To Jessie, the concept of War of Throne was still a foreign thing to her. Mentions of its name rarely came up in school books and the church's priest seldom mentioned it in their teachings.
As civilization progressed, the belief in God had started waning, not in a sense of heresy, but in a sense of lack of interest.
At least that's what she observed from young people of her generation.
And the gap in knowledge between generations proved her theory.
'Yolan said this war happened once every a hundred years right?'
Recounting what their King said to them when he first explained the history of this war, Jessie fell into a thought.
The people who chased her and Samuel were all adults who knew the story of this war.
They were prepared for this moment and would definitely do anything to get their hands on her crest.
There's no safe place for her to seek protection. Anywhere other than their base was dangerous.
'No, it's not the base that's safe, it's the one leading us who gives the sense of security in this place.'
She was sure wherever Yolan was, that was a safe place she could take refuge in.
Jessie glanced around the people gathered in their base's basement.
Samuel was silently gazing at the supplies in the racks.
Baretta and Azazel were having a useless conversation about the weather.
Eliot was reading a book in the corner.
While Ornil and Cassius were discussing something about their future plan.
Each of them was minding their own business – at least until there was another clash with the enemy's faction.
'It's been two days.'
Yolan had been absent for two days already. As he was the sole director of this group, without his presence here, the group became idle.
Although Cassius and Azazel had been lifting the mood these past two days, Jessie, being the timid girl that she was, was still uncomfortable talking with others older than her.
'The only one my age is Eliot.'
She glanced at Eliot in the corner, buried in his book. She had attempted to talk to him before, but that didn't go well. Their interest didn't align, so she was left with nothing to say.
The only one she could easily talk to was Samuel, but these days he seemed to have a lot on his mind, so she didn't want to bother him.
'Is there anything I can do?'
Brushing the bandage on her arm, Jessie felt like she didn't do enough to help the others. After Yolan left, Cassius had been the one taking care of her wound.
As the Queen, he was an acting proxy who took care of the members.
But he still couldn't replace Yolan as the leader.
CREAK-!
The stairs creaking caught her attention. To her and everyone's surprise, a person with platinum blonde hair was descending the stairs with a box in hand – the smell of something sweet immediately filled the room.
With a smile hanging on his lips, Yolan waved to everyone, "Hope you guys have been well. I bought a gift to share."
"Yolan!"
Placing the box on the table, Yolan asked, "Have you guys been hiding here when I was away? That must be boring. Here, let's eat this. Sweets could always uplift your mood."
"Seriously, where have you been? We were trying to contact you since forever!" Azazel asked but Yolan just laughed it off, urging us to eat the food he brought instead.
It's a box of macarons with different colors lining up perfectly. The sight of it really did catch everyone's attention.
But one thing that Jessie realized when Yolan stepped foot in here was his appearance.
'He looks quite pale.'
Though his hair and suit looked as immaculate as ever, Yolan looked tired. The rim of his eyes was a bit red, like he had been crying.
'I heard he got injured too.'
His disappearance and injury might be connected to each other.
"For the time being, we will lay low and halt any action. So let's enjoy our peace while it still lasts."
Yolan said as he sat down on the chair. The others, not including Samuel and Jessie silently agree with what he said, as there was no protest or any doubt in their mind about what Yolan said.
"Why don't we use this chance to get to know each other? Jessie, what school are you currently attending?"
Jessie was taken aback as she suddenly became the center of attention, "Ah, I'm studying in Sunhill highschool."
"Really? Azazel was also a graduate from that high school, what a coincidence. Isn't that right Azazel?"
Azazel nodded vigorously at Yolan's words. Jessie had also talked with her before about their school life, but somehow this feeling of being connected to each other felt different than when Azazel was talking directly to her.
It felt like all boundaries of age and formality was cut off, letting the conversation flowed normally like how she would with a friend.
Before she knew it, she was pouring all her heart into these strangers before her. The same applied to others too, though their topic of conversation shifted a lot between office work and school life, the adults were tolerant and listened attentively to what she, Eliot and Samuel said.
At some point, Yolan pulled out a variety of card and board games. They were all forced to play, no exceptions from Yolan as he proudly said that he would buy everyone a meal if they could beat him in this game.
"Oh, I won!"
"What?! How can you be a genius in this Baretta?!"
"Geez, I'm too old for these kinds of games."
"Don't whine Ornil. As if you didn't just shout 'Blue dragon I choose you!' and lost to Azazel's card."
"Tsk, shut up Yolan. There's no need for you to say it out loud."
Laughter erupted in every banter between members.
Time passed quickly after that.
The clock that showed 1 P.M. had turned into 6 P.M. by the time they finished. It's not until their stomach grumbled in protest that their game ended.
As per their deal of beating Yolan in the board games, he went out to buy food for them. Less than an hour later and he was back with pizza and chicken in hand.
It was a late dinner, but no one complained as they enjoyed a hearty meal together.
This feeling of relying on other strangers outside of her family and friends of the same age group as her was unfamiliar to Jessie, but she started to slowly enjoy it.
It felt like she was back to her normal life again.
By the time the moon was hanging up in the sky, the others had tidied up and prepared to sleep. Their base had now become their home.
Mattresses were laid out on the empty rooms upstairs and after a day full of laughter, the already exhausted members slept without a care in the world – including Jessie.
It wasn't until she got woken up in the middle of the night that she noticed one person had been awake this whole time.
"Yolan?"
"Ah, Jessie."
Yolan, standing in front of the living room's windowsill, gave Jessie a smile when she called out to him. Upon noticing her, he stubbed the cigarette in his hand and asked as she approached.
"On your way back from the toilet?"
"Mhm. You're still awake?"
Yolan didn't answer, he just sat on the living room's sofa and patted beside him. Jessie immediately understood the gesture and sat.
"In nights like this, when the moon is high in the sky, I always stay up to appreciate its beauty."
He narrowed his eyes, seemingly lost in a memory of the past, "That's such a useless thing to do, but I still do it anyway. Watching the unchanging moon looking down at the passage of time of humans below it brings a sense of romanticism, doesn't it?"
'Is it? I don't really understand.'
Jessie glanced at Yolan – his silhouette was highlighted by the moonlight pouring from the window.
Rather than the moonlight, whose beauty was mostly abstract, she appreciated things she could immediately judge based on her standard.
'He's pretty.'
Like this man who sat beside her for example. With delicate face features, sharp nose, and red lips, the word 'beautiful' was more fitting for him than 'handsome'.
'Mr. Ornil said all omegas are pretty. Is that why?'
Jessie was a beta. As alphas' and omegas' population wasn't that high, she rarely met one in her school. So Yolan was the first ever omega she interacted with.
'And he's just like my mother.'
"Are you sleepy? Want to go back to your room?"
Rubbing her eyes while yawning, Jessie nodded before she looked up at Yolan again.
"Can I do this instead?"
"Hm? What do you-?"
Jessie lay her head down on Yolan's thigh and buried her face in his stomach – snuggling comfortably on his lap as she closed her eyes.
She didn't know why she suddenly had the urge to do this, but she knew Yolan would allow her to be selfish just this once.
As if to prove her thoughts, Yolan slowly patted her head in a steady rhythm – lulling her to sleep with his touch.
Jessie knew she could trust him.
These people in this base were all she had now.