Mary reached Shin's room and looked through the keyhole, spotting Ase curled above Shin and sleeping. She paused for a moment, looking at the door. 'What is she doing there? No, did Shin allow her in? The two of them are quite close…'
She turned around and headed toward her room, 'I'll leave them be for tonight. It'll be awkward for me to get between them.'
When the morning came and the sun started rising, Mary woke up and walked out of her room with an exhausted face. She couldn't sleep well last night as she was thinking about what Asrin told her and about how should they deal with the situation.
After washing her face she made her way to the kitchen where she found two large geese dead on the counter. Both of them had bite marks on their necks. "Who…" She gasped in surprise, closing in to get a better look.
When she saw the bite marks on the neck she thought it was Asrin who left them, but that woman really hated drinking animal blood. But now that she got a better look at the wound, it wasn't anything like Asrin's bites, it looked more like the savage bite of a wolf.
"Snapped neck and ripping marks, those were bitten out of the sky." She grabbed them and threw them inside the fridge so they won't rot. In the meantime, she noticed that they were still warm, they had only been killed.
As Mary closed the fridge, Ase landed on the window with two more geese dangling from her mouth. Ase dropped the two geese and smiled, "Good morning, Mary."
Mary looked at her, immediately ignoring the geese for now. "What were you doing in Shin's room last night?"
"We to sleep. I got used to sleeping at his side since we escaped from the fort." Ase took the two geese she caught and looked around, "Where are the other two?"
"In the fridge. You just went to sleep with him?" Mary opened the fridge and Ase stored the two she hunted for now.
"I kept rolling in my bed and wasn't able to sleep, so I went to him. Got a problem with that?" Ase looked at her with a smile.
"Yeah, don't just sneak into his room." Mary sighed and went to brew some coffee.
"I see…" Ase started helping her but Mary told her to go wash her mouth from the blood first. "You're worried I'm taking him away from you?" Ase looked at Mary with a grin, "Aren't you the one misunderstanding something? You're the one trying to take him from me."
Mary stopped brewing and slowly turned to stare at her, "You…"
"I may be a bit stupid at times…but I'm not dumb." Ase extended her claws and her eyes shifted into those of a cat as her ears pulled back, "You've been eyeing my Shin for a while, do you think I'm not noticing your advances?"
"Since when…" In the blink of an eye, Mary found herself lifted by the neck. Ase moved too fast for her to see, "What are you planning to do with Shin?" Ase hissed at her.
"Put…me down…" Mary couldn't breathe and she could feel Ase's claws digging into her neck.
"You saw me in Shin's room which means you came to it as well. What were you planning to do if I wasn't there?" Ase clenched her fist and punched Mary in the guts, knocking what little air was in her lungs out.
"Speak up! Where are you trying to do?" Ase was about to punch Mary in the guts, but a voice called from behind her.
"Put her down, she can't speak while you're choking her." Shin was standing at the kitchen door. Ase immediately dropped Mary with a surprised face, "Shin! I didn't hear you coming."
"You're too worked out to notice. Mary is fine, for now so don't attack her again." He approached them and looked at the gasping Mary, "Sorry for what Ase did. But can't really say I'm not interested in what you were trying to do."
"Do what? I did nothing…" Mary gasped for air, coughing.
"While in such a situation, your lies become quite easy to read. You did something, you earlier admitted to coming to my room at night. A better lie would've been to come up with an excuse." Shin helped her to stand, "But I guess your head can't work well right after nearly getting choked to death."
"Asrin came last night, she found several things about the man we gave her…it looked important so I thought it'd be best if I told you right away." Mary leaned back on the table and stood, barely managing to sit on the wooden chair at her side.
"A vampire walked into the house without me waking up?" Shin lifted an eyebrow, this would've never happened in his past life. He would've detected her long before she could even approach the house, but he's far weaker now so her sneaking past his sense could've happened.
Mary explained what Asrin told her as she caught her breath and then went to finish brewing the coffee. "It's messed up, isn't it? I wanted to tell you immediately but when I saw Ase asleep on your bed I left."
Mary's eyes shifted toward Ase, "So satisfied now?"
"I'm not apologizing." Ase looked away and Mary sat on the table.
Mary smiled, "You've said it yourself. You aren't dumb, but you're stupid" She giggled, "Attacking me was wrong. If you act like that with other people you'll get yourself in a lot of needless trouble. Next time speak first and I'll take that as an apology."
Mary shifted her gaze to Shin, "Ase, I only care about you learning from your mistakes."
Arachne who was standing at the door looked at them, "I was listening and I would say if Ase is stupid, you're an idiot."
Mary looked toward Arachne, "You woke up, good morning."
Arachne approached the table and sat with them, "Mary, you admitted that Ase isn't dumb, that means she was right about your intentions. You shifted the story in a second after hearing Shin's advice, but it was already too late."
Arachne looked at Shin with a smile, "Ase isn't dumb, she's well aware of her emotions and can read others. But in the moment, she was stupid, blinded by rage, and made a stupid mistake. Mary is different, she isn't stupid or dumb, she's an idiot. Who would use a trick right after being asked to?"
"You're right," Shin sighed… "Mary, what are you hiding?"
"Hold on!" Arachne lifted her hand, "Your Majesty, hold on for a moment, I didn't finish talking yet."
Arachne smiled, "Your Majesty, you already figured out what I explained, it was you who taught us beasts after all. But…and I apologize for this beforehand, you're naive." She glared at him with burning red eyes, "You trust people a lot, or at least it's easier to gain your trust. That's how your wife managed to sneak her true self behind your back for centuries."
"Arachne…we don't talk about that…" Shin glared at her but she growled, at him, "I turned a blind eye to one woman, and she ended up killing you. I'll not make that mistake again."