Song: Turning page (Sleeping at last)
Hope POV
Hope offered the banker a faint smile as he continued bowing to her.
When she had first told him she needed a private room, he had seemed curious—right up until a mountain of gold had appeared in front of him.
After recovering from the shock, he had rushed to accommodate her every request.
Now, several bags filled with coins of various denominations rested inside her dimension.
She couldn’t exactly walk around carrying gold coins everywhere.
Even in Piltover, that would attract attention.
In Zaun, it would make her an immediate target.
She had also been given a diamond plaque.
It was the local equivalent of a credit card.
The material used indicated the wealth of its owner.
In addition, the plaque was enchanted with a concealment spell that revealed its true nature only if the owner wished it.
Depending on the purchase she wanted to make, she could display it as a silver plaque or a gold one instead.
For now, she would settle for a silver plaque.
She had just finished a beignet when she came across a bookstore.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a yordle darting between the shelves with a stack of books in its arms.
She had finally learned the name of that race.
They resembled gnomes and possessed remarkably long lifespans.
Some would even call them immortal.
She would need to do more research on this mysterious race.
After all, a yordle—Heimerdinger—sat at the head of Piltover’s Council.
Hope couldn’t understand how he had remained in power for so long and yet failed to bring any meaningful change to the Undercity.
When she had walked through Piltover’s streets, she had wanted to grit her teeth.
Zaunites moved through the city with their heads down, and whenever they passed near an Enforcer, they were almost always stopped and searched.
More often than not, those inspections ended in arrests.
She had seen money changing hands between guards and Zaunites, buying freedom for those who could afford it.
Those who couldn’t carried a look of quiet resignation.
If they were lucky, an accomplice would create a distraction and give them a chance to escape.
She had also watched a shopkeeper deliberately raise her prices the moment a Zaunite stopped in front of a display window.
There was no denying it.
This city harbored deep prejudice against the people of Zaun.
Hope let out a sigh and turned her attention back to finding her next reads.
She picked up books on the myths and legends of Runeterra, along with several on subjects that interested her, such as art.
Then her gaze landed on a section much larger than any of the others.
It was the section dedicated to engineering.
Piltover was known as the City of Progress.
Inventions were everywhere, and the Academy stood at the center of the city’s scientific and technological advancement.
That passion for engineering could be seen even among the Zaunites, who, with far fewer resources, created masterpieces of ingenuity.
The moment Hope saw the shelves, she thought of Jinx and the hideout she used as a workshop.
She hadn’t seen many books there, and yet her inventions were extraordinary.
Anger stirred within her at the thought that such brilliance was being stifled by prejudice and poverty.
Her hands clenched into fists.
“Excuse me,” she said to the bookseller.
The yordle stopped running and approached her.
“Hello!
How may I help you?”
Hope held out her plaque.
It had returned to its original form, and the diamond it was crafted from glittered brilliantly in the light.
“I would like a copy of every single book in this section,” she said.
She would later blame the hours that followed on her bond with her soulmate.
What else could explain the fact that she spent the rest of the day shopping in nearly every bookstore in the city?
Or that she acquired a staggering number of inventions and gadgets, to the point that merchants bowed as she left their shops?
Every time she bought something, she imagined the look of wonder on her sweetheart’s face.
To the point that she began to wonder if she had somehow caught a virus.
She didn’t return home until nightfall.
And she was disappointed to find their home empty.
She had never felt so lost.
She couldn’t stand the distance between herself and Jinx.
I miss you.
At that moment, it felt as though two arms were wrapping around her.
The sensation was brief, and when it vanished, she felt as if she would never be warm again.
Fuck…
Then she thought about all the books and inventions she had bought, piling up inside her dimension, and her hands began to move.
Since arriving in this world, her magic had begun to change. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Before, it had been like holding a single drop of water in her hands.
Now, that drop was slowly growing, as if one day it might become a raging torrent.
This world was saturated with magic, and her body seemed to relish every moment she spent here.
The changes within her were gradual, and she had no idea what she would become once they were complete.
The thought filled her with equal parts fear and curiosity.
But for now, she had a job to do.
After an hour of focused work, she finally achieved the result she had been aiming for.
She was about to sit down on the couch when she felt Jinx drawing closer through their bond.
Jinx POV
A few hours earlier…
Jinx walked through the streets of the city with her usual carefree attitude.
She smiled as she remembered the look on Silco’s face when she had told him about Hope.
Was it really that strange for her to be dating someone?
She was eighteen, for Janna’s sake.
Did they honestly expect nobody would ever want to spend their life with her?
Maybe they did.
Maybe they were right.
Maybe she was too messed up to attract anyone’s attention.
And she knew that all those sleepless nights spent in her workshop hadn’t exactly helped.
“You’re so beautiful, sweetheart.”
Hope’s words drifted back into her mind.
No matter what anyone else thought, since when had she cared?
She was Jinx.
She was Zaun’s storm.
And she was in love.
She began humming to herself.
Then something caught her eye.
On a market stall sat a necklace.
There was nothing particularly special about it.
And yet Jinx had the strange feeling that it belonged to Hope.
“5 gol coins?”she read aloud, eyeing the price tag.
“That’s a rip-off.
And what’s with that spelling?
Also, why is there a question mark at the end?
If you’re not sure how much it costs, just sell it for one silver coin.”
Jinx couldn’t even see the vendor’s face beneath the mask.
“4 gold coins.
Period.
Not a coin lower,” the vendor replied, sounding slightly annoyed.
“Tsk.
Fine, I’ll take it,” she said before reaching into one of her boots and pulling out the requested coins.
She didn’t actually have that much money.
Silco was a cheapskate who preferred paying his foot soldiers well while extorting his own daughter.
Jinx had learned to borrow coins whenever she found them lying around his office.
And if his accounts didn’t add up at the end of the month…
well, that was his problem.
Jinx was also a pickpocket in her spare time.
There was nothing more satisfying than seeing the look on a Piltie’s face when they realized their coin purse was gone.
It was practically a national sport.
Still, she knew better than to poke the dragon too often.
Even if Piltover’s Sheriff was in Silco’s pocket, it was best not to make too many waves.
The last thing anyone wanted was to attract the Council’s attention.
She quickly paid the vendor and picked up the necklace.
“You’d better look good on her,” she told it.
Then something caught her eye.
Was that a rune engraved on the back?
She turned to ask the vendor about it, but when she looked around, the street was empty.
“Suspicious.
Very suspicious,” she muttered before shrugging and continuing on her way.
Then her stomach growled.
Here I come!” she shouted before racing toward her favorite food stand.
As she greedily devoured a bowl of something whose ingredients remained a mystery—but whose taste was unforgettable to any Zaunite—she examined the necklace in her hand, twirling it between her fingers.
Someone with a death wish suddenly snatched it right out of her grasp.
“Another idiot,” she said.
After casually paying Jericho, she got to her feet.
The fish-like man gave her his usual shark-toothed grin before letting her leave.
Jinx sighed and took off after the thief.
The chase lasted long enough for Jinx to get bored.
Eventually, she simply shot the fugitive in the leg.
When she finally caught up, she realized the thief was actually a woman.
Jinx searched through her jacket and retrieved the necklace.
“That was fun, but I need to get home before my girlfriend starts worrying.
And you just had to steal her gift.”
She rested the barrel of her pistol beneath her own chin, as though she were deep in thought.
“Now, what am I supposed to do with you?” she mused.
The woman was trembling with fear, tears in her eyes.
“I could let you go…” Jinx said.
“But only if you tell me what else I can get my girlfriend to make her happy.”
The woman answered, but the words barely seemed able to escape her terrified mouth.
“Oh, you don’t know?
Then…” Jinx said, raising her gun toward her.
“Flowers!!!
Give her flowers!!!” the woman screamed.
“That seems a little cliché, but maybe she’ll like it,” Jinx muttered before walking away.
Seeing Jinx leave, the woman struggled to her feet and stumbled into an alleyway.
She didn’t notice the bat until it struck her.
She collapsed to the ground.
A man immediately approached, grabbed her coin purse, and ran off.
By the time Jinx returned from the surface with the flowers, it was already late.
As she was about to head home, she felt Hope’s sadness through their bond.
Hope missed her.
Jinx tried to comfort her, sending warmth and affection back through the connection.
Guilt tugged at her chest.
She really needed to stop taking so long.
She descended the stairs leading to her hideout.
The moment she reached the bottom, she froze.
Her eyes widened at the sight before her.
Bookshelves hung from the ceiling, covered in books and illuminated by candlelight.
In her workshop, bags filled with inventions and gadgets of every kind were scattered across the floor.
What is this?
And why is my heart racing?
Jinx thought.
She turned and found Hope standing beside her.
“Are those for me?” Hope asked softly, noticing the flowers in Jinx’s hands.
Jinx nodded, still speechless.
Hope took the flowers, and her smile seemed to brighten the entire room.
With trembling hands, Jinx held out the necklace.
Without hesitation, Hope fastened it around her neck, practically glowing with excitement.
“It’s beautiful.
Thank you,” Hope said before gently kissing Jinx’s lips.
“I know you love building things, and I saw all those engineering books in Piltover, and all those gadgets, and I thought you’d like them and that they might help you.
I made an index—it’s on the desk in your workshop.
You just have to choose a book, and it’ll come to you,” Hope said in one long, breathless rush of words that was unbelievably adorable.
Jinx had never imagined that anyone would support her passion for science.
She had learned everything on her own.
Sneaking into Academy lectures wasn’t easy, and books were expensive—and difficult to carry away if she stole them.
But this woman had apparently emptied half the bookstores in Piltover for her.
And those gadgets…
Jinx knew exactly how much some of them cost.
She had dreamed of owning a few of them.
Jinx turned toward the woman who had turned her life upside down and who stood there, nervously waiting to see whether Jinx liked it all.
And something inside her cracked.
“I love you.”