After training with the guards, Lucian took a bath, freshened up and returned to the protected floor early in the morning.

At this point, the guards had changed shifts, staff was moving quietly through the hallway. Clara stood near the lounge with her tablet in hand, already speaking to someone through her earpiece. Lila walked out of the other end of the corridor with a small medical case. Alaric was standing near the elevator, reading something on his phone with the same cold face.

"You look fresh."

Sarah, who was standing near Evelyn’s door commented, talking to Lucian on her own. Now that she knew him a little, ignoring him like she did before seemed childish, he was her team member, and she would treat him as such.

"Thank you. I worked very hard on it."

Lucian smiled as he fixed his still damp hair. For some reason, even that statement made Sarah feel like hitting him.

So much for treating him like a team member.

Before she could say anything else, the door opened and Evelyn stepped out.

She was wearing a soft blue dress under a light coat, her hair fell over one shoulder. She looked fresh, graceful, calm and unnaturally beautiful like always.

She looked around, her eyes moved past everyone else and settled right on Lucian and the moment they did—

"Good morning."

A soft, real smile appeared on her face.

"Good morning, Miss Star—"

Lucian was about to reply, Evelyn however, raised an eyebrow and he quickly corrected himself.

"Good morning, Evelyn. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

You are looking beautiful today."

"Are you saying I didn’t look beautiful yesterday?"

Evelyn smiled playfully and Lucian froze for a moment. Then, he came up with an answer.

"No, yesterday, I was too overwhelmed by your presence to say, but now that I am getting used to it, I can finally say my thoughts out loud."

"Is that so..."

Evelyn’s eyes shone as she stared at Lucian.

The rest only watched their interaction, Evelyn didn’t even look at them after the initial glance.

"Miss Starling."

That was when Lila stepped closer to Evelyn.

"Please follow me for the routine check, it will only take a few minutes."

"Of course."

Evelyn nodded at her with a professional smile, the warmth she had while she was talking to Lucian was gone.

"There’s definitely something going on between you two."

Sarah leaned closer to Lucian and whispered softly. Lucian watched Evelyn walk away, for a moment, his expression was serious, but it didn’t last long enough for anyone else to notice.

"What are you talking about? The two of us are totally professional."

"Righttt."

Sarah only stared at him.

Lucian smiled, not saying anything else.

He obviously did not follow Evelyn into the medical room, that was one of the private spaces, he couldn’t go in unless invited or ordered to.

A few minutes later, Lila came out again.

"There are signs of exhaustion, but other than that, she is stable."

"Good. Then we leave at eight-thirty."

Clara nodded as she looked at her tablet. Evelyn came out after that, adjusting her sleeve. Clara looked at her and—

"Miss Starling, today’s schedule has three appearances."

She informed.

"Three?"

Lucian blinked.

Clara ignored him and continued.

"First, a short recorded segment with Morning View. Second, a charity planning appearance at noon. Third, an evening guest spot for City Lights Live. The last one will include a brief piano segment, no full song."

"I understand."

Evelyn nodded.

Lucian, however, frowned.

"Three appearances, isn’t that too much?"

He asked out loud, again, no one answered.

No one but Evelyn.

"It’s comparatively lighter."

"What the..."

"I usually have five to six appearances in a day."

Evelyn smiled.

"No wonder you are all I see everywhere I go."

Lucian was surprised, Evelyn however, just chuckled.

"That might just be what your eyes notice."

Lucian grinned at those words.

"I can’t deny that, my eyes fail to notice anyone that’s not you."

Sarah watched their interaction and her mouth twitched.

Totally professional my ass.

Clara was staring at the two as well, she didn’t show much of a reaction, she just looked back at her tablet and—

"There is still time before movement. So if Miss Starling wishes to rest, it can be arranged."

Evelyn looked at her, then she looked at Lucian and her eyes shone as a thought appeared in her mind.

"I would like to walk in the garden for a while, alone if possible."

"We cannot let you walk alone, Miss Starling."

Alaric shook his head.

Evelyn looked down as if she was in a difficult situation, then, as if it was the last resort—

"Then let him walk with me? That should work, right?"

She spoke as she pointed at Lucian.

Lucian blinked in surprise, but then he just grinned as he turned to Alaric. The Commander was already staring at him, then he looked at Evelyn and—

"Yes, that is enough."

Alaric sighed.

"Cross, you stay with her. Sarah will be at the outer line, away from you two. Two more guards will be placed at the entrance, make sure no one approaches without clearance."

Evelyn smiled.

Lucian looked at that smile and it made him realise Evelyn wasn’t as simple as he thought she was.

A few minutes later, Evelyn and Lucian were walking in the indoor garden alone.

It was... not really a garden, not in the normal sense.

It was a private glass-covered space built into the upper floor of the hotel. The ceiling was high, made of reinforced glass, morning light fell through it. There were small walking paths and quiet fountains all over the place.

It was beautiful.

Artificial, yes, but still better than another closed room.

Evelyn walked inside, looking at the clear sky through the glass. Lucian walked behind her, not saying anything, and she noticed that.

"You aren’t saying anything."

"They told me not to.

Don’t go blabbering your mouth, Cross. Miss Starling wants rest, do not bother her with your unwanted remarks."

Lucian mimicked what Alaric told him.

Evelyn laughed at that, then, her eyes moved outside, specifically at Alaric who was giving instructions to the guards.

"It seems he knows more about what I want than I do, huh..."

She spoke in her usual soft voice, Lucian however, could feel the frostiness in it and honestly, it made even him shiver for a second.

Evelyn then turned towards him and—

"You can talk."

She spoke directly.

"Half the reason I requested this walk was so that the two of us could talk without those stoic fools staring at us."

Lucian blinked at those words, then however, he smiled.

"So? What does the Evelyn Starling wish to talk about?"

He questioned playfully, Evelyn paused for a slight moment, then her gaze moved past him, towards Sarah who was speaking to one of the guards near the entrance.

"You seem closer to her now."

She spoke in a soft voice but Lucian—

For some reason, his instincts were sensing danger.