Chapter 796: His Stubbornness
Chapter 796: His Stubbornness
Liam did not answer immediately. He moved toward the desk, adjusted the document case he had retrieved from Tactical Espionage, and placed it properly beside his notes. The assignment was already irritating enough without Mabel making it sound more important than it needed to be. Observe one person for a week without being noticed. Record habits, routes, repeated behaviors, blind spots, emotional triggers. Do not get discovered. Do not lie about it if discovered. Simple in structure, unpleasant in implication, and exactly the sort of thing Seraphina would use to turn half the class into fools."Whoever seems easier to deal with," Liam said.
Mabel’s head tilted slightly. "What do you mean?"
"It means exactly what it means."
"That is not an explanation."
"There are only seven students in that class," Liam said, turning back toward her. "That leaves a large number of people outside it to pick from. I have no intention of treating this like a life-or-death assignment."
Mabel studied him for a few seconds. There was no judgment in her gaze, only evaluation. "That is a little new coming from you."
"How?"
"I expected you to choose someone difficult," she said. "Someone whose habits would be harder to uncover. Someone worthy of valuable discovery."
Liam gave a faint shrug. "I am still doing that."
Mabel’s brows shifted slightly beneath the edge of the mask. "By choosing someone easy?"
"Everyone has something valuable to discover," Liam said. "Ease does not mean useless."
Mabel went silent for a moment, then gave a small nod. "Fair enough."
Liam walked toward the bed and sat briefly on the edge, rolling one shoulder as the heat inside him finally balanced out. "Besides, I don’t need to waste effort proving I can make the assignment harder for myself."
"That sounds almost healthy."
"It isn’t."
"I know. That is why I said almost."
He ignored that.
Mabel reopened her book, though she did not return fully to reading. "Then do as you please."
"I intended to."
"I am aware."
A short silence settled between them, comfortable in the way silence with Mabel usually was. She did not fill space because she feared emptiness, and Liam did not speak unless he felt words were needed.
Outside the window, the last traces of daylight had vanished. The academy grounds below were now lit by lamps and moving shadows, and the cold pressed faintly against the glass.