Mornye, the Fallen Girl

After Sanhua slammed the door and left, Kexi was still sitting on the sofa, covering half of her face, the handprint on her left cheek still bright red.

He looked down at the letter he was holding in his hand; the familiar wax seal on the envelope seemed to mock him.

He was just about to open the book to see what he had written that had angered Sanhua so much when the door was pushed open.

Carlotta walked in, her high heels clicking on the floor at a half-beat faster than usual.

She glanced at the slap mark on Kexi's face, then at the letter in his hand, and her lips twitched downwards.

"Serves you right."

Kexi opened his mouth to explain, but Carlotta didn't give him a chance to speak.

She walked up to him, crossed her arms, and looked down at him as he sat on the sofa, her tone full of disappointment and disdain.

"The Prefect Jinzhou and her bodyguard—when they passed by me, one had red eyes, and the other had a dark expression. Kexi, can you tell me what you did to them?"

Kexi stuffed the letter into her pocket and gave an awkward smile, "We just... chatted."

"They talked?" Carlotta raised an eyebrow. "What did they talk about that made the Magistrate of Jinzhou run out crying?"

Kexi chose to remain silent.

Carlotta snorted and didn't bother to ask any further questions.

She knew her younger brother too well; pressing him for answers would only make her furious.

She reached out and pulled him up from the sofa. "Alright, stop sitting here pretending to be dead. There are people waiting for you."

Kexi was taken aback. "There's more? Who else?"

Carlotta turned and walked out, leaving behind the words, "Go see the other meeting room yourself. Everyone looking for you is arriving earlier than the last; just how many good deeds have you done?"

Kexi rubbed her still-aching left cheek and followed Carlotta through the corridor, her mind racing through all the possible candidates.

We've already seen Changli, Jinhsi has been here, and Sanhua just left, so who else could it be?

As he walked to the door of the reception room, he was still having doubts.

Carlotta pushed open the door, stepped aside to let him in, and then stepped back out, closing the door behind her.

There was a person standing in the reception room.

The man had his back to the door and was looking up at a painting of the Ragunna seascape hanging on the wall.

Her long, silvery-white hair reached her waist; she stood tall and straight, exuding a calm and composed aura.

What caught Kexi's eye was her legs, not flesh and blood, but prosthetics that looked like transparent crystal.

Kexi blurted out, "Mornye?!"

The white-haired woman turned around, her face showing obvious surprise.

"This should be our first meeting." Mornye's voice was lower than Jinhsi's, carrying a scholar's characteristic caution. "I didn't expect Young Master Kexi to recognize me so quickly."

Kexi mentally slapped herself.

Another one.

He quickly adjusted his expression, replacing it with a polite and gentle smile, "Professor Mornye is the most renowned professor at the Star Torch Academy and is quite famous in academic circles, so it's not surprising that he recognizes you."

Mornye stared at him for two seconds, seemingly assessing the credibility of his statement.

Then her eyelids drooped slightly, and a very light pink blush rose on her usually calm face.

Her expression remained calm, but the blush betrayed the emotion she was trying to suppress.

She reached one hand into her bosom, her movements very light and slow, just like Jinhsi taking out her letter.

Then Kexi saw an envelope that he recognized all too well.

"I was invited." Mornye looked up at him. "I heard you're a freshman next year, and I have a question for you."

She paused for a moment, seemingly hesitant about whether to continue.

Then she took a deep breath and held the envelope up to her face.

"Did you write this letter?"

Kexi looked at the letter in Mornye's hand, and then at her serious expression, and she was already prepared.

Anyway, today is what it is, one more or one less won't make a difference, we'll have to face it all tomorrow anyway.

"I wrote it," he said frankly.

Mornye nodded, but her reaction was completely different from Jinhsi's.

She didn't ask why he wrote it to her.

They didn't even ask him if he had written for anyone else.

She simply raised her head and looked at Kexi with pure curiosity.

I have a question I'd like to clarify first.

"More than twenty years ago, I was still studying at the Star Torch Academy. As far as I know, Young Master Kexi, you just turned eighteen this year."

"Can you explain how someone who wasn't even born could write a letter to me from over twenty years ago?"

Kexi's smile was glued to her face.

They've arrived.

He knew someone would ask this question sooner or later.

"That's a secret." Kexi chuckled, trying to brush it off in the easiest way possible.

Mornye clearly wasn't going to let him off the hook.

She pressed for more information.

"Is it some kind of time-based Resonance Ability? Or the effect of some special item? Or some technology mastered by the Montelli Family?"

She took a step forward, her curiosity growing stronger. "I've researched all known time-resonators, and not a single one has achieved intertemporal information transmission. If you can explain the principle, this would be a major breakthrough in the field of Resonance Power."

Kexi felt like she was having her thesis reviewed.

He took a step back, his back resting against the edge of the table in the reception room, his mind racing.

He can't just say, "I have a system."

"Professor Mornye, you didn't come to see me today just to do academic research, did you?"

He decided to take the initiative and change the subject.

Mornye stopped. She glanced down at the letter in her hand, then looked up at Kexi, a subtle wavering appearing on her face.

"I..." she hesitated for a moment, "I am indeed curious about the writer of the letter."

Kexi breathed a sigh of relief.

We're finally back on track.

He straightened up, straightened his wrinkled collar, and his composed smile returned to his face, "Then let me ask you, do you mind that I'm young?"

Mornye was stunned.

She clearly hadn't expected Kexi to steer the conversation in this direction.

Age is not a problem.

She said, her voice still retaining the composure of a scholar, "I just want to understand the principle behind this—"

"Just tell me, when you received my letter, didn't you feel happy and joyful?"

Kexi interrupted her.

They tried to continue leading her astray.

"I really do..." her voice trailed off, "... have always wanted to know who wrote the letter."

"You know, I've always felt that those letters... were sent from another world. Every time I received one, I thought, 'At least there's one person in this world who truly believes I can accomplish something.'"

"Now I've seen you."

"Although you are a little younger than I expected."

"But I don't deny that those letters were the courage that kept me going."

"During the years I was paralyzed, I would occasionally receive a letter from who-knows-where, saying that I was the best, the most talented scientist, the youngest professor in the future, and a great scientist who would change the world."

"I often think about things like this, can I really do it? I'm just a frail and sickly disabled person."

"As the letters accumulated, I started to want to try, to see if I could really do what the letters said."

"I never expected it would actually work! I really did become a professor at the Deep Sky Union and completed Starry Sky Project, giving Lahai-Roi access to the stars."

"At the moment of success, I really wanted to share this joy with the mysterious letter writer who had always supported me."

"I look forward to seeing him and telling him that I did it, that I didn't let him down."

Mornye looked up at him again, her eyes moist, her voice filled with indescribable emotion, "Thank you, thank you so much."

Seeing her red eyes, Kexi thought to himself, "It seems his letter wasn't entirely useless after all."

See, this saved a "fallen" girl.

He needed to seize the opportunity now that the atmosphere was right.

No need for thanks.

He spoke in the most sincere tone, "Mornye, may I ask you a request?"

Mornye raised her head, the tear stains at the corners of her eyes still wet, but her expression had already regained the prudence of a scholar.

What request?

Let me kiss your Tacet Mark.

Mornye froze.

She subconsciously took half a step back, her expression changing from gratitude to astonishment, and then from astonishment to a bewildered panic.

Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly before she finally managed to squeeze out, "This... this isn't a good idea, is it?"

"I'm serious," Kexi said, her expression more serious than ever.

Mornye lowered her head and subconsciously touched her thigh.

"But my Tacet Mark was cut off along with my leg."