Loops Within Loops, Schemes Within Schemes (3)

"Ivy..." Adrian Night jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat, beads rolling down his forehead.

Hearing the commotion, Nina Xu hurried into the room and glanced up at Adrian on the ceiling beam, worry written all over her face. "Are you okay, big brother?" After two days together, Nina already saw him as her own brother—because anyone Sherry calls family is family to her too.

So she treated him just like a real brother, taking good care of him for Sherry's sake!

To make it easier to look after him—and to keep outsiders from finding out he was here—she'd spent the past two days constantly making up excuses to send the maids away, never letting them get close.

But honestly, these two days were getting harder and harder for Nina, because this guy was obviously at his limit—the expression on his face said it all.

And really, if it were her own little sister missing or in danger, she’d be losing her mind too!

It’s just human nature—anyone would understand! But this isn’t the outside world, it’s the imperial palace. Because it’s the palace, you have to play the long game, not just rush in recklessly.

"I’m going to find her." With that, Adrian slid down gracefully from the beam. For some reason, his chest had just started aching like crazy—like something terrible had happened. Worrying here was pointless; he might as well go see for himself.

"Stop! Sherry said you’re not allowed to go looking for her!" Nina blurted out, trying to block his way as soon as she heard him.

Adrian shot her a cold look. "I can’t wait any longer." With that, he headed straight for the door.

He couldn’t just keep waiting around, clueless and helpless!

That vague, gnawing anxiety made his heart ache. Ivy, Ivy—what on earth is happening to you right now?!

"Iceberg!" Nina called out again.

"Enough!" For two days straight, this woman had called him that nickname so many times it was driving him nuts. Even now, she was yelling it just as he was about to go see Ivy—right now, this instant, no more waiting!

Seeing this, Nina knew he couldn’t wait any longer. She stepped in front of him and said sincerely, "Don’t just say you’re worried about Sherry—I’m even more worried than you. But you know this is the imperial palace, not some street market. If you just rush out carelessly, you won’t even see Sherry—you might get killed."

...

"You could die, you know?" Seeing he didn’t reply, Nina’s tone softened.

"Die? You think I care?" Adrian’s voice was flat and dismissive. Ever since he’d come here, he’d tossed his own life aside. Talking to him about survival now—did this woman find that funny?

"Yeah, I know you’re not afraid of dying. But aren’t you afraid of making Sherry worry, of making her cry? Sherry treasures her sisterhood, so of course she values brotherhood too. If you recklessly charge out and get caught, do you really think Sherry could keep calmly treating patients and scheming?"

Ivy...

Adrian’s brow twitched slightly. Nina spoke again: "I know you’re worried about Song Zhijue, that devil. But trust me—Sherry is safe right now, I promise. I can tell Song Zhijue genuinely likes her. Sure, he’s a demon, and like I told you before, Sherry herself said she’s safe and just using him as a tool." She hesitated, then continued, "I get that you don’t care about living or dying, but dying doesn’t solve everything. You know, sometimes living hurts more than dying. If you die, it’s over for you—but what about Sherry? What about her, left all alone in the world—do you think she’d be happy?"

"She’s not alone—she’ll forget me soon enough."

Nina snorted, "What kind of talk is that? Even if she has a million family members, you’re still you. You matter to her, you’re important. Death doesn’t erase that, and time doesn’t make it fade—in fact, it just makes missing you worse..." As she finished, her eyes filled with sadness.

No one understood that pain better than she did.

She lowered her eyes, and a single tear slipped down her cheek. Goswin Goss, you thought dying would set you free, but what you left behind was endless pain for your little sister—and for everyone who loved you.

Death isn’t scary. What’s truly terrifying is leaving behind endless longing for the people who care about you!

"Fine. I’ll wait until tonight." Adrian glanced out the window at the sky, realizing he’d been reckless. Going out in broad daylight would only make things worse—better to wait for nightfall.

Seeing this, Nina knew it was his final concession. She sighed, "The Crown Prince told me not to disturb Sherry these days, but for you—and for Sherry—I’ll take the risk. Here’s the plan: tonight, you’ll pretend to be my maid."

"Your maid?" Adrian frowned. With his looks, how was that supposed to work?

"Don’t worry. I’ve got a maid in the palace who’s pretty burly—she mostly does heavy cleaning. She’s freakishly tall but super efficient. Well... I guess I’ll have to ‘borrow’ her identity today." Nina sighed. She’d never punished her servants before, but this time she’d have to make an exception—otherwise, there was no way she could turn Adrian into a ‘maid.’

Elsewhere in the palace—

"Miss, you really are gorgeous," Lucian Vane revealed his true face, lifting the maid’s chin with a smile that could kill.

Instantly, the palace maid’s breath quickened, her heart pounding. "Y-young master..." Oh my god, was she dreaming? How could there be a man this insanely beautiful—she could barely breathe!

"I’m your dream lover, sent by the heavens to rescue you."

"D-dream lover?" The girl gasped for breath, still not believing this man was actually holding her. "Am I... am I dreaming?"

"Of course! Otherwise, how could I show up in the palace? I’m your dream lover, here to take you away. But... I need to know where the Crown Prince’s residence is. Can you tell me?"

"Huh? You... you want to know where the Crown Prince’s quarters are?" The maid asked, eyes glazed over.

[Author’s Note: The chapter isn’t over yet! Click next page to keep reading!]

"Yep! Only by absorbing the dragon qi from the Crown Prince’s quarters can I step out of your dream and appear before your eyes. Then I can take you away." Seeing the peach blossoms blooming in the girl’s eyes, Lucian knew his charm was working. "Don’t tell me you don’t know?"

"Ah, I—I know, I know everything! I used to be the Crown Prince’s personal maid, and then..."

"Shh, don’t say another word—I don’t care about the rest." Lucian Vane had no interest in her life story; now that he’d caught a Crown Prince’s maid, he was going to get answers. For two days, he’d roamed the palace, seeing hidden traps with his own eyes, even watching guards die from them.

His worry for Ivy Shen only grew. This palace was no joke—no wonder Ivy didn’t want them coming in.

Then, by chance, he overheard that Chloe Chung had been gravely injured. The news nearly knocked the soul out of him.

He grabbed a eunuch to ask, but all he learned was that none of them knew where the Crown Prince’s quarters were—their rank was too low, they couldn’t serve him directly.

Only later did he realize that, after risking his life to sneak in, he’d spent ages circling the palace’s outer rim.

At that moment, he didn’t know whether to marvel at the palace’s size or its sheer extravagance.

So he kept probing deeper and deeper—until he finally ran into this maid.

"Okay, I’ll tell you!" The starstruck maid, terrified her dream would shatter, hurried to spill everything: the exact location of Song Zhijue’s residence, and which route was safest to take.

Lucian’s lips curled into a wicked smile. "That’s it? That’s all you’ve got for me, miss?"

"Mm-hmm, I told you everything I know." The girl gazed dreamily at Lucian, her heart thumping uncontrollably.

"Good girl. Promise me—you won’t tell anyone about this, okay? Or you’ll never see your dream lover again."

"Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’ll never say a word! Dream lover, my dream—" Before she could finish, Lucian knocked her out with a single chop.

Lucian dusted off his clothes and grinned—after all that sweet-talking, he’d finally learned the location. He glanced up at the sky and took a deep breath. Tonight, no matter what, he was going to see Ivy.

With a flick of his wrist, Lucian vanished. Across the outer courtyards, twenty-something palace maids lay scattered about—not all in one place, so it didn’t look too weird. But the one thing they had in common: each one lay on the ground, a blissful smile on her face, softly murmuring two words—"dream lover..."

***** Lovestruck Divider *****

PS: Lucian’s charm is just too much—pfft~~~