Such a Man Is Unfit to Be My Brother-in-Law

"Oh... pfft!" Ryan Lu burst out laughing. "I was hoping for a proper chat about beauties, but instead we got mixed up with a wild dragon! That guy who handed out the invitation cards—this time, I doubt we’ll get anything good out of it!"

"Drop it," Lucia Lu said. "He borrowed the Celestial Empress’s name, so he must’ve gotten her approval. It’s not really a scam or anything."

Ryan Lu curled his lip and shook his head. "Nope, not buying it."

"What’s not to buy? They invited you out to have fun—what’s wrong with that?" Lucia Lu asked.

"I just don’t trust him. Guys like that? No way I’d let him be my sister’s husband," Ryan Lu said seriously.

"Ha!" Lucia Lu rolled her eyes. "You think every guy in the world wants to marry your sister? He’s just trying to help us make peace with Princess Quinn Xiao, alright!"

Ryan Lu: "Heh!"

Ryan Lu: "Hehe!"

Lucia Lu: "..."

...

Later, the three of them checked in with Adrian Drake and learned that he and Fifth Highness Sean Shaw had already returned to the Palace Guard Barracks, so they headed back too.

Lucia Lu took a bath and went to bed early.

She figured she’d sleep well and keep reading those killer military texts tomorrow.

But just as she was sleeping soundly, Ryan Lu came looking for her.

She let Ryan in, yawning and rubbing her sleepy eyes. "It’s late, why aren’t you asleep? What’s up?"

Ryan Lu said, "I just had a nightmare. I can’t shake this uneasy feeling."

"You’re a grown man. You still need someone to comfort you after a bad dream?" Lucia Lu thought about kicking him out.

"It’s not that. I think I really messed something up. My conscience is killing me," Ryan admitted.

"What did you mess up?" Lucia Lu asked, frowning.

"That Peony Flower Fairy at the festival—remember her?"

"Yeah."

"When we were heading downstairs..." Ryan Lu’s voice dropped, almost haunting. "I glanced back and saw..."

"Saw what? Did you see a ghost?"

"They were turning onto the third floor, and I caught a glimpse of her profile," Ryan said. "Her eyes looked like they were bleeding!"

Lucia Lu, who’d been half-asleep, was so startled she jerked awake. "Huh?"

"I just had a nightmare and saw that scene again. The more I think about it, the more I’m sure I didn’t imagine it," Ryan said. "Then I remembered earlier—she was probably trying to hand us something important to take out! But back then... I actually tossed that Taiqing Clarity Charm away!"

The more Ryan spoke, the more anxious he got. "Sis, didn’t you think she seemed off when she said she wanted to join the Flower Queen Contest? Her neck was stiff, her posture weird..."

Lucia Lu thought back and realized he was right.

"Wait... you think she was hit with a Puppet Rune?" Lucia Lu frowned.

"Me too!" Ryan Lu jumped up and started pacing like a nervous wreck. "Lucia, let’s go back and check! I just can’t rest easy!"

Lucia Lu frowned at him.

Ryan Lu sighed again. "But that pocket realm doesn’t have any Teleport Talismans, so we can’t get in... If only we could snag a few more."

"Maybe... we don’t actually need Teleport Talismans to get in," Lucia Lu suddenly said.

"Huh? Then how?"

"Just wait here for me!" Lucia Lu said. "I’ll step out for a bit."

She headed straight for Sean Shaw.

Sean opened the door and saw her, momentarily stunned. "What’s wrong?"

Lucia Lu pointed inside. "Can we talk in there?"

Sean looked a bit uncomfortable, but he still let her in.

As soon as she stepped inside, she was startled to see Skye standing there in blazing red!