It was also midnight and most of the students were sleeping while some students were still up to go through their homework. Lithanya quietly came out of the dorms with her light green cloak on. She was quite surprised that the main entrance doors were opened at this hour. In the rule book, it stated that the doors would be closed at half past eleven in the evening and would be open at five o’clock in the evening. Lithanya walked straight to the bridge and was heading straight to the tavern. What also surprised her was there were some students also out of their dorms to catch some fresh air.

  Only the servants and the owner were in the tavern, cleaning up the mess from earlier. They were complaining about how much mess the students and investigators made earlier. Lithanya walked into the building but stood by the doors.

  “Excuse me!”, she called someone.

  One servant looked at her. “The tavern is closed for tonight.”, she answered.

  “Is Mr Xiao here?”, she asked.

  “No, he is on that island.”, the servant pointed at the island that was filled with bright golden lights. “He is in a building called The Sorceress Inn.”, she answered.

  “Thank you.”, Lithanya appreciated it.

  Lithanya came out of the building and went straight to the island.

  The island was completely deserted but Lithanya could hear so much noises in the buildings. She was strolling in the streets to look for The Sorceress Inn. It was going to take her a while because there were so many inns. While she was taking the stroll, she was also looking at the style of the buildings. The buildings were looking very mystical, painted with royal blue with golden patterns. This island looked more like a starry island with the dark blue and the light golden paint that were almost looking like stars.

  After ten minutes of searching, Lithanya found the inn that turned out to be smaller than she thought. She looked at the inside while standing on the same spot. There was no one movement happening in the building. Everything was so quiet and scary inside. Lithanya took a deep breath then let it out with confidence. She walked to the building while keeping an eye on her surroundings.

  Lithanya entered a building that was fully covered in red, including the chiffon curtains. There was no one in this part of the section but there were loud noises upstairs.

  “Good evening, Miss.”, a woman appeared with a bright smile.

  Lithanya turned to the woman. “Hello, I’m here to see Mr Xiao.”, she went straight to the point.

  The woman stopped in front of Lithanya and looked at Lithanya from head to toe. “You aren’t here for a session.”

  Lithanya couldn’t get her eyes off the woman's dark red and silver mystical patterned robe. “No, I just want to see Mr Xiao for a few minutes.”, she answered.

  “He is on the third floor, room 45.”

  “Thank you.”, Lithanya appreciated it.

  She walked to the shiny red stairs while the woman watched Lithanya walking away. As Lithanya was getting closer to the first floor, she could hear noises in some of the rooms. The noises were freaking her which made her lose confidence.

  Haoran was lying on a red bed with a naked woman sleeping on his extremely muscular chest. His and the woman’s bodies were covered with the red semi chiffon and silky blankets. Haoran had his muscular arm around the woman while he was looking at the bright full moon. Someone knocked gently on the door. He was so surprised that someone was by the door at this hour.

  Lithanya was standing patiently by the red door. While she was waiting, she was looking at the design of the mystical building. It wasn’t for long when the door opened full. Lithanya turned to the door but froze for a minute. She wasn’t expecting to see Haoran with a dark red robe. She should’ve done some work about this place before coming here.

  Haoran raised a brow. “Your majesty, I’m surprised to see you here. Isn’t there a rule in Tellus and Mortalis that physical touching isn’t allowed? And you aren’t allowed to have physical contact with the upper class people.”, he mentioned.

  She gave him a straight face. “That’s not what I’m here for.”

  “Then what are you here for?”

  “I’m here to talk about the fighting competition.”

  He opened the door widely for her. “Come in.”, he answered.

  She was skeptical about being in the room alone with a man who wasn’t wearing decent clothes. He could feel the tension in her body so he moved out of the way to keep the distance. She slowly walked into the room with her hands together. As she walked into the room, she caught a naked woman sleeping on the bed. Lithanya took a deep breath and let out to remain calm.

  “So, are you here to show me some techniques for the fight?”, he closed the door.

  Lithanya turned around quickly when she heard the door closing. “Why did you close the door?”, she asked.

  “Because, I don’t want people to disturb us or hear our conversation.”, he walked closer to her.

  She covered her chest properly with the cloak. “I’m not here to show you my fighting techniques. It’ll take many years to master the basic techniques first. I’m here to tell you to not do this fighting competition.”

  He raised a brow. “Why?”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Because what you’re doing might harm your job and your reputation.”

  He chuckled softly. “Clearly, you don’t know what happens in the upper class. It’s a must for men to have fighting competition to show who is tougher. I’m not going to decline the challenge when everyone knows that I accepted it. Then they’ll think that I'm a coward. And you shouldn’t be getting involved if you’ve nothing to do with it.”, he explained.

  She still defended her decision. “But I know how Yichen is. He’ll never leave you until he beats you down.”

  “I know that. His ego is really big that doesn’t accept failure.”, Haoran untied his robe. “But that doesn’t bother me. I just accepted the competition because I also enjoy it.”

  Lithanya still had a bad feeling about this. “But to him, it’s more about winning and making people’s life miserable.”

  “You shouldn’t be defending the man that hurt you many years ago.”, he mentioned and walked closer to her.

  “I’m not defending him. I’m just letting you know what type of person he is and you mustn’t lose your job. This is a really dangerous thing you two are doing.”, she continued to fight back.

  Haoran stared at her then slowly showed a wicked smirk. “This is normal, your majesty. This is how it is in the upper class world. We aren’t like cowards like you and the lower class people.”, he spat without showing emotions.

  She fought back immediately. “We aren’t cowards.”

  “Really? Then why are you telling me not to fight? That’s showing cowardness in your words and eyes.”

  She was just trying to help him because she knew what type of person Yichen was. “Nevermind, I did try to help.”, she walked to the door.

  “Princess Lithanya.”, he made her stop. “I know the real reason you’re here.”, he hissed.

  Her eyes widened with shock but she didn’t face him. “What do you mea?”

  He turned around and faced her with a small wicked smirk. “I know the actual reason you’re here and it’s not for education. You’re here to find out what Emperor Huang is up to and how my best friend got killed.”, he explained.

  She turned to him with a stunned expression. “That was your best friend?”

  “Yes.”, he answered. “And let me tell you a little secret.”, he came closer to her. “Since you’re here as an undercover, I’m also doing the same. I’m here to find out what Emperor Huang did to my friend and bring justice for my friend. And I’m also here to find out what Emperor Huang is up to with the new rule.”, he explained.

  “So, there’s more to this new rule.”, she wanted to clarify.

  He nodded. “Yes and you’ll find out as you get to know more about this academy.”, he said. “Go back to the dormitory because you have lessons tomorrow.”, he reminded her.

  Lithanya stared at him for a moment before leaving. She opened the door full while staring at Haoran then walked out the room. She closed the door behind her, leaving Haoran alone with the woman who was still sleeping.

  _______________

  Haoran was standing by the window, looking at the full moon. Suddenly, he could hear weird noises coming from the background. He remained where he was with calmness but he was listening to their movements. Three men jumped from the ceiling and landed safely on the ground. One man appeared right next to Haoran.

  “Is everything ready, Junfeng?”, Haoran asked firmly.

  Wang Junfeng was Haoran’s best friend and his main guard. “Everything will be ready in three weeks. I’m surprised that Emperor Huang actually accepted you in the academy.”, he mentioned.

  “Because I used to work in the academy for many years. I immediately knew that Emperor Huang would take me.”, Haoran answered in a smooth tone.

  Junfeng chuckled, then looked at the full moon. “Yichen must be really gutted that you’re here.”

  “Absolutely gutted. He doesn’t like the fact that I accepted his challenge to fight with him on Monday.”, Haoran looked at Junfeng with a small wicked smile.

  “He is a coward. He doesn’t like fighting with stronger men like us. We shall see how he is going to handle this competition since this will be his first time fighting against a man just as brilliant as him.”, Junfeng sounded excited.

  Haoran looked back at the full moon. “Tonight, I’ll try and snatch the first file from the secret storeroom.”

  Junfeng turned to him. “Do you still have a list with you?”

  Haoran nodded. “I wrote the names of the merchants on the list that are working with Emperor Huang. I made another list just in case we lose one.”

  “But you mustn’t lose this list. Because if people find this list in this premise, they’ll become suspicious about it. You must be extra careful.”, Junfeng warned him.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be extra careful.”, Haoran said firmly. “You gentlemen head back to the mansion. I’ll start making my move tonight.”

  Junfeng bowed to Haoran then walked to his companions. The three men disappeared slowly, leaving Haoran alone in this room. He pulled out a few platinum coins and placed them on the small red coffee table in front of the bed. Then he grabbed his clothes and put them on quickly.

  Everyone, except some junior investigators, were now in their rooms and sleeping right now. Haoran just entered the main office building in the academy. As he was walking down the dark passage, he was also keeping an eye on his surroundings. Especially that he was heading to Shilin’s office which was heavily guarded. Haoran flicked his fingers in the air, gradually his body was disappearing.

  Invisible Haoran appeared in front of the golden and silver shiny tall doors. His body went through the doors to avoid opening one door and making so much noise. He was in the massive office with his eyes only staring at the silver door next to the shelf filled with books. There was a sign on the door that no one was allowed to enter this room. There were multiple locks for the door to be extra secured. Now Haoran also fully understood why Shilin had two offices and everyone wasn’t allowed in one of the offices.

  Haoran went through the door then switched a few lights on by using his mind. Four dull lights were switched off but it was perfect for him. Now he was in a room covered with tall dark brown wooden shelves that were filled with thick patterned books.

  A thick royal blue and silver patterned book slowly came out the highest part of the shelf in front of Haoran. He was also listening to movements that were happening behind him while he was trying to bring the book to him. He could hear footsteps coming towards the office. Quickly, he made the book invisible and made it come towards him.

  Finally, he grabbed the book then switched the lights off by using his mind. Just as he was about to walk through the door, the door opened then a junior investigator walked into the room. Haoran stood on the same spot and waited for the investigator to come further into the room. The investigator walked to one corner where the different rolled papers were. Haoran used the opportunity and walked out of the room without making any footsteps sounds.

  Haoran was back in his royal green massive bedroom. He took a long hot bath and his lower body was wrapped with a black towel. His bright silver eyes were looking at the thick royal blue book. A white owl flew into the room then landed on the small dining room. Haoran sat by the table, picked up the green quill then started writing on the white paper.

  Junfeng, I finally got the book that we were looking for. I’ll go through the book and I’ll let you know if I found anything. Tell Shuchang that he can make his decision and also don’t forget to tell Mingze about this.

  Haoran

  He threw the quill back in the black inked jar. Then he folded the paper, slotted it in the white and red marbled patterned envelope. The owl took the envelope from him by using its mouth then flew out of the window. Haoran watched the owl fly away from the building and was also watching that none of the junior investigators were looking in the owl’s direction.