The stone-paved path in the dead of night—the campus was empty, with only the echo of his footsteps.
Wendy kicked open the dormitory door and strode toward the library.
‘I must find her.’
The moonlight was faint, casting dappled shadows.
The prince pushed open the library door.
With a creak, the door hinges let out a harsh grinding sound.
He ignored it and headed straight for the Third Floor Section B Reading Room.
The magical lamps in the corridor had long gone out.
Only when clouds occasionally drifted past the windows, blocking the moonlight, did the darkness become more profound.
Wendy arrived at the oak door and reached out to grasp the handle.
The door was locked.
He gritted his teeth and took out the key Tracey had left him from his pocket.
‘Damn it.’
With a click, the door opened.
The reading room was pitch black, empty.
Wendy lit the magical lamp.
The dim yellow light fell on the velvet sofa and on the chair by the window where Xi Ya usually sat.
Empty.
All empty.
Even the faint lavender scent had dissipated.
“Xi Ya?”
He called out tentatively.
No response.
Wendy walked over to the chair and reached out to touch the back.
Cold.
The chair was cold, and so was the desk.
Wendy turned and searched the reading room thoroughly—behind the bookshelves, behind the curtains, even opening the storage cabinet.
It seemed Xi Ya hadn’t been here all day.
“Impossible… impossible.”
Nothing.
Not even a single pink strand of hair was left behind.
As if Xi Ya had never existed.
Wendy collapsed onto the velvet sofa, holding his head.
This feeling was too painful.
Even more painful than being tormented by Astreia and Laxana all night long.
That physical exhaustion could be recovered, but this spiritual emptiness, this mental drain—it made him feel like a machine without a battery.
“Just because of a woman you’ve only known for a few days, you’ve turned into this?”
A familiar voice, with undisguised mockery, came from not far away.
Wendy looked up sharply.
Astreia and Laxana were standing side by side in the moonlight, looking down at him.
The Princess had her arms crossed, wearing the teasing smile Wendy knew well.
Miss Klein pressed her lips tightly, her violet eyes filled with disappointment and hurt.
“You dared to defy Instructor Tracey, and even abandoned the mission, just to come here looking for her?”
Astreia stepped forward and gently nudged Wendy’s shin with the tip of her shoe.
“My Prince, you’re falling much faster than I imagined.”
“Wendy, look at yourself!”
Laxana’s voice trembled.
“You’re dazed and listless, like a lost puppy! What kind of spell did that woman put on you?”
Wendy didn’t answer.
He just slowly stood up, brushed off his clothes, and walked around them, preparing to continue searching for another entrance.
His anxiety and emptiness needed a specific source to fill.
However, the moment he took a step, his arm was grabbed tightly by a hand.
It was Astreia.
“Where are you going?”
Her smile disappeared, her green starry eyes glinting dangerously in the moonlight.
“Go back. That woman isn’t here. Aren’t we enough company for you?”
“Not the same.”
Wendy said without thinking.
Those two words made both Astreia and Laxana’s expressions freeze.
“What did you say?”
Laxana’s face drained of color, she stared at Wendy in disbelief.
Wendy shook off Astreia’s hand and, for the first time, looked at the two women with a nearly cold tone.
“You don’t understand.”
‘Yes, they don’t understand.’
‘They only know how to express care and possessiveness in the most direct and crude way.’
‘Their closeness only tightens the nerves that had become more irritable due to creative stagnation.’
‘What he needed was not physical comfort, but spiritual resonance.’
‘It was a guide that could light a beacon when lost in the wilderness of thought.’
‘It was a tenderness that could pour sweet spring into a dried-up soul.’
‘And only Xi Ya could provide these.’
“We don’t understand?”
Astreia laughed in anger, her aura as a strong person pressing down without restraint.
“Fine. Then tell me clearly today: How don’t we understand? What’s with you acting like you can’t live without her?”
“What do you want? Haven’t we satisfied you every time?”
“Wendy…”
Laxana’s eyes reddened, she stepped forward and grabbed Wendy’s other hand, her voice pleading.
“Don’t be like this… I’m scared… You weren’t like this before…”
Caught between the two women—one aggressive, one on the verge of tears.
Normally, Wendy might have felt a hint of vain satisfaction.
But at this moment, he only felt suffocation.
A nameless flame erupted from the depths of his suppressed irritability.
“Let go of me!”
He suddenly struggled, shaking off both their hands.
“I need her! I need her to finish my book! This is about my life and death! Do you understand?!”
“This is completely different from you two just thinking about how to torment my body every day!”
After he finished shouting, the whole world fell silent.
Astreia and Laxana stared blankly at him, and Wendy was also stunned.
The prince looked at the complex expressions of shock, hurt, and humiliation on their faces, and a trace of regret welled up.
‘I was too harsh.’
But just as he was about to speak to make amends, a soft, gentle voice like a heavenly sound rang out from the shadows not far away.
“Wendy, were you looking for me?”
Wendy’s body stiffened.
He slowly turned around.
To his surprise, an inconspicuous side door had opened, and Xi Ya stood gracefully at the entrance, holding a small magical lantern.
Soft halos outlined her slender figure, and her flawless face bore a hint of perfectly appropriate surprise and concern.
The faint lavender scent in the air instantly dispelled all of Wendy’s anxiety and panic.
It was her.
She really was here.
A surge of indescribable joy instantly flooded the prince.
He felt his heart, which had been hanging in midair, finally settle steadily back into his chest.
“I came back to organize some materials. I thought you might need them, but I didn’t expect you to actually come.”
Xi Ya walked gracefully and calmly to stand before the three of them.
As if she hadn’t seen the stiff atmosphere between Astreia and Laxana at all, her violet eyes gazed tenderly at Wendy as she softly asked:
“Looking at you, have you run into a problem with your writing?”
“Y-yes.”
Wendy said hoarsely.
“My… my train of thought got stuck.”
“I see.”
Xi Ya nodded knowingly, a encouraging smile on her face.
“I just happened to find some rare records about the Battle of Gray Harbor. In that battle, the Commercial Federation barely used a single soldier, yet they caused the arrogant Iron Sail Fleet to collapse from within. I think it might give you some inspiration.”
She turned and walked toward the open side door.
“It’s cold outside. Let’s talk inside.”
Wendy’s feet lifted uncontrollably, and he subconsciously started to follow.
He needed this too much.
He needed those rare records, needed Xi Ya’s analysis and guidance, to water his nearly depleted inspiration.
“Don’t go!”
His arm was grabbed tightly again.
Astreia’s voice carried a suppressed tremor.
“Wendy Black, if you dare walk in with her today…”
Laxana also grabbed the other corner of his clothes tightly, her reddened eyes full of despair.
She couldn’t say a word, just shook her head desperately.
Wendy’s footsteps unconsciously stopped.
He stood frozen.
On one side was the intimacy he couldn’t bear to give up physically; on the other side was the comfort he desperately craved mentally.
Xi Ya, who had been walking ahead, also stopped.
She slowly turned back.
The lantern light illuminated half of her face brightly, while the other half was hidden in darkness, unclear.
“Wendy.”
She didn’t look at Astreia or Laxana, just quietly looked at Wendy.
“It seems the two juniors don’t really want you to continue working.”
“Then, you decide for yourself.”
“Will you stay here with them, or… come in with me?”