The Scent of Heaven

Fei stared at the sky with her head raised as she breathed in the petrichor—musky and fresh scent—of the rain.

The corridor was abnormally lit up, even though the sky outside was still dark, covered with gloomy clouds. There was a slight parting that was rapidly expanding in the clouds, and one could see the sun peeking through. Pure beams of white light spilled out.

"Like heaven itself." She whispered to the wind.

Fei had read the Bible before in her free time, and she felt that her description of the clouds at that moment was perfectly suitable.

'The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day,' — (Revelation 21:23-25)

She subconsciously reached out her fair hand into the area outside the ceiling of the corridor.

It wasn't raining anymore…

A droplet of water fell from the edge of the roof and onto her arm. The cool touch made her shiver a little.

Amid the light, she spotted an arc of colors.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

'A meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction, and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicolored circular arc,' Fei recited inwardly.

It is truly a whole other experience when seeing it in person than to read about in books.

She stretched her hand out further, wanting to touch the arc in vain. Fei knew that it would be fruitless to do so, but she couldn't help but try.

She wondered if her master was seeing such a scene from across the state? Does he see rainbows regularly? Did he like it?

"Um… How is it?... How is the rainbow?" Next to her, Eyrie asked with curiosity. She noticed that Fei seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit, even though she had claimed to be looking at the rainbow only for her master's sake.

Fei considered the question. It is pretty nice. It is very pretty. Was she glad she came? Well…

"It's really nice. I'm glad that I came with you." She curved up the corners of her lips, producing a smile that had the ability to light up the world with its brightness.

The smile was so sincere.

From the start, Eyrie had only wanted to get Fei to see the rainbow to distract herself and lessen her own guilt. Yet, as she looked at that smile, she felt that her original goal was not achieved at all.

Instead, she felt guiltier than before.

Ah… She felt like a bad person.

A lone tear dripped from her eye, and she hurriedly reached up with the back of her hand to rub it off.

When she received a questioning gaze from Fei, Eyrie merely said, "A dust particle fell in my eye."

Fei nodded understandingly without questioning further. She glanced down at the street below and fleetingly noticed the consequences of raining.

The pristine assortment of yellow, red, brown, and orange leaves had fallen from the trees' thin branches, landing on the concrete floors.

What a pity.

…

In the second-floor gym, Eyrie sat in a comfortable rocking chair, looking at Fei, who was training using the various types of equipment that the gym contained.

It seemed like the skies had gotten addicted to crying; recently it had been raining very often. It was only when it rained that Fei trained indoors.

Well, better for me! The air outside had gotten rather chilly, making it unsuitable for my physique, thought Eyrie.

She looked at her buzzing wristwatch. Someone had sent her a message.

Father.

When she saw the contents, a bitter sigh slipped out of her mouth.

He wanted her to have lunch with him and Carol. But Eyrie knew that this was just a cover-up for something else. The man had never requested for her presence during lunch before.

Was he suspicious of something? No way, right? Well, Father IS really experienced in reading people…

She turned to Fei. "Fei, I won't be having lunch with you today."

"Eh?" Fei looked up from her exercise. "It's fine, if you have anything you want to do, you can go." She smiled.

Eyrie nodded gently. "Alright. I'll leave after you finish your lesson."

When it was time to leave, she promptly stood up and said farewell to Fei before taking large strides out the door.

Behind her, Fei had been wiping her face down with a towel. She looked at Eyrie's fading back with a strange sense of remorse.

It had been so long since she last ate alone.

Her heart felt a little empty, and Fei lampooned to herself. Is this what it feels like to have a friend?

A friend, huh?

She missed Eyrie already. Her grasp on the towel she was using tightened.

Suddenly, Fei shook her head and scrunched up her eyebrows. To become so attached to someone… How shameful!

She couldn't let this get in the way of her job!

Fei decided to stop thinking about this matter altogether. It was quite useless anyhow.

Should she go to the kitchen this time? It has already been a month since she last went there.

…

"Eyrie."

"Eyrie."

"Eyrie Olivia Rochester (Eyrie's full name)!"

Eh… Eyrie blinked and shook herself out of her daze.

In the seat opposite of hers sat a late-middle-aged man with blond hair, dressed in a navy-blue suit.