"My lord, your impostor had come!"
Lewis' entire face squeezed at the center of his face. He turned and saw his face on the television screen.
"Ugh…" Conflicted whether to explode in anger or continue on sleeping, Lewis dropped his head on the pillow. His face buried on the soft head cushion.
'This is just a nightmare. Back to sleep.'
Lewis convinced himself, trying to fall asleep again. He just got his sleep after three days. Thus, he might lose it if she tried to wake him up again.
"My lord!" Devon, shocked at his lack of urgency for the threat of their lives, slapped his back.
"Ah!" Not used to physical pain, Lewis immediately bolted to sit. He was rubbing the striking pain on his back, his face distorted due to it.
"How can you sleep in a perilous situation?!" Devon gasped, darting her shaking eyes from him to the television.
Lewis, on the screen, was speaking something about war?! Devon covered her lips with both her palms as she slowly returned her blood-shot eyes to Lewis beside him.
'His impostor waging a war?' She wondered internally, studying the man beside him who seemed to be capable of starting a war.
Lewis sighed, ruffling his hair in annoyance. If there's one thing that Lewis hated the most, it was losing a wink of his precious sleep.
"You." He pointed at her, stabilizing his breathing before he choose 'violence'. "Go to sleep. You'll be in a more perilous situation if you keep fuzzing about my interview."
"Sleep?!" Devon huffed. "Are you out of your mind, my lord? Your impostor is launching a…"
Devon trailed off as she glanced at the television again.
"So far, W.A.R had received explosive feedback in the market since its released…" said Lewis in his taped interview about the game his company had launched and its new business venture.
Yet Devon gasped upon listening to it, having a different take about it.
"Someone impersonating as you have launched an explosive weapon in the market!" She exclaimed, staring at him in disdain as if he was the most vile man in the world.
"Ah," Speechless, Lewis suddenly held his head with both his hands. "My head."
For a moment, he couldn't articulate his jumbled emotion at the level of ridiculousness he had to deal with.
"You must flee!" With eyes full of worry, Devon urged him, nodding encouragingly.
She had witnessed years of war. Even before she occupied this body, a war broke out between their kingdom and the neighboring kingdom.
Therefore, she had a vague idea of how ugly war could be. Especially for those people involved.
In her mind, Lewis could save his life if he fled. She could flee on her own.
Wealth was not important in the war. What was important were their lives.
She could find another way to live comfortably. Thus, she must survive!
Sadly, though. None of her assumptions were correct — not even a tad bit close.
"Oh god… please tell me she don't seriously believe that." Lewis murmured under his breath. If not for the fact she hasn't gone mad, Lewis would have snapped.
They said offend all the dangerous mob in the world, but never get on Lewis Qin's nasty side. Although he doesn't kill anyone or any of the sort, he was a man who had his own wicked ways.
If he wanted to ruin her life, Devon would sleep in the streets right now. But she held a vital role in his life.
Which, sadly, frustrated him even more.
"My lord, are you hearing me?" Devon waved. Her eyes searching for his unfocused gaze.
When Lewis snapped back to the current lapse, he held her gaze. His face lacked with any human emotion.
"Hey."
"My lord?"
"Have you…" He trailed off as he let out a weary sigh.
Lewis closed his eyes, massaging his throbbing temples. He was never in such a distressful situation before.
And his patience was not that long. It was never long. But for her, just this once, he would calm down and choose world peace.
"That man over there is me. I, indeed, launched a game called W.A.R: World At Risk. It's a game — a harmless one, alright?" He stressed each word along with deep, long breaths.
"World at risk…? A harmless game where you put the world at risk?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
For her, none of his words made sense. How could it be him if he was in here? Did he have a twin? Also, was there a game where the world will be at risk?
Lewis took a deep inhale and exhale. Placing his hand against each other as he closed his eyes.
"I never thought I'd be willing to go to the temple in the middle of the night to confess my sins… and the sins I'm about to commit." He mumbled under his breath.
"What are you praying for?" Devon queried, staring at him suspiciously. "Are you praying for the world to burn or world peace? Which one, my lord? Are you a bad person?"
Lewis' brows twitched upon hearing her last questions. Slowly, he opened his eyes and sighed.
He felt like the more he talked to her and explain things, the more the subject strayed away. This was the last thing he never thought would occur to him.
For Pete's sake! This man only wants to sleep and rest! Why won't she give him some slack?
"What era are you living?" Lewis asked sarcastically. "Wait. That doesn't matter."
He shook his head, running his fingers through his dark trimmed hair back. After taking deep breath, Lewis shot her a look.
"It doesn't matter what era you think you're living. This is the 21st century. Wars don't just happen easily. Whatever silly thoughts you have clouding your head, don't believe it." Lewis then reached for the remote controller.
"That thing over there is called television. What you're watching is news channel and there were more for entertainment."
Lewis moved his gaze to the television and pressed a button on the remote controller. As he pressed his thumb on the button, the channel switches to different channels. He stopped in a drama that was currently on-aired, then looked at her.
Devon was furrowing her brows, staring at the television screen cautiously. Seeing her like this made him let out a sigh.
Who wouldn't? She seemed she truly had lived in a different era, curious about modern things.
'How did she hit her head and act like a different person?' He sighed internally. But Lewis shook his thoughts away.
"See?" For the nth time, Lewis sighed. "This is how you operate this."
If anyone who knew him would witness this, they would surely assume it was Lewis who got possessed. Who would believe this man didn't just erupted like usual?
Instead, he was patiently teaching her how to operate the remote control; a device even a toddler knew how to use.
As Devon watched him explain the button's uses, she pursed her lips in a thin line.
"About the… war?"
"Don't worry about it. It's a common joke." Lewis didn't bother repeating his rational explanation and left it like that.
"A common joke?" Devon mumbled. "This country is strange, isn't it? Joking about war?"
Lewis glanced at her but said nothing. For him, it was not the country who was strange but Devon. However, speaking his thoughts aloud would only prolong their discussion.
"Different era, different people. Different country, different culture. Nevertheless, one should respect them." Lewis stated nonchalantly as he handed her the remote controller. "It is what it is. If you dwell in the past, you won't ever catch up to the fast progress of the world."
Devon nodded her head slowly. Keeping her silence as his words somehow got to her.
"Use your energy learning. Anyway, don't stay up too late." Lewis finally heaved a sigh of relief.
"Yes, my lord." Devon nodded as she watched him slowly collapsed on the bed.
Lewis yawned, stretching his arms. After stretching, he cocked his head in her direction.
"Please. Just please, let me sleep. If you wake me up again, I will lose it."
Devon pursed her lips, taking his words as a warning. She nodded in understanding as he stared at her momentarily.
"Thank you." Lewis expressed before closing his eyes.
When Lewis attempted to sleep again, Devon kept her mouth shut. Lewis' way of telling her it was a joke somehow effective. In a world she didn't know, she believed him; a person who had been here for a long time.
Devon shifted her gaze to the drama playing on the screen.
In her eyes, the modern women on the television were odd. Some were wearing clothes revealing too much of their skin. If she sees this in her kingdom, she'd instantly think they were working in the whorehouse.
While some men were wearing the same attire, just like Lewis — just different in colors. But Lewis' words suddenly flashed across her head, which refrained her from judging.
'Different country, different culture.' She thought internally, nodding in understanding. 'What a strange culture where women want to look like harlots.'
But Devon shook her thoughts away. Instead, she watched the drama and soon found herself engrossed in the story.
Devon held her hand together, watching the drama unfold before her eyes.
"Tell me the truth. Who is the father of your child?" asked the man on the screen.
"It's…"
Devon held her breath, waiting for the woman to tell the man who was the father of her child. However, to her dismay, the characters didn't move anymore, and a commercial appeared.
"What…" Devon murmured, raising the remote control and tapped it many times, but to no avail.
"She didn't tell him yet." She frowned, glancing at Lewis, who was fast asleep.
"Uhm…"