The Bookkeeper

"Bloom."

Raiden muttered as his bed and the canopy around it dissolved into dark smoke. The sensation was brief—shorter than he’d hoped—but he could feel his bed as solidly as if it were truly there.

He sighed and extended his hand to stroke Ash’s head. Her wings settled peacefully while she exhaled a smoky breath, wearing a gentle smile.

When Raiden came home with the guardians of silence yesterday, she’d been awake and energetic, jumping around with more joy than he’d ever seen—but she only lasted an hour before drifting off to sleep again.

Her mysterious behavior left Raiden even more confused and frustrated, but he couldn’t afford to dwell on it. Not only was it pointless, but Noelle and MK were causing such a racket in the corridor that his irritation was reaching a boiling point.

He tugged at his hair in frustration, gritting his teeth. He’d offered them rooms downstairs, but Noelle had chosen the two rooms right next to his—she took the one immediately adjacent to his room, while MK settled into the one beyond that.

Raiden quietly got to his feet to tell them to keep it down. The moment he opened the door, there she was—Noelle, leaning casually against the door across from his with the aether cigarette between her lips.

Raiden forced a polite smile. "Could you keep your voice down?"

Noelle faced him with her chin raised, removing the aether that rested in her mouth. "Sorry, who are you?" she asked in Aurelian.

Raiden began to laugh softly, though irritation edged his voice.

"This is the bookkeeper—we met him yesterday," MK said as he approached from his room.

She sneered. "I hate these barbarians... though this one looks too weak to be a guardian," she said in Aurelian.