Throwing these thoughts out of his head, he was fine as it was. So he did not need to worry; right now, he had to prepare for the nearest problem called "the Sword Princess." And perhaps even Lefiya, but that was not such a significant problem compared to Ais.
After all, she had spent quite a lot of time with Kopii. My plan would be successful; I was one hundred percent sure of that. And after that, I would have to get her into bed by all means.
But the more he thought about it, the more he understood: he was quite the paranoid. Because if you think logically, why should they think that he was not Kopii? Why should they have thoughts that this was not Kopii, but someone else? As if they had often encountered this in life. But I know that the chance is one in a million. But I read about that only in books, and it was not me, but Kopii.
So, maybe I should just drop it and do nothing, and simply go with the flow and not worry? Beginning to slowly relax.
– No!
With a shout, he jumped up; his face filled with tension. And he began pacing around the room.
«But what if they guess after all? What will they do then? And really, what will they do? They won't kill me… Probably.» — he thought, hoping for the best outcome, but the more he thought, the more he began to worry about it.
– Enough! I have plenty of time anyway.
He said to himself. Loneliness had a bad effect on him. He thought too much. He understood that it was not so bad, but filling his head with useless thoughts that could lead him to a different outcome was not worth it. It was better to follow the plan he had already made long ago. He thought, seeing no point in changing anything in his tactics. It was better to overestimate his enemies and spend more time on preparation than to underestimate the enemy and regret it for the rest of his life.
So he went to prepare for Ais's visit. Taking a book and a knife, he began cutting a carrot.
— Damn, why the hell am I cutting it?
Because of inattention, he did not notice how the page turned. And from that moment, he began cooking incorrectly. Which rather infuriated him.
— Couldn't you have bought a book with pictures! Bitch!
Bang.
Throwing the book at the wall in anger.
Of course, his words flew into the void. He stared with a blank gaze at the book, which by some miracle remained intact.
He understood where he had to start, so that Ais would not suspect anything. And that was what united Kopii and her — cooking.
Kane's and Kopii's cooking did not differ that much in taste, but differed greatly in time. Kane needed more time, but, of course, if cooking a simple dish, for example, scrambled eggs, they would cook the same. But that was part of the problem.
The second mother of the problem — was coming up with a training plan for Ais, so that her cooking skills would improve neither fast nor slow.
So he had no choice but to pick up the book and restrain himself from tearing it apart on the spot and get back to cooking, to reduce the time. So, calming his heart as best he could, he began cooking a new dish.
And this failed experiment, he simply threw in the trash.
The more he cooked, the more he thought about Ais, about her weak and strong sides. And Kane understood one truth: Kopii was not as stupid as he thought. He had wanted to screw her right away, even in exchange for information, which could have led to rather strong consequences.
But Kopii had taken a different path — through the stomach. While he taught her to cook, she taught him to fight. Unconsciously growing closer…
«How clever,» — he smirked, looking at Kopii in a new light. After all, he was not as stupid as he thought, or he was doing it unconsciously. Which, of course, he was sure of.
In other words, Kopii, without realizing it himself, had laid a foundation — fragile, but a foundation on the path to screwing Ais. But he was not too happy about it, because one mistake — and the whole foundation would simply shatter into small pieces. And a broken foundation was much harder to repair than to create a new one. But the point was that the foundation was created only once.
So he would be very careful, because the reward was worth waiting for.
– Ahaha! Perfect. – He laughed until he smelled a strange smell of burning. – Oh, damn!
He was so immersed in his thoughts that he did not notice his finger starting to burn. If it were not for the smell, he definitely would not have noticed. But his thoughts quickly returned to what he would do when he won, completely forgetting what had just happened — like a simple trifle, which, in truth, it was for him.
Some time later.
Having trained quite a lot in cooking, he got bored of it and decided to freshen up. And, of course, for him, fresh air was the blood of fallen enemies. So he went to the dungeon. But on the way, he met a woman who seemed very familiar to him.
At first, he thought his imagination was playing tricks.
Bang.
— Oh, how can you? Forgive me.
Kane squinted at the object she had dropped. He did not hear what she muttered to herself, but, examining the object better, he understood: it was an amulet with a familiar engraving, very familiar.
— Are you looking for something special?
— I'm looking for… something that will change my life.
— In Orario, everyone seeks change, boy. But not everyone is ready to pay the price.
— I… don't know.
— I am ready.
— This is the amulet of choice.
— Are you looking for something, boy?
— I… am searching for a path.
— Paths are different. Some lead to glory, others to ruin. And you, boy, which path will you choose?
— Which will I choose? — Kane whispered to himself, looking attentively at the woman, not taking his gaze off her for a second. He remembered fragments of words from the past. Back then, when Kopii was at the peak of innocence and childish curiosity, on that very day, they had disappeared. Deep inside, this evoked anger — a quiet anger, ready to spill out at any second.
He watched as the woman left into the crowd, but he no longer wasted time and headed after her. He would find that man too. And make him pay for everything they had done in the past.
Kane was confident in his abilities one hundred percent, because if they had been strong, they would not have had to engage in such a useless business as robbing newcomers in Orario for money.
He kept a rather large distance between him and her — in case of uncertain circumstances. What if someone noticed that he was following a woman — they would definitely think badly of him. But, of course, the chance of that was not so high, but it was not zero. So he did not relax for a second.
— Hey! Kopii!
— Kopii!
Kane paid no attention to someone calling him; he did not even hear it, he was fully focused on that woman, and on how best to make her feel despair, until someone pulled his arm. Kane's gaze quickly fell on the one who had dared to disturb him. And he saw a cute girl.
…
— Kopii!
Waving her hand in front of Kane's face, he finally came to his senses and spoke:
— Oh, what people! — he smiled, fully turning to her. — You're as beautiful as always, Syr. – Grabbing her hands and squeezing a little, feeling the softness of her skin.
At my words, a blush appeared on her cheeks, and her gaze immediately dropped to the floor.
— No-no, I… you're exaggerating! — she babbled, trying to free herself from his hands.
But Kane did not notice this, and did not hear. His gaze darted through the crowd in search of that woman, but however hard he looked, he could not find her. Which evoked mixed feelings deep inside.
— She's gone, — Kane whispered in disappointment.
— Gone? — looking at Kane with a questioning gaze. — Who's gone?
Kane looked at her questioningly.
— Well… uh… I don't know.
— …
— …
— Oh, were you out shopping?
— Huh? Yes.
— Let me help, — reaching for the bag that lay by her feet, but before I knew it, she quickly turned away, taking the bag farther from him.
— I'll do it myself.
– ...