Jared nodded as though sympathizing. “Are the celestials’ roots in the Azure Firmament really that deep? Do they maintain a foothold here?”
She glanced left and right, confirmed the floor was empty, then leaned so close her breath brushed his ear. “Of course,” she murmured. “At the border between the eastern and central regions, they’ve built an immense Divine Punishment Hall, one of their most important strongholds here…
Five celestial venerables sit inside, their power bottomless. They oversee every faction, send emissaries with Divine Oracles, collect tributes… And something else, something unusual…”
Jared leaned closer, keeping his voice mild. “Something special?” A cold prickle spread beneath his ribs, yet he only let his brows lift in polite, almost boyish curiosity.
Rania pressed her lips together, a soft nod slipping out while her eyes searched the ceiling. She pinched the space between her brows, digging through half-forbidden memories. “I’m not really sure,” she admitted. “Father told me prying into celestial business never ends well. All I caught… was Father and Mr. Fay whispering about certain special prisoners, some process that extracts… Crystals—their word, not mine. The idea alone made my skin crawl…”
A tremor chased up her arms, and she hugged herself as though the room had turned colder. A weight dropped in Jared’s gut, heavier than the stone shelves around them. Special prisoners. Crystal extraction. Soul-Refining Crystal… These names slammed against his thoughts with a metallic clang. His hunch had been right all along.
The Divine Punishment Hall—the name carried the stink of blood. And five celestial venerables stationed inside; each one was a mountain he had to climb. Information like this wasn’t just useful; it was a razor he could hold to their throats. He drew a breath, ready to pry deeper.
Rania, however, shook her head, strands of hair brushing his sleeve. “That’s everything… Father forbids talk about celestials. Let’s drop it… It’s bad luck.”
So even Julian kept his own daughter in the dark… That told Jared just how deep the fear ran. He let the subject die and lifted a new scroll, pointing out a delicate rune to steer them back toward talk of ancient arrays. Rania’s eyes sparked, the previous gloom washing off her face as she threw herself into their “academic exchange” once more.
Unnoticed hours rolled by. Outside, dusk bled across the sky, and inside the pavilion, soft pearl-lamps blossomed between the shelves.
“Ah, it’s already so late!” Rania gasped, startled back into the present. Color stole up her cheeks, a smile tugging yet reluctant. She didn’t want the night to end.
Jared noted the tiny disappointed crease at the corner of her mouth and silently agreed; time with a useful ally always moved too fast. He offered a sincere bow of the head. “Many thanks, Ms. Rania… You’ve broadened my horizons.”
She waved both hands, flustered. A gentle flush tinted her cheeks. “Mr. Chance, you’re the one helping me. Discussing all of this with you is the happiest I’ve ever been,” she murmured. She lifted her gaze; the lantern-light turned her eyes into shimmering pools, every blink sending another ripple of affection toward him.
The dim glow softened every line of her face, weaving a dreamlike allure. The library lay hushed, broken only by their breathing and the thud of two quickening hearts. An invisible thread stretched taut between them, trembling with a sweet, dangerous current. Rania‘s pulse hammered so loudly Jared could almost see it fluttering at her throat, and her fingers tightened around the edge of the jade slip she still held. She drank in the clean, cool scent clinging to him, the short distance between them now a furnace. Lightheaded, she hovered inches from Jared’s chest.
Sense whispered that she was racing ahead, casting her upbringing aside, yet the warning barely reached her burning cheeks. The brakes were gone; her heart, hands, and every breath lunged toward him. The man before her felt like a lodestone, pulling every shred of her will into his orbit. His knowledge, his poise, the quiet warmth in his eyes—they blended into one impossible charm she couldn’t name.
Soft and trembling, she whispered, “Mr. Chance… I…” The rest tangled on her tongue, but yearning colored every shaky breath.
Jared caught the haze in her eyes, the way her blush deepened instead of fading, and the meaning rang clear. He recognized the hour had come. Without a word, he lifted his hand and enclosed her smaller one, warmth spilling through the contact. She startled, a shiver darting through her frame, yet she didn’t pull away. A faint moan slipped out as she folded herself against his chest.
Soft warmth pressed into Jared‘s arms. Her delicate scent—half lotus, half ink—curled into his lungs, and her figure melted against him like silk. Through the thin layers of cloth, he felt every quiver in her shoulders, every drumbeat of her heart, each vibration echoing straight into his own. Jared tipped his head down, the faint scent of sandalwood in her hair brushing his lips. In a breath more warmth than sound, he murmured at her ear, “Rania, may I…”
He felt the single word strike like a pebble against a dam; the tension inside her shattered and rushed away. Rania’s shoulders loosened, her breath quivering, the last of her restraint giving way under the ripple he had started. Her eyes slid shut, lashes trembling. A barely audible moan slipped out as her arms looped around his neck, pulling him close until nothing but shared breath fit between them.
Jared hesitated no longer. He angled his mouth down and caught her tender, damp lips in a slow, claiming kiss. She answered the kiss awkwardly but eagerly, her body melting against his like spring water losing shape, surrendering to whatever he asked.
On the quiet third floor of the Library Pavilion, the mellow glow of spirit pearls pooled around their entwined figures. Tall shelves threw long bars of shadow, hiding the blazing, forbidden scene from any wandering gaze. Clothing loosened, layer after layer sliding away; ragged breaths thickened, mingling in the still air.
Somewhere under Jared’s fingertips, he felt the last resistance of a bright, proud girl snap, emotion sweeping aside the clever caution that had shone in her eyes. Rania moved with wholehearted trust, offering the most guarded part of herself to a man she had known for barely two days yet already believed indispensable.
Jared tasted eagerness and, behind it, the sweet certainty that every moment had unfolded exactly as he had arranged from the start. He wondered whether she grasped that this surrender might ripple through the whole of Jade Immortal Manor, but her soft sigh against his throat said she suspected nothing. To him, the tenderness was a tool—necessary, even delicate, but still a tool for inching closer to his real goal.
Desire tangled with strategy. As her heartbeat echoed under his palm, he sensed another shutter inside the manor’s secrets cracking open for him. For a sliver of a second, he pictured the moment she would discover the lie and wondered which would break first: her trust or her heart.
The night deepened. The heady hush within the stacks finally ebbed, leaving only the faint pulse of spirit light and the slowing rhythm of two mingled breaths. Afterward, Rania curled against his chest, cheeks still warm, drawing idle circles over his heart with one lazy fingertip.
A hesitant whisper drifted up, “Jared…” Her voice, syrup-soft for the first time, sought promise. “You’ll stay with me, won’t you?”
Running his fingers through her silky hair, Jared answered gently, “So long as you never tire of me.”
“How could I ever tire of you!” she blurted, lifting her head in earnest protest. Eyes shining, Rania declared, “When Father finishes seclusion, I’ll tell him I want to marry you. He adores me; he’ll agree.”
Jared answered with a gentle squeeze, yet his gaze slid past her to the window, fixing on the dense night beyond—deep, measuring, and merciless.
