The Night Rose

Chapter 15

"Y..yo...you are saying that she is that Arwin? She wrote this all? A...and I just made an identification card for a male when it should have been made for a female?" Silas finally muttered out as he sat down on the nearest chair, concerned, “Are you trying to curse me for what I did earlier? Are you kidding me right now?”

Silas looked at the doctor to confirm this. The doctor looked away as he chuckled nervously, “Ah, yes, she’s a woman.”

"Yes, that is what I'm saying. Who asked you to rush things without even meeting the person first? This is entirely your fault, Silas." Timothy said out while looking at Silas, almost mockingly. He was really having fun seeing his boss like that. It felt like the perfect payback for what happened earlier; Timothy can’t help but grin.

"You know, Timothy, this small card costs fifty gold coins now. It cannot be undone when it's done once. So, if you don't want to pay the new one from your own salary, and this one top of it, you better say what we are going to do now to solve this?" Silas said, and suddenly he got Timothy full attention.

Timothy wasn’t having fun anymore.

"Hey, hey now, what do you mean by that? From my salary? What do you mean from my salary when it was your fault and not mine?" Timothy said, while looking seriously at his boss.

"It was partly your fault! You could have written on the test papers her gender and not the name and age only. That’s right; this is also your fault, so why couldn't I take this out from your salary then?" Silas tried to reason out with Timothy convincing himself along the way that he’s right.

Timothy has to think fast, so he suddenly had an idea, and he remarked, “But she looks like male somewhat, doesn't she?”

Silas and the doctor examines Arwin closer, and Silas said, “Okay, I’m listening.”

“So I was thinking… can she just pretend to be male?" Timothy asked seriously from Silas. "That's still fifty gold coins, you know. I don't want to be poor."

"There is one thing you are forgetting here, and it's that they will require her picture on the card and then seal it with blood to make it official and branded to her and hers alone," Silas said while looking at Timothy.

Timothy grins as he remembered he used to do this all the time before- he was, after all, a boy from the streets; he knew his way around. That means all the black market and illegal or loopholes.

"You also forget something. We can only make it a temporary card that has to be renewed after a year or so. Let's say Arwin died and then get half of the money back then make a new one for her who would be dressed differently and would have long hair," Timothy said, “What do you think?”

Silas smiled and realized this fact as well, "Yes, we will only make it temporarily. She still needs to go outside, and it's classified dangerous, so I can pull out that as a reason. After all, I want to see her skills first and can she survive there before granting her the full ledged citizenship. Thanks, Timothy, I will go and do that now." Silas said and disappeared as quickly as he barged inside without second thoughts.

Silas was assured that Timothy Will resolve whatever else conflict will arise. Well, it’s his salary on the line, and if Silas knows something about Timothy, it’s that money is Timothy’s driving force.

And Silas knows pretty damn well how to deal with him in terms of money.

Timothy just rubbed his head and was thinking, 'What will Arwin think about this? We suddenly decided her fate and way to live for a few months or a year. Will she still want to work with us? Will she be displeased and lash out, and she does have the right to lash out for us.’

Timothy kept asking himself while he was walking back to his house. He was still clearly in deep thought when he suddenly heard a shout.

"Timothy, where are you going? You walked past me and your house without saying even a hello?

Am I so easily forgotten that you don't have to say hello to your own wife anymore? Very well, you can just ignore her hmph." A woman in her thirties said while pouting out to Timothy

She had braided red hair, and she was a little bit on the plump side, but that made her more cute and beautiful without destroying her image at all. Timothy immediately looked back as he heard the familiar ranting. He smiled.

"Rosa, my sweet wife, I wouldn't forget you even if I would have to- especially your rants. I was just too much in my thoughts that I didn't realize I already passed the house. Let's go inside, and I will share what Silas managed to do today." Timothy said while trying to calm her wife's wrath down, “Silas just somehow managed to make my job worse.”

"Hmph, a hug and kiss first! Otherwise, you better find some other place to sleep for tonight. Hmph." Rosa was still pouting out, trying to get as much attention as she could.

Timothy knew that she was serious and obediently gave her a hug and kissed her lips, and after that, he said, "Rosa, my sweet flower, have you gotten tired of your husband already? Are you really going to kick him outside to the cold world and sleep under the stars? Could you even sleep without me?" While he started to trace Rosa's left thigh with his right hand.

Rosa, who blushed immediately, the corner of her mouth was twitching as she fought the urge to smile. She cleared her throat and said, "Come inside now. What are you waiting for?"

She was still trying to hide her embarrassment, and hurriedly locked the door behind her.

"You know I said no naughty things outside hmph. What if someone would have seen?" Rosa said as she hit Timothy's chest with her small hands playfully.

Timothy suddenly hissed out from the pain; he was trying to hide his injuries from his wife because he didn’t want her to worry, but nevertheless, Rosa noticed this and worriedly asked. "My darling, is everything alright? Where does it hurt? What did you do this time? Do you have any injuries?"

There were never-ending questions from her and Timothy, who finally got a chance to say. Rosa reminded Timothy of Silas; he chuckled softly as he holds his wife’s hand, “"I'm alright, just small bruises. Let me sit down first, and I will explain to you what has happened today."

Rosa nodded but was still worried; she wanted to make sure that her husband was alright, so she supported him to the chair and carefully placed him to sit down before getting a glass of water and something to eat for him.

Timothy smiled gently, seeing his wife so concerned and worried about him; it’s been a while since he had someone to care about him truly.

Rosa had such concerned eyes as she said, “I’m pretty sure it had something to do with Silas again, but I’ll listen.”

Just after saying that, she had placed the fruits and some bread on the table, then she also sat down to listen to Timothy. She tends Timothy’s scars and bruises, but it’s already been tended to, which made her sigh out of relief.