“Yeah.”

Philo nodded without hesitation. But Alte shoved her back firmly and said, “Don’t get any weird ideas. She’s *definitely* not my girlfriend.”

“Hey, hey! I still wanted to chat with my sister-in-law!”

After shoving his sister out the door without mercy, Alte rubbed his temples, headache swelling.

With his sister’s personality, a blunt explanation probably wouldn’t work.

*Please don’t let Favna get upset or complain…*

After all, someone as gloomy as him being in a relationship? Yeah, right.

“Sigh…” Alte sighed again toward the door. “Most of that was just teasing, Favna. Don’t take it to heart.”

“Mm…”

Favna peeked out, gave a slight nod—then froze. *Wait, I haven’t even washed up!* Flustered, she dashed back to the bedroom and into the bathroom.

“Come out for dinner after you freshen up,” Alte called. He started on his lunch.

But after all the fuss, it was nearly 4 p.m.—basically dinner time.

Favna didn’t linger long. After tidying herself up, she pulled a stool and sat beside the desk.

Across from Alte? No way. Next to him? Absolutely not—that’d scare her to death.

“Um…” she murmured timidly between bites. “If someone sees us eating together… won’t they misunderstand?”

“Let them,” Alte shrugged. Glancing at her, he added gently, “As long as *we* know we’re completely innocent, who cares what others think?”

“Completely innocent, huh…”

Favna whispered the words, lost in thought.

Truth was, she and Alte weren’t close. Barely acquaintances. Maybe not even friends.

Lovers?

Impossible.

“Mm.” She nodded firmly. “We’re completely innocent.”

After eating, Alte dove back into work. Documents flew under his fingers with the computer’s help.

Favna stood nearby, broom in hand, unsure what to do.

The office was small. After this morning’s deep clean, daily tidying took barely ten minutes.

So she just… stood there.

“Favna.”

“Here!”

She snapped upright like a soldier at attention.

Alte almost smiled at her earnest stance but kept his tone warm. “If you’re done working, go rest in the bedroom. Or go out. Your call.”

“R-really?”

She could hardly believe it. She’d only spent half an hour cleaning and washing dishes all day.

*And I can rest already?*

“I’m not the heartless boss who makes you stand around doing nothing.”

Kind as he was, guilt prickled Favna.

She fetched her laptop from the bedroom, sat beside him, and started gaming.

Somehow, slacking off *while* he worked eased her conscience.

Alte just shook his head, amused.

Then he glanced over—headphones on, eyes locked on screen, fingers *clack-clack-clacking* the keyboard while bossing teammates around.

*Online, this homebody dragon’s surprisingly fierce.*

The moment Favna felt his gaze, she shrank back. Even her typing softened.

They settled into quiet coexistence at the same desk.

But Alte’s focus frayed.

Simple reason: those Abyssal Demonkin were buried deep.

They were in the light; the enemy, in shadow.

This morning’s police bureau raid? Total bust. Zero leads.

“Tch… Empire intel’s useless.”

He tossed the files aside, leaned back, and closed his eyes.

Favna, still gaming, overheard.

After a hesitant pause: “Um… Alte? Do you need intel?”

“Remember those two Abyssal Demonkin who tried to snatch you?” Alte sighed wearily. “A small infiltrating cell from the enemy nation. Few in number, but hidden deep. Our intel team’s got nothing.”

Favna recalled them—weak, but armed with heavy-dose paralyzing arrows. *If I’d been ordinary…*

She said nothing. Just kept typing.

Slipped into the dark web.

Used her hacking skills and contacts to dig.

Few friends offline, but online? A fairly active info broker with plenty of shady channels.

Which meant she *couldn’t* explain her sources.

*If he finds out… yeah, jail time for sure.*

Soon—bingo. A faint trace.

A dark web listing:

*“Premium sex toys for sale…”*

Seemingly normal. But the prices? Staggering.

Nothing under ten thousand.

And still, high transaction volume.

*No way this is clean.*

Clue found. Now… how to pass it on?

Tell him straight? Risk a lecture. Or worse—a basement cell.

After thinking it through…

“U-um… Alte? What’s your phone number?”