Consciousness returned. The slight dizziness faded. When Luke opened his eyes, he saw the familiar wooden ceiling and the hanging simple oil lamp of the second-floor study in "Luke's Estate."
Outside the window was the slightly glaring noon sunlight of Westeros, while on Blue Star it was deep night.
Dragon Kingdom was dayti, and so was Westeros. Because of the ti difference with Arica being opposite to Dragon Kingdom…
In Arica, Blue Star dayti and Westeros dayti were inverted!
When it was night on Blue Star, it was dayti in Westeros, and vice versa…
The restlessness in his body had not completely subsided. In his mind, Mia's tearful face from the motel and that awkward yet heated atmosphere still lingered.
He took several deep breaths, trying to suppress that strange emotion.
Perhaps it was the unvented heat acting up, or perhaps the increased demands after the Constitution upgrade had truly beco stronger — he felt sowhat restless at the mont.
He got up, straightened his slightly disheveled modern sleepwear. In Westeros he usually changed into local clothing imdiately after crossing over, but right now his mind was a bit chaotic, so he decided to go downstairs for a walk.
The study door was ajar.
He gently pushed it open. Sunlight slanted in through the windows, casting bright patches on the floor.
A slender figure was standing with her back to him, slightly bent over, diligently wiping the large desk.
The girl wore a simple dark maid dress. Her deep brown long hair was tied in a simple bun at the back, revealing a slender and graceful neck.
Sunlight outlined her soft shoulder lines and focused side profile.
Was it Annie?
Or Emma?
Luke couldn't tell for a mont.
The two sisters had the sa hair and eye color, similar figures. From the back, they were even harder to distinguish.
But at this mont, he had no ti to think carefully. The inexplicable heat and impulse in his heart, upon seeing this familiar figure that belonged to "his" girl, seed to have found an outlet.
He lightened his footsteps and quietly approached.
The air was filled with the scent of wood wax and the girl's faint, fresh soap-like fragrance.
He slowly pressed against her from behind. His arms naturally wrapped around her waist. He buried his face in the hair at the side of her neck and took a deep breath.
"Mmm…"
The body in his arms suddenly stiffened, letting out a suppressed, surprised soft hum.
The girl seed to want to turn around, but Luke held her tighter.
At this mont, he only felt softness and warmth in his embrace. The familiar scent lingering at the tip of his nose made him even more restless. He completely failed to notice the girl's subtle trembling and the slightly different reaction from Annie's usual one.
Following instinct, he kissed behind her ear and on her neck. His hands also began to wander restlessly.
"Master… don't…"
The girl in his arms let out a weak, muffled resistance, but her body went limp, as if losing all strength. She collapsed into his arms, allowing him to do as he pleased.
Her obedience and the subtle difference in rhythm from Annie's usual response were all interpreted by Luke as the girl's shyness.
Until… at a certain mont, Luke felt a clear and unfamiliar barrier!
His body froze, as if petrified.
No.
With Annie… they had already been intimate. There shouldn't be any such barrier.
A flash of lightning seed to strike in his mind. Luke's muddled thoughts instantly cleared up significantly.
He forced himself to stop his movents. Holding the girl's face with both hands, he carefully turned her head toward him.
Sunlight illuminated the face so close to his.
Deep brown long hair was slightly ssy, a few strands sticking to her sweat-dampened forehead.
Under similarly deep brown eyebrows were a pair of light green eyes, now looking at him wetly.
They were mixed with shyness, panic, a trace of pain, and… so indescribable, watery emotion.
Her small nose tip was slightly red. Her teeth were biting her lower lip, leaving clear tooth marks.
It wasn't the younger sister Annie!
It was the older sister Emma.
The one with a more lively and bold personality, who had previously harbored so unwillingness and competitive spirit toward him, and was even sowhat jealous of her sister — Emma.
"…"
Luke opened his mouth but was montarily speechless. A huge wave of embarrassnt and a trace of remorse surged in his heart.
He had actually… mistaken the person? And in such a situation?
Emma looked at the changing expression on his face. She bit her already sowhat swollen lower lip. Those light green eyes seed covered with a layer of mist, yet stubbornly refused to look away. She only softly called out, "Master…"
This one call was like a feather brushing across his heart, also shattering Luke's last bit of hesitation and embarrassnt.
Never mind.
The mistake had already been made.
Anyway… the sisters both belonged to him. In this world, their identities and fates were already bound to his.
He wasn't the kind of scumbag who would deny responsibility after the fact.
Since it had happened, he would take responsibility.
The heat in his heart receded, replaced by a calr determination and a trace of tenderness.
He leaned down. His movents beca much gentler. He kissed her damp eye corner and said softly, "…I was too abrupt. Don't be afraid."
Emma closed her eyes. Her long eyelashes trembled. Her arms quietly wrapped around his neck, answering with action instead of words.
Two hours later… the sun was high in the sky!
The study was filled with a post-act languid and warm atmosphere.
Emma, wrapped in one of Luke's oversized robes, curled up on the soft-padded lounge chair in the corner of the study.
Her cheeks still carried a blush. Her light green eyes were half-closed. She seed extrely tired, yet there was a never-before-seen glow of satisfaction and peace in them.
Luke had already dressed neatly and sat at the desk, his expression returning to its usual calm.
He did not indulge in the gentle embrace.
Ti was precious. Especially after confirming the "day-night inversion" rule between the two worlds, he needed to use every mont more efficiently.
He took out two instrunts from his personal space:
A handheld radiation detector and a portable spectroter.
Then, he brought out several small boxes containing the colorful, variously shaped "stones" he had traded for in Westeros during this period!
Identifying gemstones should have been extrely difficult for a complete amateur like him with no professional knowledge.
But he had his own "crude thods."
The "spectroter" was his "composition scanning eye."
As long as he pointed the probe at the stone and activated the light, it could analyze the elental composition on its surface.
Crystal clear like crystal?
Scan the composition. If the result shows it's almost all "carbon" (C), it's basically a diamond rough.
Vivid red color?
Scan it. If it contains a lot of aluminum (Al) and oxygen (O), plus trace chromium (Cr), it's very likely a ruby.
Similarly, beryllium (Be), aluminum, silicon (Si), and oxygen = erald (beryl)!
Aluminum, oxygen, trace iron (Fe) and titanium (Ti) = sapphire (corundum)…
Although he couldn't accurately judge clarity, cutting potential, or exact value, he could at least distinguish "suspected gemstones" from "ordinary colored stones" and roughly categorize them.
The "radiation detector" was his "life-saving charm."
This was sothing he learned from the bitter lessons of so natural mineral collectors!
Many unusually bright and beautiful natural minerals, especially certain rare earth minerals or stones containing uranium, thorium, and other elents, may be radioactive.
Ordinary people take them ho as treasures. Long-term exposure can cause discomfort at best, or serious diseases like leukemia at worst.
He didn't want to carry such "death stones" with him or sell them to Blue Star jewelers — that would be asking for trouble.
Every "stone," after preliminary spectral analysis, had to be checked with the radiation detector to ensure safety.
At this mont, the sunlight outside the window in Westeros was gradually setting in the west. The light in the study beca softer.
Luke was imrsed in his work, picking up the "pretty stones" one by one — from Essos, Dorne, the North, and even more distant places.
He first observed color, transparency, and internal patterns with the naked eye and a magnifying glass, then carefully scanned them with the spectroter and recorded the main elental composition.
Then he picked up the radiation detector for a "beep," watched the numbers on the screen, ensured they were within safe thresholds, and finally sorted them into different marked boxes according to the results.
"Carbon-based, high refractive index… this one is quite large. Probably a decent diamond rough."
"Aluminum oxygen chromium… typical ruby composition. The color is quite pure, seems to have few impurities."
"Huh? This green one… beryllium aluminum silicon oxygen? Erald! Unfortunately, it has quite a few internal cracks."
"This blue one… complex composition, with copper, silicon, and water? Probably turquoise or malachite…"
"Radiation exceeds standard! This weirdly vivid yellow-brown stone… sure enough, there's a problem. Seal it separately, mark it as dangerous. Deal with it later. Or maybe just give it to an enemy — kill without a trace?"
Ti passed quietly in focused work.
Before he knew it, the sunlight outside the window had completely disappeared. Night had fallen over King's Landing. Only the oil lamp and the never-extinguishing LED night light in the study emitted light.
According to the "day-night inversion" rule, on Blue Star at this mont, it should be… morning?
Luke glanced at the clock on the wall and estimated the ti.
When there were no pre-arranged visits or urgent matters, he usually chose to handle work or training that required concentration during Westeros night (Blue Star dayti), then return to Blue Star during Westeros morning (Blue Star evening) to rest or handle matters there.
In Arica, he could treat one day as two, because the two worlds had inverted ti — day and night reversed!
Today's work was temporarily coming to an end.
He packed up the instrunts and gemstones, sorting them back into his space.
He looked at Emma, who was curled up on the lounge chair and had already fallen soundly asleep. Her face still carried a peaceful smile.
Luke walked over, gently picked her up along with the robe, and carried her back to the sisters' room on the first floor of the main building. He carefully placed her on her own bed and tucked her in.
Annie wasn't there — she had probably gone to the kitchen to help or do other things.
Luke didn't disturb her. He quietly exited the room and closed the door behind him.
Back in his bedroom on the second floor, he changed back into his ordinary modern casual clothes.
Standing in the center of the room, he did one final check of his own condition and the items in his space, confirming everything was in order.
He concentrated his mind.
After the familiar feeling of weightlessness and darkness, he once again felt the not-so-comfortable mattress of the motel beneath him. He slled the faint disinfectant scent in the air and the faint morning bustle of Los Angeles outside the window.
He checked his phone — just past seven in the morning.
Sunlight filtered in through the not-too-thick curtain gaps.
Last night's (Blue Star ti) absurd and awkward encounter felt like it had happened a long ti ago.
Two hours of "identification work" in Westeros and the unexpected mont with Emma had given his mind a switch and a settling.
He lay on the bed without getting up imdiately.
In his mind, Emma's wet light green eyes, Mia's crying face, the jumping data on the spectroter, the "beep" of the radiation detector, and those stones from another world sparkling with mysterious light under the lamp flashed alternately…
Life shuttling between two worlds was full of surprises, calculations, desires, and risks, but also infinite possibilities and excitent.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
The corners of his mouth unconsciously curved into a slight arc.
This life full of challenges and unknowns, walking on the edge between two worlds, though tiring, made him feel more alive than ever before.
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