Chapter 72: A Message
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“In the Mediterranean, specifically near Italy, all teleportation magic and devices are being blocked. There is no definite answer as to why this is happening but we suspect that it is because a dungeon or rather multiple dungeons are going to appear in that area.” Mr. Anderson explained.

“This meeting is just a briefing for people in the Academy city area so you know what is going on. If you choose to assist with the situation, we will be holding a strategic meeting in Switzerland. But for now please just listen.” Mr.Wagner added and used a little magic device to project a map at the center of the table.

Everyone listened carefully to what they had to say but to Yue, Viktor, and Mai it was just stuff they’d heard before. Yue was surprised they’d reached the conclusion that it was a possible dungeon since no one else really had as much experience with Hundun as them and since Hundun had not been mentioned even once throughout their whole explanation.

Yue decided to raise his hand once it seemed like they had finished explaining things.

“Yes, Miss Xia?” Mr. Anderson asked, looking toward him with a slight smile.

Yue was silent for a second, hesitant to spread information about Hundun to a group of people who he didn’t know or really trust. He decided to say what he wanted to say regardless. Hundun was about to jump into the spotlight with what they were doing anyway.

“In the past 6 or 7 months that the 1st tier class has been attending expeditions we have encountered issues with an organization of mages that I believe could also be behind this,” Yue explained.

“Pfft...B-Behind dungeons appearing in Italy?” An older man asked, it was as if he was trying not to laugh at Yue.

“A dungeon appeared in the town in Germany that my class was sent on an expedition to and their sigil was all around the area and they were directly linked to evolved monsters in the area. Two dungeons appeared in the United Kingdom and one of their mages was leading monsters to destroy the remaining towns. And most recently, they managed to convince a Dragon to join their side against my class in Austria.” Yue said and glanced over at the man and then back at Mr. Anderson and Mr. Wagner.

“I don’t think it’d be impossible for an organization capable of all that to also be behind what is going on in the Mediterranean.” Yue could see Viktor’s expression from the corner of his eyes. He had a stoic and cold expression for one second but once Yue defended himself that all changed.

“Yes, I also think it’s very likely...That organization has caused you trouble in the past… I can assume that you will be joining us?” Mr. Anderson asked.

“Yes. At the very least, I will join, we will see about the rest of the class.” Yue said and smiled diplomatically, ignoring the stare from the man that had laughed at him.

“Belarus will also be providing assistance,” Viktor said and smiled.

“The White Tiger temple will also be joining.”

Yue looked at Mai incredulously.

‘Aylin and Anh gave me this responsibility...’ Mai said through telepathy to both Yue and Viktor.

‘Oh...so that’s why you were pulled aside’

The meeting ended after a few more questions and the date of the strategic meeting was announced.

“ The strategic meeting will be on March 11th, that’s about a week and a half from now but I suggest making your final decisions as soon as possible. The teleport pads in Switzerland are full of people trying to leave Italy and waiting for their loved ones who were cut off when the teleport pads stopped working. Settling your mode of transportation early would be in your best interest.” Mr. Wagner said and handed people like Yue, Viktor, and Mai, who had immediately agreed to help, invitation letters so they would be able to enter the strategic meeting.

“...It’s already March…” Yue mumbled as people started leaving the room.

“Hmm?” Viktor hummed and tilted his head.

“It’s nothing...I’m just close to peak strength.” Yue murmured and stood from his chair.

“Ah..that’s right…” Viktor murmured.

“It’s hard to believe that you’ve been so strong so far while outside of your peak season,” Mai murmured, nudging Yue playfully. Yue was a bit embarrassed to hear that so he nudged her back.

“Your Highness.”

Viktor had been about to speak when someone walked up to him and bowed.

“Oh...Lord Zabek. It’s been a while.” Viktor said and smiled, it wasn’t a fake smile but Mai and Yue had learned that this was his ‘business smile’.

“Yes...I’m thankful that Belarus is planning to help...but I would like to know if her majesty the Queen will be joining in?” Lord Zabek asked, meekly.

“I’m not completely sure but since the White Tiger temple is planning on joining, it’s likely that she’ll help,” Viktor responded.

“Oh...that’s good, I was worried that we wouldn’t have enough power…” Lord Zabek murmured with a relieved expression.

“Even if she doesn’t join it’d be fine though. We have Miss Xia.” Viktor said with a grin.

If Yue had been drinking something he would have spit it out after hearing that.

“P-Please don’t expect so much from me,” Yue murmured, embarrassed.

“She’s humble but she’s strong,” Mai added, teasing Yue.

Yue rolled his eyes at them and left the room, saying goodbye to Lord Zabek on his way.

Viktor and Mai both chuckled and went after Yue.

“Hmm? What is this?” Viktor asked as he looked at the medicinal pill Yue handed him.

“Medicine. Helps with circulation and Iron.” Yue said and quietly sat down in front of Viktor.

“I see…”

“Please take it,” Yue said with a determined look.

“...Alright,” Viktor murmured and took the pill, the pill was quite large but Viktor didn’t have any problems swallowing it even without water.

“Ah I feel better al—“

“Don’t lie…” Yue murmured and looked down at his teacup with a sigh. He had hoped that Viktor would just suddenly become all better.

“...I still feel pretty much the same but I do feel less weak...I’m serious.” Viktor said and smiled.

Yue still seemed upset, he bit his thumbnail as he became lost in thought for a while.

“Don’t do that,” Viktor said and pulled Yue’s hand away from his mouth.

“Your teeth are sharp, you might break your nail,” Viktor murmured, examining Yue’s nail. Yue watched him for a second before he slipped his hand out of Viktor’s grasp.

“It’ll be okay, Yue,” Viktor said and smiled.

Yue was unsure if he should believe that but he silently nodded.

A few days passed and Yue began training to get ready for the mission. He started training early in the morning every day so he and Viktor didn’t end up seeing each other much.

Viktor frowned as he looked over at the training area from his window, Yue was out there training despite how cold it still was.

“He’s avoiding me…” Viktor murmured. Anya had a guilty expression on her face as she heard that. She wished she could just tell Viktor and Yue what was going on but she couldn’t just defy Elena and Andrei like that.

“This probably isn’t the best time…” Anya murmured, holding a few boxes and placing them on Viktor’s desk along with a few letters.

“...Her Royal Highness is coming to visit briefly before she goes to Switzerland with Lord Chernyshevsky,” Anya added, after setting things down.

“...Okay. Can you go tell Yue?” Viktor murmured.

“As you wish, young master,” Anya said and left the room.

Viktor stared at the letter from his father in silence as it sat on his desk. He picked it up and sighed at the short contents.

‘Come see me as soon as this is over.’

That was all that was written in the letter. Viktor frowned as he read it over and over again.

“...Am I seriously going to…”

Viktor groaned before finishing his sentence and put the letter down, sitting down at his desk and covering his eyes with his hands.

“Someone come here!” Viktor called after out to a servant and threw the letter from Andrei in a random drawer.

--

“Oh...I thought they would at least be staying the night.” Yue murmured talking to Anya from behind a screen that hid him as he bathed. It was the night before Natasha and Alexei came to visit so he had asked how long they would be staying.

‘It’ll be less awkward for them that way I guess...Me and Vik aren’t on the best terms right now…’ Yue thought to himself as he ran his fingers through his wet hair.

Viktor and Yue weren’t fighting perse and on the surface, it looked like everything had been resolved after that day. But in reality that wasn’t the case at all and both of them were aware of it. Nothing felt right after that day.

‘I want us to be more honest with one another…’

“Miss Yue, there is a letter here for you, from Her Majesty,” Anya answered shortly after the door opened. She had received the letter from another maid.

“Oh...Alright.” Yue murmured and got out of the bath, and quickly drying himself before putting on a robe and stepping out to where Anya was standing with the letter. He took the letter and looked at the Ivanov seal for a while before moving out of the bathroom and into the main part of the bedroom as he opened the letter.

‘I am mostly writing to you to relay a message.’ After a few lines of greetings, Elena started the actual context of her letter. Yue was confused at first, did something happen in Italy? Was that why Elena was relaying a message? Was it a message from Aylin and Huy?

The message wasn’t just something that Elena had written though, It was a completely separate piece of paper. It was a letter written completely in Chinese.

Yue almost fell to his knees as he saw the handwriting. He wanted to rip it to pieces quickly and pretend he hadn’t seen it.

‘Contacting me...Do you no longer fear fate, Master?’ Yue thought to himself, taking a deep breath before quickly reading through the letter as Anya looked worriedly at his wavering expression. The letter was rather short and it was mostly just an explanation of what was going on in Italy.

Hundun is going to open two dungeons in Italy. Multiple high-ranking members of Hundun will be there including Li Chaoxiang and the Lich. Free yourself.

‘Free yourself…’

‘What do I need to be freed from? Are you telling me to forget about it? Are you telling me to stop trying to kill Li Chaoxiang?!’

Yue gripped the letter and gritted his teeth. He folded the letter back up and placed it on his bedside table.

“I...don’t need anything else for today, Miss Anya,” Yue said and stared at the letter.

“..Alright.” Anya walked out of the room, bowing to Viktor who entered the room.

Viktor looked at Yue with a curious expression. He hadn’t been very much like himself lately but now he seemed completely different.

“Yue? Are you alright?” Viktor asked, walking over to Yue’s side.

Yue didn’t respond, he continued staring at the letter on the bedside table. His outrage was turning into confusion and quickly into fear and anxiety.

“Yue, stop that.” Viktor scolded with a worried expression as he pressed his thumb to Yue’s lips, making him stop biting them. It was too late though, they had already started bleeding.

“Are you stressed because of the mission?” Viktor asked, healing Yue’s lips, and stroking his cheek lightly.

Yue nodded after a bit of hesitation.

“...I’ll call Anya to get you some tea,” Viktor said and kissed Yue’s cheek... It had been a while since they had kissed at all, so the small gesture felt odd.

Viktor walked over to the door and he was reaching for the door handle when Yue hugged him from behind.

“What is it?” Viktor asked. He stopped reaching for the door handle and instead placed his hand on one of Yue’s hands which were around his waist.

“Can…” Yue’s voice came out more fragile than he wanted it to, “Can you please not go to the mission?”

He wasn’t sure what he was more afraid of, Viktor dying or Viktor watching him kill ruthlessly. Even if it was Li Chaoxiang...You weren’t supposed to feel happy to kill someone, were you? Whatever sort of happiness Yue would get from that...It would be disturbing, wouldn’t it?

“No. I’ll go,” Viktor said and turned around to face Yue. He knew Yue was serious but so was he. He held Yue’s cheeks and pressed a light kiss on his lips.

“I’m not going to die, Yue,” Viktor said and smiled. He held Yue’s hands up to his mouth and kissed them lightly.

Yue felt a little comforted by that but he still wasn’t fully convinced.

“And if I do die, don’t be too sa--!”

“Don’t say that!” Yue yelled, tears streaming from his eyes suddenly.

The comfort he felt from Viktor’s previous words was completely destroyed again.

“If you can’t promise me that you won’t die then don’t go at all!” Yue yelled. It felt like it had been decades since raised his voice so loud.

Yue was certain the maids had heard and were probably on their way. He tried to move away from Viktor but Viktor had yet to let go of his hands. He was just staring at him with an amazed expression as he watched him cry.

“Let go…” Yue murmured, trying to pull his hands away and trying to stop himself from crying anymore.

“I love you.”

The words feel so easily from Viktor’s mouth that it took a second for Yue to process what he had just said. He immediately glared at him with his tearful eyes once he realized what he had said. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Obviously, he loved Viktor as well but what he wanted was to be assured that Viktor wouldn’t die and leave him alone.

“I promise I won’t die,” Viktor said and kissed Yue’s forehead.

Yue wanted to not believe him as he heard that. He knew it was just something Viktor was saying to make him calm down.

“I won’t die unless you’re the one who kills me.”

Yue was mesmerized by those words. They repeated in his head a million times as Viktor kissed all over his face and wiped his tears. His expression is blank as Anya enters the room, looking worried. Some other maids were peeking in from outside.

“I heard yelling, is everything okay, Young master?” Anya asked she had clearly rushed over.

“Mhm, everything is fine. Bring Yue some tea please.” Viktor said and smiled.

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