Chapter 177 - 175

Chapter 177: Chapter 175

I touched my forehead, then my cheek where Soren and Vesphyr had kissed me before shrugging.

Whatever. At least they were finally gone.

I took a deep breath and clenched my fists.

"It’s my time to shine!"

I jumped up from the bed, suddenly full of energy, and started pacing around the room.

"First things first, I need to figure out what the hell is wrong with this energy stone. Then I need to check my appointments for this month, reschedule the ones I missed, and raise my prices by ten times to make up for all the trouble I’ve been through—"

I stopped talking when someone cleared their throat and slowly looked back to see Kayden was still sitting at the foot of my bed.

"Why are you still here?"

"I don’t have any prior engagements," he said calmly. "So I’m going to stay with you."

"Why?"

He smiled innocently. "Because I’m your mate."

There was absolutely nothing threatening about his expression but that somehow made it worse.

"For how long?"

"Until you get used to me."

I narrowed my eyes. "And how long do you think that will take?"

"I don’t know," he tilted his head slightly. "But I have a lot of patience."

I felt a strange chill run down my spine. ’Why did that sound like a threat?’

Kayden calmly crossed one leg over the other. "If you need space, I can wait outside your door."

I relaxed slightly. "That sounds reasonable."

"Of course," he nodded. "Although I should warn you that if you try to leave through another entrance, I’ll probably notice."

My smile disappeared. "...What?"

"I have a very good sense of direction when it comes to finding people."

’Finding people, my ass. You don’t even know the way to the bathroom without the twins.’

I forced a smile and pointed toward the door. "You might get bored waiting outside, so why don’t you go torture the twins instead?"

I reached for his hand and tried pulling him to his feet but Kayden didn’t budge.

"Then I’ll just stay here."

I nearly lost my balance.

"No!" I protested and tried pulling him harder. "I need my beauty rest! My energy is already exhausted from dealing with all of you!"

"That’s not fair."

I froze. "Not fair?"

Kayden lowered his gaze, his expression unusually sullen. "You’re already close with the other two. This is the only time I get to spend with you."

He sounded like he was whining.

’Was this the same man who barely spoke when we first met?’

Apparently, he had been saving all his words for now.

"We can spend time together after I’ve rested!" I said, trying to reason with him.

"Who knows how long you’ll sleep?" Kayden countered. "And if you wake up, those two will probably be here again."

I pressed my lips together.

He had a deeply irritating point.

Soren and Vesphyr would probably return the moment they finished their duties, if they didn’t somehow find a way to teleport back early.

’There was only one way to get this stubborn man out of my room and I don’t know if this would even work or not.’

I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek making Kayden immediately silent.

’Perfect.’

"I promise I’ll spend time with you," I said, pulling back. "Just not now. So go already."

He remained completely still.

No reaction, no blinking, he didn’t even seem to breathe.

I waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello? Earth to Kayden?"

Kayden continued staring at me.

’Did I break him?’

After a few seconds, I gave up as I grabbed his hand again and dragged him towards the door.

This time, he allowed himself to be pulled along, though his expression remained suspiciously blank.

I ushered him outside, stepped back into the room, and softly shut the door in his face.

Click.

I leaned against it and let out a long sigh.

’Finally! I could have the entire room to myself.’

No Soren playing with my hair. No Vesphyr wrapping me in his tails. No Kayden calmly threatening to find me wherever I went.

Just me, my bed, and the beautiful freedom to work on my own problems.

"Now, where was I?" I turned around with a satisfied smile. "Ah, right!"

I hurried towards the mirror, unbuttoned the first three buttons of my shirt, and examined my reflection.

The energy stone was embedded in the center of my sternum, as if it had decided that my body was the perfect place to settle down and permanently avoid paying rent.

"I knew it."

I had felt something strange the moment I woke up. At first, I thought the stone had simply changed somehow, but when I tried pulling it out, I immediately regretted that decision.

The moment my fingers touched it, a violent surge of electricity shot through my body.

It felt like a thousand tiny lightning bolts had decided to throw a party inside my nerves.

I hissed under my breath and pointed accusingly at the stone in the mirror.

"I still don’t understand why you suddenly became so docile. You used to reject me like I was your worst enemy, and now you’ve decided to crawl inside my body instead of letting me hold you and turn you into an emblem?"

The stone glowed faintly.

I narrowed my eyes. "Don’t think that makes us friends."

It continued glowing.

"Whatever. I’ll leave you alone for now."

I buttoned my shirt and moved on to the next problem.

According to what Gramps had told me, there were only two possible ways for me to return to the real world: complete a specific task or perform a good deed in this world.

If it was a specific task, then the answer seemed fairly obvious.

I had entered this world believing it was the setting of a novel. However, I was clearly part of the story now, which meant I couldn’t simply sit around and wait for the plot to resolve itself.

If I really was brought here for a reason, then I probably need to help the protagonist.

Unfortunately, Gramps hadn’t explained what that task was which meant I needed a backup plan.

I sat down at my desk, opened OmniSync, and began calculating my financial situation.

My income, expenses, available funds, the money I could earn from upcoming appointments, and the money I had already lost because people kept shooting at me, kidnapping me, or dragging me into family-related disasters.

By the time I finished, I leaned back in my chair and stared at the figures.

"Not enough."

I tapped my fingers against the desk then my eyes slowly lit up.

"Well, well, well."

A wicked smile spread across my face.

Perhaps it’s time to redistribute some wealth.

Gawain already had a list of wealthy businessmen who exploited the poor, overcharged people for essential resources, and shoved the profits into their own pockets.

If we took their illegal earnings and used the money to provide affordable energy stones to people who couldn’t afford them, that would technically count as a good deed.

’Right?’

I leaned closer to the screen.

"And if they happen to lose every single coin they obtained through unethical business practices..." I murmured. "That would simply be the natural consequence of their actions."

"Hehehe..."

After realizing I was laughing like that, I immediately cleared my throat.

’Am I becoming a villain?’

After a moment, I shrugged.

’At least I’ll be a villain with excellent financial management.’

I added the plan to my list.

Second problem: perform a good deed.

Or, more accurately, extort illegal businessmen and use their money to help the people they had exploited.

’I really needed to work on the wording.’

I moved on to the next item.

Third problem: complete the contract with Principal Varek and collect my reward.

That one should have been simple.

Probably.

Unfortunately, whenever I thought something would be simple, the universe took it as a personal challenge.

I sighed and added a reminder to follow up on the contract.

My fingers stopped moving when I went to the last problem.

Fourth problem:my parents.

My smile faded.

I needed to find out who had killed them. That much was certain. But what would I do after discovering the truth?

I stared at the question on my screen.

For once, I didn’t have a ridiculous answer ready.

My parents had been taken from me before I even had the chance to know them. They had left behind nothing but unanswered questions.

I clenched my fingers.

’If I find the person responsible, I’ll make sure to repay them back what they did to you.’

The thought lingered before I leaned back in my chair and looked at the ceiling.

"Why does every problem in my life require emotional development?"

I groaned and covered my face.

"I preferred it when my biggest concern was raising my prices."