Syra obviously did not expect the cat to push her from behind her back so she was caught off guard. As a result, she tripped on her own feet, making her descend to another free fall, face first again at that.
There was no way she could be able to reverse the situation anymore so she just closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact once her face came in contact on the floor.
However, the anticipated fall did not come as she expected, and instead, she felt warm arms caught her.
"I can't believe myself that I take a clumsy girl as my apprentice. As early as now, I could already see the tons of headache brewing along my way."
Clyde said more to himself, but he said that out loud, enough for Syra to hear.
Meanwhile, afraid that the other party might catch her blushing upon the mere sight of him, Syra hastily pulled away. She stepped back to put a safe distance between her and Clyde.
Then she cupped her own face to cover it, just in case she was indeed blushing. It was also only then that she realized that her cheeks were hot so she subconsciously fanned herself using her right hand.
"Feeling hot?"
Clyde inquired as he tried to fight back the smile that was making its way on his thin but sexy lips. He wanted to tease the other party more but remembered that there was still an important matter that needed to be dealt with first so he set aside it in the meantime and put it at the back of his mind.
Using a consecrating spell specific for summoning the circle of oath, Clyde finalized his blood contract with Syra.
"Naomi, take her to her room."
Clyde instructed as soon as the ritual was over. Then he turned at Syra to give her one last reminder.
"Rest for the night. We will start first thing tomorrow. There is a lot of work waiting for you so you have to come prepared."
After issuing his command, Clyde turned his back on them and lead the way. He repeated the same thing that he did before to open a passage within the concrete walls.
Getting used to the bright light, Syra no longer shielded her eyes and she watched as each of the bricks slowly melted before her eyes.
A long narrow corridor waited for them on the other side of the wall.
"It is relatively dark out there."
That was the first thing that Syra noticed as soon as she saw it.
Other than the light coming from the fire sconces attached at one side of the wall at the side, there was no other source of light anymore.
Clyde was the first one to step to the other side of the wall, followed by his pet, Naomi. Syra on the other hand was left standing on the same spot; pondering over nothing in particular.
"What else are you waiting for? Come on, hop in. Or do you prefer to stay inside that room instead? I can arrange that for you if that is what you like."
Clyde beckoned when he noticed that Syra was not yet walking beside them.
"No, I'm coming."
Syra hurriedly picked up her pace and followed behind them lest the other party decided to become true to his words.
The three descended on the corridor without talking with one another. Only the sound of their footsteps on the pavement could be heard as it echoed in the narrow passage.
Meanwhile, Syra who still had not processed everything yet kept her head low as she mindlessly followed behind them. That was why she failed to notice when Clyde halted his steps and suddenly turn around to face her.
This resulted in Syra's head bumping straight at Clyde's hard chest.
"Tss..."
Syra heard the other party made an audible sound to make his annoyance obvious but Syra chose not to pay it any heed.
"My room lies at the far end of the corridor, upstairs. Make sure not to open other doors than mine once you come and see me at my room tomorrow."
"Huh???"
Syra stared blankly at the other party when she heard what he said but Clyde no longer bothered himself to explain his side as he casually turned on his heel and continued walking going up the staircase.
"Did he just told me to go and see him in his room tomorrow, first thing in the morning?"
Syra thought out loud as soon as Clyde was out of earshot. Clyde's choice of words was kinda vague that most likely than not, Syra probably misunderstood words.
"Of course, he did? Because starting tomorrow, you will start your job here. You have to serve him well if you want to be compensated well, just like me. Master Clyde gave me a new life."
Naomi said proudly as he puffed his chest and make himself a good example.
"Why? Did you think he had other meaning aside from that? Dream on, little girl. Master Clyde had this long lost first love that he had never gotten over with. He swore not to fall in love with other girls anymore after his heart was broken. You are just a maid here. "
"Errr???? What was with this cat being snappy all of a sudden? It's not like I liked her master in the first place. Tss..."
Syra said inside her head, but outside, she kept a nonchalant face.
"Of course."
She replied simply and Naomi escorted her to the other opposite side of the corridor.
In her mind, Syra hardened her resolved and brace herself for the journey that was about to come. This was the start of her new beginning, and she did not want to ruin it.