“Hmm, most of the books here are already destroyed.” Grey said while picking up a book from the ground.
When he saw this place on the map, he thought maybe he might be able to get a piece of useful information from the place, but unfortunately, none of the available books were good. Most of them were already completely destroyed.
“*Sigh* Such a waste of time.” He shook his head in disappointment.
Had he known this would be the result of this trip, he wouldn’t have wasted his time, first, he was played with by that damn bunny, now, he couldn’t even find anything good here.
‘But isn’t this to be expected, since they had already found this place for a long time now, it’s normal that they had already cleaned it up. We should leave, there’s still a lot of places to explore.’ Void suggested.
“Yeah.” Grey nodded.
After contemplating for some time, Grey decided that they should continue heading west. Looking at the map, he never noticed compared to the other parts, the western part had lesser landmarks. This meant that it was the side least explored by the people who made the map.
They left the building and soon started heading deeper into the trial land.
____
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Azure empire.
Quinn’s family compound, at a hidden room.
“Things are going to plan, even if we don’t obtain the treasure this time, we should be able to take charge of the Qilin empire first.” A middle-aged man spoke.
The middle-aged man was none other than Quinn’s father, other than him, there are two more men in the room. Both men looked to be in their seventies, but their real age is far from that. They were surprisingly identical twins.
“Oh really?” One of the old men asked curiously.
“Yes. Remember I told you I managed to brainwash a young prince of the Qilin empire twelve years ago?” Quinn’s father asked.
Both old men fell silent for some time before nodding.
“He is the current Crown Prince of the Qilin empire. And from the message I received from him, the war between both empires would start soon.” Quinn’s father said.
“Hmm, I recalled you said there were two Princes ahead of him. What happened to them?” The second old man asked.
The voices of both men were also unexpectedly the same, if one isn’t present, one would think other than Quinn’s father, there was only one person present here.
“I helped him get rid of the obstacles. Now, he’s the only one who is eligible to take the position as the next emperor.” Quinn’s father said.
“With him helping us on the inside, taking over would be easier. You’ve done well” The old man who spoke earlier said clearly pleased by the middle-aged man’s work.
“Thank you, uncle. Father, I’ll be leaving now.” The middle-aged man bowed preparing to leave the room.
“What about the pawns placed on the other empires?” The old man Quinn’s father called father said.
“They are all currently placed in high positions in the empires. One of them is trying to urge the emperor of the Azure empire to declare war on the Qilin empire, while the others are ensuring the other empires wouldn’t get involved in the war.” Quinn’s father turned around to reply.
“Okay, once the war starts, all our hidden power will come forth.” The old man who was called uncle said.
The family planned to start a war between the Qilin and Azure empires, while slowly taking control of the major powers in each empire. Before both empires would realize what was happening, more than half of their powers would be controlled by them.
____
Two months later.
At the gate of the Lunar Academy.
“What are you doing here?” An angry voice asked a refined-looking elegantly dressed young man standing outside the Academy’s gate.
“Is this how you welcome an old friend?” The refined-looking young man asked with a soft smile, not at all offended by how he was welcomed.
“Hmph! Our friendship ended years ago.” The owner of the angry voice snorted.
“Blake, at least show some respect for your Crown Prince.” The refined-looking young man said, still wearing the same soft smile.
The first speaker was surprisingly Blake, the head instructor of the Lunar Academy, but the identity of the refined-looking young man threw the few guards present at the gate off their feet. They had never seen the Crowned Prince of the Qilin empire before, but they also never expected to see him like this.
Being the future emperor, they expected he would always move with an entourage, being carried around like the king he was meant to be, but, other than dressing elegantly and looking a little handsome, although not at the level of Blake, they didn’t feel anything special about him.
“What are you doing here?” Blake asked not showing any respect for the Crown Prince.
“I see you’re still angered by what happened the last time, I’ve already apologized. You know there was nothing I could do at that time.” The Crowned Prince said taking a step into the Academy’s compound.
“That didn’t answer my question.” Blake said blocking the path of the Crown Prince.
“I’m here to see instructor Delia, I heard she was injured previously. But I had been too busy to come to check on her.” The Crown Prince stated his reason for coming.
“She’s fine now, you can leave if that’s the only reason you came here.” Blake’s angry face contorted even more when he heard the Crown Prince speaking about Delia.
“Okay, fine, that’s not the only reason I’m here. I’m actually here to seek the guidance of Instructor Chris.” The Crown Prince said still smiling softly.
The more Blake looked at the Crown Prince’s smiling face, the angrier he got.
“First, Senior Chris is not an instructor in this Academy, second, he doesn’t welcome uninvited guests.” Blake said.
“If he knows I’m the one here, he’ll come out and see me.” The Crown Prince refused to give in.
“Even if the emperor comes here personally, if senior Chris doesn’t want to see him, there’s nothing he can do.” Blake was trying his best not to explode in anger and attack the Crown Prince.
“Well, you see, I’ll be staying here for a while since I have some business here. It’ll be best if Senior Chris can spare a few minutes to entertain this little one.” The Crown Prince said not bothering about how Blake was acting and walked straight into the Academy’s compound.
Blake stared at the back of the Crown Prince and a hint of worry flashed through his eyes. He knew the reason for the Crown Prince’s visit wasn’t ordinary.
____
At Oliver’s Office.
“He’s most likely here to confirm if Senior Chris is around.” Blake said a little anxiously.
“Hmm, they’re even more eager than we thought. There’s still no news of his whereabouts?” Oliver asked rubbing his aching head.
“No, Teacher.” Blake replied sadly.
He had been searching for Chris’s whereabouts for over two months now, but there had been no news of him. It was like he just disappeared into thin air.
“Okay, I’ll go see the Crown Prince and see why he’s here.” Oliver said.
After saying that, Oliver stood up from his seat and walked towards the door.
“You should keep an eye on him while he’s here.” He ordered before leaving.
Blake nodded and also left the office.
One week went by with the Crown Prince not moving as much as a muscle.
What left Blake annoyed was that he spent all his time with Delia. Not being able to contain his anger, he went over to meet the Crowned Prince.
“When do you plan on leaving?” Blake asked the Crowned Prince who was speaking with Delia.
“No time soon.” The Crowned Prince answered offhandedly.
“You’re not welcomed here.” Blake said.
“This is my empire, I can stay wherever I want.” The Crowned Prince said not bothered by Blake.
He was already used to the way Blake speaks to him, so he didn’t feel annoyed or irritated by it.
“In case you’ve forgotten, you’re still a prince, not the emperor.” Blake looked at him after managing to calm himself.
“That’s the Crowned Prince to you.” The Crowned Prince retorted.
“You know what? It’s been a long time we sparred.” Blake responded.
“Yeah, I really enjoyed beating you up.” The Crowned Prince chuckled.
“Heh! You wish.” Blake laughed lightly.
‘I’ll beat him up every day till he leaves this place.’ Blake thought.
Since the Crowned Prince was searching for entertainment, he didn’t mind entertaining him. In fact, he’ll entertain him every single day!
His plan was simple, beat up the Crowned Prince until he leaves the Academy voluntarily. He was already tired of seeing his smiling face repeatedly, if he had the opportunity, he’ll beat him up until he losses a few teeth.
Delia looked at Blake and couldn’t help but let out a small smile. She could sense he was jealous because she was spending time with the Crowned Prince. Although she didn’t want to spend time with him, she couldn’t refuse it when the Crowned Prince summoned her since, unlike Blake, she couldn’t disrespect him.