Star sighed. "Baby Berry, let's go out first. We need to give someone time to change her clothes, take care of her period, and conceal her beauty again as usual," she proclaimed loudly.
Lily's eyes widened, realizing her concealing had worn off. "Holy shit!" she cursed, only to feel more stomach ache and grab her stomach tighter. "This must have been the cause of Raza's reaction," she murmured.
Star rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't he be shocked? You just love giving poor handsome men secret heart attacks by approaching them with an unsightly appearance, only to stun them with your stunning looks later. Wait, are you trying to find true love this way? If that's the case, then rest assured, men here are all honest, right, Berry?" she grinned at Berry.
Berry, who barely understood half of Star's words, could only nod in agreement.
Lily gritted her teeth. "Who's seeking true love? Will you stop messing things up by sprouting out gibberish?" she stated in annoyance.
"Hey, baby doll! I'm not spouting nonsense, okay? I'm just stating the facts," Star defended herself.
Lily closed her eyes, trying to suppress the pain in her abdomen. "I heard you. Just go out now," she ordered.
"Oh," Star replied, dragging Berry out.
Lily sighed and started undressing herself. "I will surely settle this with you, Star," she gritted her teeth together in annoyance.
....
"I'm done!" Lily announced after what felt like an eternity. As soon as everyone outside heard her voice, they all rushed in.
Now, Lily was lying on the bed with one hand on her stomach. Her skin had returned to the unsightly blackness; perhaps the concealer she used this time was thicker than the ones before since she looked even worse, her face pale as if she had been starving for years. Now lying on the bed, she resembled a woman who had been sick for many years and appeared a little skinny.
"Baby doll! Did you feed your blood to hell demons? Why do you suddenly look like this in just a short period?" Star inquired, her brows knitted tightly.
Lily merely cast Star a smile and chose not to respond but silently cursed her inwardly.
"Angel!" Lily's husbands rushed to her side immediately.
"Is your stomach hurting?" Malik asked with concern as he touched her forehead only for his eyes to widen further. "Why are you so hot?" he exclaimed.
Panic crept onto everyone's faces as they checked Lily's temperature.
"Beauty! You are burning up!" Liam shouted.
Devin bit his lower lip, knowing it must be a result of Lily staying out in the cold rain.
"Beautiful sister, let me check you again!" Berry exclaimed as she hurried to examine Lily. After a short moment, she frowned. "Beautiful sister has a fever. I will go get some herbs, but..." She glanced at Webby.
Webby furrowed his brows. "Most of the herbs you'll need are in my herb land, right?" he voiced Berry's concern.
Berry nodded in agreement.
Webby looked at Lily before stating, "I will go and fetch them." In a blink, he was gone.
"I will go and get the ones I have at home as well. Please take good care of beautiful sister," Berry commented before quickly leaving.
"Beauty, you will be fine, okay?" Liam consoled, holding Lily's hand gently.
"It's not like I'm dying; just an ordinary fever, and these fellows are already practicing how to mourn me," Lily thought in annoyance.
"Let me go and cook something to relieve the pain in your stomach," Art suggested.
Lily nodded in response.
Art moved closer to her and softly kissed her forehead before heading out.
Liam shot Art a murderous glare before wiping Lily's forehead and kissing her forehead as well.
"Um, I will go and help elder sister," Raza said hurriedly and fled the scene.
Star looked at Lily and abruptly noticed something on her neck that had gone unconcealed. Upon closer inspection, there appeared to be something wanting to take form there.
"Lily, you didn't conceal your neck?" Star asked, looking inquisitively at Lily.
"I did—why do you ask?" Lily replied in a weak voice that was barely audible.
"Don't mind this weird fruit; she's just trying to stress you out," Liam snapped, turning Lily's face away from Star and sending her an irritated look.
Star looked at Liam but didn't respond; instead, her brows knitted tighter. She scanned the room and found a concealer tube on the ground, picked it up, squeezed some out onto her hand, and walked closer to Lily to rub the concealer onto her neck.
Everyone was too focused on Lily to pay much mind to Star's actions.
The black paste Star applied to Lily's neck remained for a short period before it began to wash away. No... it looked more like it was being devoured by something; the paste was completely consumed, and the spot became fair again.
Star's expression froze. "What the hell is this?" she thought inwardly, shocked and dumbfounded. "What... what... just what the... hell... is this? Lily, what on earth is going on with you now?" she pondered, her eyes glued to the spot. Strangely enough, the longer she stared, the more it felt like someone was staring back at her, as if that gaze sought to suck out her soul.
"What the hell is this feeling?" Star murmured.
"What feelings?" a sudden unfamiliar voice echoed, stunning her.
"Eh!" Star gasped and jumped backward, frightened.
"What?" Everyone questioned Star with unfriendly glances, even the weak Lily regarded her with a curious expression.
Star was at a loss for words, looking at everyone with a surprised gaze. "That... that voice; you heard it?" she inquired, looking around.
All eyes turned bored instantly.
"Look, if you want to sleep, go ahead and sleep; don't put on a drama here," Liam's annoyed voice resonated.
Star was shocked. "Lily, something is off; check if you are alright!" she urged, her gaze fixated on the fair spot on Lily's neck.