"The school is canceled yesterday." That was the Librarian's first word to them. "Why?"
Beiyue blinked. Huh. Did she spend too much her lunch break here, that the Librarian memorized her face and wonder where did she go when she failed to show up? That must be it. So far only Beiyue who consistently spending her lunch break here. Zhonglei and Dongling sometimes didn't join. Either due roped into another mess, gathering information, or their teacher was too passionate in teaching and not aware of the time.
However, he is one of the school staff. Isn't he suppose to know?
"Prince Xiaoyao held Pill Event yesterday, at Blue Lake outside Linhuai City. Many Pharmacists, mostly senior and experienced Pharmacists, were attending."
"Do you as well?"
"Yes."
"You are not a Pharmacist, and you haven't shown interest in any pill making subjects."
He definitely checked out her history readings, like a good (or very bored) Librarians did.
"Well, it started like this..."
Events
Music Class.
One of the ten available courses at Imperial College. It was mostly taken by girls who want to appeal themselves as wife material.
Out of all Beiyue's course, this was the only Highly course she took. And she took it was not because she wants to show that for all her androgynous appearance and borderline tomboy personality she was still a girl. No. She took it because she has TO learn how to play Guzheng. She sorely misses music from the modern era. All she remembers were ones she liked and put on the playlist. And some songs she and her famiglia made for themselves. But there's only so much memory can do.
Plus, she missed singing. Suuuure, she can do flute, but she can't sing when blowing the tunes, can she? So yeah. She needs Music Class.
Except... except she REGRETTED taking it.
Oh, the class is fine. Her teacher is fine, even if Beiyue wished he hadn't paid her so much attention. She was annoyed at the smug 'I-know-you're-just-pretending-to-be-weak-and-I'm-gonna-play-along' smirk, but not that much to be hostile. No. The one that annoys her to no end is her classmates.
They are dumbasses. Oh, let her rephrase that statement. They are more interested in Feng Lianyi than the lesson itself. Beiyue dares to bet ten gold coins half of them pick Music Class just because so they can mooning over him. It doesn't help that he is a Royal Nobility (even from another country) and was closer to the Crown Prince's age rather than over twenties. In another word, fresh young meat.
She bears with all these annoyance, for sake of knowing how to play and tune Guzheng, since songs she knew, has a wide range of tune and tempo.
What she can't take, was that today those little chits were ten times more airheaded than usual! They were hushing-hush with giggles and has wistful look throughout the lesson, clearly on lala land rather than the class.
It took Beiyue her willpower to not flip off and threw the Guzheng at them.
That, and the fact it would desecrate the Guzheng. It was a beautiful piece of an instrument that had faithfully helped her. It doesn't deserve to be treated as such.
"Princess, would you stay behind?"
Beiyue sighed and ignores the shrill look threw in her direction. Mentally she imagines herself bitch-slapping the lot of them. Maybe if they took his lesson seriously, Prince Lianyi would pay them attention.
"What it is, Prince Lianyi?" She asks.
The foreign Prince look at her with his eyes lit up in a mischievous smile, not unlike Mukuro. It also made her wonder... is his eye color purple or indigo? She was sure it was purple, but under certain light, it would glow indigo.
Huh? Glow?! Wait a minute here—
"How was your condition, Princess?"
"I could do without people looking at me as if I was some kind of exotic animal." Beiyue's mouth ran off before she can filter her thought-to-speak. She decided to put on a poker face and pretend she meant to say that, rather than it be a complete accident.
Lianyi laughed. "I see, I see. Those stares can be bothersome, can they?"
He himself has a similar problem. Those stares he received, geez. He feels like a juicy steak in the middle of a predator's den.
"Since you can make a remark like that, I assume you are well." He said, coughing a bit to push the more unpleasant feeling back to the abandoned corner of his mind. "However, I heard you would always go straight home every after school and rarely come out, nor hosting people. Didn't you reject the invitation to Ping Hongling's birthday party?"
Beiyue shrugged. "I don't exactly like it when people came uninvited or didn't send memo beforehand." She replies. "I'm not much of a party or social girl either."
"Then you won't mind attend to this one then." Lianyi handed her a gold-plated invitation. "Three days from today, Prince Xiaoyao will hold an event on his boat, at Blue Lake just outside the Linhuai city. Details are inside the invitation. It was quite a solemn affair, so you don't have to socialize much."
Beiyue read it, and her eyebrows went to her hairline.
"Pill Event? It sounds like something only Pharmacist goes to, and I am not a Pharmacist."
"Neither was I, however Prince Xiaoyao and I are good friends, and when I asked him to extends one invitation to you, he agrees."
Beiyue tilted her head. "Why? Why me and not someone else?"
"Hm... because you admit that you never went to a social event if we discounted the Spring Banquet." Lianyi smiled. "It would be good PR for you and experience. I heard you were taking your duty as Landlord of Qinghe and Miyang seriously. You will have to face people in the court too, you know?"
Good PR, Beiyue almost snorted at that. She could care less about PR. People could call her a harlot or a whore for all she cares, and she doesn't give a damn. If anything, she prefers doing her own thing and shove the result on their face. However... attending the event would be a good thing. Pharmacists make medicine and pills. If she attends, she can learn about Pills, the ingredients, and their effect. That would be useful. Neither one from her group has qualified for it, Dongling being Thunder, Zhonglei being Water, and she was dual Fire and Ice. However, none of them were Healer. She can do First Aid and THAT WAS IT. No more detailed and careful touch of an actual healer. Poison and stuff are beyond her knowledge.
"Would Prince Xiaoyao mind it if I brought plus two?"
"You have to ask him yourself." Was Lianyi's answer. His voice then took a teasing tone. "You seem to be awfully close to them."
"Let's say, we've gone through a lot of things no one else did and get out knowing each other very well."
Life-threatening trials and hardship are such a good judge of whether a relationship is true or not. People are forced to reveal their true color, whether they like it or not. Either they made it out together, becoming closer than before, or break up and plan to hurt each other, if not already on it.
"Is that so? Then I hope you are right and you can trust them." There's an almost wistful tone in Lianyo's voice. "You may go. It won't do if I keep you from your lunch." He passed her over.
His flame reaching out to Beiyue, but Beiyue did nothing. Neither accepting nor rejecting it.
If she rejects him, well, she doesn't want to know. Mist is not the most stable out of the bunch, and Nobility has a serious case of child exploitation, conditional love, abandonment, emotional and psychological abuse, on top of unhealthy pressuring. Lianyi is both and... yeah. Make him go Discord was not the best idea.
But she can't accept him either. One, they are not close. Two, when his term is over, he will return to Beiyao. Three, she can't.
Same with how she hasn't told Dongling and Zhonglei about Flames. Because if they knew, they will try to awaken theirs, and when they do, they will harmonize with her. And she just... can't.
It was one thing to let them bask in her flame. It was entirely another thing to harmonize with them. She is not ready for a new set of guardians.
Who replaced her as The Sky?
~X~
Dongling twitched.
"Prince Xiaoyao is lucky he has good reason to put his schedule at an ungodly hour." She said before taking a ruthless bite on her rice ball (onigiri). Beiyue patted her shoulder in sympathy.
A message from Prince Xiaoyao had arrived last night, regarding the Pill Event time and location.
The location is the same. It was time that changed. He moved it forward, from ten in the morning to six in the morning. Like, crack ass of dawn. Where those who are awake were the poor sod who has the night to the morning shift and the merchant who prepared their wares for when maids went to buy stuff for breakfast.
They understood his reasoning, however. Prince Xiaoyao deliberately chooses school day, so he doesn't have to deal with girls chasing him, since they would likely be stuck at school. Allowing him to hold the event in peace. Yet, because the Principal and many teachers decided to close the school just so they can attend the event, which would make those girls have free time to harass him, he moved it forward.
In the end, the problem was fanatic fangirl. Or rather, hordes of them.
Yeah. Dongling can see why Xiaoyao abruptly changed his schedule, and why he picks such an unreasonable hour.
Doesn't mean she likes it, though.
"Oh, shaddap." Zhonglei's voice could be heard from outside. "At least you can get some Zs."
He was the designated driver. As it stood, he was handling the rein with one hand, and the other hand gripping a bottle filled with ginseng tea Beiyue had graciously made earlier.
The journey from the center of Linhuai city to Blue Lake took two hours. Less if they use Spirit Beast (which they won't), and more had they take off later, when people are actually awake and fill the street.
By the time they arrived there, the sun had just peeking shyly from behind the horizon, yet there are several boats sailed through the lake, their destination is the grandiose ship in the middle of the lake.
Dongling almost missed a step when they boarding their Boat.
Again, it was Zhonglei who act as Driver, seeing his element is water.
"Welcome abroad." Prince Lianyi greeted them. "The Event had not started yet, so please use your time well."
The first thing they do was heading to the facilities. Beiyue suggests they do so because the old geezer who made up the audiences would really hate it when someone exit and enter the room just because they need to use the loo. Plus, everyone knows Pharmacists need utmost concentration when refining pill on top of good Ki control. Any noise could break the concentration, and then, KA-BOOM! One explosion leads to another, resulting in chain explosions worth writing down in history... and not in a good way! Cue dozens of very furious cultivators aiming for your head.
On top of that, they were on a ship. In the middle of a freaking lake. At an unholy hour in the morning. The water is COLD! Who wants to swim at these hours?
Sooo... yeah. Toilet business first before heading to the conference room.
She didn't expect to come across Luoluo on their way to the conference room.
"Ah, Princess, you came?"
"That should be my question." Beiyue tilted her head. Confused. Luoluo... she can't remember one instance he had patiently sitting for hours on end with concentration at the task he had been given. His attention span is not that long. Maybe in the future, but now? Nah, hell nope.
Luoluo smiled. "Well, Prince Xiaoyao had helped me once before, so I can't possibly miss this. A courtesy, you can call it such."
Oh? "Helped how?"
"Well... I'm born with a weak body, and there's one incident when I was a kid. My parents begged Prince Xiaoyao to make Jade Pill for me, and he did. That's why I'm able to be like this."
"I... see..." So that's how Luoluo recovers fast from his kidnapping attempt. Beiyue definitely will give Prince Xiaoyao a Gift. "Want to sit together?"
Huh. Why did people look at her like that? What? Did she say something wrong—Zhonglei, what with that cat-got-canary-look?! She didn't have feelings for Luoluo! He's like a brother to her, at most! He's not even her type!
Beiyue rolled her eyes and went ahead to the Conference room. Just in time before it started. Prince Xiaoyao looks at her and smiled before started his lecture.
It was about a new way to gain a new level of purity in pill refining. Glass-like luster kind of purity. Beautiful and translucent, but oozing with power. The Pharmacist was encouraged to try their luck, so they got their own censer out and try refining.
Beiyue would have been bored out of her mind... if she didn't bring empty books and writing equipment. One book is to write what she learned today, and another, well...
"Is that story? You were writing a story?" Luoluo whispered.
"I'm bored."
And she did once said this world's fictional literature needs more variety.
"What story is this?"
Her life as Tsuna, with some modification. "Just you wait."
The event ended in the afternoon. As she predicted, there's no lunch because no pharmacist likes to be disturbed. She had to sneakily share a non-messy snack with her group, hiding it under the table when someone raised their head and turned to their direction.
Lianyi knows. He stares at her with this annoying pleading/mischievous look until she caves in and shared it with him.
By the time it was over, servants are cooking very late lunch / early dinner, while everyone else either relieves themselves in the loo or searching clean air outside, stretching their legs. Beiyue was later, which show her the sight of boats soaring across the lake with girls in expensive and elaborate pretty dresses boarding them. She was annoyed.
"Prince Xiaoyao, not meant to bother you, but it seems you have unwanted guests over there!" She called out.
Xiaoyao turned his head, and displeasure etched in his face. "I... see..." His eye twitched. "Please excuse me, Princess. In meantime, enjoy yourself."
When those boards approached, the guards were out and blocking their path. When the girls ask, they were firmly replied with no, which displeased them. Some tried to appeal, some clearly red-faced, and tried to pull rank. Among those girls...
"Oh God, has she learn nothing?" Zhonglei facepalmed when he saw his ex-sister fuming at the guard. "She was in a precarious situation, short of rock bottom, and she still aims high? Did she got dropped on her head as a baby or something?"
"More like, choked full of delusions." Replied Dongling. "She claims herself as smart and such and such, but in reality, she is just delusional girl with little to her name."
"Ouch, burn." Luoluo chuckled. "That gotta hurt."
"Yes. Shame she can't hear us." The pink-clad girl deadpanned.
Beiyue just chuckles as she listens to them chatting, throwing crude and borderline rude comments to those girls. In hindsight, they have the right. Unlike those girls, they HAVE an invitation, thus are allowed to board. Those girls, on other hand, are the reason why Xiaoyao scheduled it to start at an unholy hour in the morning.
"Princess Beiyue."
And someone approached her. An old man she never saw before. Think again, she hasn't met a lot of people yet, so she didn't know who is he and what is his status.
"Greetings to honored Elder." Beiyue bowed, Chinese style.
"Mm, this Old Man is pleased to see the daughter of Princess Royal is well and know manners." The Old Man replied. "Indeed, Princess Royal would be proud of the Princess."
"Thank you." Beiyue's expression was a little fixed. "However, this Princess does not know who is she talking to."
"Hoho. Of course, Princess won't recognize this old man, for this old man had meet Princess Royal before she marries." His smile was light and gentle, so Beiyue will refrain from scowling. He clearly didn't mean to compare her to Princess Royal, it was an accident, unlike certain people she can name off. "Today this Old Man has meet Princess Beiyue, so this old man's desire is resolved. That year, I was too busy, wishing for giving Princess Royal this gift but had to deal with a lot of matters, so it kept delayed until she had passed away. Ah, thinking about it gives this old man regrets."
Beiyue doesn't know what to reply, so she just let loose a bit of Sky Flame. It seems to be the right choice, as the old man relaxes.
"Meeting Princess here is such a fortunate. Since I have never been able to gift this to Princess Royal, then I'll give it to you. Think of it as resolving an old man's wish." He took out a purple scroll from his space ring and give it to Beiyue.
"Thank you, honored elder." Beiyue accepts the scroll and bowed deeply.
The Old man laughed light-heartedly and patter her head. "Good child, I hope our path shall cross again." Nodding his head, his body began to float on the top of the lake. It won't be long before his figure disappears in the distance.
"..."
Beiyue looks at the scroll, titled "Hundred Ways of Refinement".
"So..." she turned around, "I notice he never gave me his name or title. Anyone know who is he?"
~X~
"Do you get his name?" The Librarian inquired.
Beiyue shook her head as she finished the last note of the song today. "Not. Not quite. Prince Xiaoyao calls him Sage Pharmacist. I suppose since he looks surprised and very respectful, he was a great figure." Maybe the founder of Pharmacy or something.
"What about the scroll? Do you intend to use it?"
"When I have to. For now, I save it somewhere safe." As in, inside a hidden compartment inside a box, in a space ring she wore whenever she went.
Like hell she put it somewhere unsafe.
The Librarian nodded. "Mm. Good girl. You have been given great treasure. Protect it."
"Of course I will."
The break time is over. She quickly gathers back her stuff and nodded respectfully to the Librarian for listening in. Before she walks out, she gives him a wrapped lunchbox. Beiyue notices she hasn't seen him eat anything, so she cooks one for him.
She hoped he isn't offended with it.
Just to be on the safe side, she jogged a little.
She didn't expect to nearly collide with Jing.
"Whoa, hey there." He doesn't expect it either. "Beiyue? What are you doing here?"
"Lunch?"
Why did he turn pale? "Lunch? Here? Around the Seven Pagoda?!" Uh, actually inside the Library, but she felt it won't be wise to correct him. "You reckless girl, don't do it again. Come on." He pulls her away. "Of all places, why it has to be Seven Pagoda? Why it can be in nice Gazebo elsewhere?"
"What's wrong with the Seventh Pagoda?" The Library is cool as hell, even if the Librarian can be scary. Beiyue swears, his glare can kill plants and small animals. Think again, he reminds her of Hibari.
"What's wrong, you say." Jing pinched his nose. "Have no one told you about the Spirit Deity?"
"About what now?"
"Oh my god. Beiyue, you don't know about the Spirit Deity who inhabits the Seven Pagoda?" Beiyue shook her head. "The Seven Pagodas are home for a Spirit Deity, a very powerful Spiritual Beast who, according to rumor, on par of Wuling if not more powerful. It really didn't like people and would blast them with Punitive Fire. Twelve years ago, it had made the Seventh Pagoda its home. We don't get near it as to not disturb it. And you take lunch there? Are you out of your mind?!"
"I don't make a nuisance of myself." Because forget the Spirit Deity, the Librarian will kill her.
Hey. What about the Librarian? He was there, right? Does he and the Spirit Deity have some sort of agreement or something?
Jing looks exhausted. He doesn't know why but dealing with Beiyue and her logic exhaust him more than fighting in frontline battle. "Just... just don't do it again."
Not happening. The Librarian will inquire about her whereabouts, otherwise. Plus, she like the atmosphere in Seventh Pagoda.
If the Spirit Deity is angry at her, her Intuition would warn her so she can bail out using Mu Se.
"Ah, Prince Jing, there you are."
Beiyue looked up and found a group of gorgeously-dressed girls was approaching, led by a girl with a round face like a goose egg and ample red lips.
"Wan'er."
Ah, so she was Lin Wanyi. Jing's fiance.
Beiyue was prepared to leave the lovebirds alone. She had no business in it beyond watching over her cousin.
"Ah, so this is the infamous Princess Beiyue." Lin Wanyi said, looking over Beiyue with... was that concealed mocking and disdain? "It's a pleasure to meet Princess. I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time!" Her voice was pleasant but...
Mocking. Derisive. Believing you to be able to go this far because of your connections. Looking down on you. Because of the rumor. Because Lightning and Rain is 'ahead' in cultivation.
How odd.
She doesn't like her.
TBC