“Who? The people we saw in the mountains?” Zinnia immediately looked up, staring straight at Cassian when she heard his words.
It had never even crossed her mind that those people would attack Cassian.
Unfortunately, Cassian nodded slowly; without saying a word, his gaze remained fixed outside the window.
“It’s impossible for them to just suddenly attack you like that. Did you do something to them?” Zinnia still couldn’t believe it.
“Earlier, I did try to climb up into the mountains to check on the situation there. But this time, I was actually ambushed by them,” Cassian explained with a heavy sigh.
“They wouldn’t have been able to hurt me this badly if they hadn’t used such a cheap trick.” Cassian clenched his fists tightly; it was clear he couldn’t accept the defeat he’d suffered this time.
“You’re right…” Zinnia glanced at Cassian for a moment.
It would indeed be difficult to attack this man, who was constantly on guard against his surroundings; Zinnia also thought that those people were professionals.
If they could ambush Cassian and injure him this badly, then Zinnia feared that the situation was more dangerous than she had thought.
Sensing Zinnia’s silence, Cassian finally turned toward her and saw her furrowing her brow in deep thought.
Cassian gently patted the top of Zinnia’s head.
“You don’t need to worry; they wouldn’t dare come here.”
“Are you sure?” Zinnia immediately pressed Cassian.
Zinnia’s eyes briefly glanced at the faint footprints still left in Cassian’s room.
“Yes, they wouldn’t be that crazy as to hurt the villagers. After all, they don’t want their presence to be discovered,” Cassian explained.
Only then was Zinnia able to let out a sigh of relief.
“Even so, there’s no guarantee they won’t attack.”
“Don’t worry. The potion you made seems pretty effective; I can feel my body is already much better.” Cassian tried to move his hand.
Zinnia’s eyes widened in surprise; she quickly grabbed Cassian’s arm and lowered it.
“You’d better keep resting; don’t be so reckless,” Zinnia replied with a grin.
“But I’m not lying—”
Zinnia hurriedly covered Cassian’s mouth and pushed him back down onto the bed.
“It’s time for you to rest!” Zinnia threw the blanket over Cassian’s face, then hurried away.
Zinnia quickly left Cassian’s room, her heart pounding wildly right now.
[The Host doesn’t need to worry.]
“It’s easy for you to say that! You have no idea how scared I am right now!” Zinnia glared at the transparent screen that appeared before her.
[The System will help the Host if she’s caught.]
“Humph! I hope you don’t go back on your word about this!” Zinnia crossed her arms over her chest haughtily.
Then, Zinnia felt her ears twitch as she heard footsteps coming from the front door.
“Miss!”
Zinnia immediately walked toward the front door with quick steps when she realized that Anna had returned.
“How did it go? Did you meet with Old Bailey?” Zinnia hurried over to Anna.
Realizing it was dangerous to discuss this by the door, Zinnia quickly told Anna to lock the door and follow her into the living room.
“So, how did it go?”
“They’re all fine. No one got hurt last night; they’d already gone home before the rain started,” Anna explained with her usual impassive expression.
“So they don’t know what happened to Cassian last night?” It was important for Zinnia to confirm this.
“Yes, Old Bailey said that Cassian is always the last one to go home; he wants to make sure everyone gets home safely,” Anna replied.
Zinnia gently rubbed her chin; it made sense that Cassian would act that way.
“Thank goodness they’re all right. As long as they’re all right, you can rest easy,” Zinnia replied, leaning back against the sofa.
To be honest, Zinnia was quite concerned about the villagers’ safety; if even Cassian could be injured that badly, she was sure it would be easy for those people to kill the villagers.
“It’s just that some villagers claimed to have heard screams coming from the direction of the forest last night, although they didn’t dare to investigate it.” Anna sounded quite anxious as she reported this.
Zinnia fell silent upon hearing that, the furrow on her brow deepening.
“You don’t need to worry, Miss. It seems they didn’t realize Cassian was injured last night,” Anna replied softly.
“Those men really ambushed him in the dark; it would be very dangerous if I’m not careful,” Zinnia muttered softly, her thoughts once again lost in her mind.
That night, Zinnia couldn’t sleep because she was thinking too deeply about this problem.
.
.
.
Dark circles hung beneath Zinnia’s eyes as she came down from the second floor; with unsteady steps, she walked toward the dining table to grab a slice of bread.
With no intention of sitting at the dining table, Zinnia walked out of the manor.
“Anna, you’re going to the town square, right?” Zinnia’s voice echoed from the foyer.
It didn’t take long before Anna appeared behind her.
“Why, Miss? Do you need something?” Anna blinked a few times.
Zinnia shook her head slowly.
“Please deliver this letter to my father.” She handed Anna the letter she’d been holding all along.
“Oh!” Anna looked surprised.
After all, Anna knew that Zinnia had rarely sent letters to the Count and Countess Vermillion since moving to Greenmarch.
“Hey, you! Tell Anna that you can’t accompany Old Bailey to the river today,” Zinnia continued, casting a sidelong glance at Cassian.
After that, Zinnia resumed her walk to her garden; her chaotic mood improved significantly when she saw her plants beginning to thrive.
It didn’t take long for Anna to leave the manor.
To Zinnia’s surprise, someone she hadn’t expected came to see her.
“So you’ve finally set foot in my garden again. You still remember what you owe me, right?” Zinnia shot Cassian a sharp glance.
Zinnia, who was in the middle of watering her plants, couldn’t focus on Cassian, so she let him follow her.
“Did you report the ambush that happened to me to Count Vermillion?” Cassian cut straight to the chase.
Not the least bit surprised to hear that, Zinnia continued watering her plants calmly.
A sigh was heard before Zinnia finally stopped in her tracks and turned to face Cassian.
“You know I’m not that capable. I’m sure you know how reckless I used to be; I can’t handle a problem this big on my own,” Zinnia said calmly, gazing straight into Cassian’s eyes, as dark as the night.
“At least my father is more powerful than I am. If I act rashly, we’ll die in vain here. To prevent that from happening, I have to ask my father for help,” Zinnia continued seriously.
Cassian was taken aback when he heard Zinnia’s explanation; it did make sense for them to ask Count Vermillion for help.
Considering that Greenmarch was still under his control, Cassian just hadn’t expected Zinnia to set her pride aside and ask her father for help.
Before Cassian could respond, he felt something gently tap his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell the Count what happened to you. So you don’t need to worry,” Zinnia continued, rolling her eyes lazily.
After that, Zinnia intended to continue her work, but before she could, she felt Cassian grab her hand and gently pull her toward him.