主妇丈夫倡导的户外生活

When Harker woke up, he recognized the room he was in. He was in Mina's apartment.

He knew who Mina was. He knew Joan was. They were both by his side, looking in surprise and speaking at the same time that it was unintelligible. Either way, they were surprised and happy that he was awake.

Harker had his memories, and all the other memories he was meant to carry. He could recall Victoria's memories much more now, though in respect to her and everyone else, he refuses to 'peek' into them unless necessary. Everything was in its proper place…..

Except he felt like he was forgetting something again.

When he went into his 'temporary rest', his sleep was similar to death or at least being in the Limbo, the in-between….

He felt like he had encountered something very important, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall what it was. He just felt that his chest was warm, as if someone was embracing him tightly.

Maybe it was one of the girls. For now, he needed to calm them down and learn what happened during his sleep.

"Alright, one at a time, one at a time." He chuckled. "How long have I been out?"

Mina was crying pearly tears again. "How can you expect us to be calm!? You've been gone for three whole months! Even your father was worried, and we had to lie that you were at a hospital recovering from a highly infectious disease."

"Three months? That…. That felt shorter than I expected." Harker thought. 

For some reason, he thought he should have been sleeping for 9 months. 

"How was my family, then?" He asked them. "How were you two? I mean, I wasn't able to check up on you after I….. stopped An Xin's ritual."

For some reason too, he regretted killing off all of them so easily. It wasn't the murder, no. He had no regrets or remorse towards them.

Harker knew that having remorse towards monsters who chose to be "monsters" until the very end would be pointless. Those who chose to be evil beyond redemption. It would be unfair to the ones who had to suffer from them.

What he does regret is that he will never be able to get their memories, their stories, their….. well, their souls. He had destroyed them and from what the girls told him, they completely vanished and there was nothing left. He either scattered them down to atoms or erased their existence entirely, if that was even possible. 

"We're alright, but Roland…. Well, he was in the same boat as you until recently." Joan said. "It's only been a week since he woke up, but man, his tenacity is something else. Went straight to the court as he woke up just so he can appeal to take on the case again for a retrial—"

"Wait, wait, wait. Roland was what now? What do you mean 'on the same boat'?" Harker's face was full of confusion.

Joan explained the phenomena to Harker. How both of them had collapsed at almost the same time, and that their bodies were stuck in both high and low temperatures all at once. They really couldn't get them to a doctor because there would be questions, but they couldn't hide it from Mr. Faust for too long before he inquires on what happened to his son.

"Mr. Faust had that very old doctor treat him and try to cure his condition by himself. He knows what might happen to his son if people knew, and he said he was 'done with making his boy suffer from endless tests and apathetic researchers'." Mina explained.

"Oh, you mean Dr. Rothstein?" Harker asked.

Mina nodded. "Yes, but he's not alone. Dr. Evan Sorniere also proposed to help, since he does have some background in medicine and healthcare despite being a geologist."

Joan scoffed. "Though honestly, Adam Fiero is much better in that regard and the only reason why that quack kept his job under the Fausts."

It turned out that these two were now employed after all of Victoria's crew were released. Alejandro had claimed to Mr. Faust that Harker and Roland had ended up stumbling upon a mad scientist project that would ruin the Earth. They went to the Arctic, lost their consciousness and ended up in that condition while trying to stop them.

It was a far-fetched tale, but what mattered was that Mr. Faust bought it. 

He agreed to have the scientists and bodyguards be set scot-free, in exchange of a non-disclosure agreement that will make sure that they don't reveal anything that happened in the Arctic or pursue this 'world-destroying project' any further. Mr. Faust made it clear that his people will be keeping watch of them for the rest of their lives if they tattle or attempt this again.

"I only realized now how really powerful the Faust is. Even my father was nothing compared to them." Joan thought. "And unlike my father, Mr. Faust does seem to care a great deal about Roland. Not just as an heir…. He just looked genuinely concerned about him."

"Yeah…" Harker remembered his own father, and knew that he must be worried sick about him. "I should get back to Dad and the kids as soon as possible."

Mina furrowed her brows. "Are you sure? Nothing hurts anywhere?"

Harker shook his head. "Nothing, though I did have a bit of a headache when I woke up. I'm fine now, you guys….."

He spread his arms. "I'm sorry. I made you both wait for three months, I'm such a bad boyfriend."

They quickly went in for that group hug, clinging tightly to him. Harker chuckled, feeling warm and fuzzy again for being around his most beloved women in the world. 

Joan chided him. "You better spoil us a lot after this, Jones. I'm talking dates every Saturday, all the way into the night. Then we could all cuddle on Sunday morning. And on weekdays, you take us to school and pick us up, you hear?"

Harker was amused by the demands, then was surprised by that last one. "You mean that Mina's already…."

Mina reddened. "Yes. Ms. Seward helped me process my application, and how to survive up to my first few weeks."

"Mina is a very good student. I won't be surprised if she also becomes a Cum Laude like you when she graduates." Joan smiled very proudly. 

"That's really great!" Harker exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you, Mina. And yeah, I promise to make it up to you both. I'll just have to check in with my family and Roland first."

He scratched his head. "And I probably also have to apply late for my Master's….. Man, those superhero movies are not kidding when they say that living a double life is not easy."

Harker planned to meet with Roland first, then go home after disappearing for almost 5 months. The season had changed again, and it was already autumn. Summer felt really short, especially since he was either sleeping or in a cold, winter area for most of it.

He wasn't able to relish the sun that much. But it was still a quite pleasant autumn morning, as the trees were only starting to lose a few leaves here and there and the breeze was not too much. 

After all that… It felt like the world itself was sighing in relief as a huge burden was lifted of its shoulders.

That's how Harker felt, at least. He was greeted and invited in by the people at the Faust residence, who confirmed that the young master was indeed inside while Mr. Faust was on a business trip again, now in Germany. 

He saw Roland sitting on his favorite spot by the pavilion again, drinking tea and looking the same as always under the light of the sun. Harker was relieved that his friend was alright, and called out to him…..

When he realized that he was having tea with someone else, laughing as if he just heard a funny joke.

Harker stopped in his tracks. It was a woman.

A stranger he doesn't know.