After dinner, the corridors inside the Silver Crown Hotel were quiet, broken only by the sound of light footsteps.
Elisa moved forward relatively quickly, as if trying to reach her room before anyone noticed her condition.
She reached the door. Then she opened the door and went in.
She closed the door quickly behind her.
She leaned against it for a second… and breathed deeply.
She slowly raised her hand to her face. It was warm.
She whispered to herself,
"This is embarrassing."
She only showed this side of herself to her parents and the employees she grew up with, and she never felt embarrassed in front of them.
She was interested in anything related to the elements, and when she first saw ice, her eyes lit up.
She thought to herself,
'If I asked him to show me the ice again, would he?'
Then she shook her head, rejecting the idea, and sighed. She moved towards the bed, sat down, and then put her hands on her face, trying to calm down.
But… the image of the boy named Ryan came back to her mind.
She lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
She tried to think about the trip… about the academy… about her mother's words…
But her mind returned to that exact moment when his eyes met hers and when she held his hands.
She opened her eyes suddenly, then turned her face away, as if fleeing from an unseen thought.
Then she whispered shyly,
"He's...strange."
She pulled the blanket down slightly, turned onto her side, her eyes half-closed,
and her heart was still beating faster than usual.
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Meanwhile, Anna pulled Ryan into his room. Ryan tried to break free from her grip all the way, but she was too strong.
Anna left Ryan, glared at him angrily, and then hit him on the head.
Ryan grabbed his head.
"That hurts, damn it, what are you doing?"
Anna raised her hand again. Ryan closed his eyes and covered his head, then heard her sigh and slowly opened his eyes.
Anna looked at him with an annoyed expression, then pointed her finger at him.
"I let you talk to them rudely and I didn't say anything, but you can't freeze things, you idiot."
She raised her hand again, but Ryan covered his head and closed his eyes again. When she saw that, she stopped.
She sighed, calmed herself, and sat on the bed.
"Open your eyes, you idiot."
Ryan opened his eyes and slowly raised his head to look at her face.
"You should be grateful to them. Anyone who spoke to them the way you did would probably be dead now."
Anna looked Ryan in the eye.
"You need to treat people with power with respect, you idiot, because you're weak. Do you think freezing a table will scare them?"
Ryan lowered his head and looked at the ground.
"I didn't do it on purpose."
After saying that, Ryan thought,
'Wait, why do I feel guilty? Even my family didn't make me feel guilty.'
This was unusual. He felt comfortable dealing with Anna. Was it because she was his teacher?
Or was it because she saw his burns and did not react, or because he did not feel any pity from her?
Anna put her hand to her face, sighed, and stood up.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Tomorrow, make sure you apologize to them respectfully, and we'll leave the day after tomorrow, so you can walk around town tomorrow if you like."
Ryan shook his head, then Anna left and closed the door behind her. After she left, Ryan threw himself onto the bed.
'Ugh, that was annoying and tiring.'
After a few minutes he fell into a deep sleep
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In one of the narrow alleys of the city of Terak, there was a small, dark bar.
Inside the bar, the lights were dim, and the air was thick with the smell of alcohol and smoke.
In a far corner, three men sat around an old wooden table.
Their faces were half-hidden in shadows.
One of them tapped his fingers on the table and said,
"So this is the hotel owner's daughter?"
The second man replied in a gruff voice:
"I saw her myself with Aleth in a market two months ago."
He took a sip from his glass, then continued:
"She goes shopping three days a week, and tomorrow is one of them, so it's our chance to put our plan into action."
The third one chimed in, his tone more subdued:
"Alith isn't just a hotel owner, you know that. If we fail, we're dead."
The first one smiled sarcastically:
"And that's exactly what makes her a good target."
They were silent for a moment.
Then the second one said:
"The ransom will be large."
The third man leaned forward, his voice lowering
"But the problem isn't the father…"
The first one said,
"You mean the Ice Knights?"
He nodded.
"I saw them go into the hotel today."
The first one smiled.
"We won't get close to them, and besides, the girl is always with her maid and some guards, so it will be easy. All we have to do is not make a mistake."
Then the three of them raised their glasses.
"Until tomorrow."