Ning woke up with the morning light, staring at the white ceiling. He lay on his bed for some time, 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 some new soap, shampoo, and even a simple brush and toothpaste, as well as various other amenities.
āAs expected from an expensive hotel like this,ā Ning thought. āI wonder how much theyāre paying to get me this room.ā
Ning got into the bath and walked out refreshed some time later. His old clothes were dirty, so he wore a bathrobe for the time being and sat before the TV as he turned it on.
He watched the news for some time before getting bored of it and shutting it down. He called for room service to send him some 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 anotherāsome biographies, some history, while some were just romantic fiction.
Ning had no interest in reading about the life of some rich dude or learning what happened in the past. The love story between a mermaid and a fisherman was far more fun for Ning to read.
He sat down with the book, the breakfast arriving around the same time, and read as he ate. The story turned out to be a cheap enemies-to-lovers romance where the fishermen and mermaids were in a war over the fish that were steadily becoming extinct due to the fishermenās constant hunt.
The mermaid princess then took on a task to destabilize the fishermen from the inside out, only to realize that the fishermen were suffering from a famine due to a severe drought.
Upon hearing about how the drought came, the princess had a thought. A year ago, on the day of her 18th birthday, she had wished toā
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 Ningās room.
"Iāve brought you some clothes. Is there anything you wish to do today?" he asked.
"Didnāt I tell you to take the day off?" Ning asked.
"And I told you that wasnāt happening," Blake said. "Any plans for today?"
"Iām going to go see how my friend is holding up," Ning said. "Besides that, I donāt have any other plans."
"You should stop by the agency to do your flight training," Blake said.
"Whatās the point? Will the judge even be there?"
"Most definitely," Blake said. "Heās paid to show up on weekends too."
Ning sighed. "Alright, fine. Weāll go there too."
"Then you should get dressed. I also have some open houses lined upā"
"No, just those two. Then Iām coming right back," Ning said, "and taking my break. You should take your long-overdue break as well."
Blake didnāt 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 moment, looking at the book on the table. āDamn it! The stupid story was getting to a fun point too,ā he thought, but this was more important. āIāll read once Iām back.ā
"Yeah, letās go."
Ning made some calls and quickly reached Larissa, finding that she had gone back to work again. Although she should have taken the day off, she had some 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 moment. "Are you well?" he asked. "Have you been to a hospital?"
"Yes," she blurted out. "Iām fine."
"Did you answer both questions or just one?" Ning asked.
Larissa hesitated. "Iām fine. I donāt need to be at the hospital," she argued.
"Well, if you say so, Iāll believe you," Ning said. "But you should at least see someone and talk about what happened to you. Make sure the aftereffects of her power arenāt still active."
"Theyāre not," Larissa said. "Itās... itās obvious theyāre not. You would know if you had fallen for them."
Ning stared at her. "Tell me. How did it feel?" he asked.
"Horrible. Absolutely horrible," she said. "But at the time, I could not have felt something better. I... I loved her, truly. In every meaning of the word. She was the one thing in my life, and without her, I wouldāve likely killed myself."
"I remember the envy I felt when I saw her talking to you, like I should have been the one her focus was on. And I remember you talking about hurting her, and rage filled me instantly."
"Whatever she had done to me, 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 became comatose. I could not get my body to work. Even as the effects faded and I knew I had fallen under some sort of power, I still felt nothing but love for that woman."