Summoned and Unwanted

Lupa, Iris, and Lilith agreed by nodding. On the other hand, Jun Ye Rim crossed her arms while trying to secretly peek at what was inside the shelter.

“I can let you five do that. But first.” Hibiscus pointed at Ester and later at Lupa. “I will need to treat you and you first. You can visit after I am done with the two of you.”

“Thank you for the offer. ” Ester said after feeling it was not a good idea to reject the offer and possibly get on the bad side of a high-ranked person.

“Humph!” Lupa crossed her arms and pouted. “Do not take too long. I need to see my mate. I can not wait for a long time.”

“I will lead the three uninjured girls to the patient then. Have fun, you three.” Said Karta.

“We can do that, Karta. You can take them, but remember not to try waking the patient.” Hibiscus looked at Iris, Lilith, and Jun Ye Rim and continued, “The patient is currently in a deep restorative sleep after his body became greatly exhausted from the healing.”

Karta looked at Iris, Lilith, and Jun Ye Rim. “You heard the doctor, right? Let Vincent rest as much as he can rest for now.”

“Now, follow me.” She continued while turning to the side and facing the adjacent shelter.

.....

The adjacent shelter was smaller, and it was more like a large room than a shelter made to fit many people. As if it was made specifically to let one patient recover and let the visitors have a place to stay.

“I heard from Lucas that the patient had a redhead from the desert dancers nomad group as his woman. He also has a wolf woman with white fur.” Hibiscus moved to the entrance of the shelter and asked, “Ester and Lupa, correct?”

“Good to meet you, royal healer Dutchess Hibiscus Delamar. Duchess Karta told us how much you did to help our husband recover.” Ester politely greeted.

Lupa felt a little bad for seeing Hibiscus as a random stranger. “Thank you for helping my mate too.” She said while acting slightly impatient to get healed and visit Vincent.

“Good manners for women who became nobles. ” Hibiscus said. She lightly smiled. “Enter, enter. I think the two of you are in a hurry. Is that not the case?”

“I am in a hurry! Can you human read my mind?” Lupa questioned.

Hibiscus giggled. She gently shook her head, and before entering the shelter, she told Lupa, “How can one not notice how impatient you are?”

Lupa was flustered. She moved her gaze to Ester, but even she was smiling and holding herself from giggling.

“Humph!” Lupa pouted and entered the shelter.

Ester moved her gaze to check her surroundings before entering. Karta, Iris, Lilih, and Jun Ye Rim had just entered the adjacent shelter.

Ester could see many Cefeyes and Dullahans looking at her. She blushed a little after feeling important all of a sudden. This was the impression they were giving her.

Ester smiled and gently waved at them. She turned around and entered the shelter. Inside she found Lupa already on the bed and impatiently waiting for Hibiscus to heal her eyes completely.

In the adjacent small shelter, Plow, Mimi, and Awa moved their heads to look at who was entering. Plow wagged her tails happily and jumped off Vincent. The familiar scent she was smelling made her excited.

Karta entered first, followed by Iris, carrying a worried expression on her face, followed by Lilith, looking a little depressed for not reaching the level of healing to provide adequate support, and followed by Jun Ye Rim, frowning while hiding her real emotions of worry.

*Pho?, Pho?, Pho?* Plow ran to Iris, Lilith, and Jun Ye Rim while barking happily. “Plow missed everyone. Plow protected Vincent Vincent because Plow is a very very strong good girl.” *Pho?*

“Nice to see the three of you again.” Said Mimi while sitting on a stool beside Vincent with one leg on the other.

Awa nervously stood up. She approached Karta, Iris, Lilith, and Jun Ye Rim. “I greet the two members of the council of women.” She greeted them with a smile excitedly.

“Council of women?” Lilith questioned while hearing Karta chuckle.

“I saw the picture of the two of you in a painting. Vincent told me you are his wives. I was also told I needed the approval of his wives because he didn’t want to disappoint his council of women.” Awa explained.

Iris was at a loss for words. Lilith liked to be called a member of Vincent’s council of women after feeling the subject was romantic.

On the other hand, Jun Ye Rim frowned. She thought Vincent was courting her in a roundabout way, but in the meantime, he went to get another woman to add to his collection of flowers.

Jun Ye Rim looked at Vincent while feeling somewhat disappointed and envious of Awa for being courted in a matter of days.

“I heard from Duchess Karta how you fought alongside Vincent and protected both Plow and Zero. I also heard you are the leader of your people.” Lilith said with her arms crossed and a gaze trying to figure out what kind of woman Awa was.

“Yes. My name is Awa. I have become the current clan chieftain. But it was thanks to Vincent defeating the previous clan leader.” Awa introduced herself while revealing it was all possible because of Vincent’s assistance.

“Because I needed food for my family. Because I needed food to trade for supplies to save my father’s life, I was going to marry the previous clan leader. But Vincent fought against the greedy clan leader for my people’s and my sake.”

Lilith became interested. “And what happened next?” She asked while recalling how Vincent had saved her and her parents’ lives for the better.

Iris nodded. She wanted to know what Vincent did for her. Similar to Lilith, Iris also recalled how Vincent saved her and her people’s lives.

“After winning, Vincent asked my hand in marriage because that was the only way I could become the clan chieftain and lead my people alone.”

“What do you mean by alone? And why did you mention Vincent agreeing to marry you when he barely knows you?” Asked Lilith while her romantic curiosity was at its highest.

Awa looked at Vincent. Her gaze showed warmth and appreciation.

“Vincent was the one who came up with the idea of marriage. I was the one who was skeptical and kept calling Vincent...” Awa blushed and averted her gaze from embarrassment. “To us, Humans are slave traders, but Vincent showed slave traders aren’t a race. It is a horrible job.”

“You did nothing not treat Vincent badly, young Dullahan. Greedy humans seek to make money out of everything. Being cautious can save your life one day.” Karta said.

‘Does it mean she is like me? She lived all her life fearing the humans from making her a slave like my people and I did.’ Iris thought while feeling Awa and her could become friends quickly.

“And? What happened next? Don’t leave me hanging here.” Lilith pressured Awa to keep talking. She wanted to know what kind of romance Vincent and Awa experienced in detail to request adequate compensation from Vincent one of these days.

“I...” *Sigh* Awa sighed unhappily. “We were to be married after he became the clan leader and I, his clan chieftain. We were to be divorced a few hours later because he...”

Awa paused and looked at Iris and Lilith. She moved her gaze and looked at Mimi.

“Vincent needed to return home and protect his family from an honorable fight to the death.” Awa placed her arms behind her back. “I felt a little sad he was going away after all he did for me.”

Lilith, Iris, and Mimi noticed Awa’s gaze drift at Vincent from time to time as if she was waiting for him to wake up.

They could tell Awa had feelings for Vincent. Not as her savior, but more than that. They could tell Awa wanted their fates to remain connected permanently. The last sentence Awa said cemented the idea of Awa having romantic feelings for Vincent.

Awa faintly blushed. “Sorry for taking too much of your time! You are here to visit your husband while I stopped you from seeing him.” She said while returning to sit on the stool at the corner of the small shelter.

“I don’t think you need this old bat here anymore. I will leave and let you youngsters alone.” Karta said before turning around and leaving to find Lucas somewhere nearby.

“I do not have much to say other than...” Mimi was saying before getting interrupted by the appearance of two familiar women.

“Long time no see Mimi.” Ester greeted while showing a smile.

“Oh! It is Mimi! I wanted to fight you, but you never returned!” Lupa complained because she didn’t get to spar with Mimi in the past few days.

“Hi, sisters.” Mimi greeted.

Awa stood up. “I am Awa. I...”

*Sigh* “You can introduce yourself later. ” Mimi cut Awa’s introduction short.

“Awa has become one of us. She has become Vincent’s retainer.” Mimi revealed after Karta left, and she could feel there was no one nearby to overhear this secret.

Ester, Lupa, Iris, and Lilith’s jaws dropped at the sudden news. “A new sister?”

On the other hand, Jun Ye Rim froze from shock. She couldn’t believe how a person could accept becoming a part of such a dangerous secret after knowing each other for one to two days.