Old Coot

When she awoken, she was in a small cottage and saved by a fae who lived there. She was lucky. After gathering clues, she uncovered the situation that occurred after she had fallen. A nearby blue berry bush spirit noticed her descent and felt her soul. She knew who Peony was just by the spiritual energy of her soul and, after confirming she was only suffering some broken bones, hide her in her brush until her surviving adversaries moved onto another location which would become his resting place. However, they didn't know that and the spirit was no expert on humans, so she brought her to a road that was frequented often by the fae who found her and brought her home. The fae was courteous and open-minded. He had adopted two children of human descent as well and questioned the location of her caretaker. However, Maisey was back in the forest around the entrance to the kingdom. Not willing to enter the habitats of dark faes. She could only say that she got lost and separated before seeing ghosts and fell. At that time, she didn't conduct her research to know that there was no ravine where this fae found her. It made her wonder why the fae still treated her well despite her story not matching up with what he knew. Even now it still did. Those calm days were rather bliss. She was taken care of well and provided good amount of personal time for her own activities. The dark fae was not very pushy. When he was absent, she helped his sons clean up the cottage as they went looking for food. When he was home, he told them stories of the outside. Perhaps that was what made her change her mind to go explore outside... by a tiny fraction? Regardless!

Thanks to that little crack on her resolve, her parents managed to kick her out of the kingdom and go study abroad in another country!

She didn't remember when it was that she found herself unable to leave that home with what little form of a normal life, but she still had to force herself to leave in the end after Maisey found her. Apparently, he was not kept back from searching for her just because he did not like the forest and bravely entered the forest of his own accord to find her, which contradicted her prediction yet made her rather impressed by his resolve. So she wrote a note and made gift as payment for their hospitality, then she left without saying good-bye for the first time.

It was the same for other places. In Scalding Sands, fairy hunters were trying to kidnap Maisey so she ran to some politicians "accidentally" and pleaded for help when she saw his guard. She probably should've kept from appearing before others with her knowledge back then so that Maisey wouldn't have been found by those hunters. When she left though, she had left behind some friendly acquaintances back then.

Then, there was Rose Queendom when she met the kidnapped child rather broody from having moved around so often. She should've paid more attention to him that time so he wouldn't have been kidnapped back then. However, it was thanks to that incident that she made connections with the Queendom's crown princess and healers. Yet…

Who knew that, while acting as bait, she would come across Vil and Jack in Pyroxene, which the country called Shaftlands. Looking back, she left them rather abruptly and without a good situation for a farewell, not that she planned to share a farewell with them either. It was no wonder that the two still remembered her to this day if she caused them to have some sort of shock from that situation. She saved the kid back then, but those two seemed to have secretly suffered from that traumatic experience that day. Are kids this fragile though? There's not much she could do now though. She can always apologize for what she had caused that day, but she can't take into account how they'll react to her message out of the blue. Moreover…

She scowled bitterly at the thought of apologizing to Vil of all people! It's hardly a problem if it was Jack. She certainly did harm Jack mentally by leaving him under those circumstances and never returning. As for Vil…

Peony became conflicted. Noticing this, Xiao Li sighed. It was clear that his master knew she was at fault, but, for her own pride, she struggles to lower her head to that person. What's more, she even sealed away his memories of knowing who she was. At this, Peony has a lot to think about, but she doesn't have the time to sit back and self-contemplate. Her time back in Dwarves' mine cannot be said to have completely healed her psyche to stability. Yet, her father already wants her to go carry out a political task in his stead already? Just what was he thinking?!

Peony sighed to herself even after realizing how often she had done so once she started attending school here. Now she will have to return to the City of flowers and meet up with the old coot!

Her thoughts shocked Xiao Li nearly staggering as he grew more curious about who it is that they were going to meet and opened his mouth, "Master, who is this man you are supposed to meet at the City of Flowers?"

Peony sighed and responded gloomily, "An old man. An old coot. What's the difference? A huge bore."

"But you seem to know this person rather well compared to the others."

Closing the door to her room, she replied as she laid back down on the bed, "This guy was my teacher in many literary subjects when I was a young and small child. My former teachers were lacking many aspects and deemed unfit to teach me by my parents and the two cheiftains of dwarves' mine, so my lawyer brought him in one day. He had his own purpose, but my parents hired him on the spot. Since then, he did nothing during his free time but try to lecture about the 'will of heaven' and 'the gift of knowledge' upon mankind. When I act up back then, he was always the one to volunteer to discipline me harshly to which even my parents wouldn't dare to discipline me at that level! Hmph! He swore that he would bring back a copy of his religious scripture and then laminate it on my forehead if I don't memorize all the laws and jurisdiction of the kingdoms and countries by the time he returned. I don't know if he thought he could laminate it on my forehead this time so that I could actually take his preaching to heart, so I decided to just memorize all of the laws and jurisdiction of all the kingdoms and countries by heart!"

"Let me guess. You hope by doing this he wouldn't have the chance to shove more stuff into a place that's already filled." Xiao Li muttered with an exasperated sigh, "So he won't try to make you memorize the scripture by heart."

"Yes, it was stupid." Peony lamented with a pout before she hummed, "However, he never returned as he promised after that day. The guy is annoying and will nag until your ears fall off and you legs weak as lead, but I'm not so childish as to not admit that he is a man of his words and takes his work and family very seriously and wholeheartedly. A very religious and studious man with great morale and a big open heart as much as his mind. For him to suddenly break his promise is very unusual. However, he left no traces or clues on where he vanished to. By the time we noticed something amiss, two years had passed by. Unfortunately, I still have difficulty adapting to my new sense of the passage of time and not realized the severity of the situation. Yet, I remember him urgently dropping everything and leaving that day. He was so panicked that he even forgot his own copy of the scripture which he kept in his chest pocket every day wherever he went."

"So, why would he contact us now of all time?" Xiao Li frowned, "Could it be an emergency?"

"I don't know. Either way, because of the circumstances, I'm in no position to reject the old man either."

"Between your teacher and your father, who do you dislike more?"

Peony huffed a smile and she raised a brow, "Between my Serenity pills and my Bone Refinement pills, which do you enjoy eating more in secret?"

"Both!" Xiao Li responded with a smirk.

Peony scowled angrily and huffed aloud, "Shameless!"

She took out her mother stone and contacted Huo Wei gathering the information of what has occurred during her absence before raising a brow in surprise, "What did you say?"

"Master, the leader has locked himself in seclusion and not left for the past three days. It was shortly before your departure from campus." Huo Wei's gruff voice responded, "By the time I realized this, the twins said you had just left school grounds for your trip."

"Such a thing happened." Peony hummed in deep thoughts.

"Master, this is rather strange."

Peony nodded, "Coincidences like this isn't common. Even if they are, there are reasons for it."

"What should I do?"

"Keep your distance." Peony replied bluntly, "It's been confirmed that he has been practicing forbidden arts. Keep a close eye on the borders and notify me immediately if there are any changes. Erect a barrier around the dorm building to prevent regular magicians from straying too far. Since he wants to go into seclusion, we'll let him. At the same time, we must not fall behind. Whether he will rely on those forbidden arts or not is unknown to us."

"What shall we do if he is relying on the taboo art?"

Peony shook her head, "The rose guardian of Heartslabyul dorm already handed me down an official order agreed upon by others. They do not welcome these intruders. If they pose a threat to the students… capture them. However, if they are utilizing taboo arts for harmful intentions… Eliminate them as soon as possible."

"Then, shall I prepare to engage against him?"

"No." Peony frowned, "Your role is important, but your life even more so. If things are difficult, don't give in to chances. Pull back immediately and focus on the safety of the students. You'll have another chance to counter him in the near future."

"Yes, master."

"Notify the twins of this situation as well. I require Zhang Li to stand in for me while I am at the gala and other events that requires my attention. Her orders are not to leave the room during my absence and not allow anyone in. Also, she is not to take in harmful substances like that poison to feign illness again without my permission this time. We don't want a repeat of last time's incident."

"Understood."

"Is there any other problems?"

"No."

"And, your health?"

Her words stunned him for a bit in surprise. He was aware that the school had a lot of school trips appearing amidst this time without warning and his master was having difficulties keeping her identity and following these procedures, but, amongst all of this, she still proceeded to check up on him! He is a vassal, a spare limb of his master. Easily disposable and forgotten, yet she had nurtured him in both health and cultivation. It is different compared to others who have hired him or held the reins. He responded, "I've already completely recovered all thanks to master's abilities."

"If it was just my abilities, you would be stuck in bed by now." Peony huffed stifling a sigh, "Continue feigning illness for now. We cannot let them find out you aren't poisoned anymore and have defected from them. Play possum if you must, just don't get caught."

"Yes, master."

"Go."

With that, the man hung up.

"Who knew that you actual had such a wide system set up throughout the school…"

Surprised, Peony got up from her bed and sighed as she saw the familiar figure before her, "We've just met one another less than an hour ago. Are you that bored that you came to me to find entertainment, Prince Malleus?"