In the royal chamber, Long Fei is waiting for my reaction. Whereas the Crown Prince sips his tea.
"You're taking me to another ancient ruin to help me evolve, right?"
"Didn't you notice your strategy, agility, and speed is still lacking?"
"Yeah, but that usually sorts itself out once I reach the middle of the Ancient Ruin."
He shakes his head and takes a deep breath.
"What did you do on your quest for you not to max on your strategy? That should have been higher."
"I got the Lunar Jade shard, didn't I? Quest complete."
"Did something unexpected happen?"
I rub the back of my neck. I have a bad feeling where this is leading. It sounds like I'll be in trouble soon.
"The whole mountain vanished."
They both look at each other and run their hands down their face.
The Crown Prince shakes his head, eyes wide.
"Long Fei, you said she should be able to handle the quests."
"She should be able to. I didn't think she was capable of destroying the site."
"Great. There goes one of our biggest sources of income."
Did I just make my debt worse? I thought it was too easy, but I swear I was being good. I really tried not to do any harm.
"Master, I swear by the sea, I was being good. I didn't do anything wrong. It just vanished on its own."
He pinches the bridge on his nose and then rubs his temples.
"Did anything peculiar happen before the mountain vanished?"
"All I did was wave to the nice golem at the entrance and ignore the ghosts walking down the stairs. I didn't touch anything except for a lever that opened a door. There was another golem that wanted to battle me and rudely cut my hair. So I broke it into pieces, went inside, and got the Lunar Jade. Then, once I broke off a shard, the whole place began to shake. I flew out, and when I turned around, it disappeared into thin air."
"Did you touch anything else besides the Lunar Jade?"
"Oh, yes, I touched a yellow glowing stalactite that zapped. So I didn't touch any others until I figured out which was the Lunar Jade."
"What did you break the Lunar Jade with? Tell me you used elemental magic to break off the shard."
I laugh nervously. I'm in trouble. I rub the back of my neck, casting my eyes down.
"I used the fallen Golem's Blade..."
The Crown Prince drops his teacup. It shatters, pieces of jade fly everywhere.
My master's eyes widen. He takes a step back.
"Your Highness, deal with her as you wish."
Then, like a sudden gust of wind, he bursts out the door.
My hair whips my face, then settles.
"Your Highness, something tells me I wasn't supposed to do that."
His usual jolly demeanor is now solemn. He slowly stands up, nose flaring.
"Guards! Take her to the dungeon."
"What? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
He turns away, hands behind his back, refusing to look at me, his ears reddening.
The guards grab my arms as I kick and scream. Then copper chains magically materialise around my chest, arms, and legs, and a silk gag forces its way between my teeth. They drag me to the dungeon.
They throw me in a dirty cell and slam the bars shut.
Sitting all alone in the dungeon with nothing but silence. I spit the gag out. I don't know why I'm here.
"Let me out."
With chained feet, I start kicking the bars down. Zap! The bars must be imbued with electric magic. My hair frizzes up. That's the second time I got electrocuted today. That can't be good. Pretty sure this body can only handle two electrocutions a day.
I can't believe my master just left me like that. Maybe what I did was diabolical.
The Crown Prince usually laughs things off. Is it because I'm older now, so I can't get away with things anymore? He didn't even tell me why he threw me into the dungeon. But then I did destroy his palace. He did give me a chance to redeem myself. And then, somehow I've managed to cut off a source of his income. Okay, I must have pushed his patience past the limit.
I sit on the floor with hay scattered everywhere, my legs crossed, my chin resting on my palm. My master didn't even bother to explain. And usually, he leaves elegantly. He seems to be in a rush. I fiddle with the straw on the ground, a nagging inkling. The mountain that held the Starfall Caverns was not supposed to disappear.
If a single shard of Lunar Jade couldn't cover my debt, how much does a mountain filled with those shards cost? At this rate I'll be working for the rest of my life, possibly afterlife.
I flick a straw at the bars. It catches fire. My eyes widen. So I shoot a water tendril to put out the fire. It just so happened that a guard was approaching my cell with food. The water tentacle splashes on the floor. He steps on it and gets electrocuted.
He falls on the ground, convulsing. Another guard comes to help. But since the puddle touches the bars, that guard gets electrocuted too. This, is the story of my life.
Another guard runs in, and I stand up and scream.
"Stop! Don't touch them!"
I didn't realize that by screaming in that moment of anxiety, I accidentally let out an air blast. The force of it sends him flying to the end of the dungeon, cracking the wall. Oops! I cover my face in shame.
The Crown Prince steps over his guards, shaking his head, and pauses just before he reaches the puddle of water.
"Ling Yue, you give me no choice but to do this."
With a flick of his fingers, he suppresses the acupressure points along my neck and spine. Fire sears through my meridians, and my elemental powers lock up. He didn't even need to touch me. Okay, he's officially more terrifying than my master.