When Lu Shiyan's words fell, Jiang Nuan's mind briefly erupted into white noise.
She could hear her own heartbeat.
Thump, thump, thump.
It was too loud—so loud she wondered if Lu Shiyan could hear it too.
He remained in that position, trapping her between the metal desk and his body. She didn't dare look him in the eyes. Her gaze instinctively fled downward, only to land on his unbuttoned collar. The lines of his collarbone were sharp and cold, and a faint, nearly invisible old scar lingered on his skin.
She immediately looked away, fixating on the wall behind his shoulder.
Her hands clenched on the desktop, nails digging into her palms. The sting jolted her back to clarity.
In moments like this, resistance was a very foolish move.
"...I'll follow your arrangements."
Her voice was barely audible.
Lu Shiyan stared at her for a few seconds.
The submission in her eyes was clear, like a small animal trapped beneath a predator's claws, exposing its belly to survive. Though he knew there was an element of performance in her obedience, the dark fire churning beneath Lu Shiyan's gaze finally subsided slightly.
Jiang Nuan keenly sensed the shift in the atmosphere.
She suddenly realized this might be her only chance.
If she didn't speak up now, once they returned to the ward and daily training resumed its normal rhythm, bringing up the idea of going back to Sector C would only become harder.
She took a deep breath.
"Captain Lu... I'd like to go back to Sector C for a visit."
The moment her voice fell, the air froze again.
Lu Shiyan's gaze turned sharp once more.
Silence.
It stretched so long that cold sweat began to creep down Jiang Nuan's back.
Finally, he spoke.
"Reason."
Jiang Nuan swallowed hard, pulling out the excuse she'd prepared. "I... I really miss my friend there. I want to go see her, make sure she's still alive."
"A friend."
Lu Shiyan repeated the word, his tone dripping with undisguised mockery.
He straightened up, raised his right hand, and gripped her chin, tilting her face slightly toward the overhead light. Cold, pale light hit her directly, leaving nowhere to hide.
He looked down at her, slowly scrutinizing her expression.
"Jiang Nuan, a refugee from Sector C of Greystone City. Reclusive personality, long-term solitary resident in the second floor of an abandoned warehouse, almost never forms deep connections with anyone."
He released his fingers.
Seizing the moment, Jiang Nuan pushed herself upright on the desk and met his gaze, steeling herself.
"Well, I still had one or two friends!"
Her voice came out louder than she intended.
"The file doesn't record every single conversation I had every day. I lived in Sector C for ages—there must have been someone who looked out for me, right?"
Lu Shiyan stared at her.
In those dark eyes, her flustered yet unyielding expression was reflected.
A few seconds of silence passed.
Then he did something Jiang Nuan never expected.
"Fine."
Jiang Nuan was stunned.
She thought she'd have to go back and forth a few more rounds. She thought he'd refuse. She'd even braced herself to beg and pester relentlessly.
Just like that... he agreed?
—She won?
"But—"
Lu Shiyan watched her stunned expression and calmly delivered the rest.
"There are rules. You must follow them."
Jiang Nuan's heart sank. Of course it couldn't be that simple. She hadn't won anything.
"I'll arrange an escort for you. You are not to step outside the escort's range at any time."
Lu Shiyan's gaze fell on the collar around her neck.
"Otherwise, you know the consequences."
Jiang Nuan instinctively touched the cold leather strap around her neck and nodded silently. She hadn't planned to act alone anyway—she didn't even know the way back to Sector C.
Lu Shiyan's gaze lifted from the collar, darkening by half a degree.
"One more thing."
"From now on, any study, exploration, or inquiry about abilities in the mental domain—"
He leaned down.
His hands pressed onto the desk on either side of her, his nose almost touching hers.
A breath's distance apart.
"—requires my permission."
"Understood?"
"But—" Jiang Nuan instinctively wanted to argue.
That was going too far.
"This is an order."
Lu Shiyan cut her off directly.
"All you need to do is obey."
Jiang Nuan looked into those fathomless black eyes, feeling the nearly solidified air around her.
She understood. This was the biggest concession Lu Shiyan could make. If she dared say no, the trip to Sector C would be immediately off the table.
"...Fine."
Slowly, painfully, Jiang Nuan nodded.
"Good."
Lu Shiyan seemed satisfied with her recognition of the situation.
He stepped back, finally lifting the suffocating cage around her.
Relieved, Jiang Nuan quickly slid off the desk. The moment her feet hit the ground, her legs gave way, and she pitched forward.
Lu Shiyan caught her swiftly, steadying her arm.
"Th-thanks, Captain."
Jiang Nuan straightened up quickly, trying to pull her arm back.
"Well... if there's nothing else, I'll head back to rest."
All she wanted now was to escape this office as fast and as far as possible.
But Lu Shiyan didn't let go.
He looked at her, a glint of something unreadable flickering in his eyes.
"Back?" he asked flatly.
"Yeah, to my dorm..."
Jiang Nuan's voice trailed off as a terrible premonition surged through her.
"You don't need to go back tonight."
Lu Shiyan released her arm, turned, and walked behind his desk to pick up a file.
"What do you mean?" Jiang Nuan froze.
Lu Shiyan looked up, his gaze calm as he spoke as if stating something perfectly normal.
"You just suffered ability backlash. Your mental core is extremely unstable. On top of that, you opened your mental domain without protection and let someone else invade it."
He paused, his tone businesslike.
"Your mental core is currently in a highly volatile state and needs continuous observation in a space with a suitable energy field."
He pointed to a sliding door on the other side of the office.
That's my lounge. There's a bed inside.
"I can go to the medical bay—" Jiang Nuan was about to lose composure.
"Qi Sui has already clocked out."
"...Sister Menglan is on duty there!"
"She's not an ability user. She can't sense your mental fluctuations."
Jiang Nuan shut her mouth.
Every route was blocked, without a single gap.
Lu Shiyan watched her expression—caught between the urge to resist and the fear to act, unwilling to accept her fate yet unable to swallow her pride—and the faintest trace of a smile flickered in the depths of his eyes.
He walked toward the bedroom's wardrobe, pulled out a neatly folded black T-shirt, and tossed it onto the bed.
"Change into this."
Jiang Nuan stood in the bedroom, clutching the T-shirt that was clearly several sizes too big. The fabric was soft, pure cotton, carrying a faint scent of soap—the exact same smell as him.
She unfolded the T-shirt. The hem reached the middle of her thighs.
...Fine.
It was just sleeping. Nothing to be afraid of.
She took a quick shower in the bedroom's bathroom, changed into the oversized T-shirt, pushed open the door, and peeked into the outer room.
Lu Shiyan sat at his desk, switching to a new pen as he scribbled something on a document.
Hearing the door open, he looked up.
His gaze fell on her.
Jiang Nuan was wearing his black T-shirt.
The shirt was so oversized it looked like a dress, the collar slipping down to reveal a slender collarbone and the pale curve of her shoulder.
The fingers holding his pen paused for a moment.
“Go to sleep. I’ll finish this and come in.”
“Mm.”
Jiang Nuan replied quickly, turned, and disappeared into the bedroom. She moved efficiently, climbing into bed and pulling the covers over herself, curling into a tight roll.
Covered from head to toe, only a small tuft of hair poked out.
The sheets smelled like him, too.
A dry, cool scent.
She buried her face in the pillow and closed her eyes, but her heart still raced uncontrollably.
Through the door, she could hear the occasional rustle of papers being turned and the faint scratch of a pen tip gliding across the page from the other room.
Steady.
Calm.
Like some kind of cold, precise pendulum swinging—tick, tock, tick, tock—in exact rhythm.
That sound oddly carried a sense of reassurance.
Or maybe she was just too tired.
The fatigue from her ability’s backlash, combined with everything that had happened today, made her consciousness blur uncontrollably.
In her drowsiness, her thoughts wandered randomly.
What is this man really guarding against?
Guarding against Shen Wu getting close to her?
Or guarding against her getting close to others?
Or...
Guarding against her getting close to the truth?
The note surfaced again in her mind.
Before she could sort through her thoughts, her consciousness sank into darkness.
She didn’t know how long had passed.
In the darkness, the other side of the mattress dipped slightly.
A warm hand crossed over the blanket and gently rested on her curled-up back.
As if offering comfort.
Jiang Nuan’s eyelashes fluttered faintly in the pitch black.
She didn’t move. Her breathing was deliberately steady, as though she were asleep.
But the hand clutching the corner of the blanket tightened silently.
His hand still lingered on her back.
Through the thin layer of the quilt, she could even feel the warmth of his fingers.
That warmth seeped through the fabric, slowly, drop by drop, into her skin.
Into her bones.
Like a silent, slow, encroaching occupation.
