Michael awoke early after a restless sleep, his mind going over the possible ramifications of being seen cultivating and breaking through by Elena. When he opened his eyes, he realised he was still wearing his grey servants robe. A quick check with his minds-eye confirmed his suspicions; his Qi had been reset once again.
Cursing lightly, he swung his feet off the bed and looked over at Elena who was still sleeping soundly, unaware of the trouble she had just caused him.
'What the hell am I gonna do?' he asked himself.
'Master, maybe she'll forget about it by the time she wakes up?' Archie proposed with a forlorn expression.
Michael shook his head dismissively 'Let's be real, this isn't some fairy tale. Damnit, why was I so hasty?'
'Even Jason and Grandpa Yin aren't aware of my… Affliction' he continued.
Cursing his bad luck, he got up from his bed and quickly washed his face and tidied himself in the washroom before hurrying out of his quarters.
Michael made his way to the herb refinement room, his heart heavy with worry. He knew that worrying about the issue would only make it worse. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on the task at hand.
The White Spirit Root lay before him, and Michael could feel its potent energy even before he touched it. He took out his tools and began the delicate process of processing the herb. As he worked, he could feel his mind clearing and his worries slowly fading away.
He focused on each step, using his knowledge and experience to refine the herb to its purest form. The room was silent except for the sound of his tools and the occasional creak of the wooden floorboards.
As the time passed, Michael became completely absorbed in his work. He forgot about his worries and instead focused on the present moment. With practice he was now able to process 4 out of 5 herbs successfully, only needing to send 1 failure to the Reverse Realm every 10 to 15 minutes.
He dusted off his hands and looked at the vials of processed White Spirit Root with satisfaction. He smiled to himself, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
'Who could have thought that working hard could give me such satisfaction' he thought smilingly.
'Yes! Also our herb garden is looking healthier' Archie replied with joy.
Just as he was basking in his accomplishment Michael heard the door swing open and Elena enter the room.
'F***, act natural' Archie screamed in horror.
Startled by the sudden shout, Michael's mind went blank. He looked over at Elena with a smile "Elena, good morning," he said cheerfully.
Elena rubbed her eyes a few times, wondering if she was seeing things. "Michael what are you doing here?" she stammered.
'Shit, shit we're screwed!' Archie wailed in dismay.
"What do you mean? I'm refining herbs" he said innocently. 'Shut the hell up man, I'm trying to act casual' he yelled at Archie who was in panic mode.
She walked closer to him and looked him up and down "But last night, didn't y-".
Michael's brain was working overtime, going through the possible scenarios of how he can get himself out of this pickle. He watched on as Elena looked him up and down, trying to stay as calm as possible on the surface, in order to hopefully continue the façade.
Elena's eyes widened in shock and began to speak "What the f-".
Seeing the recognition in her eyes he quickly understood that there was no turning back now, she had already noticed that he was no longer a cultivator.
Michael quickly closed the distance between the two and covered her mouth. He had already exposed himself to one person, he couldn't have her letting the cat out of the bag to every Tom, Dick or Harry.
"Damn it, let's get through today and we can talk about it tonight" he whispered to her through gritted teeth.
'Master what do we do?' cried Archie in despair.
'This guy is no help at all' Michael remarked internally. Vowing to teach Archie a lesson in how to be useful later, he smiled and gestured to Elena to inspect his work.
Elena was confused by the sudden turn of events, but she was a smart person. She understood that Michael must have his circumstances, after a moment of processing she nodded and removed his hand from her mouth, examining the vials of processed herbs on the table.
"These are... White Spirit Herbs?" she asked, confused.
Seeing Elena seem to accept the situation at least for now, Michael felt relieved and released the pent-up stress he had accumulated. He casually stated "Yeah, 5 sets of perfectly processed White Spirit Root."
Elena looked over at Michael like he was some kind of idiot "We aren't processing White Spirit Herbs today; Master Shen needs some Green Mist Grass for a medicinal pill".
Michael's heart sank. He had been so focused on his worries that he had completely forgotten which herb he was supposed to be processing today.
"Generally, low-tier processed herbs only last 24 hours which is why we can't stockpile them." Looking at Michael who had a blank look on his face right now, she shook her head. 'I can't believe I was envious of this idiot' she thought sardonically.
"Luckily you only made 5 sets, make sure you dispose of them before Master Shen or any of the other servants arrive."
Heaving a sigh of relief, Michael quickly collected the 5 vials and walked outside to "dispose of them". In actuality, he moved them to his Pause Realm thinking that they may come in handy at some point.
Once he returned, he stood next to Elena as if nothing had happened. "I'm ready for my lesson on Green Mist Grass" he said smilingly.
'Ignore it. Trying to understand this guy will cause you unneeded stress' she told herself internally before gathering her thoughts.
"Green Mist Grass is a herb that can alleviate pain and inflammation, making it useful for treating injuries."
Elena continued, "It's also known to promote blood circulation and enhance healing, which can speed up recovery time for injuries. When processed with some other tier-1 ingredients it can make the Blood Replenishing pill."
Michael nodded approvingly, unlike yesterday he decided to listen carefully to Elena's explanations, deeming this important information that could be useful to his Alchemist career in the future. The benefits of his Eternal Pendant would be wasted if he didn't pursue Alchemy wholeheartedly.
Seeing that Michael was at least paying attention to her instructions this time, Elena's opinion of him was beginning to improve. Although she still thought he was an idiot, if he began to take Alchemy seriously, he would succeed.
Once she was done with her explanation, she left Michael to her own devices and began to process her own herbs. After a few hours she realised that mistakes were appearing in her work, ones that she would rarely make previously.
'What the hell is wrong with me' she complained, staring at the pile of ruined herbs she had just created. She looked over at Michael who was in deep concentration, seemingly putting his all into processing the Green Mist Grass. Occasionally he would rub his bare chin and a weird smile would appear on his face.
'Never mind me, what the hell is wrong with him?' staring at the odd actions of Michael she began to wonder what kind of weirdo she had gotten involved with.
If it weren't for the burning questions she had deep down about last night she would surely try and distance herself from that odd person. Sighing in resignation, she decided to hold her tongue and try completing the rest of her work without any more mistakes.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, she had finished her allocation of herbs. She looked over and saw Michael had also finished, he seemed to be lost in thought. "Let's leave this place and talk about last night," Elena said, interrupting his thoughts. "You need to take responsibility and give a satisfactory explanation."
Michael turned around with had a look of horror on his face, his eyes quickly scanned the room and could see the various servants looking at him. Some were looking at him in envy, while others were shocked and appalled.
He quickly grabbed Elena's hand and led her out of the room hastily, trying not to make eye contact with the fellow servants. After they got some distance away from the herb refinement room he stopped and faced Elena.
"What the hell are you doing? Trying to make me out to be a pervert?" he yelled in a hushed voice.
Being yelled at suddenly, Elena quickly got annoyed "What the hell are you talking about?"
Michael repeated her words, being sure to emphasise certain words. Elena's face quickly turned bright crimson with embarrassment. "Y-You idiot! It's not my fault your mind lives in the gutter!"
She almost stormed off, however quickly remembered the reason for this farce in the first place. She quickly calmed herself down and said seriously "Let's go back to our quarters, when we're there I expect a proper explanation."
Calming down, Michael slowly nodded, his mind was racing as he tried to come up with a plausible explanation. He followed Elena towards the servants quarters, trying to stay calm and composed despite his worries.
As they walked down the hallway, Michael couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. He knew that he had a lot of explaining to do, and he wasn't sure if he could convince Elena to keep his secret.
But he was determined to try. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for the conversation ahead. No matter what happened, he knew that he had to face his problems head-on.