Which Country?

This sudden silence made Jean to stare at Casper with a confused look.

He was wondering why it was taking him long to answer such a simple question. But he could tell that the complicated look on Casper's face was hinting to something.

'Maybe he doesn't like to talk about his family.'

Jean thought to himself as he averted Casper's gaze.

"I will be honest with you, Jean. I don't have a family."

Casper said with bitterness evident in his voice.

This answer came as a surprise to Jean. So, he didn't believe him right away.

"What do you mean you don't have a family?"

Jean asked with a complicated look.

Just at that moment, Casper sighed and leaned towards Jean. This act from Casper made Jean increase his concentration as he sensed that what Casper was about to say carried a lot of weight.

"Those were my family, but right now as I am talking to you, none of them is alive"

Casper stated with teary eyes while gazing at the portraits on the wall in front of him.

The moment Jean noticed this Casper's expression, he felt sorry for asking the question. At the same moment, Casper's expression reminded him the feeling he had when he heard the news about the death of his father from Natalie some years back. Although he had not had a chance to meet him in real life, he was still hurt by the news.

"I am sorry for your loss"

Jean said as the lips of his mouth curled upwards revealing a smirk.

"It is fine"

Casper said as he smiled wryly. After lingering for a few moments, he rubbed his face and immediately got to his feet.

"I had prepared something for the both of us. If you would excuse me, let me bring it so that I can serve you."

Casper said with a grin as he eyed Jean.

Jean on the other side nodded his head and let out a reassuring smile.

As soon as the two exchanged glances, Casper walked out of the living room and got out of the house through the rear door. Jean gazed at the disappearing figure of Casper with delight.

During this moment, Jean was famished and the act of Casper going to bring some food for them, relieved him.

'Finally, at least he understood my situation.'

Jean mused as he heaved a sigh.

Some minutes later, the table was set and the two sat next to each other as they gazed at the sumptuous foods set before them with anticipation.

The fact that Jean didn't notice any new or strange food among the foods set before him, made him to have a rethought about the possibilities of him being in a different country.

The moment this thought ignited in his mind, Jean didn't waste even a single second and immediately turned in his seat and faced Casper with a mischievous smile. This was the moment he decided to ask his most disturbing question.

"If I may ask, which country is this?"

The moment Casper heard this question, he gasped but immediately regained his composure before turning in Jean's direction. He then let out a wry smile.

"Oh! Do you want to tell me that you don't know the country you are in? or does that mean that you are not from this country?"

Casper asked a couple of questions in succession as he looked Jean straight in the eyes.

This resulted into Jean averting his gaze by pretending to stare at the portraits on the wall before him. He knew Casper was trying to read his body language in order for him to detect if Jean would lie to him. And since he was undecided if he was to lie or not, he decided to avoid his stare in case the appropriate answer that he was to give was to base on lies.

After brainstorming on the appropriate answer, Jean decided not to lie this time around. He needed help, and the only way he could get it, it was if he would come out clean and say things the way they were. He recounted on having lost a chance to inform his mom about his kidnap incident by not going straight to the point. Now that another chance seemed to be right before him, he didn't want to ruin it.

With a snort, Jean shifted his gaze towards Casper. He wasn't going to lie, so, he wasn't wary of Casper's gaze.

"I don't know the country I am in, and I think that answers both of your questions."

Jean said with a smug.

Suddenly, tense silence settled between the two. This awkward situation made Jean raise some questions about his answer.

'Did I answer his wrongly, or perhaps I sounded somewhat rude…'

As he was still contemplating on the matter, Casper's expression turned serious as he stared at Jean with a somewhat dazed expression.

"I didn't expect that though, but just to answer your previous question, we are currently in Milen…."

Pausing for a moment…

Jean was about to nag when Casper continued,

"…located on the Western region of Ferro"

As soon as Jean heard this, he immediately confirmed his fears.

'So, it is true that I am out of Lent? This is going to be worse than I expected…'

Suddenly, Jean felt a pang of headache as the eerie truth dawned on him. He then turned at Casper and let out a stiff smile.

"Did you just say that we are in Ferro?"

Jean asked with a confused look.

In response, Casper nodded with a smirk.

"Huh! Thanks for that. I am from Lent"

Jean said with a serious face.

"Now I understand why you acted restless and insecure the moment you woke up. You must have gone through a lot before they got you here. The only positive thing is that Lent borders Ferro to the East."

Casper explained enthusiastically

During this moment, Jean concentrated on every word that came out of his mouth. He didn't want to miss anything.

When Casper was done with his explanation, Jean opened his mouth to ask something, but suddenly paused midway as his stomach rumbled. Feeling embarrassed, Jean struggled to maintain eye contact with Casper.

When Casper heard this, he snorted and immediately motioned Jean to go ahead and satiate his hunger.

The two then exchanged glances for a few moments before wolfing the food before them with gusto.

During this moment, none of them dared to utter even a single word. A clear indication that both of them were truly hungry.

A few minutes later, the two were done stuffing themselves and were now staring at each other lazily.

It was weird that Jean took the supper in his bloody attires. He didn't feel how awkward the act was until he was done satiating his hunger. Casper on the other hand seemed unconcerned by this weird situation which made Jean a little bit embarrassed.

Perhaps the fabric that was covering the bloody clothes was what veiled the awful condition of the bloodied clothes he was wearing.

As usual back at home, after eating, Jean could have cleared the table and washed the dishes, but since he was not feeling well and at the same time, he was in a foreign environment, he allowed Casper to perform the chores.

"Please bring me a glass of water when you are done"

Jean shouted from the living area as he gazed at Casper who was cleaning the dishes on the table next to the exit door.

When Casper was done with cleaning the dishes from the table next to the exit door, he returned with a glass of water, placed it on the table before Jean and sat on a seat next to Jean.

This was the water that Jean had requested for a while ago after their meal. When Casper placed the glass of water before Jean, he didn't drink it right away, instead he just eyed it calmly. In understanding, Casper didn't force him to drink the water and just gazed at him with a smile.

By this time, Jean had no doubt in what Casper had told him about his family initially. He had not seen any extra person in the house apart from the two of them. Where could he obtain a reason of raising a doubt about Casper's explanation about his family?

However, this whole situation seemed awkward to Jean himself.

'A person residing inside a forest alone? How weird!'

Jean pondered.

But just as he was still contemplating on the matter, Casper resounded, thus snapping him out of his reverie.

"Now, I would like to know you more. First you have to tell me how you got yourself at the edge of the forest"

With that, Casper's ears perked up, ready to hear what Jean was about to say.

After short moment of silence, Jean glanced at Casper and blinked for a couple of times.

"I knew you would like to know about this, and since you saved me regardless of my identity, I would be honest with you."

With that, tense silence settled between the duo.

A few seconds later, Jean's voice echoed in the room, thus breaking the silence.

"I was kidnapped and when I tried to escape from them, is when I ended up at the edge of the forest."

"Oh, I see. It must have been the kidnappers that injured you this way, isn't it?"

Casper asked out of curiosity.

Jean was about to refute, but when he imagined how Casper would react to the real situation, especially the part of him jumping off the plane, he chose to agree with him.

He was wary of Casper refusing to shelter him if he would have known the financial capabilities of his kidnappers.

'He might chase me away for the fear of his security.'

Jean thought to himself.

He knew if he agreed to Casper's speculations, he would at least be sure of Casper accommodating him. If Casper keeps him around, he would be risking his life, too. This is because, if the kidnappers manage to trace him and, in the process, find him with Casper, the two of them would fall victims.

But since he didn't have any better option at hand, considering his awful condition, he chose the answer that would convince Casper to accommodate him.

"Yes, these injuries were as a result of my struggle with them. But fortunately, I managed to escape before they could get me to their destination"

Jean said as he faked a smile.

This was the second time that he was playing fake to salvage his situation. The first time he played fake, was when he pretended to mistake the kidnappers to good Samaritans. The idea ended up working for him.

'Perhaps this would work for me, too.'

Jean mused.

"If you can tell me, how did you manage to escape from them?"

Casper asked out of curiosity.

Immediately Jean heard this, he was puzzled.

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