Without further ado, Olivia went to the headquarters after asking Lucas to take care of the girls. The headquarters of the military base occupies a great span of land. Even at this time, military drills could be seen being implemented here and there. The mood of the whole place was that of solemnity as training was being carried out.

There were buildings spread out in each direction also, each with its functions, military personnel could be seen moving in and out of the buildings at various time intervals without pause. The one building which stood out the most would be the tallest of all the buildings in the headquarters, where military personnel storm out greatly from and also enter into. Reports from the war front were also being delivered to that building hence it was constipated at times but that didn’t stop movement, and where Olivia needed to appear happened to be at the top of that building where the commander-in-chief of all military personnel resides.

The head general was a wizened old man in the regeneration realm, with red short hair, and a wrinkled face, but with a sharp look plastered on his face at all times. He was in the same realm as the king and the joker and the commander’s name happens to be Rufus.

There were only eight recognized experts in the regeneration realm in the whole kingdom and two of the generals occupied those spots. Their meeting stood off for a very long time and since the room which they were in was isolated from the outside world such that not a single word could get out, nobody could know what was happening inside the room.

Olivia came out of the room a bit downtrodden. The discussions in the room started on a good note but down the line, shouts and quarrels couldn’t help coming in after which she was ordered to return to the war front in a month. Coincidentally, it happened to be the time that Sophia predicted that Andrew would be able to get out of bed.

She was queried for not returning to her station on time and having avoided the orders to return to the capital. Although it was normal for her to lose to the joker, that still didn’t stop the commander-in-chief from cautioning her. The report about the joker has also been forwarded to the king and anything he said would be followed down till later.

She wasn’t happy about the queries being meted out to her hence the little scruple and since the order to return to the battlefield came from the commander-in-chief, even though she was a general in the army, she couldn’t just brush it off as if it was nothing. There were rules guarding all military personnel after all and failure to abide by the laws would certainly lead to drastic measures being taken by the military and punishment being administered accordingly.

Although she had wanted to spend more time with her family, this much she was able to scrape from the hands of the commander should suffice for her for the main time.

By the time went back to the hospital and took the girls to her home, the day has already gotten perfectly bright with the sun smiling down on all the citizens of the kingdom.

Olivia’s house happens to be a huge mansion with some personal guards around whom guard the house and prevent any sort of danger from coming towards the old madam.

Although Olivia’s mum has insisted a couple of several times that she didn’t need all these guards, they were imposed on her without much of a choice on the matter with Olivia saying, “I can’t bear the thought of leaving you without some sort of protection while being on the battlefield. It would affect my focus as I won’t ever stop wondering if you are safe and away from harm’s way”.

And so she had to accept it all. Her mother although in her early seventies still emanated an aura that comes from women about the age of forty or fifty. If looked from behind, there was no way for someone to tell she was old from the way she carries herself. Her face was free from wrinkles, and although her husband has died a long time ago, that didn’t stop her from looking beautiful.

Most women wouldn’t want to look their age if possible and would love looking younger than it and she happens to be one of those women. She was past her menopause a long time ago but she seems to be at the age about that. From the way she looked, it was possible to notice that she was a lot like Olivia when she was younger. Olivia seems to be the perfect carbon copy of her. She had a little farm in the compound which she tended to at regular intervals and it just so happens that it was this time of the day that she was tending to her flowers, so she was already present on the farm with two guards in the strength realm. They might seem relaxed at this moment but they were sheathed swords that would spare no efforts to protect the old madam in front of them.

Olivia came in by this time leaving Sophia at the hospital, she wasn’t on her off days and the hospital tends to be her second home most times. She was also the only person whom Olivia trusted with Andrew.

“Mother”, Olivia's voice sounds shaking at this moment. When she was facing the joker, she had thought she would die and couldn’t help wondering how this mother of hers would fare when she got the news. Seems like the old madam receives a jolt as she turns around to the source of the voice.

On seeing the person from whom the words sounded out, her eyes become filled with love and signs of longing could be seen on her face which slowly fades away.

She has been alone in this huge house for a while, and although there were maids and some guards, it couldn’t compare to the feelings of one’s own family. She knew her daughters would eventually leave her house but she thought it would be to their husband’s houses and not being cramped up with work or being sent to the war front on a daily basis.

She was used to her daughter being sent to the wars just like her husband has been but a streak of tears couldn’t help escaping her eyes. Olivia this time around behaves like a husband who has just returned from the battlefield to meet her wife and walks in quick succession to meet her mother. Such a heart-touching moment for the mother and daughter pair.

After they were through with their hugs was when the old madam noticed the appearance of the two newcomers behind. She already knew about Eve who was nervous in her presence and unlike Sophia didn’t blame her at all for what has happened. After explaining that Eve just wanted to rest before going back to her home and who Marian was, she looks at them lovingly and beckons over to them.

After a while of strolling, they were shown to their rooms by some of the maids. The house was spacious after all, and a lot of rooms were also available for use. This was the first time that Marian was being treated this way and also being in such a huge mansion so she was amazed by all that was happening but after being shown to her room, that didn’t stop her from quickly falling asleep. After all, she was exhausted from the journey and worried about Andrew. Knowing he was okay now put her heart at ease, thus she quickly fell asleep with a sweet smile on her face. The same also happened with Eve who has been struggling to keep her eyes open all this while.

Seeing that the girls have gone to sleep, the mother and daughter pair finally had some privacy in which they talked and reminisce on some old times. They talked forgetting the passage of time such that it was until when it was getting darker and the maids came to report that the girls had woken up a while ago that they realized how long they have been chatting. They understood that the girls would be hungry by this moment hence they ordered meals to be prepared.

Varieties of meals were made available, which the girls and the madams of the house ate to their satisfaction. After which, Eve made her way towards her brother’s place. She had to leave anyways since her brother has been expecting her and delaying her coming would lead to unnecessary worries. She was already close to Marian, hence she assured her a lot of times that she would surely come around before bidding her goodbye.

That night though, Marian had wanted to go visit Andrew, but Olivia had to convince her otherwise. She didn’t relent at first but after a lot of persuasion and assurance from both Olivia and her mother was when she finally agreed.

Although she agreed, she was unable to sleep properly. And early the next morning, before the rays of sunlight started to penetrate through the clouds, she has already dressed up and gotten ready to go to the hospital. Olivia was already woken by then and performing normal daily warm-ups, hence on seeing Marian already dressed up, she couldn’t help smiling wryly.

Since a promise has been made, it had to be fulfilled, so she got ready and they drove down to the hospital.

On getting to the hospital, Andrew was still unconscious but that didn’t stop Marian from staying beside him all through. Just as promised, Eve came around and accompanied Marian in checking up on Andrew. Their bond grew deeper during this period and they usually chatted in very amiable terms like they were even sisters. They got to know more about each other and the jealousy that Eve felt from seeing both Marian and Andrew together gradually decreased to an ignorable standard. Although Marian didn’t want to go home and would have preferred staying with Andrew, she was driven home by both the hospital workers and Sophia. In such a fashion two days got through and today would make it the fourth day that Andrew was in a coma since being treated. Today, however, there was a movement in one of the arms of Andrew. Although nobody noticed it, the movement was still there.

The main protagonist of the story is about to wake up then, it has been so long after all.