What was this girl doing coming over in the middle of the night?
"Saina said you were so focused on the blueprints at dinner that you barely ate any meat." Elonore walked to the stone table, opened the food box, and took out a plate of warm red bean cakes. "She told me to bring you a late-night snack."
Su Li tossed the charcoal pencil in his hand onto the parchment.
That flimsy excuse might fool ghosts. If that woman Saina had really thought he was still hungry, she would have charged down here with the big iron soup ladle and forced him to gnaw every last bit of lamb off the ribs. She would never have sent someone else to deliver food.
"Go on. You didn't come all this way in the middle of the night just to bring me pastries." Su Li picked up a red bean cake and took a bite. It was rather sweet.
Elonore sat on the stone bench opposite him. Both hands clenched tightly around the smooth hem of her skirt.
"Master Su, you went to ask my granduncle about Active Circuits today."
"Your Merchant Association's grapevine is pretty useful." Su Li swallowed the remaining half of the cake. "Talia turned around and reported me right away?"
"It wasn't Granduncle who said it." The little girl objected. "There's a hard rule in the Merchant Association: whenever someone asks about core technology, it must be reported to the Council of Elders immediately."
"Oh." Su Li showed little interest as he picked up his cup.
Elonore straightened her back and gathered tremendous courage. "Granduncle can't teach you, but I can."
Su Li's hand, which had been reaching for the cup, stopped in midair.
He raised his head and looked the seemingly frail, obedient little elf over