A Familiar Territory

After walking a few steps, Lucia glanced back—Sean Shaw was still sitting on that cloud.

She told Faustin to wait, flew back, squatted in front of Sean, and tilted her head to look at his face.

Sean lifted his eyes, staring at her coldly like a winter star.

"Are you coming or not?" Lucia asked.

He didn't move.

Lucia just grabbed his arm and hauled him along.

He was surprisingly easy to drag—one pull and he moved.

Boys... always so childish.

They're all older than me, but I always have to coax them.

......

Faustin stared at the goddess in his heart, watching her drag along the most beautiful man he'd ever seen, mouth hanging open for ages.

He felt like he could watch that scene for a hundred years and never get tired of it.

"Faustin, this is the Fifth Highness from Drake Abyss," Lucia introduced. "He's with us."

"Oh! Oh! Fifth Highness! This little immortal greets Your Highness!" Faustin hurriedly bowed.

Sean said nothing.

But his gaze kept flicking toward the hand that had just been holding his.

The next second, though, Lucia let go and said, "Faustin, let's go now."

"Alright." Faustin kept walking ahead, leading the way.

Lucia followed a few steps behind.

Looking back, Lucia saw that Sean had stopped moving again.

She didn't say much, just went back and pulled Sean onto the same cloud with her, dragging him along.

Sean still didn't say a word, but being held like that—watching the top of her dark hair, breathing in her scent—the ice in his eyes slowly melted, and he even smiled to himself without knowing why.

Lucia hadn't expected Faustin to take her somewhere so familiar: Enlightenment Peak.

That was Divine Marquis Lann Yin's territory.

Divine Marquis Lann Yin is Qilin Divine Lord Soren Lann's uncle. He set up his divine estate on Enlightenment Peak and took on many disciples, mostly to pass the time.

Back when Soren Lann was still with the Spirit Alliance, he often brought Lucia here to attend lectures.

Divine Marquis Lann Yin was especially kind—Lucia's Divine Artifact flute, Entwined Heart, was found in an ancient cave here thanks to his guidance.

"We're here." Faustin said, standing on the stone steps in the mountains and gazing at the mountain gate.

"Are you sure it's here?" Lucia asked.

"Definitely. It's inside. Looks like there's a barrier." He stepped forward, reached out, and sure enough, his hand touched the barrier.

"Talk about lucky!" Lucia beamed and used a Qilin Clan spell to knock on the barrier.

Soon enough, a round-faced, big-eyed, ridiculously cute fairy girl came bouncing over and opened the barrier.

Seeing the three outside, the girl let out a puzzled "Huh?"—"Master said Divine Lady Lucia was here, but you..."

"What, don't recognize me?" Lucia pinched her cheek.

This was Divine Marquis Lann Yin's youngest disciple, Claire. Lucia had watched her grow from a seven- or eight-year-old kid into a graceful, pretty young fairy.

"Why did your cultivation drop?" Claire asked. "And why are you dressed like this?"

"Take us to see the Matriarch first," Lucia said.

"Right this way!" Claire opened the barrier, holding it open like a little door-boy and gesturing them inside.

"Let's go! This is Divine Marquis Lann Yin's turf—I'm super familiar with it!" Lucia called back to Sean and walked in.

Faustin followed them in too.

But whether from nerves or something else, as he entered the barrier, he missed a step and nearly toppled onto Lady Claire.

Claire shoved him away, annoyed. "What are you doing, kid?"

"Ah! I—I just slipped, sorry Lady Claire!" Faustin blushed furiously as he apologized.