"I...actually, I intended to work for the Tobacco Fairy Festival. But my mask isn't ready yet, so I can't start immediately," Turing said.

"Oh, so you planned to work for Lord Raphael? That's even better. We will have someone prepare the mask for you. Just tell me your personal information and register with me," Golding said.

As Golding spoke, on her pristine white mask, the emblem shaped like a coiled sword wrapped in flames gleamed with a cunning silver light.

"Ah, no, actually I..." Turing hurriedly tried to interrupt Golding.

"Ssshh, no need to say it," Merka secretly tugged at Turing's sleeve from behind, his voice tinged with urgency.

"Look at everyone here," Merka said.

Turing surveyed the surroundings and finally noticed.

Everyone in the hotel, the servants, the bartenders, the cleaners, Golding, except for the accused pianist, each person wore a mask adorned with the emblem of the coiled sword wrapped in flames.

[Is that Raphael's symbol?]

"Take note of the atmosphere, Turing."

"If you came here for your own competition, they definitely won't let you work there," Merka leaned closer to Turing and whispered in his ear.

Even though Merka and Turing were having a private conversation, Golding showed no sign of avoiding suspicion. On the contrary, she approached them with an aggressive attitude.

"Don't worry, I promise you two days off per week. Even if you're a child laborer, your salary will be higher than mine as a pianist. If you want, I can arrange work for your little boyfriend here as well, with all the benefits and treatment of a regular employee. You can work until you don't want to anymore during the probation period," Golding said.

"This is already much better treatment than many regular job seekers would receive."

Without paying any attention to the pale face of the middle-aged pianist beside them, Golding spoke at a pace that was hard for Turing to keep up with.

[Yeah, that's true.]

[I'm not Turing Áo Chí Yà anymore.]

[Not every request can be made.]

"Let's forget about it. My home is quite far, and my family would worry if I come home this late every day," Turing said, glancing intentionally or unintentionally towards Merka, seeking his opinion.

"Oh? Doesn't the little missy's home reside in Red Port?" Golding removed her mask and revealed a face that wasn't considered beautiful but was far from ugly. She came closer to Turing, gently crouched down and met his gaze at eye level, whispering softly.

"In that case, you can play here for a while longer."

"I'll cover your expenses for today, and I'll send you home tonight. If you enjoy yourself, you can come back here to play the piano and chat next time, how about it?"

"Of course, for now, you can only have some drinks, no alcohol." Golding fussed with Turing's already neat collar, as if she was trying to straighten his clothes.

"Ah, Merka, what should I do?"

[It's like...Theresa...]

Feeling Theresa's tender warmth, Turing almost agreed instinctively.

"Uh, it should be fine. Just for fun. Since they're willing to give us a ride home, it's also more convenient," Merka smiled beside him.

"I'll be with you all the way, nothing will happen, I guarantee it," Merka said.

"Okay, okay, let's do it that way." Without waiting for Turing to speak, Golding immediately stood up at Merka's words.

"My radio seemed to have some problems just now, I need to go check on it. Feel free to have fun, I'll be the host tonight." With a warm smile, Golding put on her mask and walked away with small steps.

[They say it's for fun, but there are only adults here.]

Turing looked around hesitantly, lacking enthusiasm.

[I still don't understand why there was the scent of mugwort coming from the piano...Huh? It seems like that scent is gone now.]While Turing was lost in thought, Merka slowly walked towards the bar.

"Merka? Where are you going?" Turing, still daydreaming, immediately got defensive when he saw Merka about to leave.

"Weren't you supposed to stay with me?" Turing's face turned a bit ugly as he started to stare at Merka with his big, watery eyes.

"Of course, of course, I've been here the whole time." Merka turned around in slight astonishment and awkwardly smiled.

"Did you see that person? I want to go talk to him for a bit." Merka pointed towards the middle-aged pianist at the bar, who used to be an employee but had now started drinking alone as a customer.

"Why do you want to talk to someone like that?" Turing pouted. If it wasn't for the context, he would actually look quite cute.

"If you come with me, I'll tell you why." Merka didn't explain, blinked his eyes, and smiled mysteriously.

Turing fell silent and quietly followed Merka. But Turing didn't follow too closely, he was slow and sluggish, taking one step at a time, and finally reached near the bar.

[Why doesn't Merka come and hold my hand even though I'm walking so slowly? Doesn't he want me to know why?]

"Hey, Turing, do you know what's the most important thing in this world?"

[Ah?]

Suddenly, from somewhere, the needle of a record player quietly dropped, and sentimental and sad music drifted from deep within the hotel.

Although Turing seemed to have heard what Merka said, the content of his words was shallowly covered by the surrounding noise. Turing wasn't quite sure what Merka was talking about.

He wanted to ask Merka again, but because he was walking too slowly and was a bit far from Merka, Turing felt a bit embarrassed to speak loudly.

So Turing kept quiet.

"It's ice cream." Merka casually picked up an empty glass from the bar. He raised the glass and looked at Turing through the glass.

The light refracted by the glass flashed in Turing's eyes, and he immediately lowered his head. He touched his face and realized it was burning hot.

[The most important is ice cream?]

Turing kept repeating these words in his mind, but he couldn't understand what Merka was saying.

"I'll get you a drink." Merka said.

"The kind with a little bit of ice cream." Holding the glass, Merka walked towards the self-service beverage counter. Under the enchanting dim lights of the hotel, Merka's smile became particularly charming.

Unconsciously, Turing had already sat down, right next to the middle-aged pianist.

After a long while of awkwardness, Turing spoke.

"Did I cause you to lose your job?" Turing showed no signs of guilt.

Indeed." The man took a sip of his drink.

"But it doesn't matter."

"After all, I live in Red Port. With the welfare so high, it doesn't matter if I work or not." The man didn't even glance at Turing as he spoke to himself.

"It's just a shame for my dream of being a pianist." Although the man said so, his current dejected appearance and the intentionally long hair of an artist he had left had a bit of a comical meaning, somehow complementing each other.

"Dreams are hopeless."

"But maybe next time, should I find something else to do? Like opening an ice cream shop..."

Turing silently looked at the man, trying to see some strong remorse or regret in his eyes.

But Turing failed.

...After a while, Merka came back, handing Turing a cup of snow-topped coffee.

He switched places with Turing, sitting in between Turing and the man, engaging in a conversation with the man, using comforting and reassuring words.However, Turing had no mood to listen.

"I, where am I?" Turing suddenly woke up from the white bed and quickly touched herself all over. She found that besides her slightly wrinkled clothes, everything else was very neat.

Looking around the huge hotel room, Merka was sitting on the sofa alone, leisurely eating breakfast.

"Are you awake? Go take a shower, I've prepared breakfast for you," Merka said.

The hotel didn't provide meals, which was normal in laid-back Acadia.

"I, I, I stayed outside overnight!" Turing's face turned pale.

"What's wrong? Did you feel uncomfortable after drinking last night?" Merka quickly walked to Turing's bed and gently stroked Turing's back.

"When did I drink last night? Wasn't it coffee?" Turing said impatiently.

"Oh, you forgot," Merka said.

"Later, the female manager came over and brought you a drink, claiming that it had no alcohol. But I could tell you seemed a bit tipsy,"

"Then you two talked about work, and eventually even wanted to sign a contract."

"I had no choice but to secretly add a higher concentration of alcohol to your drink and bring you back when you passed out," Merka said with a smile.

"Otherwise, who knows what could have happened."

"But, but you shouldn't have given me such a high concentration of alcohol!" Turing pouted and punched Merka a few times.

"Oh, it's alright. For a magician, these injuries are nothing," Merka gently touched Turing's head, "Look, don't you feel any signs of a hangover?"

With Merka's teasing, Turing's nervousness about spending the night outside instantly eased.

"If my mom knew I stayed outside overnight with a boy... sigh."

"I told you, I will always be by your side, didn't I?" Merka smiled.

Turing fell silent for a moment.

"Sigh... I still have a long way to go with this kind of thing," Turing suddenly sighed, got up from the bed, neatly adjusted her clothes, and walked to the window.

Under Merka's puzzled gaze, Turing found paper and a pen in the bedside table, and Turing drafted her own name - of course, without letting Merka see.

Sister Teresa,

Seeing this letter is seeing me;

Forgive me for throwing you such a mess. I hope you can say good things about me to our mom while I'm not at home.

Anyway, I've indeed stayed outside overnight, but I still plan to achieve something so that I can make up for it next time I go back.

Mom is the type to "make up for it through achievements," so please don't worry about my safety outside of town. I will do everything possible to handle it...

After finishing the letter, Turing put it in her pocket, intending to put it in the box that came with Joseph's saddle and let Joseph deliver it home.

"If I don't do anything while outside, it will definitely be miserable when I go back."

"But if I can secure a spot in the competition, maybe I can negotiate a little."

"What's wrong, Sissi?" Merka walked over and asked.

"Is your job okay?" Merka's tenderness was like a cup of soothing tea.

"It's okay... I took time off," Turing smiled faintly.

"During this period, let's have some fun together."