Chapter 93: The Perfect Match? (2)

Maybe it was because, whenever she looked into his blue eyes, she found herself getting lost in them.

His eyes were calm, sometimes even a little cold. Yet, if she looked closely enough, she could see something familiar hidden beneath that cool gaze.

Something that reminded her of who she had once been.

Balian Devereaux seemed like a man who had everything he could ever want and yet, for some reason, he seemed lonely.

"It sounds interesting," Summer said at last. "All right, I’m in."

Ilya and Archer immediately turned to stare at her, unable to believe what they had just heard.

"Summer!" they exclaimed at the same time.

"Please, think this through," Ilya urged her. "You can’t trust him that easily."

Summer turned to face him. "I’m not trusting him blindly. We’ll make a contract, and I’ll be livestreaming the whole time. Doesn’t that mean you can keep an eye on me, too?"

Ilya and Archer exchanged a look, both wanting to argue further. However, when they saw how determined Summer was, they eventually gave up. It was clear that she had already made up her mind.

Besides, she had a point.

If they were really that worried about her, they could simply keep an eye on her livestream.

"But it seems you two have your own mission to worry about," Balian remarked, turning his attention to Ilya and Archer. "The breeding season is almost over, yet the population is still quite high."

"If you don’t reduce the number of polluted creatures in certain zones soon, won’t you be putting Miss Beamont’s safety in this world at risk as well?" he added with a faint smile. "Am I wrong?"

Archer’s eye twitched because Balian was an expert at playing with words. But in the end, he wasn’t wrong at all.

"Don’t you dare jam the signal again," Archer warned him through gritted teeth. "I swear, if you pull that stunt one more time, I’ll blow up your house."

Balian glanced to the side, looking as though he were giving the matter some serious thought. "Which one?"

Archer clenched his teeth even harder. "Every single one of them."

===

The Sentinels looked like they were ready to argue for another hour, but their little quarrel was finally interrupted when a nurse came in and told them to keep their voices down.

With no other choice, they left the patient room and continued their argument outside the headquarters.

Whatever they were up to out there, as long as no one ended up dead, everything was fine.

Meanwhile, Summer remained in the patient room with Saddie and Julie, who had been allowed to visit her.

"Miss Beaumont, I peeled some apples for you," Julie said, holding out a plate of apple slices shaped like little rabbits.

Summer’s eyes fell on the adorable little creations, and she couldn’t help but smile. They were almost too cute to eat!

Still, she happily accepted the plate.

"Thank you," she said.

On the other side, Saddie sat on the couch and her attention fixed on the holographic screen of her terminal.

She had been looking through various pieces of information when Summer announced that she planned to follow Balian to the Blackstar Restricted Sector.

After eating a few more apple slices, Summer finally broke the silence. "Do you think it’s a bad idea? Is that place really that dangerous?"

Saddie immediately turned away from the holographic screen to look at her.

"Ah, no! Not really!" She quickly closed the tab and walked over to Summer. "That sector is actually no different from any other zone. There are safe areas and dangerous ones. You’ll be fine. Besides, Balian will be with you all the time. He’s not that bad."

Summer raised an eyebrow. "You seem to know a lot about that place."

"Of course, I do." Saddie let out a soft chuckle. "Because of my family’s work, I’ve been in and out of that sector a few times. Most of the time, we went there to collect medicinal ingredients."

Summer suddenly remembered that Saddie’s real name was Saddie Halcrest. Judging by the comments on her livestream, Saddie came from a family of renowned doctors, and she was a skilled doctor herself.

"Were you checking just now to see if your family would be going to the Blackstar Sector?" Summer asked.

Saddie chuckled again. "Yeah, it’s kind of silly, isn’t it? I still have my old clearance, so I can check which permission cards are still active." She paused for a moment before adding, "My parents will be there next week, too."

Summer fell silent, even Julie, who had been sitting nearby, didn’t dare interrupt their conversation.

"I haven’t seen them since..." Saddie lowered her head, her voice growing quieter. "Since I divorced Balian."

Summer hesitated before asking, "Do you want to come with me, then?"

Saddie quickly shook her head. "No, it’s all right. They probably don’t want to see me anyway." She gave a small, almost forced smile. "Besides, I’d be better off entering another polluted zone to earn more money."

Summer didn’t know what to say.

She wanted to offer Saddie some advice about her relationship with her parents, but how could she?

She had never experienced that kind of relationship herself and she had no idea what it felt like to have parents who were still alive but whom she could no longer bring herself to see.

After a long silence, Julie suddenly spoke up. "Miss McKay, I know I’m not really in a position to say this, but..." She hesitated, nervously clasping her hands together. "I’m actually glad that you’re living the way you are now because you’ve inspired me so much. You’ve also given me the courage to believe that I can change my life, too."

Julie lowered her head, suddenly feeling embarrassed by her own words. "I-I’m sorry if that came out wrong. I just—"

"Thank you," Saddie interrupted gently.

Julie looked up in surprise, only to find Saddie smiling at her.

"I mean it," Saddie spoke up softly. "Thank you for saying that, Julie."