Herta's Invitation
On the way back to the hotel from the beach, the Robin remained quiet and didn't make a sound.
After the elevator reached the top floor, only the muffled footsteps of the two of them echoed in the corridor.
When she reached the door, she placed her hand on the doorknob, paused for a moment, and then turned around to look.
"What my brother meant was 'keep things in check,'" she said.
"Um."
"But where the line is drawn is up to me." The next second, the door opened. Robin reached out and pulled Jingxing inside.
The room was dark, with only the neon lights from outside the window filtering in, casting a pale amber glow on the carpet.
The Robin leaned against the door, tilted its head back, its breathing a little disordered, but its hand never let go.
Jingxing simply carried her to the bed in a princess carry. She gave a soft "hmm" and raised her arms to wrap around his neck.
The Halovian's ear feathers were hidden behind her ears, as if they were shyly hiding away, and could not be seen at all. But when Jingxing embraced her, the Celestial Ring poked his face, making him very itchy.
"Your Celestial Ring..."
"Don't speak," the Robin pressed his head down.
That night, the two were just one step away from taking the final one, and after exhausting themselves, they fell asleep in each other's arms.
As the Robin fell asleep in Jingxing's arms, the lights outside the window went out.
Jingxing pulled the blanket up for her and noticed a small red mark on her shoulder that was sticking out of the blanket, as if she had accidentally touched it.
He reached out and pulled the blanket up to cover the mark.
The next morning, the Robin woke up very late. Jingxing, on the other hand, got up early and even ordered breakfast.
"If he knew, he'd probably be furious," Jingxing muttered casually as he brought breakfast to the bedside.
"My brother won't know," she muffled, burying her face in the pillow. "Even if he does, let him take it out on me."
After breakfast, Robin lingered in bed for a while before getting up. She put on his shirt and went to draw back the curtains.
The artificial sun outside the window had just risen above the sea, and the light streaming in made the shirt translucent, revealing the slender figure hidden beneath.
Jingxing was stunned.
He took out his sketchbook from his sachet, turned to a page, and with swift, flowing strokes, quickly sketched the scene before him.
Jingxing vowed never to let anyone else see this sketch.
The Robin on the paper stands by the window, one hand resting on the curtain, its hair disheveled, barefoot, looking back. Anyone who sees it would be momentarily captivated.
In the following days, the two did not schedule any further activities.
During the day, they would sunbathe on the hotel terrace, she would write lyrics and compose music, and he would paint, then they would exchange their works.
In the evening, I took a walk on the beach. Robins were humming a demo of a new song, which drifted far away on the wind.
It wasn't until three days later that Ofila called.
"Miss Robin." Her voice came through the receiver, noticeably polite. "The drawing you posted the day before yesterday has been shared over a million times. Everyone in the comments is asking who drew it. Should we respond?"
The Robin glanced at Jingxing, suppressing a laugh, and said, "A friend."
"Friend," Ofila repeated, "Then I won't ask why this friend was painting in your suite. The company's opinion is that this painting can be kept, but please don't release a second one. Otherwise, if the fans riot, we currently have no news to suppress this kind of trending topic."
"Got it." After hanging up, Robin she collapsed onto the bed.
"What are you laughing at?" Jingxing raised an eyebrow.
"I laugh at Ofila," she said. "She clearly knew everything, but she had to pretend she knew nothing."
That evening, the Robin nestled on Jingxing's shoulder and suddenly said, "You're leaving, aren't you?"
Jingxing didn't answer immediately. He raised his hand and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"I have to leave Thousand Stars City eventually," he said. "After all, I promised Him I would travel more throughout the universe and see more of it."
The Robin didn't press further, but simply rested her face against his shoulder, and after a while whispered, "Then when you leave, don't sneak away; remember to tell me."
"Good."
The day Jingxing left Thousand Stars City, the Robin went to the port.
He stood in the crowd without a hat or scarf. The people sent by the Family stood a dozen steps away, not approaching, but silently blocking all view of the surrounding area.
The port's announcements sounded muffled by the dome, Robin's mood at that moment.
"I'll send you the first copy once the album is finished recording," she said. "You'll have to give me an address."
"Certainly."
"You're not allowed to ignore my messages for another year this time."
"I definitely won't disappear again," Jingxing promised.
She smiled, reached out to straighten his collar, then stepped back and waved to him, saying, "Have a safe journey. I'll be here wishing you well."
As Chasing the Moon were leaving port, Jingxing looked out the porthole and saw the Robin still standing there, looking up at him.
The next six months passed quickly.
Robin's album, titled "Hope Is the Thing With Feathers," sold out its initial print run on its first day of release. However, while Jingxing was observing the battle between the Denizens of Abundance and the Antimatter Legion in a certain star system, he received the album from Interastral Peace Entertainment —to be honest, the postman was quite bold, knowing full well the presence of the Antimatter Legion and the Denizens of Abundance, yet still delivering the album to Jingxing. Out of kindness, Jingxing simply sent him back to Thousand Stars City for free.
As for Jingxing himself, he hasn't been idle for the past six months.
After leaving Thousand Stars City, he first returned to Luofu and spent two days with Fu Xuan. Then he went to several planets he hadn't visited before, dealt with some Antimatter Legions, helped a group of Denizens of Abundance were doing disaster relief, painted some pictures, sold two, and the rest...
He sent the Robin a painting of the sea on the ocean planet Lushaka, stretching as far as the eye could see and merging with the sky like a blue curtain.
One afternoon, more than half a year later, Jingxing took a shower at a small hotel on a trading planet when there was a knock on the door.
He changed his clothes, opened the door, and saw a Herta Puppet standing outside.
"Ms. Herta sent me with a message," the doll said expressionlessly. "Come to the space station; I have something to show you."
What is that?
"You'll see when you get here." The puppet was stiff; it was clear that Herta wasn't controlling it personally.
Jingxing frowned. He no longer owed Herta any debts, and his tone became much firmer. "Explain yourself clearly."
The doll paused for a moment before saying, "Some materials that Ms. Herta scraped off you are being used in a collaborative project with geniuses, and it has yielded groundbreaking results."
"What was that thing of hers called again?" Jingxing vaguely remembered that she seemed to have been involved in some kind of collaborative project.
"The Metaverse," the doll said, "Isn't officially open to the public yet. You're expected to be among the first visitors."
Jingxing glanced back at the painting spread out in the room. It depicted an unfinished sea. "When?"
"We'll start whenever you arrive."
"Let's do it now then." Jingxing shook his head, preparing to take the Herta Puppet, whose origins were unknown, back to the Herta Space Station on the Chasing the Moon.