supposed to be comforting, but it only made her sob even more.
Althea and Garan sighed as they watched all this. They were still wearing their wedding attire and it was naturally difficult to find the celebratory mood.
However, everyone did have the tact to leave them (and the villa) alone.
Garan knew she just wanted to rest for tonight and he gently undressed her as they settled in the room. He carried her to the bathroom for a nice, relaxing bath, and they didn't do anything wild despite it being hard on Garan.
They settled down the bed and Althea rubbed her head on his wide shoulders, feeling the lovely comfort his warmth brought.
Her heart also warmed with how patient her husband was, always adjusting to her mood despite things being hard on him.
She couldn't bear to deprive him on her wedding day of course, so even when she wasn't entirely in the mood, her hand on his chest slowly slid down, reaching his hard abs and all the way down his crotch.
He gasped and looked at her with widened eyes, "You—"
She giggled and gave him a soft peck on the lips. "Well, it's our wedding night after all."
She quickly found herself under him and she could only look up at the overbearing figure of her husband.
His azure eyes were blue but they were hot, as if it heated up whatever he gazed on. Althea could only shut her eyes when he suddenly leaned down to capture her lips, fully intent on bringing her to oblivion.
That night was filled with love, with their room oozing with the scent of sex. However, just as the two of them fell asleep, the bell rang.
It wasn't even just the bell ringing in the middle of the night that was irksome, but it was apparently a very urgent one.
Althea shifted under her husband's hold, half-asleep, and Garan patted her, telling her to go back to sleep. "I'll take it," he said, though he was taking his sweet time getting up.
Althea was really about to fall back to sleep when her eyes opened completely as another familiar ding sounded in her head.
[Mathilda Ross and Melinda Bouer requests to enter your property]
She blinked. Mathilda coming here at this time was already alarming, and Melinda Bouer… was the lead expert of the Meteorology Team.
Her stomach dropped at a thought and sat up, though her husband's arm was still comfortably wrapped around her stomach. She was about to pry herself free when she felt warm lips kiss her spine.
Her back arched in sensitivity, but she patted the strong arms around her. "Mathilda is here, she brought the meteorologist."
This made Garan freeze and his facial expression morphed to a similar one of worry. "You don't think…?"
Althea sighed. "I hope not, but…"
In any case, the couple let the guests in after they hurriedly dressed themselves.
They greeted the two newcomers as they entered their living room and Althea was immediately met with a freckled woman with fiery red hair, looking at her with wide worried eyes.
Althea then looked at Mathilda, who sighed."It's best to let the expert tell you," the old woman said and the couple turned to look at Melinda, who was near tears.
She mumbled something unintelligible in her panic.
Melinda was actually in her late thirties, but she had a baby face. Because she studied too much and didn't interact much with people, her EQ also suffered a bit. In turn, she was very child-like even at her age.
"Please believe me, Ms. Althea!"
"Calm down and speak clearly," Althea said in response, her voice soothing.
Melinda took a deep breath, hoping to express her worries as clearly and as quickly as she could.
"The Extreme Heat will be coming soon!"