Two hours had passed since the sun dipped below the horizon, leaving the world cloaked in an impenetrable, moonless darkness. Tucked away in a decaying residence approximately five miles west of the Hundred Herbs Pharmacy, Caelum stood before a tarnished, cold bronze mirror, intently studying the stranger who stared back at him. The man in the reflection was a complete, chilling departure from the fragile, scholarly son-in-law that the Valerius family had grown accustomed to. The soft, unassuming features of his original face were gone. In their place stood a man of striking, sharp-edged handsomeness—crystalline eyes framed by thick, arched brows that radiated authority, a regal, prominent nose, and cheekbones that hinted at a dangerous, hidden power. Every inch of his countenance had been meticulously sculpted by Julian, the master of disguise who now stood in the shadows of the room, his eyes brimming with professional pride."It is acceptable," Caelum noted, his voice smooth, cold,

It had been half an hour since Caelum had slipped through the shadows of the city and returned to his private Residential Villa. From a distance, he could see the silhouette of Butterfly, his personal maid, pacing anxiously near the entrance. Sitting beside her, Beatrice—the Third Sister—was busy playing on the stone steps, her feet brushing against the cool tiles as she tried to distract the worried maid. "I told you, Brother-in-law will be back soon," Beatrice muttered, her voice light and teasing. "He’s just out for a stroll. You worry too much."Butterfly, however, was not easily consoled. Her memory was etched with the time Beatrice had disappeared for hours during a literary gathering, leaving everyone in a panic. "I don’t believe you," she retorted, staring into the darkness of the street."Ah, you never trust me," Beatrice complained, tilting her head. Suddenly, her face lit up, a radiant smile spreading across her round cheeks as she caught sight of Caelum walking toward them.

Once Caelum understood the true nature of this arrangement, he couldn't help but feel a complex mix of amusement and frustration. Master Julian had gone to extraordinary lengths to secure his calligraphy practice sheets. Yet, the use of "Cloud Pine" paper—a material so luxurious it was traditionally reserved for the highest noble clans—for a simple calligraphy lesson struck Caelum as undeniably, even absurdly, extravagant.As he observed the students sitting perfectly upright before their sand trays in the study hall, Caelum realized they likely shared this sentiment. He suspected that after noting the sheer opulence of the paper, most of them were silently labeling the display as "wasteful." It was clear that the majority remained skeptical of this newcomer, their enigmatic new instructor.Instead of launching into a long, rambling lecture filled with the dry, classical jargon that the other masters had favored the day before, Caelum remained composed. He poured water into the inkst

Three women make a crowd, but in the Spring Lotus Garden, the number of ladies present already exceeded a handful. As for the men, there was only Caelum, and perhaps half of Leo. Dealing with such a scene is not for the faint of heart; one needs to be either a saint, a child, or someone born and raised among such company. Caelum did not fit into any of those categories, but he managed, all thanks to Evangeline sitting by his side.When a woman of such ethereal beauty sits beside you, no other woman can truly hold your attention. It was a classic "darkness under the lamp" effect. With Evangeline sitting there, radiant and graceful, all other ladies lost their luster. At least in Caelum’s eyes, the only woman who could sit beside Evangeline and be equally radiant was his wife, Celeste. Fortunately, Butterfly did not know his thoughts, or perhaps she would have simply accepted it, thinking, "The Master’s taste is correct; I am certainly not as beautiful as the two ladies."For the next t

In the end, Caelum’s desperate attempt to slip away from the academy was thwarted—not by a guard, or a student, but by the imposing figure of Julian himself. The headmaster of Guiyun Academy hadn't emerged from his private study or his residential quarters; he had been lurking right there, inside the very lecture hall that Caelum had just realized was packed to the rafters.Caelum stood at the threshold, his hand still resting on the heavy wooden door, his expression hardening into a look that clearly communicated: Explain yourself, or I am walking out and not coming back.Julian, a man usually composed and radiating scholarly authority, looked strangely diminished under that gaze. He offered a bitter, apologetic smile—the kind of look a mentor gives when they’ve compromised their own code. "Qingzhou," he began, his voice dropping into a tone heavy with the weight of concession, "I have failed you. I know it. Ever since that day you demonstrated your skill, the stream of visitors to t