The attendant blinked slightly, a little surprised, but she collected herself quickly and took the card with both hands.“For both, sir?”“Yes,” Kael replied simply. “Please settle everything.”The attendant nodded at once. “Alright, sir.”She inserted the card into the machine and processed the payment. For a few seconds, the little screen kept moving, then a soft sound came.The attendant’s face brightened immediately. “It’s done, sir.”Kael gave a small nod, she handed the card back to him and thanked him.Kael took his card back, slipped it into his pocket, and turned away from the counter, his face calm as ever, while behind him the attendant was still looking after him with the kind of quiet surprise that comes when someone does something simple, but in a way that feels much bigger than the act itself.Kael did not look back after leaving the counter, he simply walked away from there and headed out, disappearing from Ariana’s sight as he made his way out of the rooftop place.Ar

She ended the call immediately. For a few seconds after that, she remained seated there, the phone still in her hand, her chest moving slowly as she tried to settle the anger burning inside her. Then she dropped the phone beside her and stared ahead. The laptop was still open, the screen still bright, but she was no longer looking at any of it.Celeste sat there quietly, doing nothing, her face calm on the outside, but inside, everything felt heavy and bitter. After some time, she got up and walked to the fridge.She opened it and brought out different bottles of wine, coupled with a glass cup too. After that, she returned to the hall, sat down again, opened the bottle, and poured some into the glass.At one point, she leaned back and looked ahead with tired eyes.“So this is what it has come to…”A small bitter smile touched her lips, but it did not last. She lifted the glass again and drank. Her thoughts kept going back to the same ugly place, the same filthy offer, the same shamel

As he lifted his eyes past her and looked inside, what he saw only confirmed it more. Bottles of wine were there, glasses too, and the whole hall carried the look of someone who had been drinking not for enjoyment, but because she had no idea what else to do with herself.Kael shut the door quickly behind them, still holding her firmly so she would not slip, then guided her back toward the sofa. He moved the table aside with one hand and made space before easing her down carefully.“What’s wrong?”His voice was quick now, serious and alert.“What’s happening?”He crouched slightly before her, one hand still steadying her, his eyes searching her face for sense while his mind was already racing through different possibilities.Kael looked at her with worry still on his face, his voice lower now but no less serious.“Why did you drink? What were you thinking?”Celeste only shifted weakly on the sofa, she did not really lift her face to look at him properly. Instead, she shook her head in

But Celeste did not reply, she had already drifted too deeply into sleep to answer properly. Instead, she only moved a little closer and held him tighter than before.Kael looked down at her hand where it held onto him, then at her face resting close to his side, and for a moment he said nothing else and closed his eyes too.Soon after that, he also fell asleep. The night had already been long, and with everything that had happened, his body eventually gave in to the tiredness too. So there on the bed, with the room quiet at last and Celeste no longer talking, sleep slowly took him as well.No one knew how long time ran around when Celeste’s eyes began to flutter open. At first, she did not know how long she had been asleep. Her head felt a little heavy, so she moved slightly on the bed, trying to gather herself, but then she suddenly realized that her hand was resting on someone.What?”That made her eyes open properly, she quickly raised her head, and the moment she looked beside he

Kael slowed down near one of the busiest sections. In front of him stood a long raised stone platform where several rough jade pieces had been arranged in a row, each one different in size and color, some dull and dusty, some with thin green lines showing faintly at the broken edge, enough to make greedy eyes start burning. A thick-bodied man in a dark vest stood behind the platform, one hand resting on a large rough stone. The stone itself was almost the size of a small watermelon, heavy-looking, rough on the outside, with a dark grey-green skin. The man slapped the stone twice with the back of his hand and raised his voice so the people around could hear him well. “Everyone, look properly. This is not some roadside trash, this is old-mine rough material, the skin is tight, the grain is steady, and look here, the green is already showing, if this opens well, whoever gets it today will not be smiling alone.” That immediately drew more people in, several men stepped closer, their ey