A good wife and an evil mother-in-law

The next morning, Ellin woke up with the sun. His night's sleep wasn't deep after all that time he slept yesterday, so it wasn't even surprising. With a yawn, he got out of his sleeping bag and looked around. Last night, he made his bed on the floor in the living room, opposite of Victor's couch, while Xia took Eve's sleeping bag and went to sleep in the bedroom.

On the couch, Victor stirred. In the next moment, his dark eyes caught Ellin's, and the latter felt nervous sweat gathering on his brow. "Sorry, Mister Kraust," he said in a low voice, "I didn't mean to wake you!"

Victor didn't reply. Instead, he silently sat up on the coach and began to clear up his bed. Ellin decided it was his best opportunity to escape this man's oppressing presence. Not only was he their host, one who graciously gave up his bed for a wounded woman and suffered on the coach that was too short for his long legs—he was simply too scary to offend.

After freshening, Ellin dived into his usual routine of making sure that he and his companions were well-fed and clean. Since right now they were all guests, that meant that Ellin needed to interact with their host. The thought made Ellin gulp before he gathered his bravery together and went to look for him.

Ellin found Victor in the kitchen, busy with pots, pans and jars. He hurried to offer his help. "Mister Kraust, you are already being generous by providing us with food. Please, let me cook. I am a superb chef, believe it! My survivor's cuisine would satisfy even the most picky taste buds."

Victor looked Ellin up and down, but nodded. "Alright. Make fried rice. Here's rice," he pointed out, "eggs, canned peas, canned corn, soy sauce, frying oil, frying pan, utensils."

"You even have eggs? You here really live like a king!" Ellin's eyes gleamed with appreciation as he looked over the places Victor pointed out. "Alright, I will make the best fried rice there is!"

Ellin got down to business with enthusiasm, momentarily forgetting about the human presence over his shoulder. In the end, it didn't matter regardless—the person in question would not let Ellin forget about himself, no matter what his wishes were.

"Don't open the cans from the bottom."

"Wash rice seven times."

"For this amount of rice, use three spoonfuls of frying oil."

"Add another egg."

"Stir from the edges to the middle, and counter-clockwise."

Finally, Ellin couldn't bear it any longer. He was almost tear-stricken from all the abuse; this brought to his mind all the worst employers he worked under in the past, times ten. "Mister Kraust, why does it matter how I stir it? It's going to taste good, anyway!"

Victor stood with his hands crossed on his chest. As usual, a frown was etched on his face. "It doesn't matter. Go on as you wanted to."

Ellin blinked and brushed his hair with a palm. He felt like a person who punched a brick wall out of frustration, only to find out it was just a piece of painted cardboard. "Alright…"

Then Xia came in. Contrary to Ellin, she still wore yesterday's clothes, dirty with dust and splotches of blood, but that didn't dim her youthful smile even a little. "Good morning, Lin-Lin, Mister Kraust! Do you need any help?"

Victor grunted in acknowledgment; Ellin grinned back and shook his head. "Good morning, Xia! Nah, it's almost ready. Hey, did Eve woke up? How is she now?"

"I've changed Sister's bandages again, and her wound is much better after a rest in a proper bed. I worried about a bullet, but she told me it had already dissolved. It was such a relief—I never knew this is even possible! But she went back to sleep afterwards."

Ellin raised his eyes to the ceiling. "Ah, that Eve does… I guess now that she is on bed rest, she is going to live her dream and sleep twenty-four hours a day…"

Xia covered her half-opened mouth with a palm. "That's too much! It's basically a coma then!"

"Well," Ellin paused and glanced at Victor, "her superpower only works when she is asleep, as I get it. Alright, the breakfast is ready!"

Everybody got a bowl of fragrant fried rice (survivor's edition). To Ellin's quiet relief, Victor made no indications that he disliked it. As soon as everyone put their bowls away, Ellin volunteered to wash the dishes. When he went to the kitchen and Victor followed behind his shoulder like a shadow of death, he had an ominous precognition. It turned out to be completely right.

"Rojek, start with the small dishes."

"Wash from the other side too."

"Dry everything before putting it away."

"Mister Kraust, please, stop! I'm already doing it like you said, see?" Ellin pleaded, raising a sparkling-clean dish in demonstration.

Victor pursed his lips, and Ellin immediately regretted his rash words. 'Ah, I should've just bore with it… Words can't hurt me, but Mister Kraust definitely can!' It felt as if temperature in the room instantly dropped by ten degrees—even a hit of the threat from Victor was enough to make Ellin's brow cover in nervous sweat.

But instead of acting out with violence, Victor only said, "Then keep doing it."

Ellin didn't dare to say anything else. With his water power, he quickly dealt with all the dirty dishes and moved on to the next thing to do—laundry. The fights and escapes and, most importantly, Eve's wound, left their clothes torn and dirty. To add to that, Xia didn't have an opportunity to gather her own things before their escape, so she didn't even have any spares. In the end, she borrowed a set from Eve. After Xia folded her sleeves and pants, it even fit.

After Ellin gathered all the dirty clothes, he went outside to wash them. The weather today was better than yesterday. The ominous clouds partially dispersed, leaving way for rays of sun to fall down. Even the eternal stuffy heat was diminished by a light breeze. Victor's bear wasn't anywhere around, but birds' cheerful chirping spread across the forest. With all this, Ellin's spirits lifted immediately.

Nearby, Xia smiled at him, and he smiled back. "Lin-Lin, need any help here?" she asked.

Ellin shook his head. "You don't need to bother. Just sit and watch!"

Then a bone-chilling presence from behind his shoulder made Ellin's smile dim. Victor didn't say a word yet, but Ellin already knew how it was going to end. No matter how good his house-keeping skills were, or how useful his water power was in washing and cleaning… Victor kept bossing Ellin around with unreasonable orders, anyway. Whenever Ellin protested, he would back off for a moment—but his look at the moment would be so cold, that Ellin wouldn't dare to say a word against him again for a long while. Even Xia only watched from the side with sympathetic eyes.

After the laundry, Ellin wanted to escape, but Victor ordered him to wash the floors. Ellin ended up scrubbing them twice before he was finally let go. On the wings of freedom, Ellin went to visit Eve, accompanied by Xia.

Eve was lying on the bed with the blanket covering her up to her neck. Her hands were locked on her stomach and her eyes were closed. With her pale skin, the only thing that made her look different from a corpse was the slow raise and fall of her chest.

"Eve? Eve, are you asleep?" Ellin said in a whisper.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then Eve opened her eyes and raised her brows at him. "Is it lunchtime already?"

Ellin paled. He forgot with all the work earlier, but the sun was high in the sky and his stomach was growling—it really was. He looked at Eve with glistening eyes. "Sorry, Eve! I forgot about it with all the work Mister Kraust made me do! He is the worst boss ever, I swear! He keeps ordering me around. It doesn't matter what I do, he will order even things that I already doing. It's so, so… unjust! I'm afraid to even cook, because he is going to do it again!"

"It was like Lin-Lin is a virtuous wife, and Mister Kraust is an evil mother-in-law. Sister, you are the only one whom he addressed with respect—maybe you can talk reason with him?" Xia bit her lip. "Even if he is a mysterious expert and our host, that doesn't mean he can be that tyrannical!"

Eve looked at them with nonplussed eyes. 'Why do I feel like I look not at one, but at two virtuous wives…'