'Can't we just cancel this d*mn meeting?' Silas grumbled. He had absolutely no desire to attend. He wanted nothing more than to go beast-hunting with Emma instead. 'I'm fine with it,' Edric replied simply. 'Me too.' Corvin followed. 'Same here,' Marcus added. Emma, however, wasn't too keen on letting Edric go. She knew how much pressure he'd been under lately. Everyone in the house was waiting for him to break through to the next rank—and he was pushing himself hard to make it happen. As a human, she didn't encounter bottlenecks the way the others did. As long as she absorbed enough beast core and got into a good fight, she could advance smoothly. But Edric's case was different. Going from Rank 9 to Rank 10 required not just power but also the right moment—a spark, a moment of insight. Lately, he had barely spoken to anyone. So, Emma sent him a private message. 'Edric, come to my room when you're done.' Then, she went to take a bath. It didn't take long before Edric appeared in her room. The bedroom door was open, and at the sound of his footsteps, Emma called softly, "Edric, I'm in the bathroom." He closed the door behind him and walked straight toward the sound of her voice. Inside, Emma was soaking in the bath when Edric entered, and she reached out a hand to him. He knelt beside the tub, his gaze locking onto her face. Steam swirled around them, but his eyes cut through the mist—dark and clear, tracing slowly from her brows to her nose, then lingering on her slightly parted lips. "Emma," he murmured, his voice low and rough, as though restraining something fierce. For a moment, the world stilled. Only the soft drip of water from her hair and the growing rhythm of his breathing broke the silence. A splash echoed—then Emma leaned forward and kissed him first. "Edric," she whispered against his lips, "I missed you." At those words, his heartbeat thundered in his chest. He cupped the back of her head and kissed her hard in return, wanting to tell her—without words—that he'd missed her too. But with all his effort focused on ranking up, he hadn't dared to relax, hadn't had the time to be with her. Emma tugged at his clothes, pulling him into the bath with her. "Edric… I want your tail." The deep violet-black tail uncoiled, wrapping around her slender waist as the water surged over the rim of the tub, splashing onto the floor. … The next morning, when Emma woke, Edric was still asleep, his tail loosely coiled around her legs. She reached out and pressed her fingertips to the middle of his forehead, letting her mental power flow gently into his mental consciousness. After several sessions of mental comfort, his inner turmoil had quieted. As her energy poured into him, the tail slackened from around her calf and swayed lazily against the sheets. Once she finished soothing him, she slipped out of bed quietly and left the room. …Downstairs, Corvin was unpacking the pile of boxes that had arrived overnight—everything he'd ordered to decorate Marcus' room. When he saw Emma, he brightened immediately. "Morning, Emma!" She glanced at the heap by the door. "Corvin, what are you doing?" "These are the things I bought," he replied cheerfully. "Marcus asked me to help decorate his room." Marcus wants to decorate his room? That's new. … A few days ago, after giving him mental comfort, Emma had thought of helping him with it herself, but she'd been too busy. Now that Marcus had enlisted Corvin's help, she decided not to interfere. "All right," she said with a smile. "Make it comfortable for him." "Don't worry, Emma—I'll make sure he's more than satisfied," Corvin promised. He'd already mapped out the schedule: finish Marcus' room in the morning, then accompany Emma to A3 in the afternoon. Perfect timing.… Breakfast was ready, and after eating, Emma left her dishes for the humanoid robot to clean. Then, she went to check on the little pink fish. It had fully recovered—swimming happily and blowing bubbles in the tank. She decided not to feed it any more leaves, just added a bit of medicine and a few pellets, programming the robot to change the water and feed the fish on schedule while they were away. The pink fish nibbled one of the pellets, puffed out a bubble in disgust, and flicked it aside. Its eyes wandered to the big tank nearby, where several other pink fish swam gracefully. Those smell good. "Emma!" Lucien came over and pulled her into his arms. "Sorry, I can't go with you to A3." "It's fine," Emma responded with a smile. "Do your work. As long as the Empire stays safe, I'll be safe on A3 too."