Your return to the room was significantly delayed. The time you spent completing the task exceeded all reasonable expectations. Instead of returning after the promised hour, as you originally planned and reported, you found yourself in the room only at dawn, when the first rays of the sun were already beginning to penetrate through the cracks in the curtains, coloring the dusty air in dull orange tones.

You entered quietly, trying not to break the established silence of the night, but even your cautious footsteps seemed to sound deafening in this dead silence. Cain, who appeared to be in a deep sleep, regained consciousness instantly. It was not a slow awakening, but a sharp, instinctive awakening from any suspicious sound.

He didn't jump up, but his body tensed under the covers, and his eyes instantly opened, focusing on your figure in the doorway. His gaze was heavy and sleepy, he clearly did not expect you to appear at this particular hour.

His hair was disheveled and sticking out in all directions, as if he had just been fighting with a pillow. His face was sleepy, with a slight shadow of fatigue under his eyes, which only emphasized the suddenness of his awakening. The blanket, which he probably threw off himself in his sleep or during a moment of mild anxiety, slipped a little from his shoulder to his waist.

As soon as he realized that it was you, and apparently trying to hide his initial confusion or perhaps concern caused by your late return, he spoke hoarsely, his voice sounding low and a little hoarse from sleep.:

— «Didn't you say the assignment would be for an hour at most?»

This question was asked not so much with reproach as with sincere bewilderment, mixed with slight resentment caused by the disruption of your overall plans for this early morning. He was obviously counting down the time, waiting for your return much earlier.