Early in the morning, Yannis put away the blood collection kit as he said, “Alright, you can turn your head back now.”

Yesterday, both Zinnia and Yannis lost their heads, so caught up in Zinnia’s bloodletting and existing injuries that they completely forgot they could’ve just used the blood collection kit to nurture the seed. They kept adding fresh wounds over her.

Pressing a cotton swab to her arm, Zinnia waited for Yannis’ word before she finally turned her head to look at her arm. Once she was sure the bleeding had stopped, she removed the swab, revealing a tiny puncture mark. A faint bruise was already forming. Only then did she lower her sleeve.

Yesterday, they were both in a muddle, and it didn’t even cross Zinnia’s mind to draw blood. If they had just drawn blood, they wouldn’t have had to worry about Nathan finding out.

“Who knows how much blood this greedy little seed will end up sucking from you?” Yannis looked at the seed in the petri dish.

Another day had passed. Yesterday, Zinnia had drawn blood for the seed twice, and early this morning, she did it again.

‘If this keeps up, her body won’t be able to take it,’ Yannis thought anxiously. He just hoped that damn seed would sprout soon. Otherwise, he didn’t know how much longer he could stand watching her go through this.

Seeing her draw blood every day and grow paler and dizzier was killing him.

Zinnia said, “I’m not sure. It shouldn’t take much longer. It’s already softer today than it was yesterday.”

Overnight, as she looked at the seed in the petri dish, she noticed all its wrinkles had smoothed out and it had grown much bigger. It now looked about the size of a walnut. Most of its interior had already softened.

Yesterday, it absorbed the blood pretty quickly the first time, but the second time was much slower. By night, it still hadn’t finished absorbing. Zinnia even got up at midnight to peek at it–about a third still remained.

When she woke up this morning, Zinnia noticed blood residue still at the bottom of the petri dish. Its absorption rate was gradually slowing down.

‘If this thing keeps draining me like this, I really don’t know how much longer I can last,’ Zinnia thought.

By the end of today, it should be fully softened. Once it softened, it should start sprouting. But after it sprouted, no one knew what might happen.

‘Will the Florivive actually bloom?’ Zinnia wondered. None of them knew for sure. Even the Yarbrough family’s notes had no record of it.

“Alright, drink this soup,” Yannis said gently after tending to Zinnia’s hand. He picked up the bowl of nourishing chicken soup that had been simmering since dawn. Life in the small town meant doing everything themselves.

Zinnia was reaching out to take the bowl when Yannis gently moved it out of her reach and said, “Let me feed you.” He stirred the soup with a spoon to cool it and then carefully brought the spoon to her lips.

“I can still drink the soup by myself, you know,” Zinnia said, letting her left hand hang limply at her side. She was still a bit weak from the blood draw, and seeing Yannis insist on helping, she could only protest with a helpless smile.

Even as Zinnia protested, when the steaming bowl of soup was brought to her lips, she lowered her head and took a sip. After three consecutive blood draws, Zinnia’s hands and feet grew cold.

Yannis scooped up another spoonful and fed it to her, saying with a playful smile, “Right now, I’m taking care of you. But if anything ever happens to me it’ll be your turn to look after me. I’m just investing in my future–gotta treat you well, or your big brother won’t have anyone to rely on.”

“Who says that? You still have Devin, Layla, and Maisie,” Zinnia shot back.

Zinnia wasn’t falling for his act for a second. So many people cared about him, honestly. Especially Devin and Layla–if Yannis just asked, they’d move heaven and earth for him. And if that was not enough, there was always Maisie. Sure, Maisie might grumble about Yannis’ icy attitude, but deep down, she really idolized him.

“But I just want to rely on you, Zinnia. I still remember you promised to support me, sweetheart. So you’d better work hard and earn lots of money to keep me.” Yannis gently wiped the soup from the corner of her lips with a tissue.

“With your net worth, how much would I even need to earn to support you?” Zinnia puffed out her cheeks, surprised he was still hung up on her promise to take care of him.

Yannis’ lips curved into a gentle smile. “So, Zinnia, you have to take good care of yourself and save up properly.”

“Got it,” Zinnia replied with a resigned smile.

She knew exactly what Yannis was doing–using this little game to motivate her, to make sure she took care of herself.

‘After all, I still owe him so much. No way am I letting anything happen to myself,’ Zinnia promised silently.

After breakfast, Zinnia went downstairs to check on Nathan. When Zinnia woke up that morning, Nathan was still asleep. Recently, he had become such a light sleeper that even the slightest noise could wake him, so she didn’t dare check on him right away. Instead, she had to go to the third–floor home lab to check on the seed first.

With the seed situation temporarily under control, Zinnia’s thoughts immediately turned to Nathan.

“Nathan…” Zinnia rushed in to find Nathan doubled over in a coughing fit. Alarm flashed in her eyes as she hurried to his side. Dropping to her knees, she began gently rubbing his back in slow, soothing circles. Beneath her palm, she could feel every protruding bone. ‘How could he have become this gaunt in just half a year?’ she thought, her heart aching.

“Nathan…” Her throat tightened, making it nearly impossible to speak. Every time Zinnia saw Nathan like this, it felt like a knife stabbing at her heart. ‘He’s such a good person. He shouldn’t have to go through this. He just doesn’t deserve this,’ Zinnia thought.

Nathan said while coughing, “It’s fine, really… Just let it out and I’ll feel better.”

When he heard her raspy voice, Nathan’s grip on the bedframe turned bone–white. His chest heaved rapidly, and a faint gloss of tears welled in his red eyes. His voice was hoarse as he reassured her. Jackson wasn’t in the room; he was downstairs in the living room, doing his work. Nathan didn’t want Jackson and the others hovering over him all the time.

Zinnia gently rubbed Nathan’s back and said softly, “Don’t talk. Just focus on catching your breath.” Seeing him in such pain, yet still making the effort to comfort her, made Zinnia’s heart ache.

Nathan coughed in fits and starts, his pale face flushing red from the strain before the coughing finally subsided. He tossed the blood–stained handkerchief into the trash. Zinnia saw the dark brown stains. He was coughing up blood again. She pressed her lips together.

Noticing her silence, Nathan turned his pale face toward her and managed a faint smile, his gaze warm. “Don’t worry, it’s normal,” he reassured her.

Zinnia pressed her lips together silently. She gently helped Nathan sit up and lean against the headboard. Then she picked up a moist towelette and carefully dabbed at his lips. Her every movement was tender and cautious. Her long lashes lowered, concealing the pain in her eyes.

“Of course I know Nathan’s current condition is as good as it gets. His health will only get worse. Right now, at least he can still cough up blood, but when things get so bad that he can’t even do that anymore, that’s when it’ll be truly unbearable,” Zinnia thought.

Nathan reached out, wanting to wipe himself. “Let me do it myself,” he said.

“I’ll do it,” Zinnia insisted, gently wiping his face before carefully cleaning his hands. In his weakened state, Nathan simply lacked the strength to resist her.

Zinnia took Nathan’s hand, her fingertips trembling as she saw the deep crescent marks his nails had dug into his palm. ‘Nathan has always been the most stoic when it comes to pain. If even he ended up digging his nails in like this, just how much agony must he be in?’ she thought.

“Nathan, please, just hold on a little longer. I swear I’ll find a cure for you,” Zinnia said, her voice trembling.

Nathan replied softly, “Alright, I know you will, Zinnia.”

Leaning against the wall, Nathan watched Zinnia’s careful, gentle movements, mixed emotions flickering in his eyes. ‘She really has grown up overnight,’ he mused.

“Zinnia, let me see your hand,” Nathan said, frowning slightly as he noticed the bandage wrapped around her palm.