Hints and Missed (1)

Arren finally got some rest after almost a week. He didn't have any more nightmares after waking up from his horrifying nightmare, and it was clear that he slept peacefully. Perhaps the medicine had an effect, or he told someone a little bit of his mind, but the most important thing was that Arren slept well.

He'd already awoken, but Arren hadn't yet opened his eyes, and his mind had wandered for a while. His headache was almost gone, aside from his still sore throat. He assumed he still had a cold, even though his high fever had subsided.

As he closed his eyes, he tried to recall what had happened the night before. While everything was almost complete, Arren still couldn't help but furrow his brows as if he missed something particularly important. He forced himself to remember something, but he was helpless because he had no idea what it was at all.

So he recounted some of the events of the day before. He snuck out of the house, went to a dating café then called Mister Investigator as he was freezing and he didn't have any money to buy coffee. So far, he has been accurate.

Mister Investigator agreed, and they met at the café. Arren could also recall going to this hotel; every event was still fairly clear to him. Even his terrifying nightmares... Then, Arren also remembered his mother. He skipped those and decided not to delve deeper until he was ready enough to know and accept the information.

After that, he woke up, which was thanks to the alpha as well, and he told him some things, even about his past problems. Arren couldn't help but bury his face in his pillow out of embarrassment. He admitted that he was honest and that having a fever made him more vulnerable and caused him to babble excessively. Opening up helped him to some extent, so he wasn't ashamed for too long.

Then... there was no then. Arren's eyes opened abruptly, making him dizzy. He was convinced that he had forgotten some details. He hoped it wasn't anything shameful. Nah, he gave up. His brain needed to rest, and he might as well ask Mister Investigator this question again.

Arren put this idea on hold for the time being. He was always like that; if he couldn't remember something, he wouldn't dwell on it too much and would wait for the right moment. There was no need to overthink things. Arren had already had time to look around now that he was fully awake.

.

The room was spacious, with an extravagant and luxurious interior that revealed the room's value. It also had the extraordinary vibe that a normal hotel lacked.

Leaving that aside, which was unimportant in and of itself, Arren didn't care which hotel he was in. He lay down and calmly observed the room. After a while, he noticed a logo printed on the cover of the pillows. It was small and could even be considered a design rather than a logo, but he was lost in thought. That logo was familiar to him.

Arren's eyes narrowed, and he stared at it, then a stunned expression appeared on his face. He sat up and examined the logo closely to confirm his guess. He was certain—wasn't this the Emperor's Point Hotel's logo? He wasn't unfamiliar with the hotel, and in fact, he had stayed there several times before.

Still, that was on rare occasions, and he could easily book a room in this hotel due to his status. That wasn't the point; he was stunned because, while he could stay at this hotel and book a room, normal or ordinary people couldn't. Money was sometimes useless, as the hotel was well-known for its reputation and recognized as the Imperial Hotel of the Empire.

That was not an empty title at all. It was no secret that the imperial family founded the hotel two centuries ago to host some of the banquets or as a place to stay for their diplomats' visitors. In some cases the status of the visitors wasn't enough to stay in the palace but also not low enough to stay at the normal hotel either, even some banquets that weren't important enough to be called state or official banquets would be held in the hotel.

The hotel had a long history within the Empire, and it was only recently that the management permitted the hotel to be booked by some visitors who were only there as tourists and not in their official capacity. Some royalty who were also visiting the empire would be staying in this hotel if their business were not official. Even powerful magnates and businessmen could qualify if their credentials were sufficient. In other words, the hotel was only second to the palace in terms of imperial prestige.

Even for him, while he could reserve a room, it wasn't easy. At the very least, he couldn't do it on such short notice. For a brief moment, Arren was in a daze; he fidgeted with the logo on the pillow and began to ponder it deeply. Perhaps... his Mister Investigator's background wasn't that simple after all.

To be able to book a room in this room with ease, and based on the size of the room, it was of a significant suite. It was impossible for a regular Royal Investigator to do it. Was he of the higher echelon in that development? It wasn't unreasonable to believe so. After all, he could be in charge of Arren's investigation, which even the Emperor was curious about.

Arren's lips pursed into thin lines as he remembered the Emperor, and his brows knitted in annoyance. Would Spade object if he wanted to see the asshole in his prison because, apparently, he was the one who blocked Arren's involvement in his own case? Would Mister Investigator face consequences if he defied the Emperor's orders? Arren chewed his lips and resumed his contemplation as he realized this.

Arren was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the door opening and someone walking in. He was sitting up in the bed as his fingers fidgeted with the pillow and his eyes looked distant.

"What are you thinking?" Arren awoke from his thoughts after hearing a deep voice. He turned to face the person who had just spoken.

The alpha was now standing at the foot of the bed, his hands at his sides, and a pair of calm but menacing amber eyes stared at Arren. The alpha's dignified stature caused Arren to stammer, and he forgot to speak, of course, because he was startled.

"Uh..." Arren didn't know what to say; his mind was blank, and whatever he was thinking about had vanished.

"How are you feeling? Do you have a headache?" The alpha began walking until he was on the left side of the bed, face to face with Arren. He even reached out and touched the omega's forehead to check his temperature.

Arren quickly regained his composure. "No, I'm okay now, I think."

The alpha took his hand off Arren's forehead and looked at him as if trying to figure out what was wrong. "Your fever has subsided..." he confirmed, but his gaze never left the omega.

Even if Arren wasn't some blushing teen in love or anything, being stared at like that heated up his face, especially if the one staring at him was an attractive man like Spade. He still coughed and averted his gaze before brushing his hair, the disheveled hair giving off a new kind of charisma.

"Anyway... thank you, and..." he trailed off, and Arren realized what he had just thought before the alpha interrupted him.

His gaze returned to the alpha, suspiciously looking at him. This looked perplexed Spade, who arched his brows. He had no idea why the omega was suddenly staring at him. Arren, in his opinion, looked more like a suspicious cub than a tiger; even his expression was cute rather than threatening. Spade waited for what Arren would say while he held back to smile and pinched the omega's cheeks.

"What is it?" Spade calmly asked.

"You..." Arren began, "This is the Imperial Hotel, right? Then, how do you... I mean, it's hard to book a room in this hotel, right?" Arren observed the alpha's face, which showed no obvious change after Arren asked him that question.

Spade had anticipated that Arren would inquire about this. After all, the omega was a noble himself, so he was well-versed in such matters. Spade though anticipated more the reaction of the omega after he woke up since he already told him his name last night then, of course, him booking a room in this hotel was as easy as waving a hand. He hadn't expected that... Arren appeared to have completely forgotten about it.

"It's difficult for others... but not for me," Spade replied ambiguously, giving the omega a clear hint.

Unfortunately, Arren ignored the hint completely. More precisely, his mind would not dare to think in that direction. Obviously, he was never suspicious of the alpha's identity as the Emperor. While he was perplexed by what the alpha was saying, his mind came to a conclusion on its own.

He only assumed that officials such as Mister Investigator might have some incentive due to the nature of their work and the alpha's position being higher than the others.

"Ah, I get it," Arren, who believed he had a good grasp of the situation, nodded and smiled at the alpha.

Spade, on the other hand, appeared perplexed as the corner of his mouth twitched. What did Arren mean when he got it? That was it? Did the omega have any further questions? Like, how could it be easy for him but not for others? Even Dukes, let alone a royal investigator, did not have the same privileges as he did.

He didn't know what to feel, Arren… really loved to jump to his own conclusions.