Chapter 66: Avoiding Him

Over the next few days, Yilu stayed at Lyr’s home.

However, due to her foot injury, she had difficulty moving and chose not to go to the Academy, resting quietly in her room to recover.

If others found out about her situation, many would likely laugh at her.

Even if some were wary of her mood, there were always those who would take the chance to kick her while she was down.

However, Lyr noticed that in what should have been an environment where they saw each other constantly, Yilu seemed to be avoiding him.

Several times when he returned at night, he didn’t see her.

The maid’s reply was that Yilu had been staying in her room.

Sometimes she would come out for a bit, but whenever it was around the time Lyr was due to return, she would go back to her room, which seemed deliberate.

On this day, after finishing his business at the Academy, Lyr was about to head back.

When he returned to his office to grab his belongings, he found a letter placed on his desk.

“Who put this here?”

Lyr found it strange.

Even back in the frontier, he had rarely received letters. Why would someone here send him something like this?

“That was placed by the Academy Councilor. I heard the Academy Director asked them to give it to you,” said Aoyuewa, who was also preparing to leave.

Hearing it was from the Academy Director, Lyr had a vague idea of what it might be.

“Lyr, are you free tonight?”

Aoyuewa didn’t finish his sentence; he gestured outside, the meaning clear.

“No, you go ahead. I have something to attend to.”

Aoyuewa still wanted to drag Lyr to some mixer or similar event. They seemed to never tire of such activities.

Although it was a way to quickly integrate into the group, Lyr really wasn’t in the mood lately.

“Mm, alright.”

Aoyuewa didn’t press further, waving at Lyr.

“I’ll be off then.”

During this time, Lyr had left a decent impression on people. Whenever someone needed help, if they asked him, he would lend a hand.

Unfortunately, he seemed uninterested in group gatherings, rarely showing up.

Grabbing his things, Lyr boarded the carriage home.

In the carriage, Lyr opened the envelope. The intact wax seal proved it had not been opened before.

Lyr skimmed through the first long section, which was Lulong asking about his recent situation—polite but without much substance.

The latter part told Lyr about some recent discoveries outside the Royal Capital.

Beneath the seemingly peaceful Academy, the outside was a different scene.

The witch Lyr had mentioned earlier had encountered the Royal Family’s guards outside, and the result was heavy casualties.

This made Lyr frown involuntarily.

At the end, it urged Lyr to reconsider his earlier proposal and included a key in the letter.

The mysterious key left Lyr puzzled.

He then glanced at the back of the letter and clearly saw three words written on the entire back page.

Library.

After reading everything, Lyr stared at the key, deep in thought.

‘This is a very obvious hint.’

‘It seems that ruin is in the Library.’

Whether it was the content of the letter or the hint from the Thunder Fairy, everything pointed to the Academy.

Lulong had given an even more specific direction.

Lyr held the key, running his fingers over its uneven teeth as he thought.

The meaning behind Lulong giving him this key was subtle.

It didn’t seem like he was acting on behalf of the entire kingdom and Royal Family, but rather like it was his personal gesture.

“Is he thinking that even if I don’t consider the Royal Family’s intent, I should at least take Yilu to try to open that place?”

Lyr muttered to himself.

“If we can open it, maybe we can really find a way to block the curse for Yilu.”

Or perhaps, since both of them were connected to the witch, they might find some new clues.

Lyr let out a deep breath.

Lulong really seemed intent on seeing things through as a good person.

Recalling what Lulong had said, Lyr was concerned whether he already knew that the witch bloodline belonged to Yilu.

If he wanted, even without being at the Academy, he could easily investigate that the one who had been in contact with Lyr recently was Yilu.

Lost in thought, he unknowingly arrived home.

Even though Tif and Yilu were supposed to be here, when he entered the house, there was no one else besides the maids.

Lyr wondered if he was being isolated.

“Young Master, you’re back. Miss just finished eating and went to her room. If you’d like to eat now, I can go down and reheat it for you,” said the maid, who was carrying food and about to go upstairs, bowing to Lyr.

“No need,” Lyr said. “Is that for Yilu?”

“Yes. Miss Yilu was chatting with Miss Tif a moment ago, then went back to her room.”

Lyr smiled wryly. This was really just her avoiding him.

She didn’t know when he would return, so she chose to stay hidden during the times he might come back.

“I’ll take it. I have something to give her as well.”

During this time, Yilu hadn’t gone to the Academy, but she hadn’t fallen behind in her studies.

He heard that before he returned, she would usually ask Tif for help.

On the contrary, Lyr, as her teacher, was completely useless.

Seeing that Lyr wanted to deliver it, the maid had no reason to refuse.

When Lyr actually reached Yilu’s room and knocked on the door, he heard a voice from inside.

“Just leave it by the door. I’ll come out and get it later. Thank you.”

“It’s me,” Lyr said.

There was a long silence inside, which made Lyr even more certain that he was being deliberately avoided.

“I brought some course materials. I’ll leave them here too. Remember to come out and get them.”

Since he was being deliberately avoided, Lyr didn’t intend to force the issue and prepared to leave.

At that moment, he heard the door open and stopped in his tracks.

The door didn’t open wide, only a crack, revealing half of Yilu’s figure.

Through the crack, Yilu and Lyr stared at each other for a long time, looking cautious.

Like a familiar cat that had become a stranger again.

“How are you feeling today? I feel like I haven’t seen you in a few days,” Lyr finally broke the silence, scratching his head and smiling, trying to ease the awkwardness.

“Mm.”

Of course, Yilu knew she had been deliberately avoiding Lyr these days.

“I can move normally now. The doctor came today and said there’s no problem,” she said after a moment of hesitation regarding his concern.

“That’s good,” Lyr said, genuinely happy for Yilu.

“Thank you for taking care of me during this time. I plan to go back to the dormitory tomorrow.”

Her injury was healed, so she had no reason to stay here any longer.