Apocalypse Villainess? Nah, I'm Nice

The car sped toward District Four. Along the way, Nadia filled her in on the current situation.

After the Dudley and Walsh Families were taken down, it took a great deal of effort to root out everyone involved. The situation had only stabilized quite recently.

But as a result, the city had become much more peaceful.

It had to be said, The Central Government really put in a massive effort this time.

But that was the extent of Nadia’s knowledge.

Paige Summers understood.

For a tech geek like her to know this much was already impressive.

This news was enough to put Paige Summers at ease.

The only person she couldn’t stop worrying about now was Marcus Monroe.

Although Norgate had been taken by the Central Army, Nora Lowell and those figures in black were still lurking in the shadows. They certainly wouldn’t give up so easily, and it was hard to say what they would do next.

Marcus Monroe going there at a time like this...

’He’s turned down the position of Jovitas’s next heir, so how many men could he have taken with him? What if he runs into Nora Lowell?’

All these thoughts made her deeply anxious.

Soon, the car arrived at their residence in District Four.

Paige Summers couldn’t help but smile when she saw Sweetie perched in the yard.

She took a few steps forward, wanting to wrap her arms around its neck, only to realize that even with her arms fully outstretched, she couldn’t reach!

But Sweetie recognized her. Although a flicker of what looked like surprise flashed in its eyes, it still let out a joyous cry and lowered its body, allowing her to embrace it.

Paige Summers sighed with emotion as she nuzzled its feathers. ’Humans are always deceived by what they see. But Mutant Animals always trust their sense of smell more.’

’Even though my appearance has changed, I’m still Paige Summers!’

Reluctantly letting go of Sweetie, she heard Nadia call out, ”Ivan! Look who’s here?!”

Paige Summers looked over. Levi Young was standing in the doorway, his eyes glimmering as he stared at her.

She blinked. ’He must have guessed,’ she thought. ’After all, I’m the only one Sweetie gets this close to.’

”Let’s go inside and talk!”

The moment she stepped inside, Levi Young swept her into a crushing hug.

Paige Summers was instantly flustered.

’My feet are a foot off the ground, you know?!’

’I never thought of Levi Young as being *this* tall before!’

”Hey... you’re going to break my back...”

Feeling the fabric on her shoulder grow damp, with no sign of stopping, Paige Summers had no choice but to speak up.

”Sorry...” Levi Young mumbled, setting her down on the sofa.

Paige Summers scowled.

’I might be smaller, but I haven’t regressed! What does he think he’s doing, carrying me around like this?!’ But when she looked up and saw Levi Young’s reddened eyes, she swallowed her complaints.

Nadia glanced from Levi Young to her, feeling that something was a little strange.

But she quickly rationalized it. ’Ivan sees Sister Paige as family, and he was absolutely miserable while she was missing. It’s only normal for him to be this emotional now that she’s suddenly back.’

But...

”Ivan, you actually recognized Sister Paige?”

Levi Young turned his head, wiped his face, and then nodded.

”What happened?”

Not wanting to repeat the story all over again, Paige Summers motioned for Nadia to explain everything, including her current physical condition.

Levi Young’s expression grew grimmer as he listened. Afterward, he took the blood test results from Nadia and examined them.

Finally, he said, ”Come with me. I need to draw some blood. I’m hoping I can extract this substance.”

Paige Summers nodded and followed him into the room.

”How is Ben?”

”He woke up a while ago, but he’s not here,” Levi Young said as he prepared his equipment. ”He suddenly ran off about two weeks ago. I couldn’t stop him, and he hasn’t come back.”

Paige Summers was taken aback.

He continued, ”Don’t worry, he successfully Promoted. Now, he looks almost human if you don’t look too closely. Plus, he was wearing a cloak when he left, so he probably wasn’t noticed.”

Paige Summers breathed a small sigh of relief.

’In that case, it probably wasn’t a huge problem.’

’He probably just wasn’t used to being cooped up inside and decided to go outside the city.’

Levi Young was quickly ready. He drew some blood and was about to go run the tests.

Paige Summers thought for a moment, then said, ”You should probably take some extra for backup. I need to leave the city for a while.”

Levi Young whipped his head around. ”To find Marcus Monroe?”

”Yes.” Paige Summers admitted frankly. ”I can’t rest easy until I see for myself that he’s all right.”

’Ever since Marcus Monroe’s outburst here last time, she’d had a vague feeling that Levi Young’s feelings for her weren’t just platonic. She didn’t know if it was actual love, or some kind of surrogate emotion mixing feelings for family and friends. But whatever it was, she didn’t want it to continue.’