The Manipulated Villainess

In the outskirts of the city, the main base of the Blackhood stood still, secretive yet breathtakingly vast like always.

It was located in an area where there was only a little house and most of them were farms. The base was surrounded by walls that were high enough to completely block the view of a person. If one went there, the first thing he would see was a villa which was even bigger than the size of the farms in the area. It was indeed a villa but it served as a cover for the base.

The actual base was behind the villa. To avoid suspicions, the villa and the base were separated by grapevines which were there in a horizontal line. The vines were not as high as the villa yet high enough to hide the base. Though it was already hard to see past the villa from the gate, the vines behind made it impossible to see the base from the front.

In contrast to the magnificent and contemporary villa, the base resembled a warehouse, a vast warehouse. Well, it was like that from the exterior. The base was not very tall but it was widely stretched vertically and about five large apartments would fit there.

To shield it from the above view, two greenhouses were built on both sides. The roof of the greenhouses stretched above in the shape of an arc, met in the middle and hide all the view of the base from above. The backside of the base was shielded by the walls. Next to the walls was a forest which people didn\'t frequent.

When Leon reached the gate, the sun had already set and it was dark everywhere. The guard of the base opened the iron gate for him. Moving quickly, the guard tried to not let the Young Master wait too long.

Whenever Leon went there, he never brought his driver along. It would be just him or with Shara. The base and the organization was a secret. Even when the members who were on the base left or if one was to enter, it would always be during the night when everything was dark.

Driving his car inside the villa, he pulled over beside the villa and one young man dressed in all black opened the door for him. "Welcome, Young Master." He greeted Leon as he bowed.

Stepping out of his car, the first thing Leon did was getting inside the villa with the young man following him behind. "Is everything going well, Ryan?" Leon asked, standing in a huge room inside the villa.

"Yes. Everything is fine. But it\'s unusual of you to come here today, Young Master," Ryan replied, lowering his gaze the whole time. The Young Master usually came here at the weekend unless there was some emergency or problems which required his presence. But it was not a weekend and there was no emergency either.

With Ryan\'s response lingering in his mind, Leon remained quiet for a while. "That\'s great." He only responded to the first one. "Go back to your work. I will get changed and came out."

After Ryan left, Leon goes to one cabinet in the room which was full of clothing necessary for training. Taking off his suit, he wore a sleeveless black t-shirt with a loose black sweatpants and a black mid-ankle sneakers. Black. That\'s what they always wore in the Blackhood.

One glance of the potter and he resembled a military man in training. Well, their training didn\'t much differ from the military. Discipline and obedience were valued in Blackhood just like they did in the military.

Making his way inside the base, the interior was revealed. In contrast to its worn-out exterior appearance, the interior was like a completely different place. It was divided into many rooms where different sorts of training were held. Each room was also equipped with many advanced machines used for training.

Leon chose to walk around by himself and told them to continue with their training, not to mind his presence. He walked around many rooms and watched their performances. There was also a room where the members were trained in shooting guns. There\'s no need to be wary of the sound because the whole base was soundproof.

After going through many training rooms, he found himself standing next to the door of one room. He stood still, watching at Shara who was practising stick fighting, alone.

He was right. She was here in this room. Of all the training, Shara was obsessed with stick fighting which was the least favourite of others. She often practised here alone during their younger days. She was very skilled and even he, the Young Master of the organization used to lose to her at times.

Leon ended up staring at her practising for a few minutes. Then he opened the door and went inside, startling Shara who was not aware of his presence.

"Young Master." She quickly bowed and lowered her gaze the moment she saw him. Then he was reminded of their conversation last night.

Was this really how things would be now between them? He still couldn\'t accept but he didn\'t show. This was the base, not his home or his office in the museum. This was the place where he wasn\'t allowed to show a weakness.

"Do you need a practice partner? If that\'s the case, then I\'m available." He said, a few gaps were there between them.

Just like him, Shara was also dressed in her training clothes, all black. The sweats on her body and her tired face proved that she had already done this for hours. \'What a silly woman!\' He thought. It\'s her first day back here yet she pushed herself too much. Even during her younger days, she was always like this. It\'s the reason why she could be one of the best. 

"You have an important exhibition coming up, Young Master. If you hurt your hand, it won\'t be good." Shara replied. Training with sticks was a risky one and for an accomplished potter like Leon, the risk was high especially when he had a very important upcoming event.

Her answer was unexpected for Leon but still, he felt a bit at ease. She was not as distant as last night. He also knew that most of it was his fault. He let anger took the best of him last night.

"Why do I feel like you would love to harm me if I indeed trained with you?" He asked, feeling slightly amused. He knew that she won\'t entertain the question but she still kept her eyes lowered.

"It\'s not that -"

"Even if I got hurt, it\'s up to me. If you don\'t want me to be your practice partner, I do." He paused before he said, "According to the rules, a member should do whatever the Young Master asked." He only wanted to practice together as they always did. Why making a fuss?!

"Then please be careful," Shara said as she handed him a long wooden stick. She grabbed another stick for herself.

"You too," Leon said and removed his shoes. He then took a position and Shara followed suit.

Taking a deep breath, Shara let a few seconds passed before she ran towards Leon and attempted to strike him which the latter blocked with his stick. Shara was pressing her stick against Leon while Leon sticks to defence, grabbing one end of the stick with his right hand and the other hand with his left. With one strong force, he pushed her and Shara involuntarily took two steps back.

When she gets a firm footing after being pushed back by him, Shara darted her eyes to Leon. "You are going easy on me." She complained.

"What makes you think that?" Leon asked. Playing with the stick, a slight smile was on his face.

Looking at the distance between them, Shara turned her head back to Leon. "If it was other times, the force would make me lose a footing or I will take more steps backwards." She made a deliberate paused and adjusted her stick. "We should fight like a real fight but try our best not to harm one another. That\'s the rule."

"You are already tired due to all-day-long training yet I started only now. I think it\'s only fair that I don\'t give my all." Leon simply replied and took his position again.

Deep down, Shara knew that she wasn\'t like this just because of her long hours of training. She barely slept these days and it already goes on for almost a week!

Taking her position one more time, Shara took a deep breath again like she always did. Then she took the initiative to attack him first again. This time, she cut herself some slack and attempted to strike him on the left only using half the energy she used before.

Leon lifted his stick a bit and blocked the strike on the left followed by another strike on the left. He repeatedly took a step back, being overpowered by her swift movements. He was almost out of the fighting area after taking several steps back.

He realized that he should change his move. Swiftly, he blocked the strike in the middle just like he did to her first attack. They were now pressing their sticks against each other stick. He saw her tired face and with her strength left, he knew that she won\'t be able to hold it for long.

Staring at her straight to the eyes, he was reminded of their conversation last night, her confession and the kiss that broke them apart. All at once, his muscles gave up and she was not ready either! The force from her stick made him fall to the ground with his arms. She was standing above him with her tired eyes being replaced by anxiety.....