"Recommended," Everlearn called out curtly.

"Recommended..." Lady Erendel mused with brows creased in confusion before a glint crossed through her eyes as she jerked toward him, grabbing his face and turning it to her widened eyes.

"Wait, you got recommended!?"

"Is touching enough to file for a sexual assault?"

"Then that means... you're an X Guardian!?" she asked, her hold on Everlearn's jaw tightening, and he felt like it would shatter at any moment.

"Let... me go!" he forced out, as she finally released his jaw.

"I can't believe it. You're an X Guardian."

"But wait, who recommended?" she asked when she paused, and Everlearn noticed her eyes widen to saucers.

"Don't tell me... don't tell me you got recommended by Boss Ash!?" she screamed in disbelief, and Everlearn's eyes creased.

"I'm pretty sure those things are information you don't want to get yourself entangled in..." he said, only to watch her fold the cloth of her pajamas by the neck, revealing the tattoo.

"You're an X Guardian too?"

Everlearn mused in surprise.

That symbol was the same one that had been marked on his neck, and even on Principal Onelore's.

Who would have thought the annoying lady would also be an X Guardian like him?

No wonder Boss Ash had specifically asked for him to meet with her.

"But no way. Ash has never used her recommendation authority before. Not even once."

"There's no way she used it on an ordinary D-grade human like you," she mused with suspicion, and Everlearn scoffed in annoyance and faint mockery.

"Jokes on you, though. She did," he said before turning away with a huff.

But he didn't even get the chance to close his eyes when his face got grabbed once more and turned to her crimson eyes.

"What's your relationship with Boss Ash?"

He wanted to jerk his face off her hand, but then, noticing her serious expression, a wicked idea bloomed in his head, and he replied,

"Can't disclose."

"Why?"

"Because it's a personal relationship."

He replied, though bearing a serious expression, was grinning mockingly inside, looking at her twisted, almost betrayed expression.

But that betrayed expression faded when she saw the crack of a smile in his serious expression.

"You cheat! You're fucking around with me again!" she said, grabbing his neck and pinning him to the bed

"What are... you... ACCCK!" Everlearn screamed when he felt the death hold on his neck.

"I haven't forgiven you yet for manipulating me back there, you cheat! Try it once more, and I'll get rid of you."

"Trust me, all I'll be getting as punishment for that is a pat on the back of my hand."

"Got it!?"

"YEEECK!"

He forced out as she finally let go of his throat, and he got into a coughing fit.

"Hmph!"

She hmphed in annoyance, rolling off of him just as Everlearn forced down his cough.

"That's it! I'm getting out of here!" he shouted, crawling off the bed, but he had not even risen on both feet when his shoulders were grabbed, and he was yanked back.

"You leave when I want you to, you cheat!"

She said, gripping his hands and legs with hers and forcing him to remain on the bed.

"What is with you!?" Everlearn shouted in disbelief, struggling to free himself, but it felt as if a mountain had been wrapped around him, leaving him unable to move an inch.

"I asked a question. What's your relationship with Boss Ash?"

"I told you already. It's personal!" he called out, but all he got as a reply was her fingers trailing for his chest and heading for his neck.

"You really want to know how hard I can squeeze, huh?" she asked him, grinning evilly, and his spine chilled.

"Fine. It's business. A business-type relationship," he answered as her tightening fingers paused on his neck.

"And?"

"We had a deal. And me being here is a part of that deal."

"What is the clause?" she asked.

"I can't tell you that," Everlearn said this time seriously.

"It's a secret only between me and her. I can't tell another soul, neither can she."

"That was part of the deal," he answered, and she hummed suspiciously, studying his expression to see if he was faking it again.

"You got your answer. Can you free me now?" he asked, and she finally released her grasp on his arms and legs.

CRACK

The sound of creaking bones echoed as Everlearn felt his leg bone begin to crack under the pressure.

"Tch, monster," he called out, but then noticed her looking at his chest.

It made him also turn down, and that was when he noticed that a part of the bandage wrapped around his chest had been bloodied.

"What?"

"There's an unhealed scar on your heart area. Any intense physical exertion and your blood will flow out," she said as Everlearn hummed.

Touching his chest, he felt stinging pain that almost made his eyes roll back.

That wasn't normal.

"Tell me, how did the surgery go? What part exactly went wrong?" Everlearn asked this time seriously.

"Everything went wrong," she said, turning upright, and in the next moment, her glass was brought out of her pajamas as she tapped the side of it, bringing out a holographic footage that played above them both.

It was the footage of the operation.

"Your heart was the biggest problem."

"It refused all communication with the core even after the initial genetic remodulation that you did to the core," she said, and Everlearn could truly see it, the error beep being made from the fusion compatibility test.

"To make it stop rejecting, I had to weaken it, which included getting rid of about half your heart cells, making it twice weaker.

"Only then did it allow for the core to stay, and even after the core entered, some parts of your cells, mainly those in the torso, refused to accept the core's energy."

"I had to drain out most of the blood and artificially awaken the Core, then further bind them to the heart, just to create more core cells and refill it with your lost cells."

"In short, what went wrong is that: You lost half the cells in your heart and half your body's original blood concentration!" Lady Erendel explained, continuing with a muse,

"It was the first time I witnessed such a forceful rejection of a core from a human body."

"Almost made me wonder if I was even fusing a core with a human or... something else."

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