Sienna finally got off work long after midnight.
By the time she stepped out of the operating wing, exhaustion clung to her like a second skin. Even though she had only handled the most critical patients, there had been far too many of them today.
The war had barely begun, yet the hospital already looked like a battlefield.
Her shoulders ached beneath her coat. Her fingers still smelled faintly of antiseptic and blood no matter how many times she had washed them.
The moment she reached the waiting area outside the emergency department, her body simply gave up.
She dropped into one of the chairs and fell asleep before her head fully touched the backrest.
Ava arrived minutes later carrying takeout containers in both hands.
She stopped in her tracks.
A deep sigh escaped her.
Sienna looked fragile like this. Younger and softer. Not the miracle doctor the entire country worshipped, not Dilrik's prized genius, nor the woman everyone relied on.
Just exhausted.
Ava hated seeing her this way.
Truthfully, she was one of the very few people selfish enough to wish Sienna would retire early someday.
Just disappear from all this.
Find peace.
Live like a normal young woman instead of a machine built solely for saving lives.
Even after the government granted Sienna her freedom years ago, Ava had never once believed she was truly free.
Not when she spent her days off visiting patients, or when she buried herself in medical journals until dawn, or when she treated sleep like some unnecessary inconvenience, and definitely not today, when even a sick leave had dragged her straight back into chaos.
Sienna was only twenty-six.
She should have had friends.
A lover.
A life beyond cold hospital walls and endless emergencies.
Ava was almost certain her mistress had never even been kissed before; she couldn't think of a single genuine friend Sienna had ever kept close either.
Medicine had consumed her whole.
Ava walked forward carefully, intending to carry her sleeping mistress to the car before she caught a cold.
Then suddenly…
Sienna shot upright.
Ava nearly dropped the food.
The exhaustion in Sienna's eyes had vanished completely, replaced by a frightening brightness Ava recognized immediately.
Medical inspiration.
"Oh no," Ava muttered under her breath.
"Get me my phone, Ava," Sienna said urgently. "Quick."
"You need sleep, Doctor."
"I've slept already."
"You collapsed for barely ten minutes."
"It was enough."
"Doctor…"
"When you refuse to give me my phone," Sienna said gravely, "that is when I will truly die."
Ava stared at her in disbelief.
Sometimes she genuinely wondered if Sienna's brain was medically normal.
With another sigh of defeat, she reached into her inner pocket and handed over the phone.
The second it touched Sienna's palm, she sprang to her feet and bolted down the hallway.
Ava blinked.
"What in God's name!"
The white coat disappeared around a corner.
Ava could only stare after her.
Truly, Sienna Rivers was the wrong person to pity.
---
Inside her office, Sienna shut the door hurriedly behind her.
Her exhaustion no longer mattered.
Her heart was racing too fast.
She grabbed her chair, sat down, then immediately stood again because she was too restless to stay seated. Her mind kept replaying one specific memory over and over.
A patient from a month ago. Male, he has severe mental instability accompanied by violent outbursts.
No medication had worked properly on him, and no restraints calmed him.
Except…
His fiancée.
The moment she entered the room, his aggression vanished almost unnaturally. His pulse stabilized, his brain activity normalized, and he became calm and docile, almost childlike, whenever she touched him.
At the time, Sienna had concluded that his subconscious identified the woman as safety and protection itself.
And now.
Isaac.
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
His case was different.
Far more dangerous and abnormal.
But what if the principle remained the same?
What if his body recognized her through scent because of that night?
The thought made heat creep into her face instantly, but she ignored it.
Scientifically speaking, intimate contact could absolutely alter subconscious sensory recognition. Pheromones, hormonal memory, and neurological imprinting during heightened adrenal states.
If that was truly the case…
Then her entire treatment plan needed to change.
Immediately.
She dialed the number Isaac had once used to threaten her.
The phone rang once.
Then the call connected.
"Doctor Rivers?" Craig sounded genuinely surprised.
"Craig," Sienna said quickly, "tell your master he needs to come to Dilrik tomorrow morning."
A brief silence followed.
Muffled voices.
Then Isaac came on the line.
"Are your hands not already full?" he asked smoothly.
Even through the phone, his voice carried that same maddening calm.
"Because my hands are full," Sienna replied, lowering her voice instinctively, "you'll need to come directly to my office at the hospital instead of the tea shop."
A pause.
"And be as discreet as possible."
"No problem."
The line disconnected immediately afterward.
Sienna slowly lowered the phone.
Excitement flickered across her face again.
For the first time since meeting Isaac, she wanted to meet him willingly.
---
At that same moment, Isaac was nowhere near his cage.
He exited a towering business complex alongside Craig and another man dressed entirely in black.
Ray.
Unlike Craig, Ray was much older, older even than King Draven himself. Once upon a time, he had belonged to the king's personal security force.
Five years ago, he had been reassigned to Isaac.
Somewhere along the line, his loyalty had shifted completely.
Now it belonged to Isaac alone.
Craig ended the call and handed the phone over.
Isaac slipped it back into his pocket.
"I'm returning to Dilrik tomorrow," he said calmly, and Ray nodded in understanding.
"The King should not come looking for me for the time being. The companies remain under your supervision until I return."
"Understood, Master."
Ray hesitated briefly before asking, "Should I prepare a disguise?"
"No." Isaac's eyes remained fixed ahead. "Prepare poor-quality Dilrik clothing instead."
"Yes, Master," Ray answered.
Isaac then looked toward Craig.
"You know what to do."
"Yes, Master."
The three men entered the vehicle, and the drive back to the cage began.
——
While Isaac prepared quietly for his trip, Subrind itself moved, preparing for something monstrous.
King Draven had already begun implementing the first stage of Isaac's strategic proposal.
Military assets were being relocated directly into densely populated civilian districts like markets.
Missile systems disappeared into residential zones.
Weapon caches were hidden beneath schools, apartment structures, and commercial buildings.
Military convoys blended into ordinary city traffic.
If Dilrik targeted official military bases now, they would strike empty buildings.
But if they targeted the actual weapon locations instead…
Civilian casualties would become unavoidable.
And they would commit a war crime prompting international outrage and political disaster.
It was a brutal strategy.
And as ministers praised the "King's brilliance" inside the royal council chambers, King Draven basked shamelessly in admiration that did not belong to him.