Chapter 10
The Jealous Sea

THUD!

Ouch… I instantly woke up from an unexpected fall. The room was comfortable, but the fall definitely wasn't. I collected myself by rolling out of the sheets that I was tangled in before I stood up unwillingly and headed towards the bathroom. It was a pleasant day. It was raining, and I loved it. To top it off, it's already nine in the morning and no one had woken me up for breakfast. A wonderful day indeed, in contrast with what had happened last night.

After Chase had caught me and Jack having an affair – I mean, escaping from the citadel (insert sarcasm), he had a little chat with Spicer alone while I was escorted back to the palace by that b**** Sayuki and the jungle cats.

Being the unsatisfied girl with the situation, I yelled at the annoying thing and blamed her for everything but she was calm, ignoring my accusations with ease by simply stating – "I'm bound to his orders." The heck was she on about? I bet it's about submitting to Chase and informing him about my whereabouts. Sounds more like snitching to me.

Just as I arrived at the citadel last night, I hurriedly made myself back to my room and locked the door behind me. I refused to confront anyone after that. And so I retired to bed and slipped into what I assumed was a violent sleep since I found myself on the floor this morning, leading me to my current situation.

I was just about done brushing my teeth when I heard a faint knock on the door. Sighing heavily at who-knows-what could be behind that door, I gurgled quickly to remove any excess toothpaste from my mouth before rushing to answer.

When I turned the handle and opened the door, I instantly felt disgusted, hatred and annoyed. It was her. Miss Blue.

"What do you want?" I asked annoyed, not wanting to create the right impression for answering her.

She suddenly lowered herself into a bow all the way to the level of her knees. I flinched at her graceful movements. After a few seconds of her display of (hopefully) respect, she retrieved herself and let out a seemingly pitying sigh. "I'm sorry about last night, madam." She apologised, quite sincerely as I would put it.

Whaaa…?

"I'm sorry for letting your stupidity take the best of you until you have done such a mistake. I have failed both my honour and Master Chase Young. My lack of responsibility has led you into your utmost shame."

Oh hell no.

Had she just insulted me while apologising? Clever – but not acceptable.

"Sayuki, why are you even here in the first place?" I ignored her false apologies.

She paused, and seemed to be staring at me for quite a while before replying me. "Master Chase has been very solemn today. Perhaps it may be you upsetting him."

"Isn't that guy just gloomy and unreadable all the time? Are you sure it's not that time of the month for him or something?"

Sayuki shook her head at my rude answer. She didn't seem to take it as offensive at all to my surprise though. Maybe she didn't get it because she was too blue.

"Maybe you should send your apologies to him. I would gladly inform him of your realisation for your unforgivable mistakes." She said, smiling.

I just stared at her blankly. Should I yell at her? No, that would just make me look worse than I already was now. Her way of putting words just… made me feel like burying her six feet under. And now her innocent looking smile was overwhelming me with irritancy.

But I had a better idea.

"You know what, Sayuka –"

"It's Sayuki. Get it right."

Patience, Emily…

"Sure, Sayuki. You know what, I'll apologise to Chase personally. You don't have to say anything. You already made me look bad enough. So thank you." I had hoped my sarcastic tone would've had an impact on her, but she only smiled. Who knows what she could be feeling behind all that blue skin of hers.

Later that day, I decided to abide by my words. Sayuki had left straight after annoying me in the morning. Way to ruin my day, really. And after an hour or so of trying to make out the vague writings in the mysterious book, I had come to the conclusion. I wanted to apologise to Chase, personally.

And hug him as promised to Jack.

I have always been known for making bad decisions, but that wasn't just it. I was also terrible at staying true to my words. I promised Aunt Lily once that I would take in a child for charity sponsorship – but I didn't. And I felt bad afterwards since she kept calling the agent to make up for my empty promise.

And so here I was, standing on my two feet upon the cleanest, white marbled floor I had ever set foot on in my entire life. I stood here, feeling sorry for myself, eyeing the nearby gazebo where Chase was doing his…martial art stuff? Something like that. Or probably dancing away, I wouldn't know. He moved rather gracefully, every single motion was a matter of great balance. I could tellby his seemingly tranquil state.

But somehow I knew, apart from all those peacefulness that he was aware of my presence. I was very quiet and careful with my foot steps and movements. Come what may; but this man certainly knew that I was near him.

"Umm…Chase." I called out as I came nearer to the gazebo.

He didn't reply. So I tried again.

"I umm, I'm sorry for sneaking out with Jack last night. I just, I just don't get it. Why aren't I allowed to see those Sen Gong Nu for myself?"

…

…

Still, nothing. And I tried again.

"I should be the one angry you know. No freedom, no nothing. Shouldn't have come here in the first place. But I'm sorry, okay?"

..

..

Sick of the silence and irresponsive Chase, who only continued to motion around gracefully with his eyes shut, I did the weirdest thing I haven't done since I came here.

I threw myself onto him. Hugged him. Like a child. And that made him stop dead on his toe. Yes, he was on his toe, while still maintaining his balance despite my intrusive gesture.

Despite the awkwardness I felt at that moment towards Chase, I had not fail to realise that another pair of eyes was witnessing the shameful event. I felt unease as soon as my conscience realised the presence of another living thing in the area. No they were not his jungle cats. My guess – it was either the bitchy witch or the blue bitch.

But I couldn't care less; they had no space in my life at the moment. Not that I see the necessity of them being so important, but I do entirely feel that they were against me, or the least, were unsupportive with the duration of my stay at the place.

I released myself from the hug, and only hoped that my actions were harmless in every way. I wouldn't want to break a cultural tradition of 'no hugs'. But it had to be done. A promise was a promise. And Jack deserved a fulfilled one after what I put him through.

Chase didn't seem daunted by my innocent hug but rather calm and seemingly accepted it. He only looked down on me – since my height – and stared at me blankly, with no indication of any emotion. I couldn't help but to twitch slightly at the awkward silence and began to walk away.

Looking back, he was still there, standing still, not turning back to glance at me. And so I continued to return to my room, thinking about what had just happened. Did he hate me?

I digressed the matter, and focused on what was more essential – my feelings. What would I care even if he did hate me? What I should be asking was – did I like the place? Perhaps I did, but was certainly not comfortable with the dwellers within it. They were weird, unfriendly, and snitchy. But who was I to say, I was a weirdo once myself, but I decided to keep it to myself regardless. Informing Chase could mean insulting him which may result in banishment to 'Aunt Lily's Orphanage'. HELL NO. I would never go back there.

When I reached my room, I noticed something – the door was slightly opened. As I remembered, I didn't leave the door open when I last exited. In fact, I never left doors open. They must be closed at all times – a constant habit of mine. But the real question was who left it opened? The person may be in a rush or purposely left opened slightly. After some detailed inspection of the door, I surrendered my assumptions and closed the door behind me before walking towards the bed. See? – closed doors.

Despite the awkward feeling still lingering deep in my senses after my silent encounter with Chase, I still felt uncomfortable about something else… about the room. I scanned around, making sure I was the only one present.

Though I seemed unnecessarily paranoid, I had the right to be so. I had accidentally 'borrowed' a book from the library, and now I couldn't find it. It was nowhere to be spotted. I searched high and low, but there was no luck. None at all. No doubt someone had entered my private space, and that someone had found the book and took it away for currently unknown reasons.

I turned around to the other side of the bed and pulled open the first drawer, where I had kept the materials. To my surprise, they too were nowhere to be seen.

A/N: Thanks for reading this far!