Tinia stared at Chiron's face, wishing only for the man to disappear as quickly as possible. He turned his head and issued an order to the security chief behind him.
"Go downstairs and book a luxury standard room, and move Director Chiron's luggage there. The top floor does not receive outside guests."
Jiang Lijin leaned against the back of the sofa. "Why go to all that trouble? Isn't there an empty room on this floor? Let him stay there."
The smile faded from Tinia's face. He leaned in close to Jiang Lijin, lowering his voice to a volume only the two of them could hear.
"Sister, that room has been empty for half a year. It's full of dust, and there are bugs crawling everywhere. Director Chiron is a clean freak; he won't be used to staying there."
Jiang Lijin turned her head, looking Tinia up and down.
"A top-tier suite under the Yunlan Consortium can't even manage basic cleaning? Just yesterday you were bragging that your smart robots could sterilize and disinfect every corner without any blind spots."
His lie exposed right to his face, Tinia didn't even blink. He grabbed Jiang Lijin's sleeve with both hands, shaking it as he continued to invent excuses.
"I remembered wrong. The smart butler in that room is broken. It can't connect to the network, so it can't adjust the temperature. He'll catch a cold if he stays there."
Jiang Lijin pulled her sleeve free. "Yesterday you said the Yunlan Consortium's ventilation system has an independent backup power supply."
Chiron ignored Tinia's endless chatter. He picked up the black suitcase at his feet, strode forward on his long legs, and walked straight toward the room at the end of the corridor. When he reached the door, the alloy door automatically sensed him and slid open to the sides.
The inside of the room was spotless. The smooth floor reflected the crystal chandelier on the ceiling, and the climate control system was operating normally, sending out a breeze at a comfortable temperature.
Tinia gritted his back teeth, glaring daggers at Chiron's back.
...
The night grew deeper.
Jiang Lijin finished washing up and changed into loose cotton pajamas, ready to rest. The door was pushed open a crack from the outside, and a blonde head poked in.
"What are you doing?" Jiang Lijin sat on the edge of the bed, tilting her head to look at Tinia.
Tinia squeezed into the room. Hugging a giant fox body pillow, he stood pitifully at the door, refusing to leave.
"Sister, I can't sleep."
"Have the butler bring up some sleeping pills."
"Pills don't work." Tinia shuffled two steps forward, stopping by the bed. "That guy last night was too arrogant. The security system didn't even catch his shadow. What if he climbs through the window again tonight? I have to protect you up close."
"You protect me up close? How are you going to protect me?"
"Sister! I'm a 3S-rank!" Tinia threw the fox pillow onto the sofa and threw himself down after it. "I'm not leaving. Even if you beat me to death today, I'm sleeping here."
Jiang Lijin rubbed her temples. When this kid started acting like a rogue, no one could do anything about him. She glanced at the digital clock on the wall. It was almost midnight, and she couldn't be bothered to argue anymore.
"Fine." Jiang Lijin pointed at the large leather sofa. "You sleep there. No snoring, no grinding your teeth. And most importantly, no climbing into my bed!"
Tinia nodded repeatedly. He obediently pulled a blanket over himself, revealing only a pair of blue eyes.
"Goodnight, Sister."
In the room at the end of the corridor, Chiron was not resting.
He sat in front of the holographic projector, his slender fingers typing rapidly on the virtual keyboard. Displayed on the screen was the expose post on the Star Network forum regarding Felwin purchasing illegal drugs.
The number of replies had already surpassed twenty thousand. The whistleblower had updated the data at midnight, even detailing the specific side effects of the drug and the time of purchase. Although Felwin's name still hadn't been mentioned, it was basically a dead giveaway.
Chiron stared at the text on the screen: illegal spiritual power drugs. This term triggered the past he least wanted to remember.
His mother had once been a C-rank female. In order to be worthy of his S-rank father, she voluntarily participated in an underground spiritual power enhancement experiment.
That drug could forcefully elevate one's spiritual power rank in a short amount of time, but the price was overdrawing one's life force, ultimately leading to the collapse of the spiritual sea. He had watched with his own eyes as his mother took her last breath in extreme agony.
From then on, he harbored a deep hatred for this kind of drug. After taking over the Empire's Central Hospital, the first thing he did was join forces with the military to wipe out three underground black market workshops that manufactured the drug.
The poster had hidden their IP address, using a heavily encrypted virtual network. Chiron attempted to trace it, but the other party was a master hacker with extremely brilliant anti-tracking methods.
Chiron closed the web page. He recalled how Jiang Lijin had previously given him a subtle warning that there was a problem with Felwin's spiritual power. Now, combined with this expose post, things were clearly not simple.
How had Jiang Lijin seen through it? What inside information did she possess?
Chiron stood up, straightened his collar, and walked out of the room.
He arrived at Jiang Lijin's door, raised his hand, and knocked three times.
Jiang Lijin was just about to turn off the light and go to sleep. Disturbed by the sound, her temper flared. She threw off the covers and shuffled over in her slippers to open the door.
The door opened, and Chiron stood outside. He was just about to speak when his gaze crossed over Jiang Lijin's shoulder and landed inside the room.
Tinia had, at some unknown point, moved from the sofa to the bed. He was lying on his side, propping his head up with one hand. The buttons of his silk pajamas were mostly undone, exposing a large expanse of fair, firm chest muscles. His short blonde hair looked messy, and his blue eyes stared straight at Chiron outside the door.
He deliberately lowered his voice, speaking in a hoarse tone as if he had just woken up.
"Sister, who is it? Keeping people from sleeping in the middle of the night."
Chiron usually had excellent self-control. When faced with Tinia's childish little tricks, he always adopted an attitude of complete disregard.
But tonight, seeing Tinia lying so brazenly in Jiang Lijin's bed, Chiron's breath hitched for a second.
Following Chiron's line of sight, Jiang Lijin turned her head and also saw Tinia on the bed. The corner of her eye twitched twice. When did this kid climb up there? And posing in such an inviting manner, no less.
"Shut up," Jiang Lijin glared at Tinia.
Tinia pouted in grievance, pulling the quilt up to cover half his face, leaving only his eyes to stare at Chiron.
Jiang Lijin turned back to look at Chiron. "You're knocking on doors in the middle of the night. What is it?"
Chiron withdrew his gaze and met Jiang Lijin's eyes once more. "Regarding that post on the Star Network, there are some things I want to discuss with you."
Jiang Lijin leaned against the doorframe and yawned. "Discussing a post in the middle of the night?"
Chiron fell silent for a few seconds. He looked at Jiang Lijin's sleepy face, then cast another glance at Tinia on the bed.
"It looks like now is not a good time." Chiron's voice was two pitches lower than usual. "I'll come back tomorrow."
"Fine, we'll talk tomorrow." Jiang Lijin closed the door.
The corridor returned to silence.
Chiron stood where he was, staring at the tightly shut door without leaving immediately.
Why was it that seeing Tinia in her bed filled him with such a destructive urge? He wanted to throw that blonde boy out of the room; he wanted to lock the door tight.
Chiron closed his eyes and took a deep breath, analyzing his own emotions.
It wasn't because his conversation had been interrupted. It wasn't because of his distaste for Tinia.
That sour, restless, and aggressive emotion.
It was jealousy.
Reaching this conclusion, Chiron himself felt it was absurd. He was the partner assigned to Jiang Lijin by the Mastermind; this was merely a forced marriage based on genetic data. He was curious about her and felt a sense of responsibility. That should have been all.
But now, he actually could not control his emotions, wanting to immediately drag that blond brat right out of her bed!
He slammed his water glass heavily onto the table, making a sharp clinking sound.
...
The morning sunlight filtered into the room through the gaps in the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Jiang Lijin rolled over, her arm brushing against a warm body. She opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was a magnified face.
Tinia was sleeping soundly, clinging to her like an octopus with one leg draped over her waist.
[Reporting to host.] Xiao Yi's voice rang out in her mind. [He climbed up at three in the morning. Seeing that you were fast asleep, I didn't dare wake you.]
"Ti-ni-a!"
Tinia was jolted awake. He rubbed his eyes, looking completely bewildered.
"Morning, sister. Why are you up so early?"
"Let me ask you, why are you in my bed?" Jiang Lijin pointed at him.
Tinia sat up straight, scratching his messy blond hair with a face full of innocence.
"I sleepwalked. Sister, you don't know this, but I've had this problem since I was little. I sleepwalk whenever I'm under a lot of stress. I really didn't mean to."
[Host, he's lying!] Xiao Yi immediately jumped out to expose him, playing a video playback in Jiang Lijin's mind.
In the footage, Tinia quietly lifted the blanket and slipped in like a slippery eel. He even skillfully pulled Jiang Lijin's arm over to wrap around his own waist.
[I recorded it! He walked over from the sofa with his eyes wide open and perfectly steady last night, and even lifted the covers to get in himself! His movements were super practiced!] Xiao Yi added indignantly.
Jiang Lijin sneered.
She raised her leg, aimed at Tinia's waist, and kicked him without mercy.
"Ouch!"
Tinia rolled off the bed, blanket and all, crashing onto the carpet.
"Sleepwalking, huh? Are you awake now?" Jiang Lijin stood by the bed, looking down at him from above.
Tinia rubbed his waist as he climbed up from the floor, looking at Jiang Lijin with a pitiful expression.
"Sister, you really kicked me. It hurts so much. You can't just wake up a sleepwalker like that, they'll turn stupid."
"You're already stupid right now." Jiang Lijin turned and walked toward the bathroom. "Go get dressed and get out to eat breakfast."
