The ashen-haired, gray-eyed beauty stood there wearing an oversized black shirt over her gray shorts. In her hands were a spatula and the frying pan, in which she stirred the eggs properly before placing them on the stove once more.

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Why is she here?

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Honestly, there were many motives I could think of. Starting from the fact about her brother to trying to find dirt on her cousins, uncles or even father. There were about 4 or 5 reasons she could be here.

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But in the end, I gave up.

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After 72 hours of being awake at a conscious level, thinking was becoming a little complex. Simpler tasks were easier, and even physical tasks were doable, but anything that got beyond the mundane would be taxing.

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Quite the worst timing she got. Or perhaps the best from her perspective. I sighed before asking,

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"What's for breakfast?"

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A sudden smile on her face with a darting look in her eyes. She paused her work for a brief second before continuing to stir the fry pan.

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"Omelette Rice," she answered with the same smile as before.

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As she cooked, I set the small plates on a small dining table, before wondering if it was just us. Then, stacking two extra plates with a spare spoon, fork and knife, I sat there silently waiting for her to finish.

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"Elder brother lost most of his powers," she spoke as she placed the food on the table before sitting opposite me.

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"He lost both his best friend and his wife in a single night, losing more than half of his power at once. Now the entire family is reconsidering whom to choose as the next heir to the family business," she added as she placed the food on her plate.

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I nodded, following the same, before taking a spoonful of it into my mouth.

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It's good.

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"Whom do you think the family would support next?" She asked with a bright mood.

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With Lucas Bellimore out of the picture, it should be Gray next. Unfortunately, given Gray's tendencies, the Family most likely won't choose him and assess Alexandra. However, because she is a girl, I suppose there's a high chance that things would be delayed before they reach the final conclusion. I gave it a brief thought based on the recollection I had of Bellimores.

"It's going to take some time," I answered, making her look at me and nod before saying,

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"It's all right. Take your time."

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She misunderstood. I thought, but I didn't have the energy to explain that, so I just kept quiet.

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"Last time I went in a hurry because of the situation, so I came back to reward you for what you have done for me," she said, but

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"I did it because I wanted to. You don't have to give me any reward. Though if you have any other commissions, I can take that."

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The first one was a freebie. The next one would be costly. It was difficult to recall what I was thinking back then, but it was something based on my moral principles. To return the favour of those who have helped me out or trusted me enough. It was probably that.

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"Hmmm. All right. So, can you look into someone for me?" She asked as she then took out a photo from her pocket.

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A black haired kid with whiskers on his nose. He had a chubby face, but somehow, one can still find the refined look in his expression. Especially in his black eyes.

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"His name is Mercer Debraou. One of the relatives of my best friend went missing after coming to Valley City. Nobody knows where he is, or how he is, but his family is dearly missing him. They tried everything they could, but still could not find him. Think you can look into him?" She asked with a concerned expression.

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A test, huh? I understood the intention before taking another look at the photo.

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"How much are you willing to pay?" I asked directly.

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This commission was both time-consuming and dangerous. Plus, given the difficulty, it was honestly hard to say if I would be able to find him at all. The most I can do is trace his steps through the cameras before making a visit to the last place he went by myself.

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Once I reach there, it will once more be a long stretch of investigations and search before we can finally get a clue about him.

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"The family was ready to pay 1 Million Dollars to whoever found him. So, I guess that would be the commission," she said without giving a second thought to the amount she just mentioned.

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A million dollars, huh? That would surely reduce many of my immediate problems. I considered it before turning back to her and answering,

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"I will look into it. If I get anything, I will send you a message. Though, don't expect too much."

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We then silently ate the rest of the omelette rice and then washed the dishes together.

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"Say, what do you think about my brother? You must have researched him, haven't you?" She probed a little, to which I paused for a brief moment, recalled a few bits of information about him before sighing and answering,

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"A cunning narcissist."

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Alexandra's smile brightened a little before she said,

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"I came here with two purposes."

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Finally opening up, huh? I thought she would just leave without saying anything till the end. I looked at her, preparing to listen attentively.

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"First was to give you the reward for what you had done. But since you rejected it twice, I won't be doing that. Instead, I will bring you commissions just like with Mercer. Hopefully, that would put your skills to good use while earning you good money," she said as if she saw through me.

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It did make sense somewhat. I didn't like favours and would probably return them as soon as possible. Though if it were a deal like this, I don't think I would have any problems with it. In fact, I might welcome it even more.

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"The second is to ask for your help in finding more dirt about my brother, Gray. And also on my father, if possible," she said with a straight face.

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Should I pretend that I didn't hear that? It really is unnecessary trouble at this point. I pondered it.

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The situation with Lucas's misfortune was pretty much direct, so there wasn't as much problem in exposing him. But Gray was different. He was meticulous with everything he did.

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"I would suggest you let the situation calm down first," I suggested. Partially because doing anything against Gray would backfire, while I personally didn't want to get involved in their personal affairs. At least until I have built a sizable power of my own.

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"Why do you say so?" She asked, a bit puzzled.

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"Your family would be in trouble with the next heir, but the current one, your father, is not going to retire anytime soon. The only reason he was going to pass it to Lucas was that he was that good in his eyes. Now that he is gone, he would most likely start assessing the rest of the children. And that is going to take time," I answered in the most appropriate way possible.

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"Won't it be too late by then? There is Gray, almost ready to be crowned, you know?" She asked a bit concerned, to which I paused before thinking about Gray once again. The cunning narcissist bastard who only thinks of himself.

"Lucas was easy to control. Gray isn't," I said before cleaning the last plate and then placing it in the rack.

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Alexandra was in deep thought as she then sat down at the table, thinking about what I had just said. Meanwhile, I stretched a little and then took out some books regarding the entrance exams.

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As the exams were getting closer, I was about to spend most of my time today revising the content. I already knew most of the subjects by heart, but I still needed a thorough revision of everything that I could read. Since I can't do it all the time, I needed to make some spare time here and there.

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"Studying for the exam?" Alexandra asked, to which I nodded before she pondered and then added,

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"I'll send you a list of topics that are generally asked in the exam. That should help you score more marks."

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I paused at her words before nodding.

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"Thank you," I added.

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"It's all right. Talking with you takes at least 70% of my burden off my shoulders. It's way more than just a list of topics that I can provide," she smiled before she started talking about some mundane things.

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Though I said mundane things, she was generally talking about my studies and explaining the things that I already knew. And even though I could have studied faster on my own, I decided to let her talk since there could be some things that I missed that she knows.

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Perhaps a key fact about some topic or something.

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Our study session continued for about 3 to 4 hours before she looked at the time and finally decided to leave. With a bright smile on her face, she waved me goodbye and exited the apartment.

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In the end, she did not tell me what she was really here for. I sat there with a slight, exhausted look on my face. I was waiting for her to open up and ask me the real concerns she was going through, but in the end, she just circled around the main problem all the time.

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Well. It's not really my concern, though. I massaged my eyes and forehead slightly.

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Both the long talk and the conscious wake hours left me more tired than I expected I would be. I think it triggered my migraine as well.

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"I should go for a long sleep," I thought before writing a note to mom about my tiredness and wanting to go for a deep sleep. Placing it on the kitchen counter, I then locked the door from inside and went to sleep.

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Since mom has an extra pair of keys with her, I don't need to worry about her getting locked out.

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With that in mind, I moved to my bedroom and then immediately fell into a deep sleep.

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That was the last memory I had of that day.

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