Chapter 2:
Envoy from the Ren Empire
“YOU ARE MISS LIN’S BROTHER?! But how could someone like you act in such a crass, boorish manner?!” I yelled without a shred of decorum.
But Fang Liu kept his cool and shrugged. “Yell at me all you want, but I was actually gonna leave quietly tonight, y’know? That is, until you sensed my presence, Sainty.”
“Then why did you attack me?”
“Well, it was your…vibes? I merely responded in kind.”
Liu awkwardly scratched his head. I couldn’t tell if he was joking.
I kept my eyes on him, wary of any sudden movements, sighed, and asked, “And? What’s your real reason for being here?”
Then a smile crept across his face. I could practically hear him thinking, I thought you’d never ask!
He still had the confidence of a fighter with a clear escape route in front of him… Either that or he was bluffing to try to lure me into exposing a vulnerability. Either way, I had to stay vigilant.
“Ha ha! You’ve got spunk, I like it! But you’ll have to wait till next time to find out why I was here. See ya, Sainty.”
He turned his back to us.
Running away? No… Not after everything you’ve done.
“If you think I’ll let you get away, you’re sorely mistaken.” For what felt like the hundredth time, I drew a summoning circle, manifested chains of light, and launched them at him in an attempt to entangle him.
“Hah. Perfect timing.” He couldn’t run to the left or right so he jumped straight up, above the chains.
His leaps are insane, but if he wants to escape, that was a bad move. Lingsha and Johann are both waiting for him.
As long as he wasn’t a bird, he would have to eventually come down. I was certain that this time, for sure, we had him.
But he had a devilish grin.
No…don’t tell me he’s got another trick.
“Summon Phoenix!”
Liu produced a strange paper talisman that floated in midair, chanted a spell, and summoned a bird of fire.
A phoenix? As in the mythical beast?
We floundered below as Liu hopped on the phoenix’s back and flew high into the sky.
Are you kidding me?! I’ve never seen nor heard of such sorcery!!! I couldn’t move as the world I thought I knew was turned on its head.
But Liu only grinned and said, “We’ll meet again, Linny, Sainty!” And with that, Liu and the phoenix flew away.
I had never once let an assassin escape, and yet Liu had slipped right through my fingers…
He was powerful, that was true, but I also had my own shortcomings to blame. Maybe Margrave Linboldt was right—as a saint, I was little more than a novice, unworthy of Eric…
I could just feel my shoulders slump.
No, Leia, something else matters more than you right now.
“Miss Lin…” Her fists were clenched, and she was as still as a statue. “Are you all right, Miss Lin?”
“I-I’m fine, oh yes. Why’d that brother of mine show up now after all this time? I don’t get it.” She tilted her head, confused. She sounded like her usual self, but there was a hollow look in her eyes, like nobody was home.
“Lady Lingsha, please don’t stress yourself. I shall explain everything to Prince Eric. You run along to bed.”
“Thanks, Johann. But I can’t do that, see. I can’t make somebody else deal with my family drama. Oh, no.” She was smiling, but there was still something off about her.
She knows her brother is up to something…
Lingsha, Johann, and I went back to Eric’s study.