"Ahem... ahem..."
Griseo gave two rare little coughs, the tips of her ears turning faintly red. Cui Ji's wild speculation hadn't escaped her, but she couldn't explain the real reason.
She couldn't exactly say she just didn't want anyone to know she liked drawing these stories, could she?
After all, she'd kept it hidden from Belle and Wise all this time.
The thought sent a chill through Griseo. That accident when Ellen and her classmates had come to the store had already let Belle find out.
She couldn't let word spread any further. Most of all, she had to keep it from Wise.
That was why she'd chosen to hand over her draft in secret, first thing in the morning, at a milk tea shop in Lumina Square.
Seeing Cui Ji sink deeper and deeper into her own imagined story, Griseo interrupted with a look of concern.
"Cui Ji, are you feeling sick? Is it something left over from the surgery? Did the Ether Corruption not clear up completely? Should I ask Grandma Mobius to come take another look at you?"
As she spoke, Griseo raised her hand. The Infinity Signet slowly appeared, glimmering with a faint light.
"No, no, no! Boss, there's no need! Really, no need!"
The moment Cui Ji saw that familiar Signet, she instinctively backed away several steps, trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind.
And why was she so frightened?
It all went back to when Griseo had saved her by calling in the woman she referred to as "Grandma Mobius."
That Infinity Flame-Chaser had indeed saved her with wisdom beyond imagination, using one operation after another to repair her ravaged body.
But during the process, the genius doctor had also subjected her to no shortage of experiments, leaving a bottomless shadow over Cui