Whispers Hidden in the Dark Night (4)

Of course, no one answered.

Fatenai remained expressionless, holding her breath, narrowing her eyes to gather information about the other party and prepare to counter.

Finally, she heard footsteps, but they were…

Getting further away—had they escaped?

Fatenai didn't understand, but she quickly jumped off the bed and chased after them. So familiar with the path, she could run without even seeing clearly.

Tap, tap… tap… tap-tap-tap…

Since the sound of running barefoot was negligible, she could continue to track the other party's sounds—the sounds indicated their footsteps were disordered.

Seemed like panic?

Fatenai pursued while guessing, but the sound suddenly disappeared.

Very suddenly, as if swallowed by the void and annihilated, Fatenai lost her target and stopped. At this point, she was already standing in another corridor of the teaching building. Further ahead was the washroom, and the place where she had seen the corpse earlier.

Should she go forward? Fatenai's answer was to lift her leg and move forward slowly. Compared to the swiftness of her chase earlier, she was like a cat now, moving quietly and elegantly.

Walking towards where she last saw the corpse, the useless light made her feel dizzy. Holding her sword, Fatenai walked step by step towards it.

The void could evoke unpleasant emotions.

Why did the sound stop so suddenly here? Was it unintentional, or deliberate? Perhaps the other party wasn't running away, but merely luring her over?

Fatenai suddenly stopped. Startling thoughts filled her mind—she wouldn't doubt what she saw, wouldn't doubt the deceased person she had seen. Then, why did that deceased person die here… an argument? But she hadn't heard any sound when she was in the washroom, so did they die silently?

Silently, like now…

Clang!

Fatenai turned sharply and swung her sword, the sound of metal colliding creating a ripple in the air.

"Miss Fraitenai, don't be too agitated." The calm and pleasant voice came from Ed Ansendil—he had appeared behind Fatenai at some point. What drew attention was the glove on his right hand—it was inlaid with bronze, the bronze twisted into complex patterns that extended all the way to his slender fingers. It was precisely the bronze that struck the glove that produced such a sound.

Fatenai's sword-wielding posture froze in place. Dressed in a bathrobe, she appeared frail and powerless compared to his strict and formal attire, but her gaze was much firmer than his slightly casual one.

"What are you doing here at this time?" Fatenai never thought that Ed's appearance meant she could let her guard down; instead, she felt it required even more attention.

Of course, she didn't suspect Ed was the one who attacked her—with Ed's abilities, she was confident that this genius mage could kill her in one blow, even if she was prepared.

Facts always felt helpless.

"Taking a walk." Ed's answer lacked sincerity. "Your sword is quite unfriendly."

Fatenai was silent for a moment and slowly lowered her sword—Ed's eyes showed no change, even with a smile, but those blue eyes, as deep as the ocean, were becoming "deeper," meaning that if she continued to confront him with her sword, there might be unpleasant consequences.

There was no need to fall out with him at this moment.

"Have fun." Fatenai gave up on conversing with him, and similarly, she didn't intend to stay here any longer—she turned to return to her room.

"I heard you're working for Professor Lyteta?" Ed said.

Fatenai didn't speak, as if she hadn't heard, and continued to walk forward.

"Then it seems we can have breakfast together tomorrow morning. See you tomorrow morning." Ed chuckled softly—there seemed to be a hint of ironic helplessness towards Fatenai in it.

Fatenai expressed no opinion, but her hand clenched into a fist.

The next day, she indeed saw Ed.

When Fatenai opened her eyes, he was sitting on the bench in her room, stretching his legs, flipping through a book with a relaxed demeanor.

"Good morning, Miss Wisdom." Seeing Fatenai sitting on the bed, looking groggy, Ed smiled and greeted her.

"Mr. Ansendil, you said your family's education is inferior to the Wisdom Family's. Could it be that this lacking education is in etiquette?" Fatenai, though seemingly confused, spoke with sharp sarcasm.

"Isn't etiquette something only nobles concern themselves with? I recall you're a commoner?" Ed replied unhurriedly.

"Nobles shouldn't associate with commoners." Fatenai ignored his distortion of concepts, threw off the covers, and walked a few steps in front of him.

Slap—!

Fatenai grabbed Ed's collar—he was indeed frail, and even Fatenai could easily close the distance between them. The book in his hand fell to the ground. Her tone was unprecedentedly serious, unconsciously exuding an air of superiority: "Don't look for fun with me—don't push me too far. I'm not afraid of anything, understand?"

"Okay." To her surprise, Ed seemed to agree with her statement.

"Then get out now." Fatenai released her grip, turned, and gestured towards the door.

Ed got off the chair and walked towards the door. He didn't look like he was being kicked out and soon disappeared from the room.

Fatenai breathed a sigh of relief. After changing her clothes, she tried to calm herself before opening the door. As she went downstairs, she saw Ed and Shirey seemingly in conversation.

She had no interest in either of them, though for different reasons. She prepared to pass them and head downstairs.

Creak, creak.

As Fatenai descended, she suddenly saw a puppet—the puppet was ancient in design, holding several books, and slowly and clumsily climbing upwards.

"That's Shirey's specialty." Chris Aberge followed behind the puppet, holding a book, and greeted Fatenai. As if sensing her confusion, she said, "She's always done very well."

She was clearly referring to the puppet. Nodding, Fatenai thanked Chris Aberge for the introduction—although this rather ordinary mage was comfortable to talk to, remembering the previous scene, she didn't have much inclination.

Ed didn't reappear until Fatenai saw him in Lyteta's laboratory in the afternoon.

"Oh, you know each other." Lyteta continued with her research, seeing Ed and Fatenai talking, and seemed somewhat surprised.

"Is Professor surprised?" Ed asked the question for Fatenai.

"Heh, you're asking me these things too… It's only when mages are together that people might suspect something." Lyteta said nonchalantly.

Fatenai remained silent and opened a book.