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72 Keep your enemy close. Love your enemy. Know your enemy… and kill them.

With how things blew out of proportion earlier, Penny was already expecting the stifling silence from everyone that would follow. Thus, she didn’t expect Slater to come, and neither did she expect the person who first blew up to go to her room.

“Se–second brother?!”

Did he come here to blame her for Nina’s departure?

Slater looked back and saw Hugo’s grim face. “Second brother, what are you doing here?”

“To heal,” was all Hugo said without looking at him. “Penny, can I

come in?”

“Uh… sure.”

4

The second her answer flew out of her mouth, Hugo pushed Slater to the side and entered her room. Hugo joined Penny on the floor, lying on his side, staring blankly at the unknown creature inside

the cage.

3

This time, it was Penny and Slater’s time to be lost for words. They observed Hugo and they could see the dark clouds over him.

A shallow breath slipped past Penny and turned to Slater. Her third brother was still stuck by the door, scared of her pets. Penny got up to take her pets in their cages, but then, Chunchun and Tiana went to Hugo. Tiana jumped on his cheek while Chunchun

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15

72 Keep your enemy close. Love your enemy. Know your enemy… and kill them.

was in front of him and Hugo hugged it.

“Uhm… I don’t think I can put them back in their cages,” said Penny to Slater. “Don’t worry. They’re trained, so they’ll stay with Second

Brother.”

Slater was hesitant because the cat that was in Hugo’s embrace was the least of his concerns. It was that frog! Even so, Slater carefully slinked inside and stayed in the corner.

“They won’t go to me if I stay here, right?”

“Tiana likes Second Brother a lot. She prefers to be with him than me.” Penny approached him and laid her hands open. “Give it to

me.”

“Huh?” Slater was momentarily confused before he realized she was pointing at the notebook clamped in his armpits. “Oh, right.

Here.”

Taking the note, Penny casually sat on the edge of the bed. Slater glanced at her pets and seeing that they weren’t leaving Hugo, he joined Penny on the bed.

“You answered this?” she asked and snapped her eyes at him. This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

“Did I get it correct?”

“It’s all wrong.”

“Oh.”

Penny shook her head and put the note down before walking to her study desk to get a pen. When she returned, she wrote detailed points where he got it wrong which was the beginning.

Slater listened to her. “I still don’t get it.” His breath hitched when

72 Keep your enemy close. Love your enemy. Know your enemy… and kill them.

she glared at him.

“Again,” she grumbled, but she still patiently explained it one more time. This time, she was stressing each syllable as if talking to a kid. “Now, do it again.”

When Penny handed the notebook and pen, Slater answered it on his lap. He didn’t say anything anymore, knowing he would get some piece of her if he still didn’t try enough.

Watching this, Penny couldn’t help but shift her eyes at Hugo. The latter hadn’t moved an inch since coming into her room. Casting Slater another look, she cocked her head to the side.

‘Why are they here, really?‘ she scrunched up her nose, remembering how these two blew up at their parents. If there was a place they should be in, she expected they would go to Nina’s room to comfort her. But here they were, with reasons of their

own.

‘Well, they weren’t really bothering me… ‘her thoughts trailed off as her eyes veered to Hugo once again. ‘Nope. He does bother me.‘

Her face turned sour. How could she ignore Hugo when he was sulking like that?!

Despite that, Penny didn’t want to disturb him or try to console him. She didn’t want to look like she was trying hard and to be honest, she didn’t know what to tell him. While Penny was

gravitating on what to do, Hugo spoke.

“I’m sorry…”

Hugo’s voice was quiet, but with the silence, Penny and Slater heard his somber remarks clearly. Slater stopped writing from his

72 Keep your enemy close. Love your enemy. Know your enemy… and kill them.

notebook and set his eyes on Hugo’s back.

“I didn’t want you to see that, but I let my emotions get the better of me. Our parents aren’t always like that. They aren’t perfect, but at the end of the day, they only think of what’s best for us,” he continued. “Penny, they won’t send you away too.”

‘Who said they’d send me away too?‘ the space between her brows

crinkled.

“Even if they want to, I will come with you,” he added, making her

face contort. 1

She wanted to tell him she wasn’t going anywhere, but she bit her tongue. Penny knew that was a lie. Her brows rose when she sensed Slater’s gaze on her. When she tilted her head, Slater just looked away.

‘Why is he looking at me like that?” she wondered but didn’t voice it

out.

For the next few hours, Slater and Hugo just squatted in her room. Hugo stayed in the same spot until his side felt numb. Hence, he moved and lay on the other side. Meanwhile, Slater would constantly ask her questions and show her his answers to the lesson they were covering before the family drama.

Although Penny didn’t get the answer for why they were actually there, she also didn’t ask. She thought if she asked more, they would think she was chasing them away. These boys were a little pitiful, and she didn’t have a heart. Especially, when she knew Hugo was healing with her pet. Her pets were therapeutic.

Another hour later, Butler Jen knocked on Penny’s room. When he

72 Keep your enemy close. Love your enemy. Know your enemy… and kill them.

opened the door, he was surprised to see Slater and Hugo idling in her room. Some other servants were looking for them around the house, after all.

“Butler Jen?” Penny called, snapping Butler Jen’s attention back to the reason he came here. “Miss Penny, Second and Third young master, your father is calling for you in the family room.”

Slater and Hugo slowly raised their heads at the door, only to see Butler Jen smile warmly at them. “It’s a family meeting.”

‘Would Dad tell us they won’t send Nina away anymore?‘ was Penny’s immediate thought. ‘Well… it’s okay. It’s better to keep the enemy close.‘

There was one saying Penny learned during her time in prison:

Keep your enemy close. Love your enemy. Know your enemy… then kill them. 4

Though in this context, she wouldn’t do it literally… just enough to keep her away.

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