Map

'Phew. I am glad Vian is not randomly courageous, rather, she has the good amount of intelligence to tell that we shouldn't be exposed.'

In fact, Evan was worried after watching what Vian had done to the corpse. Was she going to create a chaotic exit, throwing them in a terrible situation?

Thankfully, though. His worries were unneeded. They finished it cleanly and left.

"Your face looked hilarious earlier."

"Eh…"

Viable laughed, poking his cheek, "Yes, a similar face to that. In any case, how long have you been friends with Alastor?"

Although the change of topic was sudden, Evan did not mind that. Instead of dwelling on what happened underground, he preferred such a topic.

"You could say forever without worrying so much about how true that is. We've been together for a long time."

"Heeh, is that so?"

Vian's voice made Evan pause, for a second, he was afraid of looking at her. Her short question was laced with… Jealousy?

'Alastor is wild for attracting this kind of girl after making his move immediately.'

Being alone with Vian made him afraid. Perhaps he needed to make sure she was not going to hate him, maybe if he could be her ally…

"Yeah, I know a lot about Alastor as well. I am sure we can spend some time where I can share anything you wish to know about him."

"Really? That's amazing!" eyes shining brilliantly, Vian's dark gaze faded away and nodded at him, allowing Evan to heaven a sigh of relief.

'Dodged a bullet…'

After leaving the secret hall and securing their tracks completely, and a series of questions from Vian, the two were now almost out of the building.

It was then that they heard a strange noise while walking together. The echoes of high heels against the marble tiles resounded through the corridor.

Evan was about to leave Vian, but stopped with the noise he heard. He took a deep breath, gulping his anxiety down his throat.

'Who is that? Should we turn around, or should we run away?'

On the other hand, Vian had only two thoughts in her head as her smile widened enough to show how fake it was.

'Kill, or run?'

Only two thoughts, only two questions. Perhaps she was the only one who could think of trying to kill someone who was clearly stronger than her, since they were able to creep behind her.

The natural reaction for people was to be terrified, but Vian was not.

"Are you two not going to say anything?" the person mused, and at the same time, the noise of high heels against the floor stopped.

The two's gazes met, Vian was unreadable, meanwhile, Evan was thinking of his next move hard.

'Now, what are we supposed to do? The thing Vian did was a huge crime, if someone realized who we are…'

Knowing that, Evan readied himself. He was ready to fight at any moment. Just as he was about to turn around, though, the voice spoke again.

"Stop."

The principal smiled in amusement, seeing how they stopped all of their movements.

"Good job, you two are quite good," the principal smiled then stopped them, "Don't turn around, now. Better for our own safety, got it?"

Vian wanted to turn around and attack, the familiar voice of the principal was just registered, and the threat was felt.

But the principal did not wish for anything like this to happen.

The principal swiftly left the map on the ground, "Take this as the only help you will ever get from me."

'For now, at least.'

"What kind of help are you talking about?"

Evan asked, suspicious filling his head over this questionable statement.

The principal retreated silently at first before leaving only a soft whisper for the confused teens.

"After this day, we are forced to forget that this had ever happened. After all, I hope you are smart enough to understand."

Vian waited patiently until there were no more signs of anyone around them, then turned around and launched an attack that swept through the corridor.

Unfortunately, or was it fortunately? The attack touched no one. The only thing that was left in the dark corridor which was illuminated by the moonlight was the slightly worn-out map.

"Tsk. Missed."

"Haa. Stop being so freaky around, if that was the principal indeed, that may have been a problem."

Shrugging, Vian carefully picked the map up. She opened it slowly, and frowned in confusion.

"Since when did we have this underground map…?"

Evan suddenly perked, "Underground map?"

He took the map from Vian and stared intently at it, trying to compare it with the image he had seen before. The entrance, the road branching, the traps…

"It's exactly what we need!"

But why?

Evan wanted to be overjoyed, yet he stopped himself. The map seemed real, the voice was very similar to the principal. However, whether that person was indeed the principal or not, that did not change how weird the situation had become.

Firstly, if that person was not the principal, that person was brave enough to actually impersonate her, which needed quite the guts to do.

The principal was not a nobody. Impersonating her was a crime as big as insulting the Imperial family.

Secondly, if this person was indeed the principal. Then that was even worse. It meant that the principal was aware of what he and Alastor were plotting. Why was she helping, then?

There was no reason. Alastor did not seem to have any relationship with her, yet.

In the end, whether that was the principal or not, Evan found himself not wanting to think about it anymore. They had planned to steal this map in any case, but now that they found it, they just need to be careful while venturing underground.

Settling with that, Evan patted Vian's shoulder and gently bid her a farewell, "You can come tomorrow to Alastor's room. I will explain about this to you when that happens."

Although perplexed, Vian nodded and agreed lightly.

'A chance to let Alastor rest and meet him soon, why not?'