Sunday's Reward

Robin did not answer immediately. She withdrew the hands resting on her knees and gently rubbed her cuff between her fingertips, as if considering where to begin.

"First of all, my performance was a great success." Robin lowered her eyes. "After it ended, there were people everywhere. Everyone poured into the streets, calling for peace and an end to the fighting."

Images from the day Jingxing entered the city surfaced in his mind—the recruitment notices on street corners, the military music playing on repeat over the broadcasts, and pedestrians walking with their heads tucked down.

Now, encouraged by Robin, those people had finally stepped forward to call for hope for a brighter tomorrow.

"Although the opposition didn't want to see that happen," Robin continued. "They brought in people from their own territory to suppress it. But the Corporation's people arrived early this morning."

"The Corporation?" Jingxing was surprised. The Interastral Peace Corporation had previously intended to stand by and do nothing.

"News that I'd been shot reached headquarters, and Thousand Stars City dispatched an armed force overnight." An indefinable note entered Robin's voice. "In less than a night, every opposition stronghold on Vesna IV was cleared out. Now the entire planet is under the Corporation's 'protection.' The Corporation plans to present my performance as an example of Interastral Peace Entertainment's charitable work and broadcast it across the galaxy."

Jingxing fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed. There was no satisfaction in his laughter, only a complicated understanding.

"So the Corporation could do it after all," he said. "It wasn't that they couldn't."

"Yes." Robin gazed out the window for a long time before speaking softly. "If taking a bullet means everyone on this planet can return to a peaceful, stable life, that's not so bad."

Jingxing looked at the bandage still wrapped around her neck and said quietly, "But it was too dangerous for you. If..."

He stopped himself, not wanting Robin to think he was trying to use the favor to get something from her.

That was when the door swung open.

"Robin!"

First came a voice full of anxiety and panic, and then a face—well, sorry, but Jingxing had only glanced at the man when a searing pain exploded deep in his eyes, before he could make out his features.

He hurriedly looked away, tears seeping from the corners of his eyes. In his peripheral vision, the man was shrouded in a light that remained dazzling even though it had been suppressed as much as possible—more intense than when Robin sang with all her strength.

That's terrifying. Don't tell me this guy is an Emanator of Harmony? Jingxing grumbled inwardly.

The man's gaze fell first on Robin. Only after confirming that she was safe and sound did he slowly turn toward the bed.

"Brother." Robin stood up, her voice carrying delighted surprise, along with a little awkwardness at being caught on the spot.

Sunday looked down at the bandage on his sister's neck. His brows drew together almost imperceptibly, then relaxed. "Is it serious?"

"It's just a flesh wound. I'll be fine after resting for a while." Robin smiled and turned around to reassure him. "How come you're here? Aren't things busy in Penacony right now?"

"The Corporation told me you'd been attacked. How could I sit still?"

Although Sunday's tone sounded quite gentle, Jingxing could feel that his gaze had never left him.

Robin noticed it too. She stepped sideways, placing herself squarely between them. "Brother, this is Jingxing, a friend I met during this charity tour. He's from Klimt, and he was the one who saved me yesterday."

"Mr. Jingxing." Sunday reached a hand past his sister's shoulder with a smile. "I'm Sunday. Thank you for looking after my sister."

Jingxing reached out and shook his hand. But the instant their palms touched, the small amount of Imaginary Energy he had just recovered deep within his body inexplicably shrank back—as if it had scented a superior predator in the woods.

"Miss Robin helped me a lot too," Jingxing replied, hastily pushing the stray thought from his mind.

"Oh?" Sunday did not let go. "How did she help you?"

Jingxing froze, unsure how to answer. Given the way Sunday was acting, if he were to say that the two of them had slept in the same tent and all that...

Robin's ears visibly turned red. She took half a step forward, grabbed Sunday by the cuff and pulled him toward the door.

"Brother! He just woke up. Don't disturb his rest! If you have something to say, say it outside!"

"I'm thanking him—"

"Outside!"

Sunday let his sister drag him out, smiling all the while. But just before she pulled him through the doorway, he glanced back at Jingxing.

I'll remember you.

The door clicked shut.

Jingxing leaned against the headboard and belatedly let out a breath. He looked down at his hand; his fingertips were still numb.

Robin's brother was the head of Penacony's Oak Family and the highest authority on the Planet of Festivities.

He rubbed the space between his brows. From outside came the sound of a conversation in lowered voices, with only indistinct words filtering through the door—

"...Brother, don't look at him like that..."

"...He saved you, and I should thank him. But..."

"...Gratitude and romantic feelings aren't the same..."

"...You've only known him a few days..."

After that, their voices dropped even lower. There was an especially long silence, followed by Sunday's voice.

"...The news of the manifestation can't be kept secret..."

"...All sides are rushing to this planet..."

"...This place will soon be caught up in trouble. You can't stay here any longer..."

Finally, two phrases drifted in, perfectly clear.

"...Herta Space Station... letter of introduction..."

Jingxing stared at the ceiling, slowly grasping what was going on. "They're trying to send me away."

He gave a wry smile, but he couldn't really be angry. For one thing, what they were offering happened to be exactly what he needed most: his eyes hurt more with each passing day, and if this dragged on, he would struggle even to open them normally. For another, Sunday's words weren't entirely selfish. The whole galaxy knew the coordinates where the Aeon of Beauty had manifested, and interested factions were already on their way. Vesna IV would likely soon become the center of the vortex.

Robin was a Halovian singer, the jewel of the Oak Family. The vortex couldn't sweep her up.

But he was different. He was a newcomer who had only just stepped onto a Path, and he was the vortex itself. He had to leave.

When the door opened again, Robin came in alone. She sat down beside the bed and was quiet for a while before speaking. "My brother says he can write you a letter of introduction to the Herta Space Station."

"With a recommendation in the Oak Family's name, the space station will definitely take you in. That way, your eyes will certainly have a chance."

Jingxing looked at her without answering immediately.

"He also said," Robin continued, lowering her voice further, "that it won't be safe here much longer, so the sooner you leave, the safer you'll be."

As she said this, her fingers twisted her cuff back and forth, just as they had at the start.

Jingxing looked at Robin. Whether Sunday's aim was to send him away or protect him, the family head had handled everything so flawlessly that Jingxing couldn't even find grounds to refuse.

"All right," he said. "Thank your brother for me."

Robin nodded without raising her head. The wind outside blew the curtains out, then let them fall again.

"...When you get there, remember to write to me," she said softly.

Jingxing looked at her lowered eyes and moved his throat, then took out his phone. "Let's exchange contact information instead."

"Mm-hmm!" Robin's spirits lifted. "Oh, right, we can chat directly on our phones!"