Shelly was trying to reassure herself.

[Basic Transformation Pill Cooldown: 0 minutes 43 seconds]

[Focus, Shelly!] She shook herself mentally while vibrating a little from nervousness.

[Basic Transformation Pill Cooldown: 0 minutes 18 seconds]

Shelly positioned herself near Neville’s head and opened the system inventory. She was aiming a little above Neville’s mouth.

[Host? I need you to focus for just a moment.] 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Mmm?"

[I’m going to give you a pill. You need to swallow it. Can you do that, host?]

"Pill?" Neville’s brow furrowed in confusion. "Don’ wan’ pills... pills are gross..."

[This pill will make you feel better, host.]

"Don’ feel bad. " He let out a small hiccup.

[Basic Transformation Pill Cooldown: 0 minutes 05 seconds]

[Host, please. I really need you to cooperate here.] Shelly’s voice took on a pleading tone.

[0 minutes 04 seconds]

His eyes opened slightly—still glassy and unfocused, but at least open.

[0 minutes 03 seconds]

"Shelly?" His voice was small, almost childlike.

[0 minutes 02 seconds]

Shelly had an animated coaxing expression as she said, [Now please, trust me and take this pill, host.]

[0 minutes 01 second]

[Here we go!]

[Basic Transformation Pill Cooldown: RESET]

Shelly materialized the pill in the physical world, causing it to appear directly in front of Neville’s mouth. [Open your mouth, Host!]

Whether through actual comprehension or just blind luck, Neville’s mouth fell open slightly. Shelly wasted no time—she dropped the pill past his lips and onto his tongue.

"Swallow! You need to swallow!"

The pill had an interesting property—it would dissolve rapidly when in contact with saliva, but it needed to make it down the throat for maximum effectiveness. Shelly watched anxiously as Neville’s throat worked sluggishly.

"Come on, come on..."

Finally, after what felt like an eternity but was probably only about ten seconds, Neville’s throat convulsed in a proper swallow.

The pill went down.

[Basic Transformation Pill Successfully Administered

Duration: 20 hours

Cool down Timer: 24 hours]

Shelly let out a long, relieved sigh.

Neville had already drifted back into unconsciousness, his breathing now deep and even. The combination of the alcohol, the physical stress of near-dehydration, and now the pill’s effects had essentially knocked him out cold.

Shelly took a moment to float there, watching her host’s chest rise and fall steadily.

They had made it through.

[Host,] she said softly and helplessly, [you are, without a doubt, the most troublesome person I’ve ever met.]

She paused, [I can rest for a while now, right?]

Then she vanished.

...

Since the soundproofing of the interstellar era was the best, all that happened inside wasn’t heard from the outside. The same goes for what happened outside.

The soft click of the door closing behind Grayson echoed through the empty hallway of the 44th floor. He adjusted his collar, the ghost of Neville’s ocean pheromones still clinging to his clothes. His lips curved into an unconscious smile.

Grayson was stepping out of room 4410 when a lean figure rounded the corner. Walking down the hallway was a male with a lean build, moving with light steps like a trained fighter who could go under the radar.

Grayson’s eyes narrowed as the person came into view.

Ethan Goelet was walking out from the shadows. His expression changed the moment he saw Grayson. A smile curved into place, but there was no warmth behind it. Each step he took shortened the space between them; the air tightened as their shadows touched.

"Well, well. Who do we have here?"

Ethan Goelet glanced at the door behind Grayson.

"4410," he said casually, as if reading a plaque.

Ethan Goelet’s smile sharpened as he sneered.

"I didn’t think the great Grayson Maxwell had time to escort a mere employee home."

Grayson looked at Ethan Goelet and said, "I make sure all of my people are accounted for. Especially when someone seems to take too much interest in them."

Ethan Goelet gave a low chuckle, slow and mocking. "Interest? Is that what we’re calling it now? Sure, let’s call it that. But, don’t think I didn’t notice you and Neville spending time in the same room. This is the second time, Grayson."

Grayson looked back at Ethan Goelet and asked curiously, "Second time?"

"Oh, please." The smile on Ethan Goelet’s face widened, "I know everything, Grayson."

His silver eyes had gone cold, and let Ethan Goelet continue.

"Everything he does. Where he goes. Who he talks to. What time he return to his room each night." Ethan Goelet walked closer to Grayson as if challenging him. He tilted his head slightly and continued, "What? Did you think you were special, Mr. Maxwell? That you were the only one who noticed him?"

Grayson stepped forward, closing the distance between them. His alpha pheromones leaked out, pressuring the other.

"Let me make this clear, Mr. Goelet." Grayson enunciated each name with cold precision. "If your ’interest’ ever crosses the line again, you won’t like my version of consequences."

Any lesser men would have backed down.

But Ethan Goelet just laughed.

The sound echoed in the empty corridor, sharp and brittle and wrong in a way that raised the hair on the back of Grayson’s neck.

"Don’t be so hypocritical, Grayson."

His tone slid into mockery while his eyes glinted.

"You want to lecture me about crossing lines? You, who always swoops in at the last minute to save him?"

The accusation landed like a slap. Grayson’s jaw tightened; a slow, dangerous calm pooled in his silver eyes. "I don’t pretend. I do it when I can."

"When you can?" Ethan Goelet repeated, scoffing. He jabbed a finger close to Grayson’s face—brazen and rude. "But do you, in time? How many times has Neville been in a tricky situation? How many times did you fail to even prevent those dangers in time? Don’t be smug and pretend that you’re the only one who can protect him. You won’t always be able to."

Grayson’s eyes narrowed to slits, silver irises nearly disappearing behind dark lashes.

"Don’t be too full of yourself, either, Mr. Goelet. People have their own thoughts and opinions. Sometimes things just happen."

Ethan Goelet’s smile crumpled into something feral.

"What? Just because you got closer to him in a short time, you get to say things like that on his behalf?" His voice dropped, ragged with something like rage. "You don’t get a claim on him, Grayson."

"That’s not how this works," Grayson advised, shaking his head. "Unlike you, I don’t mistake possession for affection. Yours is an obsession. There’s a difference."

Ethan Goelet’s smile faltered—only slightly. "You talk like you already own him."

"I don’t." Grayson’s reply was firm, eyes glinting under the dim lights. "That’s why he is close to me."

That hit a nerve. Ethan Goelet’s jaw tensed. "You think you’re better than me? He’s just close to you because he thinks you’re safe. You know deep down you’re worse than me, Grayson. He’ll learn what it feels like when that safe space you falsely gave collapses. It’s not the first time this happened, anyway."

Grayson tilted his head, studying, him gauging how much he actually knows. "And you always break things you take ’interest’ in. That’s why he’ll never be close to you."

For a moment, the air between them seemed to still—thick with unspoken intent.

"You and I are really the same." Ethan Goelet’s lip curled with genuine disgust. "But that’s why I despise you. You’re not as clean as you pretend to be, Grayson."

For a moment, Grayson said nothing at first. But when he finally did, his voice carried a note of dark amusement.

"I’m not saying that I’m clean or perfect or that I can always help him when he needs help, Mr. Goelet. But are you?" Grayson said as he pointed out. "I smell fresh blood on you. A Beast? A Human? Or a Beastman? Care to tell?"

Ethan Goelet’s expression changed; the smirk that curved his lips now carried genuine menace.

"You can smell it? You have a good nose on you, Grayson," he acknowledged with a casual shrug that didn’t match his expression. "But you’ll never know. After all, I’m very good at covering my tracks, Grayson."

The admission should have been shocking. Instead, it simply confirmed what Grayson had already suspected.

"Guess I’m not the only hypocrite in this hallway then." Grayson smiled coldly. "Just remember what you said, Mr. Goelet. Remember it on the day you lose everything."

"Then keep your watch, Grayson." Ethan Goelet delivered the threat with ease, "Your time may come sooner than you think."

"Should be entertaining to watch you crash and burn," Grayson said with confidence.

Just as Grayson walked away, his light brain buzzed. It was Bryan Stewart.

B.Stewart: Boss, you need to see this. Sending encrypted files now.

B.Stewart: Should I involve the... crow?

G.M.: Not yet.

G.M.: But have them on standby.

Grayson gritted his teeth and lamented his poor grip on the company, only to get an earful from Ethan Goelet.

These irrelevant people kept messing with my stuff, and I couldn’t do what I wanted anymore.