Chapter 16
Finally, the big day of the pre-graduation party had arrived—and with it, the headache of having nothing to wear. I woke up early, determined to fix that.
On my way to the subway, I enjoyed the cool breeze as I wound through streets packed with people enjoying the holiday.
The underground entrance was two blocks from the hospital, and luckily I snagged the only empty seat in the car.
I felt relieved to see a group of army soldiers there, probably heading to their shift change at the walls.
The subway was one of our greatest technological achievements from Vinturis, with about twenty yellow cars.
Like the train connecting Interion to Yonser, it runs on transmitter and receiver globes of elemental energy.
The propulsion comes from the gift of electricity, produced by electrokinetic fae and stored in the globes.
Emitter globes line the tracks while receiver globes sit on the underside of the locomotive.
Activating the circuit propels the receivers to connect with the emitters, generating movement.
The car swayed gently while I—head down, ignoring the disgusted looks thrown my way—silently thanked my luck for the soldiers’ presence. Everyone in the army was subordinate to Zion, and none of them would let anything happen to me. At least, I believed they wouldn’t.
Thirty minutes later, there I was in the center of the fae district, hair pulled up in a high bun, wearing a red sweater and black flats. An act that could be seen as courage or stupidity, depending on your point of view.
I hurried along the white stone sidewalks, decorated with countless flower beds, doing my best not to look anyone in the eye.
This was the worst place within the walls for someone like me to visit; however, it was daytime and attacks only happened at night, so I kept telling myself nothing bad would happen at this hour.
The fae district was well organized, its meticulously planned streets carrying a touch of elegance and sophistication.
The smell of coffee, cheese bread, and butter cookies wafted from countless cafés, and wherever you looked, vibrant colors competed for space and attention.
The shops were modern—the kind that displayed all their products in illuminated windows—unlike the gorgon and human districts, where everything was sold from simple doorways or stalls.
Although I really liked the human district, today I wouldn’t find what I wanted there.
Digital devices were only sold in fae shops, and I needed a new phone.
I’d done plenty of research beforehand and decided to check out the Vinturian technology store that all the students raved about during training.
It was in the district’s commercial center.
TechnoVin didn’t even need a sign. It was huge. The glass facade displayed hundreds of latest-generation devices that arrived every month from Vinturis.
I walked through the double doors and stood speechless at all the new gadgets I’d never seen. The space had high ceilings and was bursting with color, LED lights blinking in every corner. Endless visual pollution.
I wandered around like a kid in a toy store, but after fifteen minutes chasing salespeople, my excitement started to sink.
No one wanted to help me. In the fae district, prejudice against my hair color was blatant, and the attendants stalled, hoping I’d leave.
This never happened in the human district, where salespeople cared more about the color of money than the color of my hair.
Of all the differences between fae and humans, that was the biggest. Humans forget offenses easily.
Usually within two or three generations, they no longer remember old disagreements.
Fae, however, with their long life expectancy, don’t forgive easily.
Living longer prolongs our conflicts—while five generations of humans are born and die, our race remains alive, still dwelling on the past.
After being ignored for so long, I thought about giving up, but I needed a phone and they’d have to sell me one.
I ended up choosing a new model on my own from the display at the store entrance.
I loved that the sinil battery guaranteed a year of use without recharging—a huge improvement, since my old model’s cartridge needed constant replacements and Ambrose was always running out to buy new ones for me.
The new device was expensive, three thousand dunas, practically four months of my hospital internship, but I’d been saving for a phone replacement for a while.
As soon as I left the store, I set up the device with my old number, and soon all my data had transferred to the new phone. Then I called Ambrose.
Since it was a holiday, only one doctor was on call—Lorenzo.
So I called Ambrose to grab coffee and help me choose a dress.
I arranged to meet him at Café Doranella, and while I waited at a table facing a glass wall, I sipped my hot coffee with milk, gazing at the scenery outside. It was beautiful, unlike my mood.
Lately, all I could think about was the empty feeling that had settled in my chest. I was convinced that all the hot drinks in the world couldn’t melt the ice that had formed there.
“Hello, my love!” I heard Ambrose’s voice before I saw him.
“Hi, Ambrose! You got here fast!” I stood and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.
“My house is right around the corner, Kay. Didn’t even take me five minutes.” He sat in the chair next to me and removed his sunglasses, setting them on the table. “I’m so happy you called—I was extremely bored.”
“I’m glad you accepted my invitation. I really need your help.”
“Need? What exactly is my mission today?”
Ambrose seemed happy and relaxed. He wore a brown overcoat with a blue cashmere scarf wrapped around his neck. I felt underdressed next to him.
“First, we eat, and then I have to buy a dress for the party.”
“That's great!” he said excitedly. “I love going shopping.” He looked at the menu, stroking my hand on the table. “I'm so happy you're going to a party—I don't think I've ever seen you go to one. Zion's been good for you, Kay.”
“More like ruining me,” I thought immediately. Just hearing Zion's name was enough to put me in a foul mood.
“It has nothing to do with Zion. I don't think he's even going to the party.”
“And who are you going with?” He narrowed his eyes at me.
“With Breno.”
I tried not to think about the general as I flagged down the waiter. Beside me, Ambrose sighed.
“Does Breno know you and Zion are partners? Because if I found out the girl I liked had a partner, I wouldn't go out with her and risk getting murdered.”
“He doesn't know, and he doesn't need to. Zion and I barely exchange a good morning. Besides, Breno doesn't like me that way—he already knows nothing's going to happen between us.”
Ambrose stared at me, and I held his gaze without flinching under his judgment.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, his eyes sad.
“Definitely not,” I said, taking a sip of my drink and staring at the dessert counter.
The waiter arrived and I ordered a chocolate tart and brigadeiros. I added cheese bread too, because ever since Zion made them for breakfast, I couldn't stop thinking about them. Ambrose just ordered a simple coffee.
“What happened to the balanced diet you were always preaching about at the hospital?”
“It still exists, but this week I've been a little out of control with sweets.” I bit into a brigadeiro. It was so good I closed my eyes to savor it.
When I opened them, Ambrose was watching me with curiosity—the same look he gave his patients.
“What?” I asked suspiciously. That look was never a good sign. But he soon smiled, and his worried expression vanished as if by magic.
“Nothing, just thinking about work, but I'll stop.”
He sipped his coffee with all the finesse of a queen. Yes, queen—because kings don't bother raising their pinky while bringing the cup to their lips. He seemed lost in the scenery outside as he savored the good old Doranella coffee.
“Ambrose, I need to ask you something.”
“Ask away, my love.” His voice was always brimming with affection and patience.
“What do you know about Adele Ivanov?”
“Adele Ivanov,” Ambrose said, rolling the name around as if testing the syllables.
“Let me think... I don't have much contact with her since she's Dr. Selene's apprentice.” He frowned and drummed his fingers on the table.
“I know she's an excellent exchange student specializing in gynecology and obstetrics.
I've heard the human doctors love her surgeries and can't stop talking about her gift with the scalpel. I also know she has a lower power level, but she makes up for it by being impeccable with traditional medicine.”
“That explains the 10 I saw on the board,” I muttered to myself.
“Why the interest in Adele?” he asked, resting his chin on his hands.
I took a deep breath and told him about all the problems I'd had with Adele, including Naoki—which was something I shouldn't have told anyone. I left out the part about Zion, but even so, I couldn't stop myself from blushing.
“I knew something was very wrong with that tracheostomy student—I never would have imagined Adele used her gift that way,” he said, horrified.
“Wow, the hospital would kick her out in ten minutes if they knew.” Ambrose turned his bright eyes on me.
“And you—wow! You were amazing. The tracheostomy was perfect.”
I smiled at the compliment and bit into a cheese bread. It tasted like ashes compared to the batch Zion had made. The bastard had managed to ruin even my palate.
“That's why the hospital won't find out. I'm telling you because I trust you.”
“My lips are sealed, dear.” He ran his fingers across his lips as if zipping them shut. “So Adele's been making your life hell. Why didn't you tell me?”