Intermission

Alvelyn left the shower after she had finished applying body wash to my body, leaving me to my own solitude in rinsing off. As she walked towards the frosted glass door, I saw that the front fringes of her bangs were wet, along with large parts of the t-shirt that she was wearing. The few droplets of water clinging desperately onto her hair and threatening to fall at any moment was the perfect accessory to her already seductive figure, causing one to blush at the sight of her soaked figure.

From the other side of the frosted glass door that she shut behind her after exiting, I could see her blurred figure drying herself using her towel. Seeing that she has exited the washroom outside, I reached my left hand over to the control panel, ignoring the fact that water ran down the length of my arm and onto the built in screen in the wall as the device is completely waterproof, and shut the flow of water. With the water cut off, I slowly moved over to the frosted glass door in order to grab my towel from the washroom and dry myself off.

In the washroom, after drying my body and struggling somewhat with dressing into my comfortable indoor clothing, I walked over to the mirror, peering at the reflection of myself in the mirror. My bangs were still somewhat wet, clinging onto my forehead. As I stared at myself, I couldn't help but see the similarities in appearance in Alvelyn and I.

I exited the bathroom with my body still feeling warm from the hot shower as I walked over to the living room. The familiar and faint humming sound of the central air conditioning system was barely audible in the background, yet it was so relaxing to my ears that I actually sought it out and enjoyed it. On the large television screen, it seems that a special program is airing at the moment, and the topic of the program is that asylum that we had discovered on the mountains.

"How did this wretched place remain undetected?" the host of the program exclaimed and shook his head. "To think that even after the Era of Humiliation, Vilhemians were still being harassed by the Jorzans? Ten Vilhemians, nine high school students and their teacher, were forced to escape from a horrible Jorzan-created monster when they were hiding from the weather. From the evidence gathered by the special investigation team, these people were intentionally trapped on that other mountain by the monster. And to think that these ten people weren't the only victims..."

"It's unbelievable," the guest agreed. "But, what is reassuring is that the government is actively pestering the Jorzan government about the atrocities that they committed during the Great War on the global stage."

The program then showed a cut of what seemed to be a Nations Aligned conference, the international organization formed after the Great War with its members being the nations of the world. In this conference, the Vilheim representatives were yelling at the Jorzan representatives, presenting pictures of the interior of the Asylum as proof as they berated the Jorzans for their unwillingness to admit to their atrocities.

"What we see here is the absolute lowest of humanity," the Vilheim representatives said in a fierce and angered tone. "The Jorzans refuse to recognize the legitimacy of their war crimes during the Great War, unwilling to admit that they are wrong and apologize for all the suffering that they had caused. I would also like to add that Arimisia, as the sole superpower during the Great War and the leader of the Alliance, is also at fault. If not for them pardoning the Jorzans for their war crimes, we will not be having this conversation."

I casually looked on in approval, feeling a sense of justification and pride at the sight of my nation's representative berating and scolding the representatives of the other nations at fault in this whole incident. It is particularly amusing to watch the bitter and sour face of the Jorzan and Arimisia representatives as they tried to contain and oppress their emotions. Everyone in the building knows that the fault is on the Jorzan side, and since Arimisia is the "protector" nation for the post-war Jorzan, Arimisia is also partially to blame. Yet, since Arimisia is the top military and economic power in this world, with the only nation that could potentially challenge its role in the global order being Vilheim, many nations had opted to stay quiet, choosing to remain on the side that they had chosen for themselves after the Great War had ended. Yet, recently a rift is slowly developing between them.

The sound of sizzling from the kitchen attracted my attention, causing me to look over. In the kitchen, Loriana was standing before the stove with an apron on, watching something in a pan as she held a spatula in one hand. Curious as to what she was making, I walked over to the kitchen and peered over her shoulder at the content in the pan, which was a hearty steak. In the pot situated next to the pan, she was brewing up a sauce on a small simmer.

"This has lots of protein and calories," she said as she looked over at me with a calm expression on her face. "It'll help your body heal."

At that moment, I heard the sound of a door closing, and looking in the direction of the hallway, Alvelyn appeared. She seemed to have changed out of the clothes that had gotten wet from earlier, ditching her white t-shirt for a beige-yellow one and a pair of slim, grey sweatpants. She walked over to the living room, staring at the television, probably taking in what is being aired on television, before she also walked over to the kitchen.

"Go sit down," she said to me.

Being commanded by yourself to do something was...rather weird, but I still complied nonetheless. I recognize that her intentions meant well, so I really didn't mind. In fact, I am still a bit tired. My body still feels sore, and parts of it ached. Therefore, without any complaints, I walked over to the living room couch and sat down, leaning my back against the cushioned backrest. However, I am unable to fully relax. What is annoying is the fact that I must not let my chest move that much, meaning that I must keep my back rather rigid to avoid causing more stress to my healing ribs.

As I slowly moved my back, allowing it to sink further into the cushion, I let out a long sigh of comfort as I was finally able to relax my tensed muscles. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and awakened the screen for the first time since what felt like an eternity ago. On the screen, there were plenty of notifications from both individual private messages and messages in the group chat. The individual messages were mostly ones asking if I am alright and such, and in the group chat, the messages were to coordinate a visit. From the looks of it, everyone will be here later in the day to check up on me.

I allowed my arm to fall onto the couch, loosening my grip on my phone and allowed it to fall out of my hands and onto the couch.

It's not that I don't want them to visit me. It's just that it will be a bit...tough on my body at the moment? Like I don't think I can handle having to entertain guests while they are here. My body isn't ready for this, but...I guess it's something that is inevitable. If I were to turn them down, the only thing it will do is harm their feelings. So...I'll have to endure it.

With the desire to improve my mood, I grabbed my phone and opened the app for the television remote control. I surfed through the different channels available, hoping to find something entertaining for me to watch. I flipped through news shows, variety shows, and some television series. Those didn't interest me much, but the sports channel did. I had totally forgotten that my favorite team in the Vilheim Basketball Association, the Palisia Lightnings, were currently playing the Saroff Conquerors. The game had just entered the second half and the scores were rather close, with the Lightnings down by eight. There are still plenty of basketball to be played, so I chose to watch the game, allowing my emotions of support and passion to flare up as I watched the close contest.

Not too long after the third quarter had finished was when I heard the sound of the doorbell ringing.