The Devil’s Cage

Joanna?

The Joanna he knew of? The Joanna that once almost gave up on living because of the scars on her face? The one that needed Kieran to persuade her against such action?

Herbert’s student?

Kieran quickly went over the book that he was reading.

He hoped to find out about more on Joanna so that he could verify whether the Joanna the books mentioned was the Joanna that he knew of.

However, the books he borrowed from the library didn’t hold the information he sought.

“Help me borrow more books regarding this, Joanna!”

Kieran straightforwardly told Lyn Amie when he brought the food out of the kitchen.

Kieran believed as a native, Lyn Amie would be more familiar with this ‘Joanna.’

Although Lyn Amie might be prejudiced by his first impression, he was still better than Kieran.

Lyn Amie’s breath hurried as he brought the food to the table.

He was showing off his rage. He really wanted to question Kieran on whether he did it on purpose, but the question didn’t escape his mouth.

He quietly placed the food on the table, cursing Kieran in his heart as he quickly went out the door.

Lyn Amie wasn’t an idiot. After a little thought, he knew why Kieran ordered him around.

It was because of his little humming during the drive which disturbed Kieran.

He was planning to say sorry after preparing dinner, but now?

No, he didn’t think he needed to be sorry.

While he returned with thick stacks of books, he felt ridiculous because of his naive thoughts just now.

“The beef is overcooked.”

“You should put the onion when it’s mildly roasted.”

“You need to use stocks for cooking the soup.”

“Too much salt.”

“The potatoes are too hard.”

“The carrots are too soft.”

The picky comments caught Lyn Amie off guard, he was dumbstruck, and his breath hurried again.

Ultimately, he slammed the books in front of Kieran and yelled, “GOOD NIGHT!”

Lyn Amie then turned around and left through the door.

He must leave this room immediately; otherwise, he was afraid that he’d lose control and slam the books into Kieran’s face.

Bang!

After the door was slammed shut, Kieran quickly swept the food clean and started to read the new books that Lyn Amie brought him.

Seconds turned into minutes.

When the sun rose, the night was dispelled.

Kieran stood up from the sofa, exercising his stiff body and pulled open the curtains to let the sun in. When the sunshine landed on his body, the warmth delighted him thoroughly, making him feel a little better.

A whole night of reading didn’t give Kieran anything useful.

The books about ‘Joanna’ that Lym Amie brought back were all the same.

The main thing the books were saying was: Joanna, as a woman, led the revolution that swept the entire Federation!

The other points were just the author’s own thoughts drawn from the meaning of the sentence.

Kieran didn’t even see names that he was familiar with the description.

However, Kieran wasn’t depressed by his fruitless reading.

He knew what he read through the night were some books opened to the public, the hidden, secretive ones that shouldn’t be out in the light would naturally not be readily available.

“Hope it won’t let me down.”

Kieran thought when he remembered the deals he made with the director.

Kieran prepared himself to head to the TV station, but before he moved, he felt extremely exhausted.

He rubbed his swollen temple and frowned.

He was much weaker than he expected.

In the past, where he usually read through the night, he would still feel uncomfortable but definitely not sleepy and exhausted.

The tiredness and sleepiness of his body told him what he should do: rest!

An hour of rest!

He didn’t want to commit any mistakes because of his lack of focus from the tiredness.

Just when Kieran was about to lay down on the sofa, the door was knocked on—

Dok, Dok Dok.

Kieran knew who it was without even asking.

Lyn Amie, the makeup artist!

Other than him, who else knew Kieran was staying here?

Frowned, Kieran opened the door.

Lyn Amie was looking a little embarrassed when Kieran appeared in front of him.

Especially when he walked into the room and saw the empty bowls and plates on the table, the embarrassment grew.

Last night, Lyn Amie returned home feeling enraged, and to prove his cooking skills to Kieran, he purposely cooked dinner for himself, but…

No more buts.

The food he cooked was so tough on the appetite, thus allowing him to understand why Kieran was so picky at that time.

So, he prepared breakfast together with his apology. But to his surprise, no matter how terrible his cooking was, Kieran ate all of it nonetheless.

“Y-You…”

“Give me the breakfast. Go wash the plates, and I need an hour of rest.”

Kieran took the bag of breakfast and turned around to his bedroom.

If Lyn Amie appeared without breakfast, he wouldn’t have been allowed to step into the room, but he didn’t know that. He looked at Kieran’s back and answered, “Okay.”

He then started to hum again as he tidied up the table, but he quickly remembered his fiasco yesterday and stopped. He carefully looked at the closed bedroom door and went into the kitchen quietly.

…

Later in the morning, Kieran went back to the TV station again.

This time, he wasn’t going to the dressing room, but the director’s office.

After serving two cups of coffee, Lyn Amie went left the office.

“Good morning,” Eckart looked at Kieran with a tired face.

Compared to last night, Eckart in the morning looked even more tired, but he was more excited as well.”

“Em. You should take a few hours of rest,” Kieran nodded.

“I really want to, but I can’t… Not now.”

“Before our show truly garners attention, many things are still up in the air.”

After a smooth deal last night, both of them seemed closer, Eckart also sounded more casual than before.

Kieran didn’t say anything else after that. Both of them were better than strangers, but not quite friends yet. They were just partners working together, so some words naturally wouldn’t come out from Kieran.

“I want to broadcast the contents that didn’t get aired last night.”

Eckart took a mouthful of coffee before saying slowly. And after he did, he drained the coffee cup.

He has been relying on coffee to survive for the past few days.

Without coffee, he really had no idea how would he make it through.

“Will there be any problems?” Kieran asked after the director finished his coffee.

Needless to say, someone really died on the show last night, Kieran hadn’t forgotten about it.

“A little, but manageable. The good triumphs the bad!”

Eckart said after some thoughts, and the moment his words subsided, he quickly elaborated, “Don’t worry, I am not a madman who will disregard anything to save myself.”

“That is why I hired a consultant from the police force.”

“You met her yesterday, as well.”

“She will be temporarily taking up the position as a consultant on the show.”

“She?” Kieran asked.

“Yes, she! Officer Mei Huasheng.”

“I really have to thank you, 2567. The reason why we can hire her is that she knew you would be our VIP of the show; otherwise, she wouldn’t have agreed to do it.”

Eckart said with a smile. He didn’t notice Kieran slowly frown after his words.