Chapter 45: After Staying the Night

In the early morning, waking up from the bed, Cuique subconsciously reached out toward the bedside, only to realize something and stop her movement.

Because she remembered that this was not her own room; there was someone beside her, and it was Xia Liang.

Bathed in the morning light, Xia Liang, lying on the bed, was breathing evenly, clearly still in a deep sleep.

The memories of last night resurfaced, and recalling the previous experience, Cuique could not help but let out a long sigh of relief.

She was never willing to sleep with Xia Liang again.

Not to mention that she had been held firmly before falling asleep, even after Xia Liang had fallen asleep, it had taken quite some effort for her to move out of those arms. In order not to startle the sleeping Xia Liang, Cuique tried to nudge the other’s hand back bit by bit, but was pulled back suddenly by the half-asleep Xia Liang several times, rendering all her previous efforts futile.

It was not until near dawn that she finally managed to break free, escaping that suffocating feeling of being imprisoned, and was able to get a good sleep.

Just like that, morning arrived, and the awakened Cuique jumped off the bed on tiptoe. As she shed her pajamas, threads of blue magic surged from beneath her feet; after these threads coiled around her body, the light dissipated, reforming into the navy blue dress she wore daily.

Covering the quilt on the bed back up, Cuique took one more look at the sleeping Xia Liang, confirmed that her actions had not affected her, and then walked toward the balcony of the room with peace of mind.

—It was not that she chose to leave without saying goodbye, but because she still had to go to work.

For a middle school student like Xia Liang, it was currently summer vacation; having entered the holidays, she could sleep in to her heart's content without worrying about being late. But Cuique could not, because adults do not have summer vacations.

In fact, because she had stayed out overnight, she even had to sneak home before work today to pick up her briefcase and other office supplies.

Finding the balcony of Xia Liang's home, Cuique held the railing and gave a light leap, jumping directly into the air, and then flew up following the surge of magic, rushing into the high sky where she was beyond the sight of ordinary people.

In order not to let her flight be detected, Cuique always controlled the momentum of her magic and chose high-altitude routes as much as possible, which allowed her to avoid notice to the greatest extent.

Choosing such a route was fine in other seasons, but it was already summer. The sun rose earlier and the daylight hours were longer, so much so that in the morning, she had to face the somewhat scorching sun as soon as she flew into the high sky.

Along the way, she squinted her eyes to adapt to the dazzling morning sun of summer, occasionally looking down to overlook the ground to confirm her flight path. A moment later, Cuique found her home and then made a rapid forced landing. The windows of the high-rise apartment had a limited opening angle, so she tried to use the same trick again, sneaking in from her own balcony.

Only, this plan encountered an obstacle.

When she tried to pull open the glass door of the balcony, she found that the sliding door would not budge. Enduring the sunlight reflected by the glass, she looked inside through the door and saw that the internal bolt was engaged.

Very good anti-theft awareness, only it was guarding against one of her own.

Cuique evaluated it as such in her heart.

After all, with her father away on business, it was always right for a minor to lock the doors and windows when home alone.

Of course, such simple measures could only stop robbers or thieves; they were useless against a magical girl. Cuique reached out and released her magic, letting the magic in her hand seep through the gap in the balcony door, then used her magic equipment to hook the magic threads to move the anti-theft bolt from inside, finally unlocking it.

Standing in place and hesitating for a moment about whether to change back to her original form, Cuique soon concluded: go in and check the situation first.

Putting away her magic equipment, she pushed open the balcony door and walked toward her bedroom, trying to keep her footsteps as light as possible. But before she could even walk out of the living room, she heard a sound that made her heart jump.

—"Lord Inspector?"

Turning her head to look, she found it was Moke, who was currently lying on the sofa, raising its head and looking at her with some astonishment.

Its wings were folded on its back, its expression dazed and eyes bleary; it was clearly just waking up from a deep sleep.

Because Moke usually slept in Lin Xiaolu's room, and the spell previously cast on it could only roughly indicate that it was at home, Cuique had never considered the problem of it being in the living room at this hour, resulting in her entire process of entering the house being witnessed.

A feeling of lingering fear could not help but rise in her heart. Calming her heartbeat, which was far faster than usual, Cuique felt somewhat fortunate that she had not chosen to transform back on the balcony just now.

And given the current situation, there was not much time left for her to react, so she suppressed the nervousness in her heart and asked back as if nothing had happened:

"You're here?"

"Hm, yes?" Just waking up from a dream, Moke clearly had not yet figured out the situation.

"That's perfect, I just came over to find you."

Nodding, Cuique said with a serious air: "I should have mentioned last night that I want to conduct special holiday training for Bai Mei and Xiaojin."

"Special training... oh, for the certification test, right?" Recognizing the content of what Cuique said, Moke flapped its wings and sat up. "I know, what are your instructions, Lord Inspector?"

Moke was usually a very mischievous and self-centered fairy, but only when facing Cuique, or rather, when facing the title of "Inspector," did it show obedience and respect that exceeded common sense.

This was actually a matter that quite puzzled Cuique, but now was not the time to ask.

"I want you to be responsible for supervising their training during the day."

With her arms crossed over her chest, she looked at Moke calmly: "Can you do that?"

In fact, in the original plan, she had not intended to let Moke be responsible for this task; after all, no matter how she thought about it, this silly sower would find it difficult to restrain two new magical girls.

She had intended to edit her training plan directly into text and send it to Lin Xiaolu in the form of a message, letting her and Xia Liang follow it, while she herself would only be responsible for checking the results every night.

But at this moment, she had to think of a reason to fool Moke, so she could only say it like this.

"Eh? Supervise Xiaolu and Xiaoliang's training?"

Hearing this, Moke's ears immediately perked up, its expression clearly somewhat moved, but it still demurred: "If they are to participate in the test next year, wouldn't it be more reliable for you to do it yourself? Is it really appropriate to entrust such an important task to me now?"

"I have my own work during the day, so I can't come in person."

Cuique explained nonchalantly: "Besides, is there any problem with this? You are their sower to begin with; being responsible for such things is your job, isn't it?"

"But..." Moke still wanted to decline.

"I believe in your ability." Cuique stared at it earnestly. "No one is born perfect. Although you became a sower by accident, since you were chosen, I believe you have your own unique potential."

"Lord Inspector!"

Moke looked flattered: "You actually think so highly of me!"

"I do indeed think highly of you, but as for whether potential can be turned into strength, that will depend on your performance." Cuique struck while the iron was hot, saying it as if there was a hidden meaning.

"Since you've said so..."

With an excited expression, Moke flapped its wings and jumped off the sofa, saying loudly: "Yes, leave it to me! I will definitely complete the mission!"

The conversation between the two ended with Moke's excited vow.

Next, Cuique told Moke the training items she had already prepared, using about ten minutes to make it understand its duties.

The reasonable excuse and thorough evidence made Moke completely believe Cuique's words and begin to focus on this task.

Although she had successfully fooled Moke, Cuique also wanted to take advantage of this momentum to head to her own room, but looking at Moke's expression of full reverence, she knew that doing so would only cause the other to have new doubts.

If Moke had doubts, Lin Xiaolu would inevitably have doubts as well, which was something she did not want to see.

In the end, unable to think of other excuses, Cuique could only maintain the cold attitude of a superior, and under Moke's respectful gaze, left her home with an arrogant look, while actually sighing inwardly.

That day, Lin Yun, who had not brought his briefcase to work, made three extra apology calls because of it.