Morning light squeezed through a gap in the curtains, drawing a long, thin line of gold across the floor.
Odette had folded the bedding neatly and laid the pillow flat at the head of the bed, as if no one had ever slept there.
She turned over and squinted at the clock by the bed. The hands pointed to seven thirty.
As usual, Odette washed up and went to the theater's practice room.
Varesa had always needed little sleep, rising at first light to either wander around the theater or hole up in its kitchen, tinkering with those "delicacies" Odette couldn't name.
At this hour, there would usually be at least a cup of warmed milk on the worktable in the practice room, along with a note that read, "I went to blow bubbles in the little lake behind the theater. Remember to call me when you go to breakfast, and remember to drink your milk."
But today, there was nothing.
The table was bare, the cups were upside down on the draining rack, and even the kettle was cold.
Odette frowned and raised her wrist to check her watch, full of doubt.
Seven forty.
She hadn't read it wrong. Varesa was normally up long before this. Had she worn herself out playing yesterday, or had she gone to blow bubbles and forgotten to leave out the milk?
Forget it. She would keep practicing her dance while the lady seemed to have been given a new assignment by Her Majesty the Empress these past few days and had been too busy to oversee her training for the time being.
After practicing for an hour, Odette still hadn't seen Varesa.
So she decided to go to the garden behind the theater first and see if Varesa was blowing bubbles in the water.
She wiped her hands and headed for the theater's back door, passed through a long corridor, and came to a garden.
Odette stood in the middle of the garden and looked all around, but she couldn't see Varesa.
She walked a few steps farther to the little lake and looked at the water. No bubbles were rising to the surface, either.
So Odette called out:
"Varesa, I came to blow bubbles with you. Come on out."
A long time passed, but there was no response from the little lake...
Could she still be in her room? Is she still asleep, or is she up to something? Odette wondered.
Forget it. She'd go have a look.
Odette crossed the garden and went back inside the theater. As it happened, Varesa's room was at the end of the corridor, on the other side facing the garden, the one that got the best sunlight.
Odette walked to the door, raised a hand, and rapped her knuckles against it.
"Varesa?"
No answer.
She knocked twice more, harder this time. "Varesa, are you in there? It's time for breakfast."
The corridor was silent, save for a few birdcalls from outside the window.
Odette pressed her ear to the door and listened. No sound of anyone turning over, no muffled reply, nothing.
She turned the doorknob.
It wasn't locked.
Odette pushed the door open a crack and cautiously poked half her head inside.
"Vare-"
The word caught in her throat.
The room was empty.
Not empty in the sense that its occupant was gone but her things remained. It was empty in the truest sense, as though it had been cleared out.
The bedding was gone from the bed, the pillow was gone, and even the sheet had been stripped away, exposing the bare bedboard underneath.
Everything on the bed had vanished without a trace.
However, the drinking glass and lamp on the nightstand were still there, as was the novel Varesa had read halfway through.
Odette stood in the doorway, her head buzzing.
She rushed inside in three quick strides, circled the bed, then crouched down to look underneath.
A thin layer of dust had settled beneath the bed. It was completely clear, with nothing there.
She went to check the wardrobe next. She pulled the doors open, and the clothes were hanging neatly in place, not a single one missing.
The desk drawers were all there too, and everything inside them was untouched.
Only the things on the bed were gone.
The bedding, the pillow, the sheet-all gone.
Odette straightened up, her frown deepening. She paced around the room twice, checking the corners, behind the curtains, and even behind the door, but found nothing.
They hadn't been stolen. A thief wouldn't have taken only the bedding.
It wasn't a prank, either. Varesa occasionally pulled little tricks, but she wouldn't joke about something so pointless.
Which meant she had moved the bedding herself.
Where had she taken it?
Odette stood in the room with her arms folded for a while, her gaze sweeping over the empty bed. Then someone suddenly came to mind.
Bai You.
Right, Varesa had brought her back yesterday. How could Odette have forgotten? She was staying in the storage room next door.
Last night, Varesa had even said she was going to see Bai You after her bath.
Odette turned and left Varesa's room, walking much faster than she had on her way there.
After a few steps, she reached the storage room door and raised her hand to knock.
"Bai You? Are you there?"
There was no sound from inside.
Odette knocked again, lowering her voice. "Bai You, it's me, Odette. Are you awake?"
Still no answer.
"Then I'll wait thirty seconds. If you still haven't answered, I'm opening the door."
Thirty seconds later, there was still no sound from the room...
Odette grasped the doorknob and gently pressed it down.
The door opened.
A wave of warmth mixed with a faint, delicate fragrance greeted her.
Odette glanced inside and froze on the spot.
The storage room was dim, with only a little morning light filtering through a small window set high in the wall.
In that faint light, the folding bed was made up with the bedding from Varesa's room-the light blue sheet.
The thick quilt and both pillows had been brought here too, transforming an ordinary folding bed into a cozy-looking "nest."
And Varesa was lying in that nest.
She lay on her side, one arm slipped beneath Bai You's waist, holding her firmly in her embrace.
Bai You had her back to the door, curled up against Varesa's chest with her head resting on Varesa's arm. Her hair spread across the pillow like a soft cloud.
The two were so close that Odette could see Varesa's chin resting in the hollow of Bai You's shoulder, her breath falling against the side of Bai You's neck with each exhale.
Bai You's shoulders rose and fell gently with her breathing. She was fast asleep.
So was Varesa.
Her eyelashes were lowered, her lips slightly parted, and her face wore an utterly relaxed expression that Odette rarely saw.
There was no wariness, none of the tension of someone ready to get up and deal with something at any moment. She was simply sleeping peacefully.
She held someone in her arms as though holding the most precious thing in the whole world.
Odette stood in the doorway without moving for a long time.
Suddenly, she understood.
Why had the bedding disappeared?
Why wasn't Varesa in her room?
Why was there no warm milk on her worktable?
Why hadn't she seen Varesa in the garden?
That woman hadn't gone back to her own room to sleep at all last night.
She had carried her bedding to this storage room and squeezed onto this little folding bed with Bai You, sleeping there all night.
Odette opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she only sighed silently.
In the end, Odette said nothing. She raised a hand and gently closed the door. Better not to wake them.
She left the storage room and turned toward the kitchen, her steps much heavier than they had been on the way over.
A sudden pang of bitterness welled up in Odette's heart, but she paid it no mind, thinking she probably hadn't relaxed properly after dance practice...
The congee in the pot was freshly cooked, bubbling and steaming.
Odette stood at the counter, mechanically taking out bowls, ladling out congee, and setting out chopsticks. Her hand paused when she reached the third set.
She had only set out two before and had almost forgotten there was another person.
She stared at the third bowl and pair of chopsticks for two seconds before finally placing them on the inner side of the table. Bai You was small, so the inner seat was just right for her.
Meanwhile, in the storage room.
The person in Varesa's arms stirred.
Bai You seemed to have been disturbed by some sound. Her eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Her gaze was still a little hazy. She first looked blankly ahead, then seemed to realize something. Her body stiffened, and slowly, slowly, she turned her head.
She found that her head was right next to Varesa's small chest.
Bai You's face flushed red in an instant.
Her mouth opened, then closed again, her flustered gaze darting back and forth over Varesa.
She scrambled to free herself from Varesa's embrace, but the moment she moved, the arm around her waist tightened instead.
Varesa mumbled something indistinct behind her, rubbed her chin against the hollow of her shoulder, and went back to sleep.
Bai You went completely rigid.
She could feel the warmth of the person behind her through their thin pajamas, so hot that the roots of her ears tingled.
The place her cheek rested against was soft and warm, though the drawback was that it was small. Varesa's heartbeat, beat by beat, mingled with her own frantic one until she couldn't tell whose was whose.
She didn't dare move.
She even kept her breathing extremely light, afraid that if she breathed a little louder, she would wake the person behind her.
Bai You simply stopped moving.
She could feel Varesa's breath against the side of her neck, warm and carrying a faint, delicate fragrance.
Varesa, beside her, really did seem to be asleep, her breathing slow and even. Yet her arm never loosened, holding Bai You firmly in place.
Bai You kept her eyes open, secretly watching Varesa, who was still sleeping in front of her. Her heart was pounding so fast it felt ready to leap out of her throat.
Varesa's eyes were closed, her lowered eyelashes casting small shadows beneath them.
Her lips were slightly parted, and a lingering smile touched their corners, as though she were having a pleasant dream.
Bai You watched for two seconds, then quickly turned her head back, her face red again.
She lay there in Varesa's arms, motionless, for she didn't know how long.
Only when Bai You felt as though her face couldn't get any redder did Varesa finally stir, as if she had timed it perfectly.
Bai You opened her eyes and found herself looking straight into Varesa's, just as she woke up...
"I, I..." Bai You opened her mouth, apparently wanting to say something, but her tongue felt tied in a knot.
"Awake?"
Varesa's voice came from above her, husky with sleep. The end of the word rose lazily, like a feather brushing gently over the tip of Bai You's ear.
Meanwhile, Odette seemed unable to wait any longer in the kitchen. Thoroughly impatient, she returned to the storage room door.
Odette opened the door again, just in time to see Bai You and Varesa looking into each other's eyes.
Hearing the door open, Bai You and Varesa both turned toward it at the same time.
Odette stood in the doorway, one hand still resting on the doorknob.
...Scene break...
Thanks to Woexin for the flowers x2.
Thanks to Star Spirit Tide for the flower x1 and the like x1.
Thanks to Ink on Jade Balance for the update reminder charm x1.
Thanks to Miss Yunli for the like x1.
And thanks to everyone for your support.
I love you all つ♡⊂
Also, I finally figured out why the gift called "generating power with love" is called that. It really is meant literally.
Thanks, everyone, for all your support. Next time I write, I'll have to turn on energy-saving mode (-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩___-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩)
I've reached today's word limit, so that's all for now. Thanks, everyone, for your support.