"I'm fine; really, I am," Yuri called me the next morning to check in. You can imagine how he freaked out when he heard the news. I was in the kitchen on the phone while Loid sat in the living room with one of his work colleagues- some guy called Franky Franklin. I hadn't been paying attention to their conversation too much, but Loid looked pensive and unhappy. His fingers were folded together and resting overtop of his bottom lip as he listened to his friend.

"Are you sure? They arrested him, right? What did he look like? Leave it to me; I'll take care of it," my brother spoke a mile a minute. I rolled my eyes. "You don't have to do that. I promise you, I'm alright. He didn't hurt me and besides, Loid was here." "I don't care. I'm going to find that bastard and kill him. No one threatens my sister like that." "Really, Yuri; that's not necessary. Everything's ok. My husband's handling the whole affair. You can trust him; he knows what he's doing." "He'd better. Does he realize how precious you are, sister?" "Yuri!" My cheeks blushed as my hand raced up to my cheek. "I'm just saying, the least any man worthy enough to be your husband can do is look after you. Do let me know if you'd like to "take care" of the creep, though. I really don't mind; it would give me great satisfaction, in fact- to make him suffer for what he did to you," there was more than a hint of unadulterated rage in his tone. My eyes rolled again, then closed. "Please don't worry; I'll be fine. Just call me again soon," he had to be the one to call me for tracing reasons. Yuri audibly sighed. "I will. Love you, sis!" "I love you too. Take care, Yuri." "You too!" Click!

Ah, Yuri; his heart's in the right place. I savoured these thoughts as I hung up the phone. By now Franky was taking his leave, after a respectful "good bye" to me, and my husband joined me back in the living room. His expression was solemn and super serious; their talk must have not been a pleasant one this morning. He frowned, gazing over in my direction.

"How is your brother?" He decided to dodge the elephant in the room, starting with small talk instead. This surprised me a little, causing my back to arch. "Oh, fine. How was uh… your talk with Franky?" Loid scowled; his hands curled into fists. "It looks like we'll have to move- the sooner, the better." "Huh?! Why? Is this because of the break-in last night?" He nodded, lowering his eyes. "They still don't know who that man was yet, but the higher-ups fear that others know where I live as well. It's too much of a liability; we'll have to move out of the area, unfortunately," I could tell Loid wasn't pleased to share this information, probably worried about how I'd react. I blinked, startled but not overly surprised. We have had run-ins with patients of his before; if it'd be safest to leave, then that's what we should do. I stepped forward after a minute, reaching out to take his hand in mine. He glanced down alarmed, but I met this puzzled expression with a smile.

"Well, if that's what's safest for us to do, then we ought to do it. It's ok; we don't have to move today….. Do we?" I felt the compulsion to ask. He shook his head, still taken a little aback. "No, not right away….." His voice trailed off a bit. I grinned, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry, Loid. This won't affect our upcoming interview with the Garden of Eden club, so long as we have time….." My husband didn't respond right away, instead wrapping his fingers around the back of my hand. His head leaned forward slightly, and although his forehead wasn't pressing against mine exactly, it was close. His perplexed lips curled into somewhat of a tender smile. "Yes… We have time," he breathed softly.

We stayed near together like that for a minute until there was a knock on the front door. Loid released my hand to go answer it. Meanwhile I started gathering up things for the day. It was my turn to be surprised when my husband returned with a big bundle in his arms. "What's that?" I inquired. "Don't know. Delivery man said it was for you," he placed the package into my arms. "For me?" I scanned the bundle over confused. That's odd; no one ever sends me anything. Well, expect for Yuri but he's terrible at keeping secrets; he always tells me when he sends me something.

Curious, I set the parcel down and began pulling back the twine string and brown paper. Loid observed over my shoulder with his hands in his pockets; I think he was curious too. The paper came back to reveal these gorgeous red roses! There were so many of them that the floral scent immediately covered the room. And man, were they beautiful! I was dumbfounded as to who might have sent these at first. It seemed like a romantic gesture, but I didn't know anyone who would want to "woo" me like this…. Except for Loid, but we're already married. It didn't make sense at first until Loid found the card accompanying them. He plucked it up and read it out loud:

Dearest Mrs. Forger,

I trust this note finds you well.

Please accept this bouquet as my personal invitation to come visit the castle again.

You and your husband are welcomed anytime.

Sincerest regards, your most humble servant,

H. Henderson

"Mr. Henderson?!" I gasped in shock and delight. He's the one who sent me the roses? Oh, how sweet! I knew I liked him. Loid looked from the card over to me, clearly confused. "You know this man?" "Yes! We met at the castle when I went to the ladies' afternoon tea. He showed me the drawing room after I got lost. He was so kind to me…. To be honest, I'm a little surprised he even remembered me," we didn't talk for all that long.

Loid considered what I said for a moment, his eyes wandering about thoughtfully. "Hmmmmmm, and you say this man worked in the castle?" "I don't know if he worked there. He seemed….. well off, if that makes any sense. Very regal and really appreciated the elegance of things," I explained and he gave a single, understanding nod. "I see….." "Perhaps he was one of the ladies' husbands," I offered, though something in my gut told me that was wrong since he insulted the party wives before delivering me to them. He also said some unflattering things about Loid…..

While I was watching my husband through the corner of my eye, Loid thought again for a moment, eventually putting the card down onto the table next to the flowers. "You certainly made an impression on him, by the looks of it. That's good. The more allies we have in the government party, the better." "You mean the better our chances of getting into the club?" I asked. He looked at me for a moment, not saying anything, but soon enough he grinned again. His body language visibly changed- in a good way. He was relaxed again; something I enjoyed seeing. "How many times do I have to say it? Don't worry about that. I'm not worried…..

Not anymore."