Terros was busy cultivating his plants in the backyard. Suddenly, he felt Veronica's presence behind him.

His housemate is back! ​​

He looked around her and there she is Veronica! She's no longer wearing a veil on her face. Her original beauty shines through. He's happy to see her again! She's like a daughter that he could never have. Just like Graven, the son that he could never have. Nevertheless, both were close to him.

They continue to give him a reason to live and a sense of purpose in life, or else he already died of boredom and loneliness. He might be unlucky in the love department and never get married, but he was blessed with a son and daughter via Graven and Veronica. He already feels like he fathered these children and feels lucky to be part of their lives.

Veronica inspected her medicinal plants and herbs, wow, they're growing nicely. A smile broke on her face. She looked at the old man who is kind enough to give her a home. "Thanks for taking good care of my plants, Grandpa!" she said brightly.

Terros smiled, teary eyes. He can't understand himself, he's feeling emotional right now. "You know that I will always take care of them during your absence, granddaughter!" he replied with a grin.

"How's life?" she asked.

"Fine so far, no major occurrence lately..." he answered. "By the way, how's your pregnant friend?"

"Elva is happy being pregnant! She can't wait to give birth to her child!" Veronica replied.

Terros smiled. "I'll be seeing two grandchildren soon! Graven's baby with Laura and the one he has with the deity," he said in amusement.

Veronica laughed.

"Ah, when is Elva planning to tell Graven about their baby?" he asked.

Veronica pondered for a moment. "Um, she doesn't want to tell Graven about their baby. She's determined to keep it a secret from him. I wish that you can also keep your mouth shut and not reveal the truth to Graven..."

Terros brows furrowed, he can't understand why the goddess would hide something as important as the paternity of the baby. "I don't understand why Elva would hide the baby from the father?" he asked, scratching his head in the process.

Veronica shrugged. "Don't question her because she wants it that way. It's her prerogative, and it's her life. It's her business. So...yeah...let her be..." she said.

Terros was silent.

"Can you promise me that you will never tell Graven about the baby?"

Terros sighed. "Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth shut regarding that issue. But if I'll have the chance to see the deity again, I'll try to convince her to let the father know about his child," he said.

Veronica shook her head. "Good luck! Maybe she will listen to you because she's not listening to me. Anyways, I'm here to get the black liquid sample. The other ingredients are already ready. The only thing lacking is the black liquid," she said.

"The black liquid is inside my room. Wait, I'll get it for you. Don't forget to warn the deity that she can't touch the black liquid with her hand or have the liquid touch her skin, it's very dangerous!" he said.

"I know, she already knows about the danger of the black liquid. I told her already," Veronica replied.

"Good! She must take extra precaution about her safety, especially that she's now carrying a baby in her womb," he said in a fatherly tone.

Veronica smiled and gave him a thumb up. "Excited to see the baby, eh?" she said.

"Of course, I'm an excited grandpa!" Terros grinned and climbed the bamboo stairs going to the house.

A few minutes later.

Terros emerged from the house, holding the bottle of black liquid in his hand. He descended the stairs and handed the bottle to her.

Veronica accepted the bottle and bid goodbye to him. "I gotta go! Take care of yourself and my plants while I'm away, grandpa," she said.

"Sure, I will!" Terros assured her. "By the way, when is the elixir be ready?"

"Maybe it will take a few days, two days the most. We are making five variants of an elixir made with the thousand-year-old tree mixed with other roots of the five different ancient trees that can only be found in the secret cave," she replied.

Terros brows furrowed. "Oh, so the existence of the secret cave is true? Have you been there?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah! And you will never believe what you will find in that cave!" she said.

"What lies in that cave?" he asked.

Veronica's eyes gleamed. "The only cave where you can found rare and exotic trees, plants, and flowers that can move and talked with each other!"

"Are you kidding me!" he said in disbelief.

"Yes! You've better believe me! I have seen them myself! Baby plants climbing the trees are so cute to see! And I saw the thousand-year-old tree with my own two eyes!" she continued.

"Wow! Can you take me there? I want to see the cave with my own two eyes and explore them myself!" Terros excitedly.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa! I don't even know how to get there myself. Elva didn't tell me how. The cave was protected by a spell. Not easy to discover unless Elva would take you there herself because she is the guardian of the cave," she explained.

Terros eyes were gleaming with excitement. "How I wish before I die, I'll have the chance to see that secret cave..." he said wistfully.

"Don't worry, now that I'm staying on Elva's side, sooner or later, she will reveal to me the way to the cave. I promised you I'll take you there!" she said.

Terros face broke into a dazzling smile. "Nice! I'll wait for that day!" he said in a cheerful voice.

"I'll take my leave now," Veronica said and vanished from the place.

Terros grabbed the machete 'coz he's going to the forest to gather woods.

While walking, his mind was busy thinking about the hidden cave. He was getting excited just thinking about it!

~~~0~~~

Menedelia and Rebecca arrived in the town for their palm reading business.

They opened the shop and began dusting the place before opening the shop to the public.

After they finished cleaning the whole area, Menedelia looked at her companion. "You can rest on the bed if you're tired," she said.

"Okay." Rebecca lies down on the wooden bed at the back.

Menedelia placed the three candles on the center table and the black cloth. She ignited the candle using the light that came out of from her index finger.

Now she waited for her first customer.

Dang!

She has forgotten to put the 'OPEN' sign at the door. She rose to her feet and put the sign on. She went to the room and looked at Rebecca inside the room, the pregnant woman was sleeping.

She smiled, went back to the table, and sat on the chair.

A few minutes later.

The first customer came in.

"Hello, Grandma!" the middle-aged woman entered the door. She was smiling while looking at the old woman, she lowered herself on the wooden chair.

"Hello...how are you?" Menedelia asked.

"I'm here to tell you that your advice works on my cheating husband! The colorless powder that you give me works brilliantly!" she said in a low voice.

Menedelia smiled brightly. "Great! I'm happy that it works well. Did you follow the instruction I told you?" she asked.

"Yes, I followed your instruction from the beginning to end," the woman replied brightly.

"So... your husband no longer went back to his mistress?" she asked.

"Yes, it's already two weeks since I followed your instruction. Every night he goes home early and no longer drops by on that bitch's house, your remedy works! I'm so happy especially now, he started getting romantic with me again! I'm so thrilled. We have a great sex life now ever since he avoided that whore!" the woman said.

"Congratulation! I'm so happy for you!" Menedelia said.

"Because of that, I'll give you a bonus!" the woman said. She rose to her feet and went to the donation box, and dropped five silver coins on it. She looked at the old woman. "Thank you, grandma! I'll take my leave now!" she said happily and leave the store.

Menedelia smiled. She remembered when that woman comes to her store crying her heart out, asking for her help because her cheating husband already neglected her. He always visits his mistress every night before going home. They no longer have an active sex life because of the other woman. It doesn't help that they have no child yet. She doesn't want to quarrel with her husband, afraid that he will leave her for real, so all she does is pray every night to God for help and mercy, hoping that her husband will change for good and leave his mistress.

Until finally, the woman was fed up and asked for her help. She gave the woman a colorless powder that she will sprinkle in her husband's underwear every time he comes home and changes his clothes. He changes his underwear. The wife sprinkled the powder on the garment beforehand.

After a few minutes of wearing it, the husband will suffer an itch on his sex organ. When the husband informed the wife about it, the wife told him that he might have caught a virus or germ somewhere.

The husband suffered five days of itch in his organ every time he comes home from visiting his mistress to the point when his organ began swelling. The wife instructed her husband to wash his swollen member with vinegar mixed with water. He starts blaming his mistress for the itch he experienced between his legs and no longer visited his lover after the itching no longer returns.

The colorless powder was pollen from the flowering plant in her backyard that she dried under the sun and pounded to reach its powdery state. It can cause an itch even with a small amount once it came in contact with the skin, but not deadly. She instructed the wife to wash her husband's sex organ with water mixed with one cup of vinegar.

Rebecca came out of the small room. "Grandma, did you have a customer already? I heard you talking to someone earlier?" she asked.

"Not yet. That was just an old satisfied customer who comes to thank me for our previous collaboration," she replied.

"Ah, okay..." Rebecca said and returned to the bed.

The door opened, and a new customer comes in.

Suddenly, the candles went dead!