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Another theory; all the views are coming fr me hence why there are views on the drafts. Plz comment or DM if you are a reader so i will know. I'll dedicate the next ch to you in return!

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How much more stupid could i be? Found out on the first day? What would my father say?

The dull pain in my ribs suddenly intensified into a searing pain faster than I could blink, and my upper body sharply jerked in response. Then, in the same instant that it came, it left the next, dissipating like the fog off some terrible lake.

"We're here," Mr Doctor said with the calm of someone that had dealt with enough pressing conditions that my life hanging by a thread, or, well, a needle, didn't faze him. "Lie him down on the bed and take off his clothes, then get the surgery kit from the cabinet on the left. Be quick."

"No..." i croaked, "get him out." It was bad enough the doc was going to find out i was a girl. I didn't need some pompous stranger to spread the news through the city and have the entire family name dragged through humiliation before i woke up.

"him..." i said, my voice coming out a pained whisper.

It seemed the doc didn't hear me, or heard me and didn't care, because next thing i knew, my robe was pushed apart and my binds were exposed to the two sets of eyes looking down at me.

Ugh, shitty shit, I groaned, closing my eyes briefly in annoyance.

A light tap tap tap of footsteps receded, and the creak of a door closing sounded through the space.

I opened my eyes to the face of the doctor looking down at me. 

"Well. That's quite the surprise," he noted, "you'd better have a good explanation for when I'm done with you. But for now, drink this, it's anaesthesia, and bite down on this cloth." He wedged a rough cloth in my mouth and prepped my body for surgery like a chicken for slaughter.

With the roughness of the cloth brushing against my tongue and a deep crease between my eyebrows, I closed my eyes and drifted into darkness.

...

The present (7 years later)

My eyes fluttered open.

Early morning sunlight greeted me from an open window to the left. The chirping of birds and faint chatter of people walking the streets drifted into the room. I vaguely registered a dull throb in my chest.

I shifted my body under the cotton blankets and groaned as the dull throb intensified, then dissipated as i went still again. My limbs felt like cotton.

I covered my hand with my face as i recalled the events of last night. A cold thin piece of metal met my fingers. Cross-eyed, I looked up. A needle. I reached upwards to pull it out, only to be interrupted by a pleasantly silvery voice, "not yet. Wait for a few more hours."

I shot upwards, only to yelp as my side lit on fire. I snapped my eyes to the left, where a white-haired sack of wrinkles sat on the floor facing the window, serenely pouring hot green tea into a cup. The seaweed scent wafted through the air, calming me.

"Who are you?" I asked, eyes narrowed.

"Ask me not where I stand or who I am, and I shall spare you the same," he replied, still pouring.

Fine then. It's better this way for me too. "So what's my condition?" I asked, lying back down once deciding he wouldn't have saved me if he wanted me dead. 

If he wanted to trade me in for the bounty on my head, he wouldn't have wasted his time and resources healing me either.

"Sprained ankle, Palitinium Oxidate poisoning, 3rd degree burn on left ribs and 2nd on right hand, torn wound on the same set of ribs, bruised ribs, fatigue, dehydration and a couple other minor injuries." He elegantly brushed the teacup lid across the the tea twice, cooling it down.

A few seconds of silence.

"Who saved me?"

"Why I did, if it's not clear enough through my medical bags." A neat set of supplies sat beside him.

"You're too old to have carried me out and brought me here. Now hurry up and tell me where i am and who brought me here old man!" I responded, slightly irritated.

He chuckled, and took his leisurely time lifting the brown clay teacup to his thin lips, drinking it up sip by sip by sip by sip by-

"Spill the beans you hag!" I said, annoyed. 

"Patience is a virtue," he recited, finally putting down his insufferable little teacup.

"Well so is time, so stop wasting mine."

He sighed. Then; "a young man brought me to this hotel. Said a girl had come out of a fire and his master had told him to find a doctor. I assume you came from that hotel in the village next-doors. It burnt to ashes. No casualties. But 3 injured, including yourself, bearing the brunt." He sipped his tea again. 

"You've been out for 2 days," he added. 2 days?! "mainly due to your ingestion of the poison." 

So the dry herbs didn't help.

"The young lord gave me some gold and told me to look after you. Didn't leave his name," he continued.

The doctor could've taken the gold and left me to die, i thought. But he didn't.

"Thank you," i said, trying to look him in the eye, knowing he knew what i meant.

He nodded.

"The young lord, did he have a mole on the left of his chin and almond-shaped eyes the colour of peanuts?" I asked.

He picked up the teapot again. "Yes."

I relaxed. I had booked a hotel room right next to the guy as a last resort. After observing him for a few weeks, I had found him to have a hero complex. So, if anything happened to me and i couldn't escape the fire, I knew he would come give me a helping hand. If I saw him again, I'd thank him. It was a luxury I hadn't had in the last 7 years to have access to such an experienced doctor and treatment.

"Since you're awake, I'll leave in 2 hours once the needle treatment is done."

Deciding to take advantage of the best sleep I'd gotten in the last millennia, I snuggled deeper into the warmth of the blanket, and closed my eyes.

...

I awoke to a ruckus outside. 

Heavy footsteps halted in front of the door to the neighbouring room behind me. 

Knock knock. Then the shhrip of wooden doors opening.

"What is the matter?" chirped a young woman with a light, flowery voice.

"We're looking for an assassin. Woman. About this high, with a sabre wound on her left rib," said a rusty voice. I froze. Noah Lee. "Have you seen her?"

The thin sack of wrinkles raised an eyebrow, no doubt piecing the pieces together.

"No, I don't think i have," she replied.

I relaxed a little.

The old man in white opened his mouth. "I won't lie to the authorities," he said.

"I don't expect you to." I turned my head to face him. 

"Old man. Surely you don't thinketh me an assassin?" I quipped, adopting his old way of speaking for fun, although this was anything but.

"I sure hope not. I don't need the extra trouble," he gave me a pointed stare.

"If you come across someone matching her description, please contact The Academy. The police will do if you're too far away, but hopefully you're not," Noah grunted. 

They exchanged pleasantries, then he left. 

Footsteps thudded across the wooden flooring and a floorboard creaked under his weight. Then, the crisp sound of knuckles knocking on the door outside my room.

"Hello, is there anyone inside? This is Shi Fu Lee from The Academy of Martial Arts."

The white cotton robes of the doctor shifted as he stood up like a tightly wound screw unscrewing, and made his way to the doors.

"Good afternoon Mr Lee. Whatever seems to be the problem?" his clear voice asked.

"We're looking for an assassin. She's a female with a sabre wound on her left ribs. About this tall. Have you seen her?"

"Why I'm afraid not Mr Lee. But she must be extremely skilled to have slithered out of The Academy's grasps," he said conversationally.

I rolled my eyes. Pretending to be polite and friendly to others while he was rude to me, what an old man.

Noah's eyebrows lowered ever so slightly. An assassin escaping from the academy was a hit to their reputation.

"They attacked a local minister. They were found out before they could complete the job, but escaped." His lies were as smooth as butter. Another trick The Academy forced us to perfect.

"Who's on the bed?" Noah asked suspiciously, jerking his chin in my direction.

I'd let down a thin curtain which separated the bed from the rest of the room. They could still see a blurry-figured me, but I was better sheltered. Even if Noah didn't recognise me as the assassin, once he saw my face, he'd haul the infamous wanted criminal Anastasia Bently off to be executed by the authorities.

"I've been tending to her for a while. She's still recovering.

"Do you mind?" Noah asked. But it wasn't so much a question as it was a statement.

He pushed past Mr Doctor and his sturdy frame inched closer. The thud thud of his boots against the floorboards echoed the beating of my heart.

Soon his hulking figure loomed over me, his dark attire and sword clutched in his left hand casting an even more foreboding shadow across my body.

"She needs rest. She would best not be disturbed," quipped Mr Doctor's calm voice.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she has nothing to do with the case."

As he raised his scabbard to brush open the curtain, the thudding of my heart sped up at an infinitesimal pace. The curtain drew back like a slow-winding clock with its clogs stuck in rust. Tick...tock. Tick...tock.

"Captain!" someone called out from the hall.

"Not now," Noah chastised.

"Captain!" the person exclaimed louder as light footsteps tapped into the room and a tall and lean figure appeared.

"What?!" Noah growled, whipping around to face the young man clad in a familiar dark blue-green.

"They found the assassin."

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A/N: 4/9/2020

Ooft! The romance is coming soon. Hold on for the steam! The best parts are yet to come!!

Also, I'm getting kind of sad bc i honestly think all the views are coming from myself :(. I might stop this book soon, but i really like it!