Entry 09: I want to have a day off! (and a brief training)

After the 'unproductive' mission with Ivan's team, I slumped on my bed and rolled around to stare at the cream-colored ceiling. It's been hours since I submitted my after-report to the chief and decided to go home. It's been a while since I went home to a simple but comfortable condominium that I rented out. The building is located near the headquarters, so I have no problems walking there.

I sighed tiredly and wanted to sleep, but I heard a call from my phone beside me. I got up and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Anna Harriett Brown speaking?" A man's voice asked on the other side.

Wait a minute; I heard that voice before. "Who is this?"

"Ah, apologies. We met at the gala a few weeks ago. I hope you remember me."

Then it hit me. The man from the gala before the disaster happened! I haven't seen him since. "Oh, I remember! You're the one who told me about the painting back at the gala, correct?"

He chuckled. "I'm glad you remembered."

"By the way, how did you know my number?" I asked him out of curiosity.

"I looked at the list of guests in the reception area, and I saw your name along with your contact information, so I decided to call you just to be sure." He paused for a while. "I heard what happened at the gala last week. I'm so glad that you are all right."

"I'm glad that you've left the building too." I'm worried that I won't see him after the gala. "Why did you call me, by the way?"

"I just wanted to ask if you are available for this weekend. "

"Hmm." I took my scheduler beside my desk and checked if I had upcoming missions this weekend. It turns out that I'm available for that day. "I'm available for the weekends."

"Good, because there is a painting exhibition in Rice Park this weekend. I tried to contact my friends, but they were unavailable that day. I'm glad that I called you."

"Yeah, you're glad that you called me then," I said cheerfully. "So, what time does the exhibition start?"

"Ten in the morning."

"Great! See you there!"

*

"Request denied."

"What?!"

I went to Ivan's office the next morning. Before that, I filed a request for leave this weekend, and it was approved by HR. Now, what I need is his approval.

Just as I expected, he rejected it.

"The next mission will be this weekend as well. All team members are on standby and available. Don't be absent." Is this guy a sadist? He likes his teammates to work to the bone without taking breaks!

"Wait a minute, we've been on assignments left and right, and I can't get to take breaks in between! Can at least-"

"An agent's day off leads to the lives of many innocents lost because of vampires." He looked at me seriously in the eye. "They don't take breaks. So as agents, we are always available and alert. I expected you to be there."

I tried to maintain my composure because I am so pissed that this man hasn't understood the definition of vacation, leaves, and rests.

All this guy's mind is doing is work, work, work!

"Fine, have it your way." That is my response. I turned around, walked towards the door, opened it harshly, and before I left, I gave him a glare and this warning. "But don't blame me that another agent's life was lost because you never gave him or her a break!"

And before he could speak to me further, I slammed the door closed in anger.

*

"Sadist! Demon! Tyrant! No wonder all the agents previously assigned to his team wanted to be reassigned to another team!"

"Careful Anna, you have destroyed the sandbag again." Patrick once again tried to calm me down. We are in the gym, and I have destroyed another sandbag. This sandbag's condition is worse than the one that I had previously destroyed before the gala.

"Should we tell this to the chief?" Lena asked while hugging her bag. She decided to come here because she has gained a lot of weight. "You look haggard."

"Did you get some rest lately? "Patrick looks at me with a concerned voice. True, I looked haggard since that sadist and his masochist team went on missions one after another. I haven't had decent sleep for weeks.

"Yeah. I'm stressed, tired, and haggard. All I want is a single day off duty. A break! And that guy denied my request for leave! That guy doesn't know the definition of rest!"

"Anna, this is an S-rank agent we are talking about here," Patrick warned me. "Like Lena said, have you talked to the Chief about this?"

"Not yet." I sat down on the floor while looking down at its shiny brown color. All I wanted was a break, and I was wondering if the Chief denied my request like the sadist did.

Argh! This is frustrating!

I heard footsteps approaching us, and their shadow stopped in my spot. "It seems like you're in a bind." I looked up and saw Kouga looking at me. It's been weeks since I last saw the guy.

"You looked haggard," he said, then turned to Patrick and Lena. "What happened to her?"

"The team assigned to her is always taking missions one after another and doesn't have a break," Patrick explained. "She requested a file for leave, but Mr. S-rank Ice Emperor denied her request."

"I see," he said, then looked at me. "Then, how about I borrow you for a while?"

"Eh? "I'm confused, old man.

*

The training ground is an open area where all the agents and cadets are doing their training. Today, the area is vacated due to the cadets taking class lessons inside their classrooms.

"Why are we here?" I asked Kouga.

"Ever since the incident at the gala a few weeks ago, Lord Albert has reported your unusual powers to His Majesty. He advised us to supervise you on how to manifest and control your powers properly."

Oh, that thing. I forgot.

That power is the reason why I ended up on that sadist's team. "And who's going to supervise me then? "

"Actually…"

"There you are, Anna! "Lord Lilitus happily waved at us. Beside him is a man I have never seen before. He has short, sleek hair, red eyes, is very tall, and he's wearing an outfit akin to a butler.

"Wait, Lord Lilitus is the one who will supervise me? "I asked Kouga.

Kouga shook his head.

"Then, this guy? "I pointed at the man beside Lord Lilitus. Kouga shook his head again.

We approached Lord Lilitus, who had a big smile on his face. "Thank you for coming, Anna. I think Kouga has explained to you why you are here."

"He told me that I needed to manifest and control my 'powers' properly, right?"

He nodded in response.

"I told this situation to His Majesty, and he suggested that we should train you on how to manifest and control your powers properly. But before that," he turned his head to the man beside him. "I want you to meet with someone here."

The man bowed at me. "Hernando Sanchez, Vampire General. It is a pleasure to meet you, Señorita."

"Nice to meet you, too." I greeted him back.

"Hernando is one of His Majesty's vampire generals. Following what happened at the gala in these previous weeks, he decided to send him as an additional bodyguard."

Yeah, but judging by the look on your smiling face, you can deal with the rebels yourself, mister. I looked at Hernando, who was smiling at me in response, with some sparkles in the background. I flinched back. He's too dazzling to see.

"That's not the reaction that I was expecting." Oh, I forgot Kouga was beside me. I blankly looked at him in the face.

"Tsk, seriously, Anna?" He sighed and then looked at his companion. "Stop doing that. It makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Come on, you're not getting used to me for 200 years, Kouga," Hernando teased. "When was the last time I saw a beautiful woman in front of me?"

"That was a hundred years ago, and no, you were hitting on a married woman and almost got killed because of that," Kouga retorted with a blank look on his face. "No wonder Verdi called you a shameless pervert." A pause. "And almost drowned by his vampire arts."

"Ouch, that hurts Kouga." Hernando flinched while clutching his chest, pretending he was hurt. Seriously, is this guy a pervert?" At least Florian healed me with his vampire arts afterward."

"But he gives you a warning that if you do that again, he will give you poison instead." But Hernando ignored Kouga, and instead, he dashed towards me.

When he said "Señorita," he held his hand and pressed it to his lips. I was flustered when he did that. "If you are available tonight, I'll take you out for a drink. Just the two of us."

I swear he looked at Kouga with a sly smirk on his face.

Which makes the man in question almost summon his katana while hiding his anger under his stoic face. Is this jealousy I feel? "Hernando, you son of a-"

"Ahem." Lord Lilitus interrupted them before a fight was ensured. Kouga laid his hand low, while Hernando let go of my hand. "We are not here to discuss all your courting shenanigans centuries ago because all of you got reprimanded by His Majesty in the end. We are here to train Anna on how to control her powers."

Thank you very much for going back to the topic. "About that?" I asked. "Who will be supervising me for this training?"

Lord Lilitus, as well as Hernando, looked at Kouga. Confused, I looked at Kouga as well.

"There you have it." Kouga finally spoke out. "He's been beside you the entire time."

"Ehhh!!!!???"

*

-Kouga-

"Try to relax and feel the flow of your aura inside you," I instructed Anna as she and I faced each other. Lord Albert and Hernando are on the sidelines, sitting on one of the benches as they observe us.

Anna took a deep breath while taking a stance. "Now try to breathe out and release the energy within you."

"Hahh! "Anna outstretched her hand and tried to manifest the power within her body.

But nothing happened.

Anna blinked once, then twice, as she realized she couldn't manifest her power. I sighed heavily while facepalming.

Lord Albert stood up and approached me. "Kouga, try to use your vampire arts to attack her."

"What? "I looked at him in confusion.

"It's just my speculation." He turned to Anna and asked, "Have you remembered anything before your power has been manifested?"

Anna only shook her head in response. "Aside from that, I almost died; I don't know what happened after that."

"Just as I thought."

"What do you mean?" I asked, still confused.

He pondered, speculating why Anna didn't emit her powers. "'A life-or-death situation makes the person realize his potential.' It was a saying, but I think we should try to attack Anna if that's the case."

"WHAT???" Anna exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock. I only laughed internally as I saw her reaction. That was cute. "If that old man attacks me, I'll be chopped liver!"

"Don't worry," Lord Albert reassures her. "He will be using basic vampire arts, so you will be able to survive with a little scratch."

"But what if I-"

"You're not going to die, Anna," I reassured her. Before she could react, I cut my index finger deeply via the long nails of my thumb, then waved my hand in the air as the droplets of blood coming from my index finger began to slowly transform into balls of flame as I waved my hand to direct the flames towards her.

Anna, as she realized that she had been attacked, she tried to block the attack by using her arms, but it was too late, as the flames engulfed her. We realized that she didn't scream in pain; instead, as the fire began to extinguish, a barrier in the form of a transparent rose protected her from the attack. She lowers her guard as the rose-like barrier begins to disappear.

"The hell, old man?!" Anna was storming towards me, very angry. "I was almost killed by that! Why did you attack me all of a sudden?"

"Apologies." I bowed to her as a sign of apology. "I should have given you a heads-up next time." Then I rose. "We just want to make sure that you still have your powers."

"It seems my theory was correct, after all," Lord Albert said as he looked at Anna with a serious look on his face. "Anna, your power only manifests when you are in danger. It serves you as a defensive mechanism, and it only activates when you are in a life-or-death situation. But since these powers were only manifested recently, you don't have control over them. Not to mention that these powers of yours are similar to vampire arts."

"Now that you mentioned it," Anna pondered to herself. "Pat and Lena told me weeks ago that I muttered 'Vampire Arts' when I manifested my powers."

"Anna." Lord Albert looked her in the eye. He was serious. "Vampire arts only manifest on vampires; although dhampirs also receive the same powers, their power depends on the strength of their vampire parents."

"Wait, we don't have any vampire relations in our clan! "Anna said. "From what I know about our clan's history, our progenitor, Lady Angelique Brown, married her knight and trusted friend after the war with the Caster of Rose."

Angelique Brown. The progenitor of the Brown Clan. The one who dealt the final blow to the Caster of Rose. Before his dying breath, he put a curse on her.

It didn't specify what kind of curse was inflicted on her, so we don't know what happened to her afterward. "Maybe it was the curse that was inflicted on her?" I blurted out of the blue.

"Possible." Lord Albert agreed with me. "Anna, my advice for you is to get some rest. I will talk with your chief to give you a day off this weekend."

This makes Anna's eyes beam with excitement. I swear, I could see sparkles in her eyes. "Really?!" She looked haggard because of the S-rank agent that she was assigned to.

Lord Albert nodded at her in response. "You look tired too. Agents also need to get some rest, as they need to gather up some strength for their upcoming battles."

"Wait, Lord Albert. Is that possible?" I asked him worriedly. "I heard that the S-rank agent that was assigned to her was very strict, and they never get a day off."

"Don't worry, Kouga." He put his index finger into his lips, telling me that this should be kept a secret. "I have my ways." He winked as he said those words.

Nobles sure have their ways, and it scares me a lot.