Chapter 54: Facetime Before Work

Cashel remained behind as the group exited the room. He took out his phone and made his way to the corner of the room.

He dialed Andeen’s number without thinking twice and leaned against the glass window.

It only took a few seconds for her to answer.

"Honey?" Her soft voice immediately eased some of the tension in his chest that he had no idea he was feeling until he heard her voice.

"I will be leaving for the mission in a few minutes," he told her softly, glancing at the clock at the far end of the room. It was seven AM.

"Alright, is everything alright?"

Cashel chuckled softly and shook his head. "Nothing, just wanted to hear your voice."

Before she could respond, her voice was interrupted by the sound of something falling and a hiss.

Cashel flinched, but before he could get worried, Nina’s loud voice came from the other end.

"Cashel! Cashel!!! Is that you!"

He grimaced, holding the phone away from his ears and nursing them from the ear-splitting scream.

"Yes," he said painfully. "Why did you scream like that? What is it?"

---

Andeen was sitting at the edge of the bed, her eyes wide and her hair disheveled as she glared at Nina, who had snatched the phone and curled up in the corner of the room.

"Honey, don’t listen to her. She has been throwing a tantrum since you left," she said, calming her voice as much as she wanted to grab Nina and wrangle her.

Nina screamed no, unknowingly making Cashel flinch again. "She’s wrong! They said I nearly killed you last night and tried to force me to switch back. That can’t be true. I can’t kill you!"

Cashel froze in disbelief, his phone inches away from his ears. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it when he couldn’t form a single word.

After a few moments, reminiscing about what had happened last night, he felt phantom pain from what she had done around his throat and just shook his head with a smile.

"They are not particularly wrong..."

"What?!" She screamed again and curled herself up tighter with her tail. "B...but that’s... that’s impossible. I can’t do that to you. Maybe it was Olga who did it."

"Keep deluding yourself with that."

Olga’s calm and serious voice came from behind Nina, making her glare at her. She tilted her head, her blue eyes flashing faintly before holding out her hand.

"Hand over the phone and switch back, then you’ll apologize to Andeen for being rude."

"No!" Nina firmly said and clenched her hands around the phone, her ears flattening against her head as she hissed under her breath. "Get away from me. I’m talking to Cashel."

"I don’t care. Hand it over or I’ll force you."

Nina stared at her, and she stared back, her expression leaving no room for negotiations or any slight reason for taking her words back. Olga was very serious.

"Uhm... Girls..."

Cashel finally found his voice, sighing in exhaustion.

Nina’s ears perked up at the sound of his voice, and she turned to the screen instantly. "Cashel, come back home now!" she whined. "Olga keeps bullying me!"

Cashel laughed nervously. He glanced at the door and then away. "I can’t. I might come back late, but I don’t want you to fight."

"But..."

"Nina," he interrupted her firmly. "Put the phone on speaker and switch to the video call."

At once, the screen flashed on, displaying Nina’s face, then Olga’s indifferent look behind her, and finally Andeen, who was behind them, waving at the screen.

"Good. Now, what is the problem?"

Olga narrowed her eyes at the screen and the strange jester mask covering Cashel’s face. "Show your face."

"I can’t. Answer me, or else I’ll cut the call and forget about you three till I get back."

Her expression faltered for a moment, but she sucked her teeth and sighed.

"You left a note this morning asking me to make sure they ate and everything was in order, but Nina kept messing things up. She started with complaints about how you weren’t here, and then she refused to eat."

Cashel looked at Nina, who just looked away guiltily.

"I told her not to think about leaving to look for you because that would only bother you, and I also mentioned what she did last night."

Cashel stared at her, then his eyes softened. "Why would you tell her that, huh?"

Olga opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t say anything and just looked away.

Andeen moved closer to the screen. "Honey?"

"Yes?"

"You can see us right now, right?"

"Yes, I can." He smiled. "And you look really pretty. I see you changed hairstyles today."

Andeen went still, then she smiled, her cheeks turning a soft pink. She nodded. "Yes, but that’s not what I meant. Nina needs to switch to her base form."

Cashel muttered an oh, glancing at Nina and her huge tail wrapped around her. "Uh...why’s that?"

"It takes a while to change back to this form if she stays too long in it, and it only slows down her evolution process," Andeen explained professionally, and Cashel nodded.

"Nina," he called. "You have to listen to Andeen. She knows what’s good for you, alright?"

"But I wanted to show you when you got back."

"I know, I know," Cashel said. He spotted Amia walking back into the room, her eyes darting around like she was searching for him. "Listen, Olga’s in charge, and if Andeen tells you anything, you have to listen to her, alright?"

Nina hesitated. But after taking a look at the other two, she let out a sigh, her ears going limp. "Fine... But when are you getting back...?"

"Cashel, what are you doing? We’re getting ready to go?" Amia’s voice came from Cashel’s side, making him turn to her.

Completely oblivious to the sharpened expressions on Nina and Olga’s faces, especially Nina’s, whose ears slowly flattened against her head while her pupils widened.

"Give me a sec, would you? It’s not like we’ll move once we get there, and besides, we’ll split up later," Cashel responded, and Amia scoffed.

"Well, we have to hurry because I have things to do." She smiled. "Anyway, What do you think of the suits?"

Cashel glanced at her from head to toe and then shrugged. "I think it’s beautiful.....Give me a moment," he said and turned back to the screen. "I’ll see you three later after work, and I would really love to have rice. If you can’t pull that off, then leave it and don’t burn down the house, alright? Love you!"

He said it hurriedly and cut the call.

The screen went blank before either woman could speak. Andeen only hummed, and the other two turned to her.

"You heard him. He wants rice."

Olga raised a brow. "Is that all you heard?" she asked, walking up to Andeen. She carefully helped her to her feet and then glared at her.

Andeen, who noticed the change in the energy around them, tilted her head. "What do you want me to do about it?" She waved her hand. "I can’t see who that is, and I don’t really care, so you shouldn’t. Cashel is not like that."

Olga and Nina exchanged looks, then they both nodded.

"If you say so," Olga said. "Let’s get the food ready, then, and go to sleep since he’ll come late."