That evening, Kael and Sarina finally returned to the bungalow.
Sarina glanced at Kael out of the corner of her eye, a playful, teasing smirk on her face. "So... should I go ahead and tell Sara what happened at the office?"
Kael's heart instantly skipped a beat, his anxiety spiking. "Don't you dare!"
Just then, Sara walked into the living room holding a glass of water. Hearing the commotion, she paused and looked between them. "Don't do what?"
Kael's head snapped toward Sara so fast his neck practically popped. "N-N-Nothing! I was... just talking about a new anime series I wanted to watch!"
Sara took a sip of water, offering a gentle smile. "Oh? In that case, I'd love to watch it with you."
Sarina stepped back, her mouth twitching in utter shock. "W-Wait... since when do you watch anime?!"
Sara rubbed the back of her neck with a faint blush, looking away softly. "I think... they actually have really great storylines."
Kael immediately stood up straight, eager to shift the topic away from himself. "Right?! Especially Isekai series—they're easily the best!"
Sara nodded in agreement. "Though I personally prefer dark fantasy."
Renjiro opened his bedroom door and stepped into the hallway, casually chiming in. "I'm more into slice-of-life, honestly."
Sarina glared at Kael, pointing an accusing finger at him. "He trapped you all! He completely diverted the conversation!"
Kael stood there with his hands on his hips, wearing a smug, victorious smile.
Sarina pouted, stamping her foot on the floor. "Fine! If everyone is watching, I want to watch it too!"
Kael let out a bright laugh. "We're starting a brand-new series tonight. If you want to stay, you're more than welcome." He gestured toward the hallway, turning his eyes to Rexon. "We have plenty of guest rooms, right?"
Rexon nodded cleanly. "Yes. The guest suite is completely prepared."
Sarina's face lit up instantly. She practically leaped across the living room, wrapping her arms around Renjiro's arm with a bright squeal. "Yay! Now I get to live under the same roof as my love!"
Behind her, Sarina's personal assistant, Mira, stepped into the bungalow carrying their overnight bags. Watching Sarina laugh so freely, Mira blinked in disbelief. "Master Redgrave... that's the first time I've seen Lady Sarina genuinely laugh since I started working for her."
Kael smiled softly, but then leaned in toward Mira to whisper, "Just to be clear... if you're thinking there's anything weird going on between me and Sarina, there isn't."
Mira raised an eyebrow, stepping back slightly. "Are you telling the truth, Sir?"
Kael nodded with a heavy, dramatic sigh. "Yeah. My destiny isn't as lucky as Renjiro's... I don't get a true love story."
Beside him, Sara's hand tightened around her water glass until her knuckles turned white. Her face burned red as she glared at Kael's completely oblivious expression. "Kael... what exactly are you trying to say?"
Mira caught the intense gaze Sara was shooting at Kael's back. She covered her mouth, letting out a soft, amused giggle. "Sir... I think someone right next to you begs to differ."
Kael blinked, turning to Mira. "Huh? Did you say something?"
Before Mira could answer, Sarina darted back out from the hallway, grabbing Mira's hands with an excited grin. "Mira! Come watch the show with us!"
Mira smiled awkwardly. "Pardon me, my Lady, but—"
"No problem at all! The more the merrier!" Kael chimed in warmly.
Suddenly, Kael noticed Rexon standing near the dining table, frantically pointing a finger toward Sara.
Kael turned around slowly. Sara's face was completely flushed with irritation, a terrifyingly sweet smile plastered across her lips.
"Kael," Sara asked, her voice dangerously calm. "Is tomorrow Sunday?"
Kael swallowed hard, taking a nervous step backward. "Y-Yes..."
"Perfect," Sara smiled softly, her eyes glinting with a dark promise. "Tomorrow morning, I'll be checking your hand-to-hand combat skills in the training yard."
"Wait!" Kael panicked, raising his hands. "I was actually thinking... maybe we could go out and explore the city together tomorrow?"
Sara froze for a second, her heart doing a quick flutter before she caught herself. "We can go out after our spar."
"I think I just remembered I have an urgent international meeting!" Kael stammered, turning to flee.
SWOOSH!
In a flash, Sara reached out and grabbed Kael by the back of his shirt collar, dragging him right back. "Kael, you are in the top ten businessmen in the world. Your company headquarters is right here in India, and the Vrenj Group is top five. Where could you possibly need to fly off to?"
Kael laughed nervously, sweating profusely. "Maybe... Google, Tesla, or Microsoft need my personal consultation?"
Sara looked down at him with an authoritative glare that left zero room for argument. "You don't have any pending contracts with them. Nice try."
Kael immediately stood at rigid attention. "Understood, Ma'am!"
Sara couldn't help but chuckle at his sudden obedience, letting go of his collar. "Good boy. Now you're behaving."
Kael rubbed his neck, letting out a long sigh as he turned to Rexon. "Come on, Rexon. I need to mentally prepare my body for tomorrow's beating..."
An hour later, everyone was gathered in the home theater room, settled into the plush leather recliners.
The screen flickered to life with futuristic action scenes. Sarina leaned forward, her eyes wide with awe as giant mechanical suits fought on screen. "Ooh! I really like this robot-type anime!"
Rexon adjusted his posture, explaining calmly, "That sub-genre is referred to as 'Mecha'."
Sarina turned to him eagerly. "Can you recommend any other shows like this?"
Rexon stood up, his golden eyes glowing faintly as his internal database scanned through thousands of titles. "There is one particular series. It's a bit older, but the narrative depth and character writing are absolute masterpieces."
Sarina clapped her hands cheerfully. "Yes! Tell me!"
Rexon opened his mouth. "It's called Darling in the Fra—"
Before he could finish the title, Kael and Renjiro lunged across the sofa simultaneously, slamming their hands over Rexon's mouth!
"Are you insane?!" Kael hissed, holding Rexon in a headlock. "She just went through a massive emotional tragedy! Why would you recommend a soul-crushing series like that?!"
"Do you want her to fall into a deeper depression?!" Renjiro added in a harsh whisper.
Sarina frowned, pulling out her smartphone. "Fine, I'll just look it up on an AI chatbot to see if it suits me!"
Kael quickly let go of Rexon, trying to play it cool. "Uh... yeah! You should definitely check the content warnings first!"
Sarina typed in the search bar. Within seconds, her eyes sparkled with excitement as she read the synopsis. "This looks incredible! I definitely want to watch it!"
Rexon freed himself from Kael's grip, adjusting his collar with an innocent smile. "Ha. Ha. I always provide top-tier recommendations."
Kael slumped back into his chair, rubbing his temples as he whispered to Renjiro, "You better keep a very close eye on your girlfriend for the next few days."
Renjiro let out a heavy, defeated sigh. "You're telling me..."
Kael shot a sideways glare at Rexon. "I swear... his innocent little laugh looks like a demon lord chuckling after destroying a city."
"Well, he certainly destroyed her emotional stability for the week," Renjiro muttered back.
Kael turned to Sarina. "If you're going to watch it, we're watching it together as a group."
Sara offered a warm smile. "I'd like that. Watching together makes it better."
Renjiro groaned, sinking into his seat. "Great... now we all have to relive that emotional trauma all over again."
Kael nodded solemnly. "Yup."
Off to the side, Mira had quietly fallen asleep on the corner sofa. She wasn't particularly interested in animated shows and the long day of traveling had completely drained her energy.
Noticing her sleeping form, Sara stepped over and gently lifted Mira into her arms. "Where should I put her?"
Sarina looked over, whispering softly, "Put her in my guest room."
Sara nodded, carrying Mira down the quiet hallway and placing her gently onto Sarina's bed. She pulled the soft blanket over Mira's shoulders, letting out a tired sigh. "Phew..."
Just as Sara turned to leave the room, a faint, trembling whimper came from the bed.
"Mom... Dad..." Mira murmured in her sleep, tears leaking from her closed eyes.
Sara froze. She slowly turned around, walking back to the bedside. Kneeling down, Sara gently laid her palm against Mira's forehead, closing her eyes to channel a subtle wave of psychic empathy to soothe the nightmare.
FLUP!
The moment Sara's magic touched Mira's mind, a wave of horrific psychic residual memories surged backward into Sara's consciousness.
Sara's eyes snapped open in absolute horror. She yanked her hand away, stumbling back against the wall, her face drained of all color and drenched in cold sweat.
Breathing heavily, Sara backed out of the room and slammed the door shut, her entire body shaking.
Kael, who had just walked down the hallway to check on her, stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her pale, horrified face. "Sara...? What happened?!"
Sara trembled, her knees giving out slightly. "N-Nothing..."
Kael rushed forward, catching her by the shoulders. "Don't lie to me! Tell me what you saw!"
A single tear spilled over Sara's cheek as she looked up at him, her voice quivering with intense distress. "I... I accidentally tapped into her dormant memories... I saw her parents lying in a pool of blood... A massive dragon was tearing their remains apart... while Mira watched the whole thing..."
A cold sweat broke out across Kael's back. The sheer horror of the image made his blood run cold. "She... she suffered a trauma that severe...?"
Kael turned his eyes toward the living room where Sarina was laughing cheerfully with Renjiro. He looked back at Sara, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Has Sarina ever mentioned what happened to Mira's family?"
Sara shook her head softly. "No... Sarina probably doesn't even know."
Kael nodded silently, his expression darkening with deep pity as he stepped back into the hallway.
Standing alone outside the door, Sara clutched her hands to her chest, her heart hammering against her ribs.
The truth... was infinitely worse than what I told Kael... Sara thought, horror gripping her soul.
In that split-second psychic link, Sara hadn't just seen a dragon. She had witnessed the cruelest act of demonic malice: a demon and a dragon had butchered Mira's parents in front of her, then force-fed the raw, severed remains to the starving child. Driven mad by extreme hunger and shock, the young girl had consumed them—only to realize the horrific truth moments later, collapsing into a catatonic state as her mind locked the memory away forever.
Sara closed her eyes tightly, tears streaming down her pale face as she leaned against the cold wall, praying the nightmare would never wake up inside the poor girl's mind again.