The door slammed shut. Ivy Shen frowned and walked further inside. Where was this place, and what were they trying to do with Lily Ruan by bringing her here?!
She stayed alert and looked around. White gauze curtains fluttered in the breeze, and the room was filled with a faint, sweet fragrance. After a few steps, she found herself facing a massive pool—completely covered in rose petals. Seeing this, Ivy's frown deepened.
"Caleb Miles?!" Ivy’s voice went ice-cold. In the next second, she yanked off her veil in a fury. Judging by the outfit, the atmosphere, and his bare-chested look, she could already guess what was about to go down here. (Honestly, if this guy’s shamelessness could be bottled, it’d be banned in five countries.)
Hah, Caleb... He'd heard from Charlie Qiao that she was coming, so he thought hiding underwater would help him relax and not do anything bad out of nerves. But the last thing he expected was to see her pop up wearing a skirt?!
"Caleb Miles?!" Ivy’s voice went ice-cold. In the next second, she yanked off her veil in a fury. Judging by the outfit, the atmosphere, and his bare-chested look, she could already guess what was about to go down here. (Honestly, if this guy’s shamelessness could be bottled, it’d be banned in five countries.)
"Jay..." As the veil came off, Ivy's stunning face and long, flowing black hair made Caleb swallow again and again. Oh my god, Jay looked way too good—like, ridiculously gorgeous!
"What exactly are you trying to do? Huh? Planning a romantic night with Lily Ruan?" Ivy's face was full of annoyance. Ugh, this guy was obviously up to no good. Whatever, not even worth arguing—she turned to leave.
"Jay, don't go! Jay, wait—" Caleb scrambled out of the water and grabbed her arm. "Don't leave..."
Ivy shot him a glare over her shoulder. "Don't leave? What, you want me to stick around and be the third wheel while you make goo-goo eyes at her? What am I, the designated lamp here? (Note for the confused: being a 'lamp' = awkward extra in a romance scene.)"
"Lamp? What lamp?" Caleb's face just got darker and darker—he looked about five seconds from a meltdown.
Ivy flashed a wicked smile, her eyes glinting with mischief. "Oh? You don't know? Don't tell me you dragged me out here at three in the morning just to flirt with Lily Ruan? Hm?" She gave Caleb a once-over from head to toe, snorted, and jabbed a finger into his bare chest. "How are you so shameless? We're already basically married, and I haven't even dumped you yet—can't you hold back from chasing after other women for five minutes? Honestly, you disappoint me!" (Side note: the bounce of his chest is suspiciously impressive.)
"Huh? Jay, I... I don’t get what you’re talking about! What Miss Ruan? There’s no Miss Ruan here. Why would she even be here? I didn’t invite her!" He really had no idea what she was on about, but he definitely hadn’t invited any Miss Ruan.
"You didn’t? Then how’d she end up here?" Ivy kept poking his chest. (Seriously, why is his skin so bouncy?)
"She’s here? Where is she?" Caleb frowned, staring at Ivy’s finger still poking his chest.
"She’s up in a tree!" Ivy snapped, finally pulling her finger away.
"Up in a tree?" Caleb repeated, frowning. How on earth did she end up in a tree?!
"I’m going back to bed." Ivy turned away, not wanting to waste another second on this 'idiot.' Seriously, even with his brain half-fried, he was still thinking about romance? What a piece of work! Hmph!
"Don’t go!" Caleb hurriedly blocked her way, arms outstretched. "I don’t want you to leave. I know... I know it was wrong to have Charlie Qiao call you here so late. I know you were probably sleeping, but... but I just really wanted to see you…" He hung his head like a kid who’d been caught misbehaving.
"Wait, you had Charlie Qiao…"
"Yeah, I told Charlie to find you. Don’t blame him—it was all me. I just wanted to be with you, not apart. So…"
Ivy froze, gears spinning in her head. A few seconds later, she put the pieces together—Caleb had asked Charlie Qiao to call for her, but Charlie had decided to bring Lily Ruan instead?! (Classic Charlie, always causing drama.)
"Jay, please don’t be mad…" Caleb said weakly, sneaking a worried glance at her.
"Jay, why are you wearing a skirt? You really look like a girl!" Caleb couldn’t help but blurt out when Ivy just stared at him.
"A girl?" Ivy glanced down at her outfit and gave a wicked grin. "Yup, I’m a girl. Bet you’re disappointed, huh? I remember you like boys!" She waited to see his reaction.
"No, no!" Caleb shook his head frantically. "I don’t like boys, and I don’t like girls—I just like you! Huh, is there even a difference between boys and girls?" He tilted his head, still totally confused as to why Ivy could switch back and forth like that!
Hearing that, Ivy was totally defeated. This guy...
"But, Jay, you look sooo pretty in a skirt!" Caleb had never seen her like this before, and his eyes were full of awe.
"Why did you have Charlie Qiao call me here?" Ignoring his compliments, Ivy shot him a direct question.
"I... I..." What should he do, should he say it? But Charlie Qiao told him not to! If he spilled the secret, Jay might fly away!
"Not talking? Fine, then I’m leaving!" Whatever was in his head, it couldn’t be anything good, so Ivy wasn’t about to stick around and argue.
"Don't go—!" Caleb watched her walk away and desperately reached out to grab her arm. But he pulled too hard, slipped, and—splash!—both of them tumbled straight into the pool. (Honestly, this scene should win a slapstick award.)
"Pfft—" Ivy shot up out of the water, gasping for air. Right next to her, Caleb surfaced too, coughing and spluttering like a drowned puppy.
"What is wrong with you? Trying to murder me?!" Ivy glared at him, totally fed up.
Hearing that, Caleb hung his head and mumbled, "S-sorry, I didn’t mean to! I swear I didn’t do it on purpose…" (Cue puppy eyes and dramatic guilt trip.)
------
"So, what exactly are we looking for?" The two rooftop lurkers couldn’t help but ask Wind.
Wind frowned, worried. They’d been searching forever and still hadn’t found a single clue. Was this place just way too huge?!
"Ugh, this is pointless. Why don’t you just tell us what kind of person or thing we’re supposed to find? At least give us a hint! Otherwise we’re just trailing after you for hours with no clue!" Butterfly Rogue plopped down on the rooftop, panting.
Wind glanced at the sprawling, ridiculously complicated palace, then finally sighed. "I’m looking for an imperial chef."
"Imperial chef?" The other two echoed in disbelief.
"Yeah, this chef is really important to us. He doesn’t look like the other palace cooks, but he’s still a chef." Wind couldn’t tell them he suspected the chef was actually the Pavilion Master herself—otherwise, these two maniacs would turn the whole palace upside down.
"Huh? You’re looking for a chef? Why?" Butterfly Rogue asked, totally confused.
Seeing the two of them staring, Wind coughed. "It’s a mission Miss Shen gave us. She’s super serious about it. Oh, and the chef’s surname is Zhen. If you want to earn some credit, go find him. Meet back here in two hours."
"Got it. Be careful!" Ethan Chu nodded at him, and Wind nodded back before leaping away.
"Why does Xin’er want this chef anyway?" Butterfly Rogue asked Ethan, baffled.
"No clue. But judging by how serious Wind was, it’s definitely not simple. Anyway, let’s just find this Chef Zhen—then we’ll know everything."
"But this palace is huge! Which building is he in? Even if we find him, how will we know which one’s the real deal?" Butterfly Rogue fretted.
Ethan was worried too, but then said, "It’s fine. Wind just said the chef doesn’t look like the other palace cooks. In this place, aside from guards, eunuchs, imperial doctors, palace cooks, and maids, the odd one out is probably our guy. Plus, everyone else dresses the same—he’ll stand out!"
"Nice, you’re the smart one! Why didn’t I think of that?" Butterfly Rogue said, giving him a thumbs-up.
"Alright, let’s start checking every building." Ethan grabbed Butterfly Rogue and got to work, prying up roof tiles to peek inside. All the palace sleeping quarters had the same tile roofs, so it was pretty easy to investigate—if a little unethical, but oh well.
"Hey, Old Six, look! There’s a palace maid and a guard fooling around!" Butterfly Rogue whispered. Rooftop snooping was turning up all sorts of surprises.
"Enough, ignore them." Ethan rolled his eyes and kept moving. Rooftops were great for dodging guards, but you still had to crawl carefully or risk getting spotted.
"Whoa, check out their moves! That’s some serious acrobatics!" Butterfly Rogue snickered. Who knew palace folks were into such wild stuff? He wondered if Xin’er would like it.
Smack! Ethan slapped him on the head, snapping Butterfly Rogue out of his daze.
"Hey! What the heck are you doing?" Butterfly Rogue yelped, clutching his head where Ethan had just smacked him.
"What for? Look at that sleazy face—you’re definitely not thinking anything wholesome!"