By the ti Thomas realized it, the place no longer had the sa gentle buzz it had before. A few tables had emptied, the music had shifted to a different tune, and the light coming in through the window no longer fell at the sa angle.
At least an hour had passed.
Selene was still sitting across from him.
That didn’t an she was comfortable, but she no longer looked like she was counting the seconds until she could leave. Her posture had changed: one arm now rested on the table, idly toying with the spoon, while the other rested in her lap. The frown was still there, but less pronounced.
Thomas was the first to speak.
"Can I ask you sothing without you taking it as a provocation?" he said, carefully asuring his tone.
Selene glanced at him sideways.
"Depends on the question."
"About your power."
She clicked her tongue imdiately.
"I knew we’d get to that eventually."
"I don’t understand it," he clarified right away. "And I’m not trying to. I just... want to know how you see it."
Selene fell silent. She spun the spoon one last ti before setting it down on the saucer.
"Everyone says that," she murmured. "That they want to understand. In the end, they just want to use it."
"I can’t use sothing I don’t understand," Thomas replied honestly. "That’s why I’m asking."
She studied him closely, searching for sarcasm, mockery, or calculation. She found nothing obvious.
"...Luck isn’t as pretty as people imagine," she finally began, her voice low. "It’s not about always winning. It’s about the odds tilting in my favor... even when they shouldn’t."
Thomas nodded silently, inviting her to continue without interrupting.
"Scholarships," Selene went on. "Competitions. Internships. Opportunities other people needed more. A lot of tis, I didn’t do anything... and still, I got them."
She tightened her fingers around the cup.
"And when soone loses because of —even indirectly—people don’t forget."
Thomas frowned.
"They bla you?"
"They hate ," she corrected bluntly. "They say it’s unfair. That I don’t work hard. That everything just falls into my lap."
She paused briefly.
"In college, there are people who stopped talking to . Others smile at , but I know they’re waiting for sothing bad to happen to ."
Thomas didn’t respond right away.
"And has sothing bad ever happened?" he asked carefully.
Selene let out a dry laugh.
"Of course. Luck doesn’t save you from consequences."
She lifted her gaze to et his.
"There was one ti I won an important competition. Second place... needed that money to keep studying. They dropped out," she said with a shrug. "Never ca back."
Silence fell between them.
"Since then," Selene continued, "every ti sothing good happens to , soone else loses sothing. And that creates resentnt. Envy. Rumors."
"And you?" Thomas asked. "What do you do with that?"
Selene looked at him with irritation.
"What do you think? Nothing. I can’t turn it off."
Thomas shook his head gently.
"That wasn’t a reproach."
She sighed.
"My gift doesn’t listen to intentions. It just works."
She leaned back in her chair.
"That’s why it bothers when you suggest you can ’enhance’ it. You’ll give more problems than I already have."
Thomas didn’t deny it.
"I wondered if... my presence influenced it in so way," he said honestly. "That’s all."
Selene watched him, suspicious.
"And?"
"I don’t know."
"I don’t believe that."
Thomas held her gaze.
"Selene, if I knew how your power worked, I wouldn’t be asking you."
She seed to relax just a little.
"...Then you’re ignorant."
"Completely."
That drew a tiny, almost involuntary smile from her.
"That makes you dangerous."
Selene went back to playing with the cup.
"What I don’t understand," she said after a while, "is why all of this has to be done like this."
Thomas looked up.
"Like what?"
"Obedience," she replied. "Orders. No resistance. Why not direct cooperation?"
The atmosphere tightened again. Thomas took a deep breath and answered:
"You wouldn’t cooperate with the way I need you to, willingly. I need to solve my problems, and I’ll make sure everything turns out the way I want. I don’t need a lecture on morality at an important mont."
’At least that’s my public answer, because I don’t understand either why I have this system or for what purpose it was given to . But I do know what I want to use it for.’
She stared at him.
"Is it slavery?"
Thomas remained silent.
"Tell it’s not."
"I can’t define it that easily."
Selene clenched her jaw, annoyed.
"I hate incomplete answers."
"And would you accept hearing the truth? You ask those questions because you already know the answer."
"It’s because I want to hear it from your own mouth. Tell what I am. That I’m just a slave."
Selene’s brows knit together. Thomas kept his eyes fixed on her beautiful light-blue eyes and replied calmly:
"I never intended to treat you that way. It’s true that I’ll force you to obey , but I won’t strip you of your humanity. Though..." He brought the cup to his lips and spoke in a playful tone, "if you like being treated like a slave, I wouldn’t mind indulging you."
"Disgusting," she spat, looking at Thomas with contempt and lifting her chin. Her gaze was that of soone looking down on sothing insignificant.
Selene ended up leaning back in the chair, exhausted.
"I don’t trust you."
’I wouldn’t either...,’ Thomas thought.
Selene picked up her coffee and took a final sip. She was still upset, but for the first ti, she had talked about her power without feeling alone—sothing that ant a lot to her.
Thomas glanced at his watch beneath the table.
’Maybe it’s ti to take a risk, even though she hasn’t shown any sign of lowering her hostility toward . I’d love to spend all day with her to secure my mission, but I need to get back ho. Not just to cook lunch for my sister, but to keep my things from being thrown out. Sohow I need to be clever and buy myself more days—or convince them to wait until payday.’
He looked back at Selene, masking his expression.
’The system says I have Selene’s luck as a passive ability, but I wonder if distance matters—having her closer or farther away. Thinking about bringing her to my place is dangerous, but she could get out of a tight spot. Still, that would put my sister at risk, and no matter what, I want to ensure her safety... even if one day I’m caught and imprisoned. I want everything ready so Iris can live on her own. Even if soday I’m no longer around...’
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