[Quest 5: Home-maker II: Level up the system pylon to level 2 and unlock basic structures. Menagerie (0/1) Armory (0/1) Watchtower (0/4)]
[Quest 6: Home-maker III: Successfully grow 1 plant in your garden.]
[Quest 7: The Art Of Love: Consummate your marriage. REWARDS: +1200 EXP EACH, 1 BASIC SKILL SELECTION]
Kate kept looking at the quests left that they had to deal with. She was worried. Quest 7 was just... it was crazy. It was barely more than a day ago she was seeing Kenan in videos and photos doing nasty things with her sister. And now this system expects her to just... just... sleep with him! She huffed in annoyance, then turned to the side. Her eyes fell on Kenan.
He was going through the Basic Farmstead Bundle. Not that there was much inside of it—just a hoe, shovel, a rake, a small trowel, a watering can, and a bag of seeds that looked like they were corn, except the damn things were blue.
After that, he'd gone through the Mage Bundle. Three more mana potions, bringing their total up to five. A mage robe that neither one of them had any idea what it was used for, and a new wand. This one, though, had a built-in light orb spell in it. An extra source of attack for Kate, but it still left her with questions. It seemed wands and maybe staffs could have their own skills or had effects that altered how skills were cast through them. She needed to study them extensively, and if it was possible, she would make wands and staffs of her own.
"You should get some rest," Kenan said as he walked up to her, handing over the things from the Mage Bundle. He turned and pointed at the pylon, then at the garden.
"I want to get that bag of seeds from the store, then I'll try and get them planted. The garden's not that large, but there are options to level it up in the pylon menu. But I'm not so sure we should be in a hurry to level up the structures. Since we have a little bit of time, we should use that to understand and get used to our current environment."
Kate gave Kenan a dull look but continued listening to him.
"I'll get the seeds planted. The dead monsters can serve as manure, though I'm not sure we can deal with the stench. Also, since we have a shovel now, I'll dig a pit so that we can burn their remains. We might have magic now and much stronger bodies, but I don't think we're completely immune from getting diseases."
Kate frowned. Kenan was talking in a matter-of-fact manner. She was stupid—she knew her words had hurt him, and the way she'd acted. He said it was a mistake sleeping with her sister, something he couldn't even explain, he'd said. If she wanted to put herself in his shoes, then perhaps in his mind, he was being punished by the woman he loves. Kate sighed. Barely a day into it, and marriage already seemed so incredibly difficult to deal with.
"Do you need any help?"
Kenan blinked. For a moment, he wanted to deny needing any help. This was getting exhausting for him, to be honest. He could barely remember that night with her sister and had no idea how things had progressed to that level. Perhaps he'd been drugged? But if that were the case, he would know. He'd been trained in the most extreme ways and had experienced kidnappings and tortures more times than he could count. He would have known if he was drugged. So if he wasn't sure he was drugged, then how did this happen? Why did it happen?
It was crazy because even he wasn't sure if he was innocent or not. But one thing that hadn't changed was how he felt about Kate, which was why this sucked, and he was tired of it. But he knew he had to compromise. He understood her better than anyone—Kate did not easily forget being hurt, even if she decided to forgive you. She'd never let you in again, and given her past of abuse and mistreatment, it meant you never got a second chance with Kate.
"I would like some help, and maybe we can discuss what to do next. The pylon generates a certain amount of exp a day. We can decide what structures to level up and see if they can actually increase the exp generation. We could—and will—turn this place into a home in no time. At least for now, until we're done with all of this and can go home."
Kenan shut his mouth with a click. He'd had no intention of talking so much, but he couldn't help but try to reassure her, to give her a direction and let her know that everything was going to be okay. At the back of his mind, a voice mocked him. Without a doubt, Kenan was fully and irrevocably in love with Kate, and not even the end of the world could change that.
"So where do we start? Should I take my clothes off or grab a rake?" Kate asked.
Kenan blinked in shock for a second. Then a smile broke out on his face, one so intensely powerful the clearing seemed awash with sunlight and joy. Kate didn't have it in her to diminish that happiness in any way. After all... it was that smile of total and utter devotion that had made her decide that perhaps life was worth living. That smile that had stopped her from going off the edge more times than she could count. She lived for him, and she knew he did for her. There was no one else here. It might not have been the honeymoon they'd planned, but perhaps it was the honeymoon they needed.
"Wipe that grin off your face. Nothing is happening. I just felt a joke to break the ice was nice. I'm just trying to deal with all of this... and how our wedding ended. I don't hate you, Keys. In fact, I'm sure I still love you to death, but I'm angry! You know? Just so angry, and that bitch had the audacity to die! I had years to plan my revenge, and she just died! So there's so much anger! And rage, and your stupid face was on that screen! With her!"
Kenan flinched as if he'd been struck. Kate's shoulders sagged, almost as if she'd carried the weight of the world and that weight had just slowly slid off. Kenan couldn't tell which it was, but did it really matter? He moved closer, and when she didn't pull away, he pulled her into a hug. He felt her grab a clump of his shirt as her voice broke into a sob.
"Why you? She's taken everything. Why did she have to try to take you too? You're my anchor, my altar, the only good thing I have in my life. And she wanted to taint that, and you let her. Why were you there in the first place?"
Kate yelled as she pushed Kenan away from herself. Kenan mentally rolled his eyes and prepared himself for the fight he knew was coming.
Kenan raised his hands up and took a step back. "She called me. This was just before you got your internship. Apparently, she pulled some strings, and they were going to cancel it."
"So you slept with her! For an internship!"
Kenan already knew it was coming, but it was still shocking when a Basic Fire Bullet flew past his head. Luckily for him, she wasn't using either the wand or staff, or he'd probably be dead. He jumped to the side, evading another attack.
"I don't think I slept with her. In fact, that's why this is just as confusing for me as it is painful for you. I went there not to sleep with her or to make any sort of negotiation. I just wanted to put an end to her nonsense." Kenan explained, hoping Kate could hear the sincerity in his voice.
"I could see how successful you were in doing so, seeing as you both ended up in bed together. What a joke! What sort of end were you putting to it? It seems more like you were putting something else inside her!"
Kenan felt anger and adrenaline rush through himself as he took a step forward and yelled at Kate. "I was going to kill her!"
The clearing fell silent as Kate's eyes widened in shock.
"That was the one time since we've been together that I was ready to embrace the darkness I left behind—just for you! I was going to sink a knife into her jugular vein and slit her throat so slowly so that she could feel all the years of pain and anguish she put you through." As he spoke, he kept moving forward, and as he did, Kate kept stepping back. The manic look in Kenan's eyes was more terrifying than anything she'd ever come face to face with before.
"I told myself, what was one more idiot's blood on my hands when I was going to spill it for love? I went there to kill her! But somehow everything went wrong, and now here we are!"
Kenan huffed and marched toward the garden, leaving Kate standing there astounded and still just as shocked. But at the end of the day, the only thing that kept repeating in her head was Kenan's words.
"What was one more idiot's blood on my hands..."
Just how many people had he killed? Who really was her husband?