Reason of Her Entry

The two were getting closer to Eugene's brother's home. Even though he was tired after all the running and carrying this woman around, his body overflew with energy when he noticed Christopher's car. For once, he will see not only a familiar, but also a welcoming face after his awakening from fever. But upon second thought, he felt uneasy. Christopher's blunder during the operation a few weeks ago was the sole reason Eugene ended up in bed. He was not yet sure how to address this topic nor what to say about it, but right now there was a more important baggage residing on his back.

"We are quite lucky, seems like Christopher is at home and will be able to handle your injury more professionally. He is a doctor." Eugene turned to the woman and found her facing his brother's car. She was observing it thoroughly, as if determining its value. After a second of silence, though, she hummed at his statement and faced forward.

They entered the house, Eugene struggled through the stairs and put the woman on the ground.

While she shook off her dress, Eugene took out keys and opened the door. Running footsteps could immediately be heard from the kitchen, but instead of his brother, Eugene saw Vera. Her eyes were red from tears and radiated indescribable horror, but as soon as she saw a familiar face, her weeping intensified, and she hugged Eugene while crying out, "Where the hell have you been!?"

Eugene was taken aback by her sudden melancholy, the daughter of the nobility, on the other hand, casually limped past them. Her brow twitched from pain, but it did not bother her much, she was busy observing the surroundings, like a curious cat.

"I am sorry, Vera," Eugene lightly pushed her and came towards the noble woman, "You can't just barge in like that!"

Alas, she did not even face him, which further irritated the man. Suddenly, Vera pulled his sleeve and he cast his gaze on her. She was sobbing, but through the lump in her throat, she spoke, "Who is she?"

"I am sorry, she is just an acquaintance of mine, her leg is injured."

"Quite a bold statement of me being your ac-"

"Oh, god, this is terrible!" Vera interrupted their guest and lead her towards the sofa, "Can you show me your injury?"

Despite her statement being a question, Vera already took off the right heel and found the swelling under the stocking of the woman. She glanced over at Eugene, but the latter only shrugged and marched to the other room.

"Eugene, bring the bandages and phenacetin, please!"

"Yeah, on my way."

And at such, quickly and coherently, Vera and Eugene were able to treat the woman's leg. Their efforts were not a panacea, but at least their guest was able to comfortably stand on her feet and even walk, though lamely. She was about to put high heels back on her feet, but Vera stopped her and gave slippers instead. After a second of thorough observation, she sighed and put them on.

"And so, who are you again?" wondered Vera, with her tone finally calm and charming.

"I am not able to reveal my name due to the wager with Monsieur buffoon right here."

"Who are you calling a buffoon!?" cried out Eugene, "Your last name is la Avise, I was able to figure out this much."

Eugene made this statement with an unfadable confidence, yet his crossed fingers were hidden in pockets of his jacket. The woman glared at him for a few seconds in surprise, and then exclaimed, "Seems like there is indeed a grain of thought in this baboons head, I am impressed!"

"Oh, shut up!" groaned Eugene, "I would rather be a buffoon!"

The two were at each other's throats, but instead of cries of slaughter, a quiet giggle was heard in the living room. It was Vera, who finally rid herself from sorrow. This put a smile on Eugene's face, and even madame la Avise kept quiet until the house mistress spoke.

"Why have not you said anything about a friend of yours?"

"We are not friends."

"For once, I can agree with you."

"Whatever, youth." Vera smirked and faced the guest, "My name is Vera and… you are not able to tell specifically him your name, right?"

"Indeed."

"Then how about telling me exclusively? I am good at keeping secrets."

Eugene narrowed his brows at this sudden request, he thought for sure that such pesky individual will decline this offer immediately. But after a moment of thought, to his surprise, la Avise leaned to Vera's ear and whispered something, making sure Eugene would not be able to hear it.

"Oh, I see, that's a very beautiful name."

"Are you serious!?" hissed Eugene and glanced over Vera, "Can you tell it, please."

"Of course not! This would be unfair to the young miss."

This time Eugene was done with these women completely, he buried himself in the sofa without breaking a word. But this silly banter did not last for too long. Soon, Vera's face once again turned to dread, and she gazed at him in distress. The man felt uneasy, as if he ended up in the same spot as yesterday.

"For how long have you been out?"

"For half an hour or so, I was heading to the hospital, but then…" Eugene bowed his head, squinted at la Avise and continued, "I met her near the tramway."

"I see, have you, perhaps, seen Chris or Doug?"

"Not at all?" raised Eugene his brow. Vera once again fell into silence, she was obviously hesitating before saying something. So Eugene pushed her with a little bow and silently, nearly in a whisper, Vera shared about the incident.

"When you lost your consciousness two days ago-"

"Wait, I have been sleeping for two days?"

"That's right, we grew some grey hair because of you! Not even Christopher remained calm in this situation. He even called another doctor only to be reassured of your well-being and that it happened due to the stress. For the whole day, we were caring for you, Christopher slept for only a few hours if not less. On the next day, though, Douglas invited him to have a drink to cheer him up. He has a spectacular sense of words," Vera showed a smile which did not last for long, "From that day onwards, they never came back and when you disappeared as well, I thought I will go crazy! Please, never do that again!"

Eugene giggled a little at the end, but upon looking at the dead serious expression of the usually cheerful woman, his smile dropped, and the mind was swallowed by thoughts. The man was not too stressed out by the situation, since it is Douglas she was talking about. By his guidance, they probably have gone somewhere deep into the city or even outskirts and were wrecking havoc up until this day. Not the best image for the doctor to be as drunk as skunk and bother anyone, but it was destroyed earlier either way.

Eugene was about to share this idea to further reassure Vera of their well-being, but then their guest made a sudden declaration, "This is quite an unfortunate scenario, my foremost goal was to interrogate Monsieur Christopher Dagaz. How troublesome."

Both Vera and Eugene glanced at her, their mouths open. Eugene could think of only one reason she could be possibly searching for his brother, "Are you seeking medical help?"

Judging by Vera's story, his brother's reputation was destroyed completely after the deadly occurrence during the operation. But it's only natural, that someone from afar would not know about it, but his speculation was proven wrong by the words of this woman.

"Not at all. May I ask you, why do you think we met today?"

Eugene scratched his head in confusion, "Was not it just a coincidence?"

"Just as I thought," the woman shook her head and crossed her hands, "What are the odds of our meeting in such a big city? Have you thought about it? Even though the meeting in the back alley was indeed a coincidence, we would still meet regardless, since the infamous "Death Surgeon" is the sole reason I came to this place."

Once again the room fell into silence, Vera's jaw moved up and down in disbelief, but after seconds of thought she asked an expected question, "And what do you want from my husband?"

"Well, you see, Weisen was an important ally of the la Avise family. And before his death on the operation table, he was threatened quite a few times. So, the family assumes that his end was not a fluke, but rather a successful assassination."