"He is still unconscious. Although the bullet wasn't able to hit his heart but his wound was still very near there. And you know well too that any injuries or wounds near the heart are very dangerous." Amelia told Yumi when she visited Sancho for the very first time in a week.
In fact, she was hoping him to die.
She heard from Mateo how much blood the man had lost. Well, from where they encountered their chasers up to here in Novano Town, there were still quite a distance left.
So Yumi could imagine too how much the lad bleed even before reaching this place.
But out of her expectation, Sancho was still hanging there and didn't die yet. He was unconscious but his life was out of danger now. It meant his chance of waking up was still very huge.
This gave Yumi a headache to be honest.
This place became their hideout already. At this point of time, everyone in the city already knew that they had brought the Assassin Guild with them. They already had their own speculations of who was the head of the organization too.
And now that his brothers brought Sancho with them, it only intensified her want to kill the lad. Obviously, she couldn't trust him. With this huge information at risk, her hand couldn't help itching to take her own blade and not let Sancho to wake up anymore.
But then again, she couldn't really do it at all.
The fact that he pushed away Asahi and got shot instead made Yumi hold back.
Just the mere imagination of her brother getting shot already brought a great fear in Yumi's heart.
And since her brother escaped that situation, she could only hold back herself and give Sancho a mercy now.
"Since he saved my brother, I will let him live. No more next time though." Yumi told Kami when the lad went to see her one day to discuss about Sancho.
"What do you plan to do with him though? Surely, when he wakes up, he will also realize about us staying here."
Yumi didn't respond right away. This was actually what was making her head ached. The easiest choice still was to murder him.
But sometimes, the easiest choice was also the most unplausible choice.
If she eliminated him despite saving her brother...
If she paid good deed with murder...
Would heaven punish her with worst karma ever?
She sighed and told Kami that she was still thinking about it.
***
"If you cannot do the deed, I'll do it for your then." Mateo told Yumi that night.
Obviously, he got wind of her dilemma from Kami.
At nang abutan niya ang babae na nakatayo sa may veranda habang karga ang kanilang anak, he thought she was being bothered by what to do with Sancho.
Yumi frowned at first as she didn't understand immediately what he was talking about. Meanwhile, he took Amie from her and guided her towards the rocking chair.
She sat down as she realized what he was talking about.
"Forget about the deed. I actually decide to use him."
This time, si Mateo naman ang napakunot noo.
"Use him? I thought you hate him."
"Un... I still feel the same way. But think of what we need the most right now?"
The lad thought for a moment.
"Information about the Puppet Army of Don Enrico."
"Exactly. Don't bother about it. I will discuss it to Rui and Kami tomorrow."
"Get me involved."
"You already have too much in your plate. Just---"
Yumi was stopped talking when Mateo suddenly gave her a peck on her lips.
"I'd like to be involved with it."
She ended up blinking due to the suddenness of his action. Anyway, he already stood properly at saka pinaghele si Amie.
"If you will meet us tomorrow, then you should rest early. After dinner, I will prepare your bath so you can freshen up and retire right away. Don't worry about Amie. I will bring her to sleep."
Yumi unbelievably looked at Mateo but the lad was already too focused with the baby in his arms. Napailing na lang din siya matapos na titigan ng matagal ang lalaki.
He was overwhelming her with his attentiveness, to be honest. It was in a positive way though.
She faked a cough and just looked away from him then.
***
"Use him? What do you mean by that? Are you going to send him back to Don Enrico's side? Can you really afford to trust him like that?" Sunod sunod na tanong sa kanya ni Kami while frowning when they met the next day to talk about Sancho.
"It is not a matter of trust. Naturally, I have thought about the possibility of his betrayal in the end."
Kami scoffed. "Possibility of his betrayal... Are you hearing yourself, Yumi?"
In the end, he even glared at her.
Yumi understood his reaction. But Mateo didn't and so he stood between them.
"I don't think you should like that to her."
"Mateo, I am usually a patient person. But I cannot do the same thing right now most especially after hearing your wife spouting nonsense like that."
"Kami..."
"It's okay, Mateo. Kami has a point. But my mind is already made up. We need that information about the Puppet Army. We have attempted to infiltrate Don Enrico's side several times already since we settled here. But all of those end in vain.
"As I see it, that guy is our key to get what we want. Don Enrico is still considering him as ally, given that he has left the Capital bago pa man mangyari ang lahat ng kaguluhang ito.
"But I won't tell him to spy for us. It has to come from him. In order to minimize the possibility of his betrayal, he needs to offer himself to become our eyes towards Don Enrico's side."
When Kami heard that, he began to calm down. So it was like that. He was irritated because he thought Yumi was being soft to the lad again. He was prepared to argue and knock some sense to her already, to be honest.
He didn't even care if Mateo or Rui were there who would definitely take her side if they ended up quarreling. Fortunately, Yumi had explained her plan.
"In order for him to offer that, you have to use his emotion against him." He said eventually.
"Aren't his siblings with us right now too?" Yumi asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Are you sure you want to use them? Your Kuya Asahi might end up interpret it differently." Rui suddenly spoken.
"I can handle my brothers. As for manipulating his emotion by means of his siblings, I'd like to entrust it to you, Kami."
"Tch... You are not the only one who hates that guy."
"I'll do it then." Mateo offered.
"No. Kami will do it." Pinanlakihan pa ng mga mata ni Yumi ang binata kaya walang nagawa ito kundi ang tanggapin na lang ang misyon.
Mateo, on the other hand, fell silent and had not spoken until the end of their meeting.
He actually felt disappointed in the end. Yumi didn't give him anything to do. But she was even willing to use Sancho despite her trust issue with him.
He could only sigh to himself but he resolved to make Yumi entrust him a thing to do one of these days.
***