Chapter 128: The Price of Looking Dangerous

Holding everything in his arms was not a long-term plan, so Elias decided to leave campus and buy another backpack.

On the way toward the gates, System Theta sounded genuinely shaken.

[Host, was this also part of your plan?]

Had even the backpack breaking been included in his calculations? Was this what a top operative’s skill level looked like?

Elias shifted the books against his chest and answered in his head with a calmness that probably deserved some kind of award. Oh, that? No. That came out of nowhere. I was startled too. Good thing Giselle reacted quickly. But even if she’d been slower, it wouldn’t have mattered much. If I embarrassed myself, I embarrassed myself. She would have helped me pick everything up, and I still could have thanked her and slipped in the confession while I was at it.

The process did not matter. The result was the only thing that counted. As long as Giselle Frost heard him express interest, the mission beat had landed.

[...]

System Theta fell into a silence that felt suspiciously like embarrassment.

It was a good thing it had not praised him out loud. That kind of flattery would have hit the horse’s leg instead of the saddle.

Once Elias left Westbridge’s campus, he circled the nearby blocks until he found a small stationery shop wedged between a coffee place and a phone repair counter. The storefront had a narrow glass door, a hanging bell that looked older than the building’s lease, and shelves packed too tightly with notebooks, binders, pens, chargers, and backpacks that ranged from ugly to almost tolerable.

Elias set his books down carefully on the counter and picked up a black backpack with clean stitching and enough compartments to pass for useful.

"How much is this one?"

"Sixty."

He put it back without hesitation.

A backpack could be handsome, practical, and emotionally compatible with his entire student identity, and it still became dead to him the moment it passed the number in his head.

He picked up another one, this time gray with a slightly worse zipper and a shape that suggested it had already accepted mediocrity as a life path. "What about this?"

"Forty."

Elias paused, then put that one down too, though with more reluctance.

When had backpacks become this expensive? He had serious concerns about whether the owner had seen a college student in need and decided to commit daylight robbery with price tags.

He was debating whether to take off his glasses and see if the world wanted to hand him another unreasonable privilege when a car stopped smoothly along the curb outside.

[Host.]

"I know."

Elias turned his head.

He recognized the car.

Victoria Frost.

That was fast. Was she already here to check the results? Or had his successful delivery of Giselle earned him some kind of bonus?

As he watched, a woman in a black suit stepped out from the car. Her hair was pulled back, her posture was professional, and her expression belonged to someone who knew how to stand near money without looking impressed by it.

"Mr. Kane," she said, "Ms. Frost would like you to join her for dinner."

Elias gave a small nod. Then a thought crossed his mind, and amusement slipped into his eyes.

He picked up the sixty-dollar backpack and handed it to the bodyguard. With his chin, he gestured toward the owner behind the counter.

"Go ahead."

His meaning was simple. He wanted the bodyguard to pay for it.

Anything he could get for free, he would not spend a cent on. Even if Victoria heard about it later, she would not care. A sixty-dollar backpack probably registered to women like her the way a pack of convenience-store candy registered to normal people.

Unfortunately, the bodyguard took the backpack, walked to the counter, and asked, "How much is this?"

The owner’s face went pale so quickly that Elias almost looked behind him to check whether someone had drawn a weapon.

She scrambled up from her stool, stared at the woman in the black suit, and forced a smile that shook at the edges. "No charge. If the young man wants it, he can take it. It’s fine. Really."

Elias stared at her.

The bodyguard stared too.

The misunderstanding had grown legs and sprinted straight off a cliff.

After a second of thought, Elias had to admit that his tone, posture, and little chin gesture had, in fact, carried a certain if-you-don’t-give-me-the-bag-I’ll-have-this-place-demolished energy.

He cleared his throat. "It’s sixty."

The bodyguard took out her wallet. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The owner flinched so hard she nearly ran.

Apparently, she had thought the woman was reaching for a gun.

Only after she saw three twenties did the owner breathe again. Even then, she accepted the bills with a trembling hand, took two, and pushed the last one back across the counter. "Forty is fine. Please. Forty is enough."

Elias accepted the backpack from the bodyguard and went quiet for several seconds.

Then he looked inward.

If I say I didn’t mean to do that, would you believe me?

System Theta answered with great caution.

[If I say I believe you, would you believe me?]

...

His lifelong reputation was finished.

The incident was too small to matter, at least in theory. Elias got into the car, placed the old ruined backpack beside him, and started transferring his books into the new one. Loose worksheets went into the back pocket. Notebooks slid into the main compartment. The surviving pens, which had somehow escaped the earlier disaster with more dignity than he had, went into the front pouch.

When he finished, he zipped the bag and looked toward the woman in the driver’s seat.

"You don’t look scary," he said. "Why was she so afraid of you?"

She did not look brutal or thuggish. If anything, she was pretty in a clean, athletic way, with the kind of face that made it easy to imagine she had a bright smile when she was not on duty. Her black suit sat neatly on her shoulders, and even her hands on the wheel looked steady rather than threatening.

See? This was what trust looked like.

Unlike Liora, who seemed to prefer assigning women to him as if she were personally screening them for maximum intimidation and minimum charm.

The bodyguard smiled, and the expression made her look much less like someone who could ruin a store owner’s afternoon by buying a backpack. "It might be the job. People in my line of work sometimes carry a certain presence."

Elias laughed and leaned back against the seat. "I don’t know. I think your presence is nice. A lot of boys would probably like you."

"Really?"

"Of course. I mean, I already kind of li..."

He stopped as if he had just let something slip, then covered his mouth.

The bodyguard let out a soft laugh. "Ms. Frost said you had a good sense of humor. Now I see what she meant. You really are interesting."

Elias slowly lowered his hand.

That was not humor. That was his own habit of playing with people getting away from him for half a second. But somehow, once it passed through Victoria Frost’s mouth, it became wit.

"Victoria told you to talk to me like this?"

The bodyguard nodded. "Ms. Frost said your mind moves quickly and you might get restless in the car, so she allowed me to chat with you."

After that, Elias lost every bit of interest in talking.

He turned toward the window and said nothing else.

The bodyguard also straightened in her seat, returning to perfect professional silence as the car pulled back into traffic.

Elias watched the streets slide past the tinted glass. Westbridge’s campus district gave way to wider roads, cleaner storefronts, and the kind of residential blocks where even the trees looked managed by private staff. Victoria really had read him closely.

Not only had she read him, she had chosen to tell him she had read him.

Was that supposed to be a warning, or a threat?

In the end, the answer did not matter much. She wanted him obedient.

The corner of Elias’s mouth lifted slightly.

He could be obedient.

He only hoped Victoria understood proportion and did not mistake his cooperation for permission to keep reaching. As long as she did not interfere with his strategy around Giselle, he did not care how strong her need for control was.

But if she blocked the mission...

In the car window, Elias saw the reflection of his own eyes go cold.

When they reached the Frost residence, Elias had already been there once, which made the second visit easier. The grounds still carried that same expensive hush, all trimmed hedges, stone paths, discreet cameras, and staff movement quiet enough to feel rehearsed. Even so, he followed the housekeeper without attempting to wander.

There was no benefit in creating complications.

For now, being cooperative was the cleanest option.

The housekeeper brought him through the hall and stopped outside Victoria’s room. The door opened almost at once.

Victoria Frost appeared in front of him.

Today she had changed into a fitted silk dress, dark and close-cut, with a high collar and a line that made her look less like a mother receiving a guest and more like the owner of a room designed to make people remember where they stood. The fabric skimmed her body without looking loud. Her hair was pinned up, exposing the pale line of her neck, and the bracelet at her wrist caught the room’s light when she lifted her hand.

Maybe because this was their third meeting, her attitude felt much more casual than before. She looked at Elias and beckoned him in with a smile.

"Come in."

Elias walked inside obediently.

"I had them prepare salmon," Victoria said. "It was flown in fresh this afternoon. I don’t know whether you’ve had it before."

She seemed to remember something, then added, "Right. Can you eat seafood?"

Inside, Elias clicked his tongue.

Victoria had probably investigated him so thoroughly that she knew more about his background than he did on days when he was tired. There was no way she did not already know whether he could eat seafood.

And even if this was only an elder asking about a younger person’s taste, why ask now? The food had already been prepared. Asking after the fact was not consideration. It was performance.

She wanted the answer from his mouth.

Elias did not know why Victoria had suddenly decided to prod him again, but he had no intention of disappointing her.

He gave a light smile. "I’ve actually never had salmon before."

Victoria smiled and nodded. "In that case, I should reward the person who caught it."

Elias kept smiling and said nothing.

Fresh salmon did not wait long. A few minutes later, staff brought the meal in and set it out with the restrained precision of a household where even dinner knew it was being watched. The plateware was white, the portions cleanly arranged, and the fish sat in glossy slices beside lemon, herbs, and a dipping sauce served in a small ceramic dish.

Elias had only told half a lie.

In this world, he really had not eaten salmon before. But after moving through so many worlds, how could there be anything ordinary left that he had never tasted?

Even so, the first bite surprised him.

The fish was cool, rich, and clean in a way that made the price of the meal feel less like a number and more like a private insult to ordinary grocery stores. The texture gave under his teeth almost instantly, and the flavor opened so sharply that for one unguarded second, he forgot to be cynical.

Then he bit his tongue.

"Hiss..."

Victoria’s hand paused. "What happened?"

For once, Elias looked genuinely embarrassed. He covered his mouth slightly and mumbled, "Bit my tongue..."

Victoria set down her fork.

"Come here," she said. "Let me see."