"How has the past month been? I heard you are training with Kai now." Said Rose.
"It's been going very well. I do have the same coach as Kai, but we have different training plans." Michael responded.
Michael added after a pause. "Now that I think about it, I don't know anything about you now do I?"
Rose giggled in response and said. "Alright fair enough, ask away."
Michael asked. "Do you have any type of job?"
"Nope. Mostly because I'm finishing my last year of university, and because I'm lazy. My family is super rich anyways, I don't 'need' to work."
"Really? I know owning a university generates a lot of money, but is it that much?" Michael asked in curiosity, the concept of never having to worry about money for the rest of his life seemed... alien.
"Yeah, let's just say if I for the rest of my life spend my family's money to my hearts content and retire now, It wouldn't even put a dent in my family's wealth. Although that wouldn't happen as my parents say if I don't work for my own money, I won't get a single penny from them. And currently I'm quite poor as my parents only give me enough money for necessities."
'Wow, I guess it makes sense. Her family is royalty after all.' Michael thought.
"Very unique response... do you have any hobbies that you love?" Asked Michael.
"I... don't really have any hobbies, I just mostly study and do... other stuff." Said Rose.
"Do you have any close extended family?"
"..I would rather not talk about my family, at least for now." Rose responded.
'F*ck, I need to take it slow. I have a month to finish the mission, I don't have to do everything today.' Michael thought, trying to calm himself down to not make a scene that would ruin his objective.
Rose spoke up, cutting off Michael's train of thought. "I know this is a weird question, but what is your last name?"
Michael chuckled as he said. "Are you trying to do a background check on me?"
"No, no. Just out of curiosity."
"It's 'Alexander'."
Rose thought to herself. 'The name doesn't ring any bells, then how could he be related to us? It doesn't make any sense. Maybe it's mentioned somewhere in the library where I didn't read.. I need to go check.'
Rose pulled her phone out of her pocket and quickly glanced at it to check the time. Afterwards, she said. "It's getting late, we should go now. And I will drive you home."
Rose paused for a second, squinting her eyes as she studied Michael's expression. As soon as he was about to say something, she cut him off and sharply said. "I won't take no for an answer."
Michael, with a weary smile on his face, raised his hands in defeat and said. "Alright I get it, lets go."
Rose drove Michael back home, and weirdly enough they hadn't said a word to each other throughout the entire ride. Although Michael felt Rose briefly glance at him from time to time. Not wanting to feel awkward, Michael simply closed his eyes and rested while Rose drove.
"This is your place right?" Rose asked as she parked the car in-front of an apartment.
"Yeah this is my place. Thanks for the ride and goodbye." Michael said as he opened the passenger door to get out of the car.
"Anytime, see you later." Rose said as she drove off.
'She is one weird lady to be around.' Michael thought to himself as he went up the stairs to his apartment.
After flossing and brushing his teeth, Michael lay down on his bed, trying to think of what to do next.
'I should call her and try to set up a date after tomorrow, I need to get close enough so that she can tell me about her family.'
As Michael was about to fall asleep, he heard an annoyingly familiar noise.
'Does this system just love interrupting my sleep?!'
Michael begrudgingly looked at the line of text that appeared in-front of him. And almost immediately, his frustration turned into shock and disbelief, then relief.
[DING]
[CONGRATULATIONS]
[MISSION 'Socialize with fish' HAS BEEN COMPLETED]
[REWARD HAS BEEN INCREASED FOR COMPLETING THE MISSION ALMOST IMMEDIATELY]
[REWARD 'Homo aquatilis gene integration+' WILL BE APPLIED DURING HOST'S DEEP SLEEP]
'What?! how did the mission get completed? I never met 'Rosa Altum''
After connecting the dots, Michael felt a little dumb knowing that he had the answer all along.
'So Rose is Rosa. I should've guessed this since their names are so similar. But what is a royal princess of some mysterious family doing here in Egypt of all places? This is a developing country for god's sake. Everyone here wants immigrate and live somewhere else.'
'Thinking about this wont get me any answers, I need to sleep since I have practice in the morning tomorrow.' Michael thought to himself as he took a deep breath, calming himself down from the realization that his mom is now not in any danger, and the fact that his 'friend' is a royal princess.'
Eventually, Michael managed to fall into a deep and relaxing sleep.
Authors Note: I'm finally back! I'm done with most of my exams and I have time to write again. I still have a few more exams so I can't promise that I will have the most consistent schedule, but I will try as much as possible to write every other day, maybe even more.