The night was deep and still, all things bathed in the cold, clear light of the moon.
The canopy of heaven was densely studded with stars, like fine, shifting sand converging into a Milky Way that slanted across the firmament, flowing silently through the ink-blue night sky.
An occasional meteor streaked by, its cool, fleeting trail vanishing in an instant. That searing white light blazed brilliantly against the profound darkness, tinged with a hint of desolation.
It was just an ordinary night.
Before the break of dawn, the bright moon and countless stars were the eternal protagonists of this realm.
Soft, rhythmic breathing drifted from the young woman beside her, Luno was already asleep. She had been for an hour now.
Probably worn out from the whole day of fun. They had barely exchanged a few words after lying down before her voice gradually faded, and she drifted contentedly into sweet dreams on her own.
It suited her free-spirited and simple nature well.
"Luno? Luno?"
Carlotta propped herself up, calling her name softly in the dim light.
Luno beside her just unconsciously wrinkled her small nose, letting out a vague murmur, and gave no further response.
Only after confirming she was truly sound asleep did Carlotta's anxious heart settle slightly.
She rose carefully, her fair, bare feet stepping silently onto the cool floor.
Tiptoeing to the bedroom door, the moment her fingertips touched the cold door handle, a complex surge of emotions seized her—fear, nervousness...
Or perhaps...
a secret anticipation of what was about to happen?
She couldn't tell herself.
'Since I've made up my mind, I can't back down now!
Hesitation isn't the Montelli way!'
So the young lady bit her lip lightly, as if to crush all distracting thoughts.
She hesitated no longer and slowly pushed the door open.
The living room was utterly still, only the sound of Ray's even breathing echoing softly in the air.
Other than that, all was silent.
Ray was already asleep.
He really had been through it today not only had he accompanied Luno around all day, but he'd also fought both the Ephor and someone from the Fractsidus that evening.
The double drain on his physical strength and mental energy had left him completely exhausted. The moment he got back to the hotel, he'd fallen asleep the instant his head hit the pillow.
Carlotta silently approached the sofa. By the faint light filtering through the window, she gazed at the young man's peaceful, sleeping face.
She took a deep breath. Her fingertips gently pinched the corner of the blanket, and like a nimble little cat, she carefully slipped into his bedding.
...
...
In a daze, it seemed he had a very brief dream.
Perhaps because so much had happened recently, escaping that tense and stimulating environment had been followed by an overwhelming sense of emptiness and drowsiness.
The images from his dream were already blurry, hard to grasp.
He only remembered it was a desolate and barren world, a chaotic ocean devouring everything, the cracked earth devoid of life, as far as the eye could see nothing but hopeless gray, like the final movement after the world's end, where all things would eventually sink into dead silence.
Until a voice, like a clear spring, broke into his dream, gently lifting his sinking consciousness.
The desolate scene of the dream receded like a tide.
He opened his eyes.
"Cat's Eye? Cat's Eye?"
The soft call, like a whisper, pierced through the embers of the dream.
Ray slowly opened his heavy eyelids. In his hazy vision, Carlotta's figure came into view the bright moonlight flowing over her delicate profile, painting this scene with an unreal, dreamlike quality. She was as beautiful as an illusion that had descended into the mortal world.
"...Second Young Miss?"
His thoughts were still tangled in sleep, his reactions slow.
A few seconds later, his hazy consciousness suddenly sharpened: Carlotta was leaning over him, sharing this cramped space with him no, wait, this was clearly the sofa.
'What's going on?
Why is the Second Young Miss on top of me?
Am I still dreaming?'
"You're awake?"
Carlotta's lips still held that familiar, elegant smile. But tonight, that smile seemed tinged with something different, an indescribable, subtle emotion.
"How did you—"
Ray started to speak on instinct, but before he could get the words out, her slender finger gently pressed against his lips.
"Shh keep your voice down." She lowered her voice, with a faint, almost teasing hint of reproach. "Luno is still asleep in there. Don't wake her."
As she spoke, she unconsciously listened for any sound from the bedroom. Only after confirming everything was quiet did the tension in her shoulders relax, almost imperceptibly.
When she turned her gaze back, meeting his eyes once more from her elevated position, the forced composure crumbled the instant their eyes met in the depths of her gaze, a flicker of panic and shyness had nowhere to hide.
"So, Second Young Miss, how did you... end up on top of me?" Ray lowered his voice.
"Is there a problem with being with my own boyfriend?" Carlotta tilted her head slightly, replying as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Boyfriend?
Oh, right...
He and Carlotta did have that kind of relationship.
But in Ray's understanding, it had always been a carefully orchestrated performance to handle a situation. He'd never truly taken it to heart.
Even in their daily interactions, he'd always maintained a certain invisible boundary, never presuming to act like a lover.
"But isn't that... just a carefully disguised performance?" Ray looked up at the young lady hovering above him.
Their bodies were almost touching. He could clearly feel her sitting on his lower abdomen. The warmth and weight, transmitted through the thin fabric of their clothes, made this "performance" feel incredibly real.
"Oh, is it just a performance?" Carlotta's lips still held that faint smile. "Maybe initially, this relationship did start as a facade for a mission. Remember when we first met? Back then, to me, you were just a bank employee I'd never crossed paths with."
"But when I made that request, one that had nothing to do with you, you agreed without hesitation."
"I am truly grateful to you. Without your devoted help and companionship along the way, I might have paid a much heavier price and my family as well."
As she said this, the young lady's voice grew as soft as the mist under the moonlight, tinged with a beauty that felt unreal.
"Thankfully, I have you by my side."
"Even though the storm has passed for now, and I've given you the special name 'Cat's Eye'... But..."
She paused briefly. Within those gem-like eyes, light rippled and shimmered. The crystalline brightness, like stars, resembled comets drifting through the boundless universe, crossing the barrier of vast time, finally meeting again at this moment.
"I never wanted the relationship between us to just fade away quietly like that."
"I... don't want it to end like this."