It was just any other day for Mrs. Yor Briar Forger.

Earlier that morning, she had seen her husband Loid and step-daughter Anya walk out of the house to head to work and school respectively.

…Except, it wasn't just like any other day.

She was not at city hall working that day. Instead, she was loitering at home. You see, this simple working wife wasn't just any clerk. She had a side job as a gig assassin.

Apparently, from her job the previous day, she had accidentally pulled her calf. While it was really nothing but a simple muscle injury, her boss in city hall (yes, her organisation went all the way up there) didn't want any suspicion on why a clerk would have a pulled muscle, and see her with even the slightest of a limp, and gave her a day off.

"You have quite a number of unused leave days anyway. Just use one of these days to rest." She recalled Mr. McMahon telling her.

She laid on the sofa in the living room. Thinking back, she let her mind wander to her employer.

The Garden.

Was it private? Governmental?

She was none the wiser. All she would do is get a job and execute the job, and a mysterious cheque would wind up cashed into her bank account. While she didn't always understand it fully, she heard of people who got arrested by the secret police due to tax fraud and money laundering. While she didn't know the details, she knew that with the price of the cheques, she thought she could become a suspect, and she was somewhat confused why she wasn't busted yet. She somewhat missed the time when she didn't have a bank account, and they paid her in cash.

..Get it together, Yor! You have nothing to worry about. I mean, I am not a criminal! I won't be arrested.

I can't get arrested.

She thought as she turned her head to the tabletop in front of the TV. She saw 2 pencils on it. One of them was sharpened to a short length, and the other seemed to still be fresh from the box.

Anya must have left them on there.

From what she heard during breakfast, Anya had an important maths examination that morning, one that she saw Loid sitting with her at the dinner table the previous night to tutor her for. From what she knew, this was very important to pass to the next semester, or even to just not get expelled.

She looked at those 2 pencils longer. Their lengths; one longer, and one shorter. They reminded her of those 2.

Back when she was younger, she made sure to do her job carefully. After all, she had to come home to see Yuri, her younger brother, safe and sound. When he moved out to live by himself, she did her job a lot more efficiently. But with that efficiency, came a fair amount of recklessness. She was willing to do methods that were faster and with confidence, yes, but risky and borderline suicidal.

When she was younger, she used to just hide in the shadows, and take her targets down one by one, ensuring she was never seen by her targets. She was nicknamed the "Thorn Princess" due to that; like the thorns of a rose, you will never expect yourself to be pricked when you reach for a rose, until you get pricked by one out of your view. As she got older, she grew more reckless; starting to attack from the front of her victims, to just running straight through gunfire, to her most rash decision of standing vulnerable to tell her victims her now trademark phrase before ending them.

"May I take your life?"

But now, now is different. Now she is married, and she knew that those 2 would be waiting for her every night. If they one day didn't see her come out of her room in the morning, she knew they would be worried.

Sure, she married Loid for reasons other than love. She married him out of a need to appease her brother's concerns. She married him almost out of convenience. But she knew that during this time between both of them, genuine love arose. It may not be romantic. But every time they saw each other's eyes, she could see concern and care in his, that he would be willing to sacrifice a lot for her safety (albeit she didn't need it), and she was willing to reciprocate with sacrifices of her own.

She had heard of some stories of inactive mercenaries. They were either still alive and left the organisation or had died in a job. She knew that both types had grown unfit for the job. The former knew early, and quit while they could. The latter did not, and paid the price for their inability.

An average assassin of close quarters combat would only have a shelf-life until their late-thirties or early-forties. After that, she would be unable to fight like she did, and would have to retire under an eternal non-disclosure agreement, or would be assigned to other gigs, like long-distance sniping and poisoning, that require new skills and academic training.

Yor, while only in her later twenties, started to worry about her longevity. If she started to lose her edge, she would run the risk of dying in combat, something she couldn't risk with both of them in her life now. She would have to return to her original style of killing, of lurking in the shadows. But even that couldn't guarantee that she would be safe. She was never great at school. It would be too hard to take new classes for sniping, like physics and weapon maintenance and safety, or poisoning, like biology, chemistry and poison concocting.

When she became unfit for duty, she definitely wanted to be the former, and not the latter. So she knew that she would have to leave one day.

But when will that day be? In 2 years? In a month? In a week? If her pulled calf would mean anything, it could be earlier than she knew.

Just before she could think further, a ringing came from the house phone. She took a glance at the clock. It was just a few minutes past 12:15pm. She couldn't tell who could be calling at this hour.

It definitely couldn't be for Loid, as he was already at work, and any last minute calls for a rush to work would be typically later in the night. He's a very busy man, she thought.

Was it for her? Was it the shopkeeper?

No, it couldn't be him. Mr. McMahon must have told him I'm taking a break.

Was it Anya? Oh no. She had just left school. Did she get kidnapped?

Yor shook her head. She knew that she shouldn't assume.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone.

"...Hello, Forger Household."

"Hello, Forger household, I am Mr. Godfrey Lee from Eden Academy."

Oh thank goodness Anya wasn't being kidnapped. It was just someone from the school.

"May I know am I speaking to?"

"This is Yor Forger."

"Mrs. Forger, I am sorry to inform you that your daughter may be coming home later than usual."

"Miss-"

She caught her tongue at the right time. She was her mother already. She should talk as if she was it.

"I mean, Anya will be coming home later than usual? Why so?" Anya never really needed to stay back in school before. Was she in trouble? Did she get another Tontrius bolt?

"It is my fault, actually. I was the examiner for the examination they took today. She felt a bit down after the paper, so I brought her to the general office to talk to her. In turn, she missed the bus."

"Oh."

"I apologise for the inconvenience. If you are not uncomfortable with it, I could send her home myself."

She had never heard of teachers doing this for their students. From what she heard from Loid, it was more common to call the parents to pick up the student. And with that, she didn't know what to say. If she was to accept his proposal to send her back, would it be seen as inelegant? A parent should have the responsibility to protect and take ownership over their children's safety. At the same time, a refusal could show a lack of trust towards the school administration, and with the bolts Anya already has, she didn't want to hurt the family's reputation further. She was lost for words.

"I-If you are not okay with it, you can come and pick her up yourself."

I guess, I should show my ownership over her safety.

"Again, I am really sorry about the-"

Suddenly she recalled what Loid told her the other day.

She had accidentally broke a plate while she started cleaning it. She apparently put too much force into it, or so she thought.

"Are you okay, Yor?"

"Sorry Loid, I should have been more careful."

"It's alright. Let me see your wound."

"No, it's fine!"

"It's okay, Yor. We are married already. We should trust each other to take care of each other."

"But…"

"It's okay, Yor."

"You're too stiff sometimes, and take it upon yourself to bare too much of the responsibility."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, and trust others."

She knew that Loid was right, and she would have to start to relax sometime. She will have to change.

For herself.

For her family.

"No, it's alright. You can bring her home."

"Understood. I will bring her home as soon as possible."

The call ended there.

As she put down the handset, she took a deep breath.

This could well be a new start for her, but only time would tell.

Author's Note: Sorry for those earlier! There was a glitch in this chapter, so instead of words, it was complete nonsense.

So I have finished my exams, and am no awaiting results. This exam could either bring me or bar me from university, so wish me luck! Again, do give feedback in the comments. :)