~~~八~~~

~~~内兽的花粉~~~

Three days had passed since the banquet at the palace and everyone had returned back to their daily lives. The First and Seventh Princesses returned back to the Academy the day after the banquet while the seven students returned that same night. However, it was quite difficult for Dàoyì to get back to his group of classmates unnoticed.

After he had managed to calm Xuělián down, they stayed together in a calming silence for a good hour or two before she stood up to return to her pavilion. She offered to help him sneak back out to the banquet area but he declined the offer, telling her to get some rest before disappearing. As a result, the male had to sneak past the guards that had just changed shift for their nightly patrol and avoid the eyes of servants who were finishing up their nightly tasks without being caught. There were multiple instances where he was almost caught, but he somehow managed to make it out alright. Meanwhile, the Seventh Princess of the Yín Empire was getting ready for sleep.

The ravenette had dismissed all of the servants from her private quarters for the night, leaving only the guards that stood by her door. A long sigh left her lips as she shrugged off her fancy robes and let them slump down to the floor with the promise of picking them up later. She then stepped into the large, marble tub in front of her before sinking in and dunking her head in the water.

While the water was hot, it didn’t disturb the skin of her face as the woman held herself under for a few more seconds before coming back up. She brushed back the wet strands of her hair that clung to her face and rested her back against the wall of the tub. The floral-scented steam hit her face and she let out a sigh of satisfaction, allowing the heat to work the tension out of her muscles.

‘Dào-gē, I hope you were able to make it out alright,’ the adopted royal thought as she raised her head and began poking at the floating flower petals. They were a light pink color and the soak would do wonders to keep her skin soft. ‘If I remember right, the Captain of the Imperial Guard is supposed to be on patrol tonight…’

It was a lovely morning in the capital city of the Yín Empire. The fishermen had risen with the sun as a cool breeze caused small waves to form on the salty water. Up in Spirit Tower, a quiet squeak left her lips as the ravenette reached up to stretch out her arms and spine before turning her attention back to the eggs she was cooking. She was glad to have her hair back in its usual braids without all of the heavy ornaments and excess pins weighing down on her head. Her lavender colored hanfu was back on and it was much easier to move around in than the robes she had the other day.

'Man, that was a wild ride,' she thought with a chuckle as she turned off the stove and placed the food on some plates and a small bowl before bringing them to the table. 'I don't think I've ever had an anxiety attack in this body until that night... At least I got it off my chest now.'

A small hiss sounded from by the woman's feet and she leaned down to carry her scaled friend up to the table. Nana flicked her tongue out towards a smaller bowl that had food portioned out for her before curling around it and looking up towards one of the doors.

"Relax, Nana, you know none of us are going to take your food from you," the princess chuckled before tapping the serpent's nose. Her eyes followed the smaller being's gaze with a small smile. "Especially, not Dào-gē."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the door underneath the loft opened to reveal the blue haired male already dressed in his white uniform. A smile immediately formed on his face when he caught sight of the two females he shared the flat with.

When they all sat down to start their morning meal, it was easy to start falling into a casual conversation about their plans for the rest of the day. The topic changed a few times before settling more on the woman's background.

As all this was happening, Nana was happily munching away in her own share of the food with happy hisses as some of it came flying out of the bowl. It was always messy when she ate, but either one of her friends would clean it up anyway.

"Can you teach me how to say something in your native language?" Dàoyì questioned as he picked up the cup to his right. This morning it was a citrusy tea with honey to help wake them up and give an energy boost.

"Well... That depends," the ravenette replied while holding a hand over her mouth. She quickly swallowed her next bite before continuing, "What do you want to say?"

The male went silent for a few moments as he thought of what he actually wanted to learn. Multiple phrases flashed through his head before he asked, "How do you say 'You're beautiful?"

"Maganda ka," the woman replied after she processed the phrase, taking a few moments because it had been a long time since she had last used Tagalog. She was a little confused with why her companion had chosen the phrase but chose not to question it.

It took a few tries to get right but his teacher was patient as she knew some of the phonetics of the language were strange compared to the language they currently spoke. She slowed it down for him and they went over it syllable but syllable until he had said it perfectly. Upon getting the words of approval from her, the older male reached out to grab her hand and said, "Lián-mei, maganda ka."

The female choked on her breath as her eyes went wide. She looked up to refute only to be silenced with one of the most genuine smiles she had ever seen in both of her lives. She couldn't even pull away to hide her face and she knew that it had begun to turn red from the chuckle of her companion across from her.

"I- Shouldn't you be heading over to your first class?" the ravenette scoffed, finally managing to free her hand. She then lifted her sleeves up to cover the lower half of her face before turning away. "You're going to be late if you don't start heading out now, Dào-gē."

"Alright, alright. I'll be going then," the male chuckled as he stood up and walked over to drop his hand on top of her head. He left it there for a few moments before letting out a chuckle at the whine the younger female made once he removed it. "Don't overwork yourself while I'm gone."

"I should be saying that kind of thing to you with how fast you're leveling," she retorted while looking back up at him. There was a small pout on her lips as she lowered her hands to rest in her lap. "With how much work I have as a Soul Maiden, I haven't had the time to work on leveling up myself. I've been pretty stagnant for a while now."

The student shook his head once he made his way over to the door before turning around. While his hand rested on the door handle he said, "I wouldn't say that you've been stagnant at all." His gaze softened as he saw the female's head tilt to the left. "You've been working hard even if it doesn't look like it. Plus, it's harder to level up once you're in the higher levels so I'm sure you'll break eighty soon."

The day passes like normal with the Seventh Princess going through her paperwork and taking a break for lunch when her roommate returns. It isn't until the sun had passed its highest point that something broke her routine.

It was about two hours after her sworn brother had left to attend his afternoon training session when the magic circle on her floor lit up. The woman's head perked up as she thought, 'That's weird. Dào-gē should still have an hour and a half left of training so why is he back already?' She stood up to greet the being only for the light to die down and reveal someone else entirely.

"Er-jiě?!" the ravenette exclaimed as her eyes caught sight of the armor-clad woman. Her immediate response was to shift right in the older female's line of sight in hopes that she wouldn't notice the new door. "What are you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed to visit my Qī-mei?" she huffed with a small smirk while resting her hand over her right hip. Her long white hair was tied up into a ponytail at the left side of her head with the long locks that were left loose falling over her left shoulder.

"No, that's not it, Er-jiě. I was just surprised at the sudden visit," Xuělián replied with a small chuckle. She held her left hand behind her back to gather some spiritual energy while her right hand gestures over to the dining table. "Take a seat and I'll make some tea for you."

The Second Princess thanked her before making her way over to the dining area which connected to the kitchen. Once her back was turned, the younger female aimed some of her spiritual energy at the door of the newest room in her flat and it disappeared from sight.

'Drawing from the element of Spirit: Illusion!'

The ravenette prepared an apple blossom tea with some cinnamon and a light sugar syrup as the sweetener. It was an autumn reminiscent tea as a favorite of the general and quite easy to prepare so it was a given that it would be prepared whenever she came over.

Once the twenty-year-old finished brewing the tea and pouring it out into two matching cups, she paired it with some snickerdoodle cookies she had been given by one of the professors. They had already been checked by one of the other Soul Maidens and didn't have anything strange in them. No one wanted a repeat of what happened with the treats given by the one student from the Fire House.

"So, did you want to talk about anything specific?" she questioned while placing one of the teacups in front of the other. She then took the seat to the older woman's right before lifting her own cup up to her lips.

"Well..." the red eyed female started, letting the steam from the warm drink hit her face. She then let out a sigh before going on to explain the situation she had just been placed in because of the poor planning of the royal advisors.

The general was supposed to be going out to one of the southern fortresses to do an inspection and train some of the new troops. This had been the plan for months; however, there was another meeting with royal advisors that she had missed due to a conflicting issue. In this meeting, they decided, without informing her, that she needed to take care of a complaint of demons in one of the smaller towns to the north. Upon hearing of this, the Second Princess immediately put in a complaint to the advisors but they refused to budge.

The Seventh Princess let out a sigh upon hearing about the advisors trying to push their own agendas without thought of anyone else. It wasn't anything new, but it was still infuriating to hear about. She then set her teacup down before asking, "And am I correct in guessing that they had blocked your formal complaints from reaching the Holy Father?"

"Yup, and I can't even go see him in person with how busy I've been reorganizing our troops," the armored female huffed as she draped herself over the back of her chair. She raised a hand to massage her temples with a hiss. "The war with Jin might be over but there are still lingering parties who won't let it go, so we need to monitor and make sure they don't do anything stupid."

A frown formed on the ravenette's lips before she said, "I see... I'm sorry to hear about all of this, Er-jiě. People can be stupid sometimes." This earned a small mutter of agreement from the other, silence fell over the two royals soon after. After a few moments of thinking, an idea popped into the younger woman's head.

"Well, for now, you can just write out your complaint with the list of advisors involved and I could get it to the Holy Father for you," she suggested while resting her hands in her lap. Purple eyes stayed focused on the female with snow white hair as she slowly raised her head. "As a Soul Maiden, my messages aren't touched by anyone but me, the messenger bird, and the Emperor, so there's no chance of anyone tampering with it."

"And as for the double booking situation, you can leave the demon village to me," Xuělián continued with a small smile. A surprised noise fell from her sister's lips but she didn't allow questions to be asked. "Demon attacks are serious issues that need to be attended to immediately so there's no time to waste, but you also have an important matter to take care of so this is a logical option."

"Qī-mei, according to the situation report, there are definitely more than three of those things and we don't even know what kind they are. None of the scouts sent over there could figure it out," Ryo explained with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked the slightly shorter female straight in the eyes to gauge her reactions. "Even for you, this might be a bit too much."

The warning only pulled a small chuckle from the ravenette as she raised a hand her cover her mouth that held a larger smile. "Er-jiě, I'm not stupid enough to go by myself. Of course, I would assemble a small team to accompany me!" she retorted before taking a bite from one of the cookies. "And I haven't had the chance to cultivate properly in a while, so challenging opponents would be good for me to try and level up."

Thinking about what she said, the Second Princess had to admit that her adopted sister did have a point. She had been stuck at level eighty for almost a full year now and really did not have any time to cultivate on her own due to her position. Ryo then let out a sigh before agreeing to let her take on the job but not before saying, "If you run into any problems just contact me, Jiě-jiě, or San-dì. We'll be at your side immediately."

"I know," chirped the woman in purple as her features softened. For a moment, the Second Princess' face morphed into a familiar, more chaotic figure as her chest tightened. "I know."

The next day, Xuělián was observing her students during their training sessions. She had spent the rest of her previous afternoon reading the situation report and had told the professors to have the students spar with each other. The woman already had an idea of what kind of team she wanted to assemble based on the information given, now all she needed to do was observe how well her choices could perform. Those who met her standards would be chosen to create a team of about six people other than herself.

Ever since classes started, the adopted royal was down in the training grounds, taking notes on the students' strong points and determining who was best suited for it. This was only explained to them at the beginning of the sessions to make sure students would take the sparring seriously. She had not even told her roommate about this ahead of time so he was quite surprised to finally hear about it.

"You're selecting students to take care of some demons?" Tiě questioned as she tilted her head to the side. Her mind immediately flashed back to the lesser monsters that would be found in the village she grew up in. "What kind of demons are they?"

"You'll get more information if you're selected to help me, but I should warn you that these demons will be tougher than anything you've come across before," the ravenette explained. There was a serious expression on her face as she flipped through her notebook for a fresh page. "If I'm being honest, I don't want anyone under level seventy going on this but sometimes there are some people who surprise me, so take this as seriously as you can if you're completely serious about going."

Each of the students fought twice overall with some of the matches endings in ties, but none were too concerned. They knew they were taking it as seriously as they could and the princess had stated that they might still be chosen even if they lost. She was looking at more than just a victory for those who would be coming with her.

Once she had finished observing the exchange students and taking notes, the transmigrator gave them some general comments before walking over to the other groups. This process remained the same for the next few hours until the classes were done and all students were dismissed.

On the way back to Spirit Tower, Dàoyì kept the female company even if she was uncharacteristically silent. Her eyes were aimed down at her notes as she flipped back and forth between them, making marks with her fountain pen every now and then. Nana was draped around her shoulders twice with her head tucked under her tail as she took a nap.

"Lián-mei, is the situation really that serious?" he questioned once they were back in the flat. He was sitting at one side of the main couch as the female was curled up in the other corner with her notes in hand.

"What situation involving demons isn't serious?" she chuckled in return as her eyes flicked up for a moment. She then bit her lip as her focus returned to her page. "I just want to make sure I'm picking a team that will be suitable for the most varied situations... The status report was so vague, it didn't even provide an estimate for how many demons there were."

Purple eyes slowly closed before the female let out a sigh, closing her notebook and bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. After a moment of silence she said, "Honestly, I don't want you to come along for this one, Dào-gē." This was met by immediate protest but she had her reasons. "Dào-gē, I understand that you want to come along so you'll be able to protect me, but from a logical standpoint, it just wouldn't be safe for you."

The woman took out a folded piece of paper from her basket and handed it over to her sworn brother. Upon opening it, his eyes scanned the document to find that it was the situation report written by the scouts of the imperial guards.

"The village is quite dry and the ground is hard which is already putting you at a disadvantage because of your Astral Spirit," she started to explain, remembering the pieces of information that she had underlined. The female tended to mark up situational reports that were given to her so she could find things easier and to help make information easier to remember. However, she always made sure to have a clean copy just in case. "That and I already told you that the benchmark I wanted was level seventy... It just isn't safe for you to come."

The male was silent as he let the information sink in. His hands were shaking as his clenched fists caused the paper to wrinkle before he took a deep breath. With a drawn out sigh he then placed the paper onto the coffee table and moved closer so that he could take one of her hands in his own.

"Lián-mei, I understand that, but I have to go with you," he whispered while touching the back of her hand to his forehead. The woman shifted under his hold but he didn't let go. "I can't let you be taken away from me again."

"... Fine, you can go," Xuělián sighed as she leaned forward to pull the male closer. She knew what it was like to be in pain, to fear losing someone close to her and she hated that she was the cause of the feeling to rise in her own friend. "But I'm sending you back to the academy if it's too dangerous. As much as you want to protect me, I want to protect you too."

"If that's the case, then let's both do our best to stay out of danger, alright?" Dàoyì suggested, shifting so that he could reciprocate the hug. They fit flush together, appreciating the other's warmth. "And protect each other too."

When the next morning came, the ravenette had her finalized list of students other than Dàoyì she wanted to take and sent them notices right after breakfast. She had chosen some of the highest level students in the Spirit House. Each with varying strengths and weaknesses to try and create a balanced team.

The first one she chose was Chen Tsukiyo who had purple hair styled into a bob with straight-cut bangs. Her light purple eyes were sharp and rarely missed a single detail. The fifth-year at the academy was one of the only students she passed at the entrance exams her first year as a Soul Maiden. Tsukiyo was also the Spirit House representative. The noblewoman had an affinity for water based magic, even using a technique to pull water from surrounding air and a strong defense by condensing water into ice. Her Astral Spirit was the Snow Lark so her high aptitude for water magic was predictable. It might have been slightly difficult for her due to the village's climate, but she was experienced enough to work around it.

The next one to be picked was a fourth-year student named Wei Ryota. He was a larger individual with dark brown hair that he kept quite short so it wouldn't get in the way of training or fighting. His style of magic made use of his well trained body and actually enhanced his strength even more. The male's Astral Spirit was a Hell Hound, one of the rarer and harder to control spirits. Due to this, he was usually seen as some kind of monster. He definitely would have been killed if it weren't for the Seventh Princess accepting him into the academy behind the First Princess' nose. Over the years he learned how to better control his spirit and would hopefully teach others who had the same problems in the future.

The third student was named Bai Mizuki, a fifth year of the Spirit House. His looks were very feminine, with a slender build, soft skin, delicate blue-grey irises, and long white hair that he kept in a loose braid. He also tended to wear more feminine clothes than masculine clothes, but he still saw himself as a man. He may have looked delicate, but his magic definitely wasn't. His Astral Spirit was the Silver Scepter which meant that he mostly stuck to supporting others through healing and ability boosts; however, it also allowed for abilities not many could reach. The magic enchanting metal allowed for his direct spiritual attacks to have a larger impact and longer-lasting effect.

The fourth was a former criminal known as Fēng Kaze. With his brutal wind magic and Silver Eagle Astral Spirit, he would go about and rob various nobles or rich individuals on the road. This was how he came into contact with the Soul Maiden of the Spirit House of Yín Elite Academy. He made the mistake of targeting her carriage and ended up fighting a losing battle as he ended up on the ground with his bright green irises staring up into purple ones. From that moment on, he was adopted by the woman as her "child" despite the fact that he was about three years older than her. She really didn't care about that detail and flat out refused to let him go once she saw what he could do with his Astral Spirit.

The final student that was chosen for the team was another fifth-year named Yàn Ageha. She had long pink hair that was kept up in two pigtails and bright golden eyes. The woman came from one of the most distinguished families in the empire, besides the imperial family, but was said to be the most useless. Her family tried to bar her from taking the entrance exam at the academy in fear of being embarrassed by her performance, but she snuck out and did so anyway. Right as it was her turn to perform her spells, her father stormed in with the intention of dragging her back, but he was stopped by the fourteen-year-old Soul Maiden. She allowed the female to display her skills with her Heart-Eating Swallowtail and took her into the Spirit House.

Once everyone was notified, they were given the rest of the day off to train and prepare for the mission as they saw fit. In the ravenette's case, she packed some extra clothes, food, and some money into her basket before plopping down on her couch. Her sworn brother was busy packing in his own room for the trip while trying to avoid another one of his classmates.

When Kāihuā found out that the male was going on the mission without her, she just about lost it. She had basically thrown a tantrum, screaming and cursing the princess who paid her no mind. The female would have tried to attack her if it weren't for the other three female foreign students dragging her away.

The next morning, the Soul Maiden was dressed in her normal mission clothes but this time she had her fox mask covering her face. When asked by her blue haired companion, she said she always wore it when going out on missions that were outside the capital. It was a habit she had carried with her since her days in the adventurer's guild. By wearing a mask, it hid a lot about the wearer and gave opponents a smaller chance of finding their weaknesses.

"Then why didn't you wear it on the mission you went with us?" he asked as they came upon the front of the school. The others were already there and waiting for them to arrive, conversing among themselves.

"Huh, are you asking about Her Highness' mask?" mused the largest member of the team. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head had snapped over the moment he heard the two approach. "That's probably because she wasn't taking the fight that seriously!"

"That's right, wearing your mask in a fight with pirates would probably just be a waste of time for you. Right, Your Highness?" chuckled Ahega as she raised a hand to cover her smile. Her golden eyes were focused on the ravenette who shook her head. "What would you need to hide from them when you can beat them in under five minutes?"

Upon seeing the questioning look from Dàoyì, she waved her hand and instructed them to begin moving out. The older, more experienced students walked ahead while the Soul Maiden and exchange student lagged behind.

"They're right, you know?" the woman chuckled quietly as she played with the ends on her hair. Her eyes weren't visible through the eyes of the mask but it wasn't hard to tell that she was amused. "I really wasn't taking that situation all too seriously until the end."

"Until you went down to talk with the pirate captain," he realized, earning a small nod in return. She still hadn't revealed what deal she struck with him to get him to agree to leave, and he had honestly forgotten about it, but he was now curious. "What did you even talk about?"

"Well... I guess I can tell you now that you know my biggest secret," the female replied softly before bringing an index finger over her lips. Her head didn't move, but he could understand what she meant. "I'll tell you more about it when we're in a more private setting."

When the group reached the outer city they split up and got onto two modest-looking carriages. Ageha, Kaze, and Ryota rode on the first carriage while Xuělián, Dàoyì, Mizuki, and Tsukiyo rode in the second. The first carriage was quite loud with that combination of people while the second was filled with light conversation. The exchange student had already met with the two seniors in his carriage so he was able to talk freely with them.

“Ah, Your Highness, your hair is always so soft and shiny. It’s not fair!” spoke the support mage with a slight whine. His slender fingers held half of her jet black locks, leisurely braiding them. “You don’t even have to try!”

“Mizuki, your hair is rather nice as well,” chuckled the Soul Maiden as she kept her head straight with her eyes flicking to her left with her mask in her lap. She let the male do as he pleased with her hair, having known him long enough trust he wouldn’t do anything strange. “It sparkles like fresh snow on the mountaintops.”

The feminine student let out a small huff as he rolled his eyes. Upon reaching the ends of her hair, he began undoing the braid as he said, “With a tongue like that, women would be flocking to you if you were a man.” He then reached forward to pinch her cheek. “Especially if you still have this pretty face!”

“Aish, Mizuki, you can’t say things like that,” the woman chuckled as she nudged the male away from her. Her words were meant to be scolding, but there was still a smile on her face. “It’s inappropriate!”

The two sitting on the bench across from them watched silently as the two friends burst out into laughter before talking more about beauty routines and other cosmetics. Tsukiyo lazily kept her gaze on the two since it was normal for them to act this way, but the blue haired male was feeling a bit antsy.

Over the past few months, he had stayed in the Empire of Silver, he had seen more interactions between his sworn sister and the other students. She had grown more used to the touch of others as many students would randomly attempt to tackle her with hugs or randomly touch as a sign of friendship. It was much different compared to when they were children.

Back then, the only person the ravenette would accept any form of touch from was him. This was usually due to the others always picking on her and letting them touch her could have resulted in harm to herself. She would usually result in avoiding others or just flat out hide from them even if she had the magic to get them back.

Now, she seemed much more open, freer with herself even if she was swamped with work. The now Seventh Princess of the Yín Empire surrounded herself with those that others had thrown out or decided to attack for being different. She did this against the thoughts of many who had their eyes on her, but she didn’t seem to care.

Dàoyì guessed that the confidence to do so came from somewhere in her days with the adventurer’s guild, but it didn’t really matter. He was still happy to see her in a happier state around other people instead of being completely defensive. Although, he still felt a bit anxious for her when others touched her.

Feeling eyes on his form, the white haired male looked up to be met with focused blue irises. He blinked, eyes flicking between his junior and the Soul Maiden of the Spirit house before the corners of his lips quirked upwards. The male let out a silent chuckle before shaking his head. ‘You have nothing to worry about, Shidì,’ he thought while sitting up to stretch out his back. ‘She’s all yours.’

~~~Fin. Chapter 8~~~