-Kashion-
"Is hydrogen the key? Or is it magnesium?"
Kashion was sitting in his room with Oren. He had his tab in hand, trying to find something about the formula. But what was Prior trying to say by writing that magnesium reacts with hydrochloric acid to form magnesium chloride and hydrogen? He just couldn't understand it. He had briefly considered going to the lab, but there was probably no one there at this hour. He didn't want to ask Pil. He thought about going to Professor Nara. He looked at Oren and was about to suggest it when he remembered Oren's aunt.
"Oren," he said.
Oren looked at him. He was visibly annoyed. Kashion had been brooding over magnesium and hydrochloric acid for nearly an hour.
"Your aunt is a scientist, right?" Kashion said.
Oren nodded.
"Let's go to her," Kashion said, already getting up.
"I don't think that's a good idea. If someone sees you outside at this hour… especially after the incident with the New Dawn," Oren objected.
Kashion nodded. Oren had a point.
"This can surely wait until tomorrow, Kashion."
Kashion shook his head. "I need to know today."
Oren groaned.
Kashion sat down again. "Write to her. Tell her to come here."
Oren looked at him with furrowed brows.
"Your aunt."
Oren sighed. "Fine, just so this can end, I'll message her."
Kashion thought for a moment. "Ah. And tell her it's strictly confidential. She should also dress in a way that she won't be recognized."
Oren just stared at him, confused.
"I don't want anyone to find out," Kashion explained. Especially not Prior.
"Okay," Oren said reluctantly and typed a message.
It felt like an eternity for Kashion until Oren finally said, "She's on her way."
-Prior-
Prior was in her room, lying on her bed, eating an apple. She was in a good mood. Talina hadn't come back yet.
Prior had told Nari and Eynara about the recent events. Of course, the two had immediately said that it had all been obvious anyway.
She was glad to have those two as friends. She had known Nari for a long time, since her studies. Eynara she had met during her hardest time. They were among the few people she wasn't afraid of losing.
She still felt like she was in a dream. So unreal. That Kashion knew about her past and still didn't pull away. Of course it hadn't been her fault, but because she had experienced so many different reactions, she always felt like she carried a flaw with her.
She crossed her legs and kept thinking about the game with Kashion. What he had said. How he had said it. The way he had looked at her. She couldn't stop smiling. She hadn't felt this good in a long time.
-Kashion-
Oren had picked Yin up outside and now entered Kashion's room with her. She had covered her face with a cloth and now removed it.
She gave a brief bow and said, "Your Highness, Oren said this is about a special chemical equation."
Kashion nodded.
"Is it a new discovery? Did someone give you this information? Is it about petroleum synthesis?" Yin asked curiously.
"Sit down first," he said.
She sat. "As I said, this must remain strictly confidential, and not a word of this can leave this room," Kashion said.
Yin nodded. "Of course. I'm very curious."
He handed her the paper. "It's about this equation."
She stared at the paper, then looked at him in disbelief. "But… this is… this is just a normal redox reaction," she said.
Kashion heard Oren chuckle. He shot him a sharp look, and Oren covered his mouth.
"I don't understand, Your Highness. This is a completely ordinary reaction equation. What is there not to understand?"
Kashion cleared his throat. "The situation is this: someone essentially confessed something to a woman, and she said this was her answer."
"Ah," Yin said—and now she laughed. "In that case, the equation actually has a different meaning."
Kashion's eyes widened. "Which one?" he asked.
Yin looked at him curiously. "There are several possibilities. Unfortunately, I don't know the background of this 'someone.'"
"Just tell me all of them," Kashion said.
Yin thought for a moment. "The simplest meaning is the reaction itself. If you put magnesium into hydrochloric acid, for example in a test tube, a visible reaction occurs, and bubbles start to rise."
Kashion had seen that in a video, but he didn't know what it meant. "And that means?" he asked.
Yin laughed. "Well, quite simply, it means a chemical reaction is triggered. You could say one person triggers feelings in the other—like the rising bubbles. Excitement, or something like butterflies in the stomach."
Kashion smiled. That was a good answer.
But Yin had mentioned other possibilities.
"And the others?" he asked.
Yin smiled. "The second possibility is also positive. You see: magnesium stands alone, and hydrochloric acid consists of two components. In the next step, magnesium is firmly bonded with chlorine, and hydrogen stands alone. You could say two elements form a new bond and leave something old behind."
That sounded perfect as well—and fit their situation. Two elements forming a bond. Kashion couldn't help but smile.
"And I can think of a third possibility. But that depends on the context," Yin said.
"Go on," Kashion urged.
She thought briefly. "I'm not entirely sure, but before, we had hydrochloric acid—something acidic, dangerous. But the result is, in a way, less acidic and less dangerous."
That fit too.
"So, no matter how you look at it, it's definitely a positive answer, right?" Kashion asked.
Yin nodded firmly. "Definitely. The woman wants to tell you…" Yin cleared her throat, "I mean, she wants to tell this someone that the chemistry works." She laughed. "The chemistry fits. She has positive feelings and sees the connection as something good."
All of Kashion's nervousness vanished. He felt a deep inner calm. But soon another kind of nervousness returned.
"Is the bond easy to break, or is it stable?" he asked.
Yin smiled. "It's quite stable. You'd need effort to separate the elements again."
Kashion nodded. "Thank you, Yin," he said.
Yin laughed, then smiled warmly at him. "Your Highness, I wish this 'someone' good luck."
Kashion nodded and smiled back.
Oren escorted Yin back outside.
Kashion remained seated, still holding the paper. He kept looking at the equation, fascinated by how much meaning it could carry.
Oren soon returned.
He looked at Kashion, shaking his head. Kashion finally placed the paper in a drawer, where it could keep the other note company.
"You should focus on what matters," Oren said. "Tomorrow morning we meet with Terland, and the second negotiation is scheduled for the afternoon."
Kashion sighed and nodded. "One moment." He took his tab and sent FoxPriority a few messages, grinning the whole time.
Then he put the tab away and sat down with Oren to discuss the upcoming tasks.
-Prior-
Talina had returned. She was still distant toward Prior, but better than the day before. Evlina had probably spoken to her.
"In case you didn't know, the next negotiation is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon," Talina said.
Prior actually hadn't known. She just nodded.
"Tomorrow morning we're going to see Princess Evlina. I'm going to bed now. Good night."
Prior wished her good night as well and planned to go to sleep early. She hadn't slept particularly well the night before.
She still had her tab in her hand and saw she had a message from kashion233. She grinned. Maybe he needed her help? She opened it.
kashion233
Solved.
Oh. What? That fast? She couldn't imagine that. Could he really have understood her? Before she could reply, more messages came in.
kashion233
And Prior
kashion233
I don't intend to reverse the reaction or let it be reversed ^^
kashion233
Sleep well.
When she read that, she couldn't stop smiling again and felt a tingling in her stomach. He didn't intend to reverse the reaction. She held the tab against her chest as if hugging it. Then she looked at the message again. Could she really have hope again? And with someone like him?
She still could hardly believe that he treated her like this, even though he knew about her past.
She opened the chat and wrote: "Good night." But then it felt like too little, so she added: "I didn't expect you to solve it so quickly."
Then she tried to sleep.
-Kashion-
Kashion lay in his bed, Luu at his feet. He took his tab to see if Prior had replied. And she had. He smiled and sent her another message before trying to sleep—which came quite easily.
kashion233
Get used to me exceeding your expectations.