Meanwhile, outside the private ward, guards were stationed at every corner of the floor. Even outside the facility, Dominion had everything covered. Every doctor and nurse entering or leaving the room was checked thoroughly, and even the medicine being brought in underwent inspection.

Ashley had been taken right from under their noses.

They would not make the same mistake again.

Down the hallway on the same floor, Rum sat slouched on a steel bench.

"Ugh..." he groaned, exhaustion written all over his face. "Why did it end so quickly?"

Vodka, his partner for the day, glanced at him sideways. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"If the big boss hears you saying that, he’s going to skin you alive."

"Don’t go wishing the battle lasted longer," he continued. "She’s already in there injured. If things had dragged on any further, you might as well start picking out your funeral clothes."

Rum clicked his tongue and lazily shifted his gaze toward Vodka.

It had been a long time since he’d seen real action, which explained his excitement. Even so, he had no interest in seeing Ashley or Lucian get hurt just to satisfy it.

Leaning his head back, he drawled, "You think Tank and Red got that guy to talk yet?"

Red and Tank weren’t present because they had other matters to deal with. Specifically, interrogating the sole survivor they had brought back from the ship.

Dominion had wiped out every other enemy.

They only kept one alive for questioning.

There had been a strict time limit the moment they boarded the ship, and their priority from the start had been extracting Ashley. Once she was safe, everyone had been ordered to retreat before sinking the vessel. Since the cargo ship had already been burning when they arrived, letting it drag the remaining enemies down with it hadn’t been an issue.

"Red said it himself," Vodka shrugged while leaning against the wall. "That guy is skilled. If he had been facing anyone else, he would’ve taken down as many of us as possible."

"Red has this weird talent for sniffing out strong opponents," Rum muttered. "I still don’t know how he does it."

As the two continued discussing the operation, Rum suddenly raised a brow and tilted his head toward the hallway.

Vodka noticed immediately and turned, seeing that Gin was approaching them.

Vodka instinctively straightened from the wall as Gin drew closer.

"Hey," Vodka called out, noticing the distracted look on Gin’s face.

Gin stopped and blinked as if only now realizing they were there. "Huh? What are you two doing here?"

"Red and Tank already have things handled," Vodka explained, though Rum narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Gin.

"What’s wrong with you?" Rum frowned. Then, after a brief pause, he suddenly shot up from the bench. "Wait. Don’t tell me she’s dead?"

Gin’s face twisted instantly.

"Why would she be dead? She’s fine!" he snapped. "The Master got her help in time — geez! I hope someone overhears you so you get punished for jinxing her."

"I’m not jinxing anyone!" Rum clicked his tongue irritably. "You’re the one making me panic!"

Before the two could continue bickering, Vodka stepped in.

"Gin. Why are you spacing out after meeting with the Master?"

"Ah." Gin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "It’s because she’s already awake."

"Huh?" Vodka and Rum exchanged confused looks. "Then why are you acting like this? Shouldn’t you be relieved?"

Gin stared at them blankly. "Because she’s being weird again."

"...Ah?"

"The moment she woke up, she asked for her phone," Gin explained flatly.

"..."

"She said she needs her phone," he repeated slowly, as if that clarified everything. "So now I’m supposed to find it. And if we can’t, someone has to bring her laptop from home. That’s why I’m out here."

Deep lines formed across Rum and Vodka’s faces as they stared at each other in utter disbelief.

Still, they radioed someone to retrieve what Ashley wanted. Even so, one question lingered heavily in their minds.

"...Is this what people call an iPad kid?" Rum muttered aloud.

Everyone stationed outside Ashley’s ward slowly turned toward him.

The only response he received was silence and several disappointed shakes of the head.

And at that exact moment, Gustav and Lukas stepped out of the ward just in time to hear Rum asking,

"Is she an iPad kid?"

*****

Meanwhile, inside the ward, nurses and doctors moved around Ashley as they performed another checkup.

Lucian remained quietly to the side, allowing them to work uninterrupted. They checked her vitals, examined the dressing on her back, and monitored her condition closely, which was why Gustav and Lukas had stepped outside earlier.

Once they confirmed everything looked stable, Ashley carefully sat upright while cooperating with the doctor.

"It’s a good thing the wound didn’t become infected," the doctor said with visible relief.

After all, their own lives practically depended on her recovery.

"Your vitals are also stable, which is encouraging. However, you’ll still need plenty of rest," he continued while glancing over her chart. "Madam, you’ll need to remain here a little longer for recovery. That said, based on your current condition, you should make a full recovery in time."

Ashley smiled politely and nodded. Then she asked,

"Can I go home now?"

The doctor’s smile immediately stiffened. Lucian frowned as well.

"Madam, I just said—"

"Everything looks fine, so I want to go home," Ashley interrupted gently as she turned toward Lucian. "I don’t want to stay here."

Lucian studied her quietly, displeasure written plainly across his face.

The doctor noticed immediately and awkwardly cleared his throat while glancing toward the nurses and junior doctors behind him.

"We’ll excuse ourselves and wait outside," he said with a strained smile.

None of them wanted to get caught in the middle of whatever this was.

So without another word, the doctor bowed politely and quickly ushered everyone out of the ward.

Outside, they joined Gustav, Lukas, Vodka, Rum, Gin, and the other Dominion members standing in the hallway — all of them wearing similarly stiff, nervous smiles.

The doctor then added awkwardly, "We’ll just wait here as well."

*****

Inside the room, Lucian waited until the door closed before turning fully toward Ashley.

"No—"

"I’m sorry."

They spoke at the same time.

Lucian’s brows furrowed slightly as he looked at her. Ashley was watching him with a faint smile.

"Lucian, I’m sorry," she said quietly. "For worrying you... and for everything."

She let out a slow breath. "What happened made me realize that the way I’ve always survived before... it’s outdated now. Sorry. That scared you, didn’t it?"

Lucian’s lips parted slightly.

That wasn’t what he expected her to say. He wanted to tell her he was the one who should apologize.

That he had failed to protect her.

That she had absolutely nothing to apologize for.

But before he could speak, Ashley continued.

"They already ruined our first family day, put you in danger, and almost killed me," she said softly, lowering her gaze briefly before looking back at him again. "I don’t want to give them the chance to make Primo believe he’ll never have a normal life."

She pressed her lips together as something calm yet resolute settled into her expression.

"I could stay here and keep reflecting on everything I did wrong. I could sit here and be angry." She shook her head faintly. "But I don’t want to go home out of stubbornness."

Her eyes softened. "I want to go home for Primo. I don’t want him growing up afraid to step outside because he thinks something terrible is always waiting for him... for me, or for you."

"Lucian."

He met her gaze silently.

"Take me home." Her voice softened further. "Let’s... let’s just go home to Primo."