Nine Lotus Academy...

Sword Peak...

Julie found Lily in her room, sitting with a book she had clearly not been reading for some time.

"Sister," Julie said carefully, closing the door behind her. "I heard something about Tony today."

Lily looked up. "What did he do?!"

"Well..." Julie took a breath. "He rode the snow leopard through the academy gates, cleared out the entire patient queue, nearly killed a disciple on the mountain path, then asked the Peak Master for his own treatment room...!"

"He did WHAT?!"

"That’s not important... The peak master actually assigned Moon Goddess Hikaru to supervise Tony directly."

Lily was silent for a long time after hearing the Moon-Goddess Hikaru name. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

She sighed heavily and closed her fists in anger.

"Before the marriage, when people called Tony a villain and a troublemaker— at that time I thought, After we marry, I can manage him. I have the strength and the position. I can keep him within reasonable limits." She paused.

"I never imagined that Tony Clark is a villain on a completely different level. I genuinely cannot understand how he manages to create this much trouble in the presence of someone as cold and strict as Peak Master Natasha?!?!"

Julie pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. "Well, Sister, at least he chose to learn something instead of staying idle in his room all month. That’s progress, right?! And Peak Master Natasha clearly sees something in him or she wouldn’t have assigned Hikaru— she would have just thrown him out." She folded her hands in her lap with a very reasonable expression.

"For now, let’s trust brother-in-law and just pray that nobody tries to harm him."

Lily was quiet for exactly three seconds.

"That’s what I’m worried about," she said. "Hikaru... The Moon Goddess. Do you know what that girl looks like?! Do you know what family she comes from?! If Tony tries something nasty, Hikaru will break both his legs without blinking— and then her family will come and break the rest of him!! That fool doesn’t think before he opens his mouth and he definitely doesn’t think before he does anything else!!"

Julie stared at her sister.

Then a slow smile spread across her face.

"Sister," she said.

"What."

"I see now."

"What do you see?!"

"You’re not worried about Tony getting hurt," Julie said, with the delighted certainty of someone who has just solved a puzzle. "You’re worried about Tony looking at another woman!! You’re jealous!! You’re actually jealous of Hikaru!!"

"I am NOT jealous!!" Lily snapped immediately, her ears going slightly pink. "Don’t make ridiculous drama!! I am simply concerned that the idiot will get himself killed on his second day because he can’t keep his eyes to himself— that’s all!! It’s a completely reasonable concern for any responsible person!!"

"Uh-huh," Julie said, nodding slowly, still smiling. "Completely reasonable."

"It is!!"

"Sister, Tony is not a womanizer," Julie said soothingly. "He’s many things— a chaos machine, a walking disaster, probably someone’s worst nightmare— but he’s not that. Don’t worry so much."

Lily opened her mouth. Closed it. Picked up her book. Put it down again.

"I was not worried about that," she said with absolute finality. "I was worried he would get killed. That’s it. End of conversation."

***

Next Day Morning...

After a full night’s sleep, Tony appeared at Healing tower with full energy.

Hikaru walked at a steady pace through the Healing Tower corridor, needle set in hand, professional and composed. Tony followed two steps behind her like a shadow.

She could feel him back there. The specific, low-level discomfort of having someone with Tony Clark’s reputation walking directly behind you was not something easy to ignore.

’One month... Just one month. Master’s orders.’ She told herself.

She arrived at her treatment room on the second floor and stared at the servant lady. "Send in the first patient."

The servant bowed and disappeared.

Tony sat across from her with a curious look. He is trying to take a full picture of her face which is covered under a transparent velvet mask.

Hikaru swallowed hard and tried to look away.

A minute passed. Two minutes... The servant came back with an apologetic expression and clasped hands.

"I’m sorry, my lady. There are... no patients."

Hikaru blinked. "What do you mean there are no patients?! There was a line half a mile long outside!! What happened to all of them?!"

The servant’s eyes drifted towards Tony Clark... Then back to Hikaru. The meaning was so obvious it didn’t need words.

Hikaru turned her head and stared at Tony.

Tony spread his hands helplessly. "I didn’t do anything."

"You didn’t have to DO anything!!" she said through gritted teeth.

"Should I go bring the patients back for you?!" Tony offered, with a helpful expression that somehow made everything worse.

"Absolutely not!!" Hikaru slammed the needle set on the desk. "The last thing I need is you chasing patients back into the building— they’ll never come back again!!" She took a breath.

"Fine. There are patients already admitted upstairs for recovery checks. Follow me. Touch nothing... Say nothing. Just stand there and try to learn from me."

"I’ll do my best," Tony said earnestly.

Hikaru stared at him for one long second, decided there was nothing useful to say to that, and walked toward the staircase.

***

The third floor recovery rooms...

Hikaru moved efficiently, knocking before each door, running through her checks with the practiced ease of someone who had done this a thousand times.

Tony followed.

Room one... Hikaru pushed the door open gently. A middle-aged woman lay on the recovery bed, eyes closed, clearly resting. She stirred at the sound of footsteps, opened her eyes, and immediately brightened at the sight of Hikaru.

"Moon Goddess! I was just thinking about—"

She saw Tony.

The smile vanished completely... It was like a lamp being switched off. Her face went pale as she remembered the last night’s discussions among patients. ’Tony aiming to kill a hundred patients a day!’

Some people already did their best in spreading fantasy stories about Tony.

"Are you all right?!" Hikaru asked, moving to her quickly. "Is there pain somewhere?! What’s wrong?!"

"No... I’m... I’m completely fine!!" the woman said, eyes locked on Tony. "There’s no need to check anything!! I feel perfect!! Best I’ve felt in years!! Please don’t trouble yourself!!"