NOVPUBThe night was deep, and the streets of Huadu were still lively and bustling, but within the heart of this city, the police station was a world apart.
Floral City Pariel Police Department, officially known as "Pariel Police Headquarters," is a long-established organization responsible for maintaining public safety and order in Pariel city and its surrounding areas.
As one of the most important police institutions in the Poseen Kingdom, it directly reports to the Ministry of the Interior of the Poseen Kingdom, and it is also under the supervision of the Pariel city government.
The police station building, several centuries old, was covered in the traces of time.
Lanci and Talia were in a cold cell deep within the police station, mercilessly separated from freedom by an iron door, with the dim light from the gray stone walls casting their shadows.
The lock on the iron door was tightly closed.
The silence lasted for quite a while.
"Lanci, I want to ask you a question."
Talia knelt on the cell floor, sitting upright with proper posture.
Though the environment would cause most people to panic, her eyes remained undisturbed.
She gently looked at Lanci.
Contrarily, Lanci appeared dispirited, leaning on a corner, with one hand resting on his knee.
"Let’s hear it."
Lanci tilted his head to look at her.
"Why are the two of us here?"
Talia asked, gazing at Lanci.
"Do you want to hear what you’re saying?"
Lanci immediately raised his head to look directly at her.
All sorts of expressions were written in his eyes.
Normally, they should be reviewing why they were locked up in the police station, but he no longer dared to do so.
He did not want to be caught a fifth time.
Honestly, Lanci never thought he would end up in a cell in his life; even in the Northern Continent when he started out as nothing but a cat without even an identity or household registration, he never once entered a police station.
Yet, he had barely been in Floral City Pariel for a while before he was sent into the police station.
"Anyway, haven’t we already successfully checked off a tourist spot?"
Talia asked.
She had discussed the itinerary with Lanci before they left, one of the purposes of their trip to the Poseen Kingdom was to cultivate their teamwork, at Professor Bolao’s suggestion, they indeed had agreed to travel together.
Pariel Police Headquarters was an important landmark, with a history dating back to over three hundred years ago, established during the reign of King Lan Yi XIV of Poseen by the Poseen Minister of the Interior, Jean-Baptiste Colbert.
Its initial purpose was to improve the safety of Floral City Pariel and manage the city’s order more effectively.
Over the centuries, this institution has evolved into a complex public service with a wide range of responsibilities, from traffic management to counter-terrorism operations, as well as everyday public order maintenance.
"...Traveling with you really leaves a lasting impression."
Lanci found himself at a loss for words.
Perhaps he would never forget this police station for the rest of his life.
"Actually, we could have just told a little lie earlier and gotten out."
Talia said to herself, recalling the past.
The police officer had not made it too difficult for them.
When they were brought back to the station for interrogation, the officer stated that as long as they admitted they were a couple, they would be released.
However, both of them preferred to be jailed rather than agree with the officer’s words, and in the end, they were only charged with fighting and brawling.
"Would you have admitted it?"
Lanci asked.
"No."
Talia denied.
"Do you think I would have admitted it?"
Lanci asked again.
"No."
Talia still denied.
"Then what else is there to say?"
"True."
The two of them thus passed the time.
It’s hard to say how long they had been in the police station’s cell, perhaps almost an hour.
Besides talking to each other, they had nothing else to do to pass the time.
Although they often easily got into verbal skirmishes, compared to when they first met and could hardly exchange words, perhaps their relationship had improved somewhat.
Suddenly, the cell fell silent again.
Conversations always come to an end eventually.
"I’m so hungry."
Talia touched her stomach, feeling like she hadn’t eaten anything all night.
"Here."
Lanci took out a bag of small packaged coconut milk cheese cookies from his pocket and threw them to Talia.
Talia caught them with some surprise.
She had not expected Lanci, like Antanas, to carry snacks with him when leaving the house.
And he had somehow magically evaded being searched.
He never used to have this habit before.
"Aren’t you hungry?"
Talia hesitated for a moment with the packet in hand and asked Lanci.
"I’m not."
Lanci shook his head.
"You didn’t have dinner either."
Talia stated the fact seriously.
"I’m definitely not as hungry as you are,"
Lanci replied as if it were a matter of course.
"..."
Talia hesitated, feeling torn.
She didn’t know whether to be angry or touched.
"Let’s split it in half."
Tearing open the package, Talia broke the biscuit in two and handed Lanci one half.
"..."
Lanci hesitated slightly,
"Wow, you really do like me, sharing your only food with me," he said with a squinting smile.
"You..."
Talia suddenly felt like gobbling up the entire biscuit.
But she realized that would be just falling into Lanci’s trap.
He probably wanted to provoke her so she would eat the biscuit by herself.
She directly extended her hand with the biscuit to Lanci’s mouth.
Lanci didn’t move, and neither did she.
Lanci had no choice but to bite the biscuit and started chewing with his head tilted back.
As time passed,
the silence in the corridor of the police station was broken by a series of footsteps.
The sound gradually approached and finally stopped in front of Talia and Lanci’s cell.
A middle-aged police chief with curly hair, clad in a Pariel uniform, arrived at their cell with a large bunch of keys in hand, skilfully picked one out, and "click," the iron door swung open.
A ray of new light cast into the long-isolated small space.
"You two, you can leave now, someone has posted bail for you," said the police chief, pulling out a small card from his pocket and handing it to Lanci.
It contained some concise text and an address.
Asturias’ Count’s Mansion.
The signature was Countess Rosalinda.
Obviously, it was the information of the person who had posted their bail.
"Thank you,"
Lanci followed the middle-aged police chief out, taking the card and expressing his gratitude.
"A little quarrel between young lovers is fine, but don’t actually come to blows on the street. We’re cracking down on public order these days."
The police chief glanced back at them.
"We’re really not a couple,"
Both of them emphasized, a bit angrily.
"Don’t come here again. If you are brought in a second time, we might have to take a ’couple’s shot’ in prison garb for you, those kind of photos always look like couple’s pictures," the police chief said, seemingly indifferent to whether they admitted or denied it.
The Pariel Police Headquarters has a wide range of responsibilities, dedicated to the safety of Pariel’s citizens and visitors, covering public safety, criminal investigation, traffic management, counter-terrorism, public event services, and more. They also have first-class photographers, as many people come here for ID photos.
After leading them to the police station door, the police chief handed them a business card with Chief Zefa’s information on it.
"I’m the chief of this police station. If you need any civil services while in Pariel, you can contact us in addition to the Hutton Embassy. We serve Floral City’s residents and tourists around the clock," Chief Zefa told them,
"Also, I do some divination work on weekends, if you need that, come and find me."
He seemed to recognize that the two of them were distinguished guests, as not just anyone would be bailed out by Countess Rosalinda Asturias.
Lanci turned the card over to see the hand-written services listed by Chief Zefa.
"Can a cop sell information too?"
Talia caught a glimpse of the card in Lanci’s hand and spoke in surprise.
"What information broker? That’s called a diviner," Chief Zefa explained, hands behind his back and with a casual tone,
"And I don’t ask for money."
He only exchanged information for information or for favors.
"..."
Lanci was at a loss for words.
The city seemed to be freer than he had imagined.
There probably weren’t any police chiefs with a side job that required them to wear a mask.
Silent, Lanci and Talia bid farewell to the chief.
The Pariel Police Station was situated on Ivan Island in the center of Floral City, near the famous Pariel Cathedral.
"To be fair, the traffic around the police station is pretty convenient."
Lanci and Talia looked back at their first "checked-in" spot.
This building was not only a beautiful scene in the heart of Floral City but also witnessed many important events in the history of Poson Kingdom, including the Poson Revolution, the Great War between North and South, and some recent social movements and terrorist attacks.
"So, should we meet up again next time?"
Talia asked emotionlessly.
"Tata, don’t mess around, I’m actually a little scared,"
Although Lanci occasionally heard Talia’s jokes now, he was genuinely afraid of her antics.
