Ning woke up with the morning light, staring at the white ceiling. He lay on his bed for so ti, doing absolutely nothing. That was a bliss in its own way.
He got out of bed a bit later and jumped into the bath. He should have bathed last night, but he was too tired to do so. Morning was fine.
He went into the bathroom and pulled a few drawers open, finding so new soap, shampoo, and even a simple brush and toothpaste, as well as various other anities.
’As expected from an expensive hotel like this,’ Ning thought. ’I wonder how much they’re paying to get this room.’
Ning got into the bath and walked out refreshed so ti later. His old clothes were dirty, so he wore a bathrobe for the ti being and sat before the TV as he turned it on.
He watched the news for so ti before getting bored of it and shutting it down. He called for room service to send him so breakfast and walked around the room as he waited.
There was a simple bookshelf in the corner of the room with various books upon it. He picked out one after another—so biographies, so history, while so were just romantic fiction.
Ning had no interest in reading about the life of so rich dude or learning what happened in the past. The love story between a rmaid and a fisherman was far more fun for Ning to read.
He sat down with the book, the breakfast arriving around the sa ti, and read as he ate. The story turned out to be a cheap enemies-to-lovers romance where the fishern and rmaids were in a war over the fish that were steadily becoming extinct due to the fishern’s constant hunt.
The rmaid princess then took on a task to destabilize the fishern from the inside out, only to realize that the fishern were suffering from a famine due to a severe drought.
Upon hearing about how the drought ca, the princess had a thought. A year ago, on the day of her 18th birthday, she had wished to—
A knock on the door disturbed Ning.
Ning put down the book and opened the door to find Blake standing outside with a small suitcase next to him. He walked in without asking anything and placed the suitcase in Ning’s room.
"I’ve brought you so clothes. Is there anything you wish to do today?" he asked.
"Didn’t I tell you to take the day off?" Ning asked.
"And I told you that wasn’t happening," Blake said. "Any plans for today?"
"I’m going to go see how my friend is holding up," Ning said. "Besides that, I don’t have any other plans."
"You should stop by the agency to do your flight training," Blake said.
"What’s the point? Will the judge even be there?"
"Most definitely," Blake said. "He’s paid to show up on weekends too."
Ning sighed. "Alright, fine. We’ll go there too."
"Then you should get dressed. I also have so open houses lined up—"
"No, just those two. Then I’m coming right back," Ning said, "and taking my break. You should take your long-overdue break as well."
Blake didn’t really answer and simply nodded. After a few long minutes, Ning changed into a fitting blue shirt and dark pants. He looked at himself in the mirror and found the clothing too... formal, like he worked in a cubicle.
He rolled up his sleeves, opened the top button, and pulled his shirt out of his pants. That looked much better once he put a simple black coat over it.
"Shall we leave?" Blake asked.
Ning hesitated for a mont, looking at the book on the table. ’Damn it! The stupid story was getting to a fun point too,’ he thought, but this was more important. ’I’ll read once I’m back.’
"Yeah, let’s go."
Ning made so calls and quickly reached Larissa, finding that she had gone back to work again. Although she should have taken the day off, she had so reports to write, and Ning needed to be there to fill his end of the story.
The chief would be waiting for him.
Blake parked the car while Ning walked up to the station and found Larissa. He looked toward the other two spots and found both Mira and Jack absent.
"Are those two at least taking their day off?" Ning asked as he sat by Larissa.
"Yes," she said, trying not to look toward him.
Ning narrowed his eyes and stared at her for a mont. "Are you well?" he asked. "Have you been to a hospital?"
"Yes," she blurted out. "I’m fine."
"Did you answer both questions or just one?" Ning asked.
Larissa hesitated. "I’m fine. I don’t need to be at the hospital," she argued.
"Well, if you say so, I’ll believe you," Ning said. "But you should at least see soone and talk about what happened to you. Make sure the aftereffects of her power aren’t still active."
"They’re not," Larissa said. "It’s... it’s obvious they’re not. You would know if you had fallen for them."
Ning stared at her. "Tell . How did it feel?" he asked.
"Horrible. Absolutely horrible," she said. "But at the ti, I could not have felt sothing better. I... I loved her, truly. In every aning of the word. She was the one thing in my life, and without her, I would’ve likely killed myself."
"I rember the envy I felt when I saw her talking to you, like I should have been the one her focus was on. And I rember you talking about hurting her, and rage filled instantly."
"Whatever she had done to , I could not have gotten out of it. And when she flew away and I was left behind, I felt like my world was crumbling. I beca comatose. I could not get my body to work. Even as the effects faded and I knew I had fallen under so sort of power, I still felt nothing but love for that woman."
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