Private Chamber

The cool wind swept through the Astral Gale. Waves slapped on a hull, as the clear sky from above gradually turned dark.

The voyage had officially entered night time and Leonard left the open deck to his own private chamber in the ship. 

Inside the chamber, Mirelle was present as well, causing quite the gossip among crewmates regarding their ambiguous relationship. 

Needless to say, their mind wandered into the perverse thoughts, granted it was night time and a woman staying in a man's chamber could easily enable others to imagine the following scene. 

Naturally, that wasn't what Mirelle intended to do by following him in the chamber. 

"Okay, I've set up multiple formations. Without proper authorization, it will automatically trigger and attack the enemy." Mirelle heaved a soft sigh once she finished setting up the formations. Since she was forced to investigate the ship's interior, Leonard's safety must be guaranteed first. 

Hence, she needed to make sure he remained safe and sound even when she was away to investigate alone. 

"There's no need to rush things." Leonard mused. "The journey from here to Velastra will take around 3 days if we're fast and 5 days if we're slow. If I were the assassin, I'd definitely make my moves around day 2 or day 3."

Assassin was known for their patience and determination to accomplish their mission. To summarize, unless they were absolutely certain they could succeed in their assassination in one attempt, they would usually wait around and investigate their surroundings more in-depth. 

After all, failure meant death or being captured and ruthlessly tortured for information. 

Either scenario wouldn't end well for the assassin. 

Moreover, the Assassin Syndicate would definitely eliminate the said assassin if it were to leak out any of its confidential information to another party. 

"Wait, if there's no need to rush things, then why did you tell me to come along to your chamber?" Mirelle asked in confusion. 

"Haven't you heard the gossiping from those crewmates by now?" Amused, Leonard pointed out that they were already spreading rumors regarding their ambiguous relationship.

Of course, the gossip was done discreetly and never in front of them. But even then, Leonard didn't need to be a detective to understand what was going on in their mind. 

Mirelle was rendered speechless in response.

"Are you trying to create a misconception to the crewmates that we are having an intimate relationship?" She raised the question in a confused manner. She was curious about what this was going to achieve. 

"You seemed to have forgotten the public perception of me." He chuckled in amusement. 

"To them, I'm not just a coward, but also an incompetent person. Yet such a person could snag a beautiful woman like you to attend me in this private and luxurious chamber. If you were a man with at least some accomplishment, how jealous would you be?" 

Almost immediately, Mirelle became enlightened. The reason why she was dragged along was to provoke those discontent with his presence and force them to slip up. 

No, it was more accurate to say that Leonard had been putting on a show since he boarded the ship. The carefreeness and relaxation on the deck of the ship while having her accompany him was in his plan from the start.

'This kind of scheming mindset. Just how deep did he conceal his ability?' Horrified, Mirelle was starting to feel a chill running down her spine. 

Despite not having formed a single magic circle, she still felt a sense of dread and crisis emitted from Leonard. 

One could only imagine the consequences and events to befall once Leonard succeeded in forming a magic circle and stepping into the path of a mage. 

As Mirelle found herself incapable of continuing the conversation, Leonard stretched his arms and said, "Anyway, do you know any magic that could conceal our presence from others?" 

"You mean stealth magic?" 

"Yes, it's precisely that." 

"I do, but the strain of sustaining stealth isn't easy," Mirelle replied and explained the difficulty of stealth. 

"So it's doable," Leonard smirked and instructed her to use the spell on them. 

"Stealth wouldn't be effective if we're just going to leave by the door." She then pointed at the door and explained how if the enemy was really lurking, then they could tell when they left. 

A door that was opened for no reason either would also raise suspicion. 

"Who said anything about leaving the door?" In response, Leonard hopped out of the bed and walked toward the ventilation. He was given the blueprint by Spencer regarding Astral Gale that detailed everything from the exterior and interior. He studied it extensively, so he knew ventilation's passage. 

After prying the vent open, there was some dust gathering. Leonard coughed a few times and hurriedly waved his hand around to dissipate the dust. 

"What a great ship. The vent is so dirty. Do these crewmates even know how to clean properly?" He ruffled his hair and complained. 

'It's a vent meant for air circulation. How often do you think it'll get clean?' Mirelle cried inwardly. The typical time to clean a home vent was every 3-5 years, and for a ship of this size, she reckoned it would be every 2-3 years. 

Yet the crown prince was complaining as if it was a regular room that needed to be tidied and cleaned every night. 

"There's no need to put on a judgmental look." Leonard suddenly commented. "We're both going inside the vent, so let's see if you can keep that attitude up and not complain about the dirtiness." 

"I'm going inside?" As if someone had stepped on her tail, Mirelle jumped up in shock and hurriedly shook her head. "No way! I've never even gone inside a vent, much less explored there." 

"Well, isn't that great? This will be your first experience on a ventilation trip." He clasped his hands and expressed great joy. 

"Now stop dilly-dallying and go inside first. You're a sixth magic circle mage and I'm magic circleless. You don't expect me to face the unknown first, right?" He continued with a deadpan expression.