Sudden Arrival and Sudden Departure

"Hey, hey, hey!" Ryan Lu waved his hand in front of Sean Shaw's eyes. "We're all worried too, you know. You don't have to just talk to my sister."

Sean Shaw smiled and said to everyone, "Sorry, I needed to focus completely during my month of training, so I didn't keep any Messenger Charms nearby. That was careless of me... It won't happen again."

He looked at Lucy as he said those last four words.

Lucy Lu huffed, "Tomorrow I’m definitely going to find His Majesty the Celestial Emperor and get the Divine Crimson Pill back!"

Sean’s lips curled into a faint smile.

So that’s what she’s mad about today?

She even went through all that trouble to make the Divine Crimson Pill for him...

The curve of Sean’s smile grew even wider.

"Phew! False alarm! Come on, come on! Second round—may we all stay safe!" Luna Lian raised her glass again.

Everyone started to cheer up.

After a few rounds of drinks, Sean suddenly spoke up, "There’s something I need to tell everyone."

"What is it?" Everyone turned to look at him.

"I’ll be leaving the Palace Guard Barracks for a while. I won’t be able to take classes with you anymore," Sean said.

The room went completely silent.

Lucy clenched her wine cup tightly.

Luna Lian asked in surprise, "Why?"

"Honestly, I’ve already learned everything in these classes, and I passed Father Emperor’s assessment a while ago," Sean explained. "There’s no point in repeating it all."

Another heavy silence fell.

Lucy sat with her eyes lowered, lips pressed together, not moving at all.

Ryan glanced at his sister, then suddenly asked sharply, "If it was pointless, why did you come here in the first place?"

Sean didn’t answer.

"So what’s your plan now?" Luna asked.

"I’ll head back to my family’s domain and keep training," Sean replied.

"When are you leaving?" Luna asked.

"Tomorrow," Sean said. "I came here tonight just to say goodbye."

Ryan slammed his wine cup down on the table. "So we’ve got the whole theme wrong! Turned a farewell party into a reunion—unbelievable!"

Sean stayed silent.

Luna tried to smooth things over, "Oh come on! Whether it’s a farewell or a reunion, it’s all just eating and drinking, right? Let’s have another toast—here’s to Little Five mastering his training and soaring high!"

But Ryan suddenly stood up, face cold. "I’m full. I’m leaving!"

Then, in a flash of divine light, he was gone.

"I’ll head back too," Luna said, and left as well.

Sean stood up. "You all have class tomorrow, so get some rest. I need to pack up too."

And just like that, the group broke up.

Leaving the table a complete mess.

Lucy stared at the chaos for a while, then started cleaning up.

As she cleaned, she couldn’t help but laugh at herself.

This messy table was a pretty good metaphor for her own life.

Sudden arrivals, sudden departures, and all that’s left is a mess...

Just then, someone knocked on the door again.

Lucy went to open the door—and saw Sean standing there.

He was holding the Flower Egg she’d given him.

Lucy’s eyes locked onto the Flower Egg. "You’re returning this to me, aren’t you?" she asked.

"I’m afraid I won’t be able to take care of it for a while—"

"Then just give it back!" Lucy snatched it from him, her tone cool. "Anything else?"

"I’m not giving it back," Sean said gently. "I just want to ask you to look after it for me."

"Makes no difference," Lucy replied.

"If I gave it back, it’d be yours. If you’re looking after it for me, it’s still mine," Sean explained.

"It’s just some random trinket you could toss any time! No need to act like it’s some precious treasure," Lucy scoffed.