The Countess Lives Twice in the Apocalypse-Chapter 74: Seventy-three

The next time Jannah opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sound of soft footsteps by her bedside.

The steady rhythmic purr on her torso is still there, vibrating and shaking her body slightly.

Even so, compared to what she was feeling earlier, her body felt rested and relaxed now. Her mind was clear and refreshed, the last remnants of her exhaustion felt like it didn’t exist in the first place.

"I bought you some soup."

Jannah blinked, her gaze shifting towards her little sister who placed the bowl on the bedside table, the bowl made a quiet click against the wooden furniture which echoed light in her ears.

"I.."

Jannah opened her mouth to speak, but her mouth was dry and parched.

I need water, please. I don’t want to drink the soup yet. Jannah said, linking to her little sister’s mind, making Jeriel look at her, pausing for a moment before she turned around and walked out of the room.

Seeing that her little sister has come out to fetch her water, she did something to lessen the dryness, and rubbed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, trying to wet her dry throat.

She could feel the dehydration taking effect, her throat burning and her lips feeling cracked and dry.

Unable to stand the ache the dryness gave, she tried to sit up to take a sip from the soup, but the leopard on top of her wouldn’t move, and Jannah was forced to remain laying on top of the bed, her mouth dry and her body desperate for hydration.

Huffing, she tried to stretch her tired limbs instead, but again, the heavy weight on top of her prevented her from doing so.

Jannah let out a deep sigh through her nose before she tried to wiggle out from underneath the weight, but the mother leopard was curled up on top of her body, refusing to budge.

This damn leopard.. She grumbled internally, her desire to stretch and wet her throat unfulfilled by the stubborn creature who had decided to make herself comfortable on her body.

Fortunately, the door creaked open, indicating that someone had come in.

"Here’s your water." Jeriel said, walking over to her bed and handed her a glass of water, which she gratefully took from her hands.

As soon as Jannah took the glass of water, Jeriel grabbed the mother leopard gently and pushed her aside. She eyed her big sister, and could tell that despite the relief she’s feeling, she still hasn’t got all her strength back.

Jannah immediately sat up the moment Jeriel took the initiative to move the leopard and downed the water from the glass in two gulps, her throat finally getting the water it deserves.

Jannah pulled the glass away and sighs in relief, "Thank you. I thought I was going to die."

"You can’t die." Jeriel interjected, turning down the dramatic antics of Jannah, not in the mood for jokes and giggles.

She walked to the other side of the bed to pick up the bowl and handed it out towards Jannah, "Now, start with your soup while I fill you in on what happened ever since you passed out two days ago."

Jannah’s eyes widened. Two days ago? She comprehends the words that her little sister had said. She had been asleep for the past two days? The idea of being asleep for so long and still feeling like she got run over by two boulders when she woke up earlier seems like a strange and surreal thought.

However, after sleeping a bit more, she felt refreshed and fully energized, she did not feel any drowsiness or sleepiness whatsoever, as if she had just awakened from the most restful sleep of her life.

Moreover, the dream— she had a dream about Monlen.

It felt odd to know that she has fallen asleep for two days straight and dreamt about her former base.

"Okay.." Jannah muttered as she trails off, and grabbed the bowl from Jeriel’s hands, "I’ll listen while you talk and if you’re mad at me, feel free to tell me."

Jeriel’s face twisted in a frown, taking a seat beside Jannah and rubbing her palm down to her face, "Those who protested against you had harmed our knights. Merlot suggested banishing them, but I refused. I don’t know what you want to do, but you’re the ruler of this town and I’ll stand by your decision."

As Jeriel speaks, Jannah picks up the spoon and dips it into the broth before raising it to her lips to take a sip.

"Clara suggested we kill the prisoners and it seems to upset Merlot—"

Jannah accidentally spits out the broth to her little sister, eyes wide in shock and disbelief.

"Disgusting!" Jeriel hissed, standing up from the bed and hurriedly went to the wardrobe, pulling out the first thing her hand touched and wiped the liquid off from her face, "You’re disgusting! Ew!"

Jannah let out a strained cough, she managed to swallow some of the broth, but half of it was spit out.

"Sorry— cough, cough, cough— I didn’t mean to! Cough— I was shocked! Because what? Clara suggested what?! The Clara Ebonics? Clara?!" Jannah stammered out, coughing mid sentence, her voice dripping with bewilderment.

"She wanted to kill them." Jeriel repeated what she said before she was rudely cut off by a flying broth of the potato soup, "But Merlot simply wanted to banish them. I have a feeling that an argument will arise between them if you don’t make a decision soon." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Jannah nodded her head and cleared her throat, "They didn’t kill anyone, right?"

"So far, none, but Dreidel and Dante are heavily injured. Those bastards managed to stab Dreidel from the back and hit Dante on the head. If you ask me, I wanted to kill them, too." Jeriel said, still wiping her face with the shirt she grabbed from Jannah’s wardrobe.

"I’ll heal them." Jannah came into the decision almost immediately, not hesitating to use her healing skill to her knights, "What about the other people who didn’t protest? What was their reaction?"

"It’s weird, but they didn’t say anything." Jeriel sighed out and dropped the dirty shirt by the singular wooden table in the middle of the room.

"They were just amazed by what you did." She said and sat down on the wooden chair beside the table, leaning her elbow on it, turning to face her big sister.

"Seriously?" Jannah raised an eyebrow, expressing her amusement and slight disbelief before lifting the bowl to her lips and drinking the broth straight to the bowl.

"Apparently, those who didn’t see the spectacle you pulled off were upset so they were demanding to ask you for a demonstration soon." Jeriel said, giggling by the end of her sentence with a roll of her eyes.

"They were very frank that they don’t care what or who you are and wished for you to get better, but those bastards? They really put up a damn fight the other day." The smile on Jeriel’s face vanished and got replaced with a scowl.

"We didn’t give them any food or water after what they’ve done to Dante and Kean so they’re probably raging right now." The younger Rafelon crossed her arms, her displeased expression evident.

Jannah shot her a glance and hummed, finishing the last bit of her soup, she licked her lips to get the excess broth, and smiled at Jeriel.

"I’m done." She informed her little sister as she placed the bowl down to her lap, "I’m going to heal those two first before visiting our friends. I’ve already decided what to do with those damn prisoners."

Her little sister nodded her head, sighing deeply and got off the chair.

Jeriel walked to the bed, grabbed the bowl, and proceeded to push the mother leopard off the bed, "Let’s go. It’s already dark so I told them to take a rest for now, but Kean and Dante are sleeping in one of the rooms downstairs."

Feeling the relief of being free from the heavy weight of the animal, Jannah stretched her limbs, groaning loudly as her bones popped back into place, "Oh, god. That felt good."

She sighed out of satisfaction, her shoulders sagging forward, "Alright, let’s go. I don’t want to be bedridden any longer."

Her statement made Jeriel scoff, "You’re the one who didn’t get up, but you’re complaining now?"

"I just didn’t want to confront the problem I created yet." Jannah rebutted, shrugging her shoulders dismissively and throwing her legs to the side of the bed.

She scooted over, her feet planted on the wooden floor before she stood up, standing still for a moment. She waited until her legs got used to her body weight, not wanting to embarrass herself in the hallway and trip on her feet.

"Which reminds me." Jannah perks up, her gaze locking with Jeriel’s, "Thank you for not throwing me under the wheel earlier."

Jeriel merely gave her a smirk, "That’s what sisters are for, right? Don’t worry too much. I have your back."

"You have mine as well." Jannah shot back the smug smirk Jeriel gave her, which made the sisters burst into a fit of giggles, waking up the mother leopard by the foot of the bed.

"Meoraw!"

The leopard let out an excited mewl, her slitted eyes wide and her tail moving sideways in a speed that indicates she’s happy to see Jannah standing on her feet.

"Nice to see you awake, too, Eira."