Chapter 317 - 281: A Girl’s Morning, Pascal’s Gratitude

Chapter 317: Chapter 281: A Girl’s Morning, Pascal’s Gratitude

A moment later, Reya took a deep breath, tugging herself back from the gnawing anticipation.

She rose and walked across the soft carpet toward the dining room.

’As someone in charge of an entire county’s logistics, I have to eat!’

’Plenty of energy is essential for tackling those mountains of paperwork!’

’It’s *definitely* not because my body’s craving for Energy has become so much stronger since becoming a true Professional that my breakfast portion has unwittingly doubled!’

’Absolutely not!’

She shook her head vigorously, as if to banish the thought that made her cheeks flush, and pushed open the door.

Just then, Xia came bouncing toward her, her signature, artless laughter echoing down the corridor.

"Reya! Mr. Jon is here! He’s right downstairs!"

Reya instantly lost all thought of breakfast.

The mead swirling in her heart instantly came to a boil, erupting into a brilliant shower of fireworks.

Her emerald eyes suddenly lit up, like forest mist pierced by a sunbeam. Tossing a muffled, "Got it!" over her shoulder, she abandoned the stunned Xia and dashed across the soft carpet, racing downstairs.

She moved as fast as a gust of wind carrying embers, her long, fiery hair streaming behind her, leaving Xia blinking dazedly in her wake.

—

The first-floor corridor of the Golden Maple Leaf Trading House was steeped in its usual tranquil, gray-blue tones. Tall, arched windows cast dappled patterns of light and shadow.

Jon was leaning against a carved stone pillar, his black hair slightly mussed by the morning breeze. His ice-blue eyes were as serene as a deep winter lake.

Pascal was standing before him.

The young Trading House steward wore a crisp, dark-gray uniform. He was slender, and his hands were twisted together nervously, his voice trembling slightly with emotion.

"Mr. Jon, I... I must thank you again for everything you’ve done for me and my family."

"On the night of the riot, if you hadn’t acted so decisively and sent out the Mechanical Bodies to drive off that mob, my younger siblings... they never would have made it..."

As he spoke, he bowed deeply, his forehead almost touching his knees.

Jon gave a slight nod and said calmly.

"I just did what I could."

"As for you, Pascal, your position is different now. You need to remember to take care of your family outside of work."

Pascal bowed again and again in shame, murmuring his assent. The knuckles of his clasped hands turned white from the pressure.

He swallowed, his voice now laced with a more distinct anxiety.

"There’s one more thing, Mr. Jon... My younger brother, Aaron... he quit his job in the Workshop district without telling me and went to interview for the Giant God Workshop."

"By the time I found out, he... he had already become one of your apprentices..."

A flicker of genuine surprise crossed Jon’s ice-blue eyes.

"Aaron is your brother?"

’That was unexpected.’

In his mind, Aaron—the young Warrior with a sharp gaze and crisp, efficient movements on the battlefield—was a world apart from Pascal, the somewhat reserved and detail-oriented steward standing before him.

Pascal nodded vigorously, the lapels of his dark-gray uniform shifting with the movement.

"Yes, sir! It’s the greatest fortune that you would have him at the Giant God Workshop! If that boy dares to show the slightest bit of laziness, to slack off or cut corners—"

He snapped his head up, his tone one of almost severe earnestness.

"Please, you must drive him relentlessly! He deserves nothing less!"

Seeing Pascal’s expression, which looked as if he wished he could take his brother’s place in training that very instant, the corner of Jon’s mouth curved into a barely perceptible smile, and he gently shook his head.

"Push him?"

His deep voice held a hint of amusement.

"It seems you’re unaware. Aaron accompanied me on the Heta County campaign and distinguished himself on the battlefield."

"I have already appointed him as one of the first members of ’Giant God Security,’ the new division I’m establishing."

"Giant God Security... a member?! One of the first?!"

Pascal’s eyes went wide, his mouth falling slightly open as if he’d been floored by the sudden bombshell.

Then, a scalding wave of emotion surged through his chest, rushing to his eyes.

’His brother... not only had he become Mr. Jon’s apprentice, but he’d also proven himself on a brutal battlefield and even earned such a significant appointment!’

Overwhelming surprise and pride washed over him, rendering him speechless. His nose stung, and his throat felt tight, as if choked with a thousand unsaid words, leaving him at an agitated, inexpressible loss.

He could only bow deeply again, his shoulders trembling slightly.

In the midst of this heavy, wordless emotion, a burst of hurried, crisp footsteps shattered the corridor’s silence like a stone skipping across a lake.

PATTER, PATTER—the sound was light, yet held a reckless urgency as it drew closer.

A moment later, a flash of fiery red hair burst into view, carrying the cool morning air and a sweet, breathless scent.

Reya had arrived.

She stopped a few paces away, slightly out of breath from her run.

Strands of fiery red hair, slightly disheveled, brushed against her pale cheeks. Her emerald eyes were astonishingly bright, clearly reflecting the sight of Jon’s upright form by the pillar.

Morning light streamed through the high, arched window and danced in her eyes, like dewdrops in a forest suddenly catching the sun.

She looked as if she was about to speak, but her gaze fell on Pascal, who was still bowing. She bit back the words on the tip of her tongue, merely pressing her lips together as her chest rose and fell softly.

Jon, of course, had already noticed her arrival.

He drew his gaze away from the emotional, anxious Pascal and reached out, patting the man’s still-trembling shoulder.

"Rest easy."

The brief words carried a reassuring weight, easily calming the turbulent waves in Pascal’s heart.

Without another moment’s pause, he strode directly toward the dazzling, flame-like figure.

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Morning light flowed across the smooth stone pillars. Fine motes of dust spun silently in the beams.

Reya watched Jon walk toward her, step by step. His calm, ice-blue eyes gradually filled her vision, and in them, she could see the clear reflection of her own flushing cheeks.

The gnawing anticipation for the "surprise," which she had suppressed all night, now became a silent scream that threatened to burst from her throat.

She opened her mouth. The "Good morning, Mr. Jon" she had prepared rolled on her tongue, but what came out instead was a soft call, laced with a faint tremor she didn’t even notice herself:

"You... you’re here."

The moment the words left her lips, she realized how hopelessly soft they sounded.

Annoyed, she immediately bit her lower lip, trying to conceal the emotion she had just revealed.

And yet, her emerald eyes remained stubbornly fixed on Jon, filled with a silent question and an almost overflowing sense of expectation.

In the face of her expectation, a hint of a smile flashed in Jon’s eyes.

But he didn’t respond right away. Instead, he raised a hand to brush back the slightly messy ends of Reya’s hair, tucking the strands behind her ear.

"Have you eaten yet? I brought breakfast from Rosalind."

The casual, intimate gesture sent a faint tingle spreading from the shell of her ear. A deeper blush bloomed beneath her fair skin, but she didn’t shy away. Instead, meeting that gaze as tranquil as a frozen lake, she nodded forcefully.

"Not yet. I was just about to, but then I heard you were here, and I..."

Her voice had a soft, nasal tone she wasn’t even aware of, and her honesty was adorable.

Watching her, so shy yet so unable to hide her thoughts, Jon couldn’t help but chuckle. Then, with a gentle pressure, he naturally wrapped an arm around Reya’s slender shoulders, turning her to walk with him down the light-dappled corridor toward a side hall.

"Then let’s eat together. We can talk while we eat..."

"Of course, I also brought the surprise I promised you..."

Hearing that one word, Reya’s eyes instantly lit up.

The moment to unveil the source of that gnawing anticipation she had suppressed all night had finally, finally arrived.

She subconsciously grabbed Jon’s solid forearm, her fingertips digging in slightly as she replied with a forceful:

"Mm!"