"I didn't do anything!" Lucy Luan protested.
Ethan Lu turned to glare at Adrian Drake and Sean Shaw. "Aren't you two leaving yet? What are you staring at?"
Adrian Drake spun around and left immediately.
Sean Shaw, however, stepped forward. "High God Ethan Lu, please don't blame her! It's all my fault. I'll take full responsibility."
Ethan Lu shot him a look. "Can't even tell a carrot from a person—are all you dragon clan folks half-blind or what?"
Sean Shaw paused for a moment. "...Actually, I did notice it was probably a fake."
"So you knew it was a trap and still went anyway?" Ethan Lu raised an eyebrow. "That means your eyes work fine—it's your brain that's the problem!"
Lucy Luan: "Big Brother!"
Ethan Lu: "Don't say a word!"
Lucy Luan: "..."
"High God Ethan Lu," Sean Shaw replied, calm and unyielding. "At the time, I was worried... what if it really was her? The figure vanished in a flash, and I didn't have time to contact her, so I just followed after."
Lucy Luan rolled her eyes at him.
What a dummy!
Ethan Lu caught Lucy Luan's look and said, not sounding very pleased, "Fifth Highness, this is Lu family business. Why are you saying so much? Adrian, you two should go do your own thing!"
"Alright!" Adrian Drake turned to leave again.
But Sean Shaw still didn't budge.
Ethan Lu looked at him. "What now? Fifth Highness, do you still have something to say?"
"High God Ethan Lu, I promise—I won't let her, or any of you, get dragged into this." Sean Shaw's eyes were resolute.
"And how exactly do you plan to guarantee that?"
Sean Shaw didn't answer.
He'd overstepped.
He didn't have the right to make such promises.
Just like he didn't have the right to say those words to her.
Ethan Lu sneered, grabbed Lucy Luan, and teleported away in a flash.
Sean Shaw stared at the spot where Lucy Luan had just been, frozen in place.
"Hey!" Adrian Drake sidled up. "Why are you spacing out? I think we should go find His Majesty the Celestial Emperor!"
Sean Shaw glanced over at him.
"Knowing her big brother, he's definitely going to make Senior Sister go home. There's no way he'll let her stay in the Palace Guard Barracks!" Adrian Drake said.
Sean Shaw's fists suddenly clenched tight.
"Everyone in her family is afraid of Ethan Lu. His word carries more weight than even my master," Adrian Drake added. "Plus, Divine Lord Soren Lann will probably agree with sending her home, so only His Majesty the Celestial Emperor has the power to let her stay."
Sean Shaw turned and strode off.
...
Ethan Lu dragged Lucy Luan to a secluded spot and released her from the Immobilization Spell.
"Big Brother," Lucy Luan said, "How could you talk to him like that? He's the Divine Heir!"
Ethan Lu's face darkened. "So you're saying you've lost your mind over him?"
"What... what do you mean, lost my mind?" Lucy Luan stammered, her ears turning bright red.
"Don't tell me you don't know what you did today!"
Lucy Luan: "I asked Father God, and he said—"
"Don't even start with that! He spoils you all rotten. If you burned down the Celestial Palace, he'd come up with a hundred excuses for you!"
Lucy Luan: "..."
"I warned you last time—if you did anything reckless again, you'd have to come home with me!" Ethan Lu said. "There's nothing more to discuss. You're coming home."
"I'm not going!" Lucy Luan protested. "I'm a captain! If I leave, what happens to my team?"
"Do you really think the Three Realms can't function without you?"
"I just... I don't want to go home..."
"It's not up to you," Ethan Lu said firmly. "I'm going to find the Celestial Emperor right now."
"Big Brother!" Lucy Luan cried. "How can I just stand by and do nothing when I know he's being framed?"