The Crimson Marksman

Chapter 8: Approaching Threat

While my secret crush for Vox had been resolved, the problem with the Testament remained pending. Time was running short, and her majesty looked paler day by day. We as the Templars of course felt worried for the future of Granadia, but we were hopeless as we were unsure of what to do.

"We gotta think of something. Isn't there other books on stuff like that Berwick?" After pacing to and fro in the lobby of the headquarter, Riviera had finally stopped and turned to me for help. I gave her a helpless look. I've been going through the whole entire library in the past two days, staying up late and reading every single book I could find on the topic "Cursed Blood". But I had reaped nothing.

Vox came over and placed a gentle hand over my cheek. "You didn't even sleep in the past two days? No wonder why you seemed out of it lately.... You need to take care of yourself, Berwick.... You even got bags under your eyes."

He looked distressed. I smiled tiredly at him and placed a hand over his. "Don't worry. I'm usually a night owl. It's not like you don't know that. I'll be fine. Besides, I'm not the current top priority. At least I'm not on the verge of dying. Her majesty is the one we really should focus on. Time's running out."

Duke, who had been standing next to the book shelf and leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest spoke. "If our mage can't even find a single solution to this, we may have to be realistic and accept the possibility that there may not be hopes for Queen Juno. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but someone have to break it to you."

"Don't you have some kind of gratitude toward her majesty?! How dare you say such a thing!" Riviera said, charging up to him angrily and was about to land a hard punch to his dark face if Thetis didn't step in on time.

"Riviera, calm down. Getting mad isn't going to get us anywhere. I'm sure there are other way out. We just need to think harder. C'mon, let's go to the library to see if we can cover anything Berwick missed. He needed a break after all."

With that, Thetis escorted Riviera out of the headquarter. I smiled gratefully at him as I watched the two of them disappear behind the door. It was just me, Vox and a very silent Duke left.

"I think you should go for a nap." Vox said as he took a seat next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder to pull me in his warm chest. I closed my eyes, thankful for the gesture but I was not quite ready to hit the hay like that. "We can explain the reason of your absence."

I shook my head. "No. I can work more. I'm not that tired."

It was a lie. I was indeed very tired. But of course I didn't want to worry Vox and had wished that I get to spend some time with him before I call it a day. Surprisingly, Duke seemed to know what I was thinking about as he urged Vox to take the day off to be with me.

Vox started to object, but Duke reminded him how much I needed his support right now as a boyfriend consider how the research in the past had been series of dead ends. He figured that I may need some encouragement from Vox. I marveled at Duke's high EQ. In the same time, I wondered why he chose to stay single.

While I was in my own thoughts, I heard Vox calling my name. I responded absentmindedly only to hear a small sigh from him. "You're out of it again. Are you sure you're not tired?"

"Vox," I begin. The lack of sleep had finally caught up to me as I snapped at him crabbily. "Stop worrying over something small like this. I'm not a baby, and I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need assistance but thank you for the thought."

The minute the words came out of my mouth, I saw hurt flashed across Vox's face like a lightning, but it soon disappeared and he had changed to his signature calm smile. "Sorry about that. What would you like to do then?"