Migong - Book 1

Chapter 17: Disquieted Heart

The incident at the Lotus Pond was not reported outside of the Academy.

Before Feiyan could even ask what had happened after she fell into the water, Lord Mu abruptly left for Keungang, only leaving her with the instruction that she was not to seek out either Pul or Li Molan. Her skin still throbbed when she thought about how those four had bullied her, and yet she hadn't been able to fight back. Constrained by her duty and her loyalty to Bi, she had held back, and the unresolved feelings roiled like a knot of snakes in her belly.

As she didn't return to the Academy, it was only much later that she discovered Liwen Yi had used a memory wiping spell on the four culprits. However, the Headmaster had not dared to do it on the page of the Shoban Prince.

Pul's minor injuries had been treated by Teacher Tu and he had been given clean robes to allow him to leave for the rest of the day. Although Liwen Yi had asked him not to speak of the incident, he had reported it to his brother who listened with a shuttered expression on his face. Still, Pul hadn't been surprised when Seiren simply told him to brush the incident off as hazing.

Although Seiren felt a pang about the incident, he had been expecting something similar to happen. However, that the young Moutan Prince, or rather the little kunoichi who looked like the Prince, had step in to protect Pul...he wondered if there was a hidden Moutan agenda that he was missing. Seiren chafed to reveal what he had seen that day in the royal hunting ground, but he felt like that would lead to a conversation on things that Pul was not quite ready to hear. If Seiren had known then what was to come, he might have actually regretted keeping quiet about it.

Regardless, both of them would soon be leaving to return to Shobu, so Seiren decided it would be better to act as if he didn't know...it did not suit his plans to stir things up in Moutan. There was too much at stake. In order to carry out his plan, he'd been deliberately lying low these last few months while his people and his mother worked in the shadows, undermining his father and Sakurako. He could not let his heart be shaken at a time like this: he had to return to Shobu as soon as possible and begin pulling in the threads that he had set down, one by one, in the fight against his Father. If he could just bear with it, they would leave in less than a month.

If Pul thought it strange that his classes carried on as if nothing had happened, he made no mention of it, instead choosing to sink himself into his studies. Liwen Yi was happy enough with his progress that she adopted him as one of her personal students, though Pul thought that this was just as likely a protective measure as a reward for academic excellence. As a result, he was not required to attend in the general class as often and soon the other students became bored and moved their attention on to other targets.

Since the real Prince Iseulbi had recovered from his illness, Feiyan's presence was no longer required at the Academy, so the Prince himself attended classes. Feiyan spent her days in her Father's manor recovering, and when she had, she returned to her training.

If there were rumors or questions about Pul at the academy, the Prince merely made noncommittal comments, and because they did not meet very often, it seemed that the two boys were only distantly polite to each other. Wearing the same calm, bland face that he normally had, the other students eventually stopped asking the Prince about the Shoban page.

Feiyan, on the other hand, stymied by her unresolved hatred, took her frustration out on the straw dummies in the training ground.

"Xiao Yan is definitely getting more proficient with the sword," remarked Xing, standing off to the side with his arms crossed. "She may reach be able to reach Sword Saint one day."

"Hmmmn," muttered Haruka, sounding half-hearted.

She watched as Feiyan dashed towards the dummy at top speed, eyes narrowing critically as the nine-year old leaped into the air and delivered three slashing blows in the blink of an eye. As Feiyan passed it and skidded to a stop, the dummy, which had still been whole, burst in a puff of air, causing straw and dirt to fly in every direction as the dummy exploded.