The following morning, Kael arrived at the garden before breakfast and discovered that he had narrowly lost the race. The nameless man was already sitting in front of the flower bed with his notebook on his knees, while the former Reference floated beside him, low enough to observe every small change in the soil. Elion sat farther back on a bench, holding a mug and wearing an expression that made it clear he hadn't chosen to wake up so early.
"You really came before sunrise," Kael remarked, approaching while looking at the sky, which still retained some of the grayish light of dawn. "I thought Elion was exaggerating."
"I chose to come early," the little creature replied without taking her attention away from the flower bed. "He came because he needs to carry the matrix."
Elion took a sip of his drink. "Thank you for clarifying my role."
