34 _Prince Cargan is a lust driven man, or not.

Afina hesitantly stood up and walk with Gia out of the room. Thankfully, the girls were out of the corridors now. At least, she wouldn't need to answer nonsensical questions from the girls this time.

The walk from the duplex down to the palace of prince Cargan was a silent one as Afina kept on memorizing the details Gia had given her about the prince.

Finally, when they arrived in front of the palace, Gia spoke out. It seemed she understood Afina's silence and had given her the privacy to dwell in her thoughts as she should.

"I can not follow you further Ms. Afina, you are on your own from here." The girl sounded remorseful.

No, she shouldn't be apologetic for a situation that was beyond her power. The rules were the rules.

"No, no, it's okay. I do understand that you can not.

It's the rules." Afina tried to smile although she was not in the mood for smiles as what ravaged her mind was too intense to allow a smile.

Gia looked less tense now. "Don't mess up and just act like a high house scholar then you should be good to go." she tipped.

"Remind me of the way inside the palace again," Afina demanded.

Gia looked like she was in disapproval. " There we go again, Ms. Afina. You are yet to begin yet so forgetful again." she scolded.

Forgetful, that she was.

"Sorry." Afina shrugged with a puppy eye meant to reduce the sternness in Gia's tone.

Gia only rolled her eyes. "Oh, you flatter me. You have no reason to be sorry. It is my duty to serve you."

Okay, would she go on and explain to her the directions already?

There was no reason for the irrelevant talks.

Arghh! She was being paranoid and getting worked up as a result of anxiety. She needed to breathe, Afina thought.

"Are you okay?" she saw the curious raise of Gia's brow.

She had to nod assuringly. "I'm fine. Just go ahead and explain to me the directions."

"Alright, you have to go in through the door, climb the stairs and you will find the cultivation room of prince Cargan by the second door on the second floor." Gia provided.

Afina looked thoughtful as she digested the information and made sure it remained imprinted in her head.

"There are guards everywhere in the palace. You can just ask one of them for directions if you get lost or confused." Gia added as she noticed Afina's troubles.

Afina glanced down at the girl who was about two inches shorter than her. "Alright, thanks, Gia. I will be back when I'm back." her tone was in a sing-song form.

If Gia felt surprised to see Afina joke around even though it was obvious her palms were sweating in anxiety, she made no mention. "I will be expecting you Ms. Afina. You got this." she simply cheered.

"Thank you, Gia, bye." Afina blew an invisible kiss at Gia before entering into the glass entrance door of the palace.

The moment she stepped into the large living room, a husky-looking guard with dark sunglasses stopped her.

"What do you want in the palace?" he asked in a not-so-friendly way as he ran to stop Afina.

Her palms were sweating heavier now. Even the heels were getting more uncomfortable under her feet.

"I am a high house scholar—" she began only to get interrupted by the impatient guard.

"I know who you are," he said.

He knew?

As though he read the surprise on her face, "Your uniform." he explained.

Oh, right.

He meant for her to drop Introduction and state her business.

"I am here to serve the prestigious prince Cargan in his cultivation quarters." she clarified, hoping that was enough of an answer.

The guard simply glanced back at the other guards in the living room.

There was a total of six guards in the living too. Two on the right side and three on the left.

The third one on the right side was in front of her now.

Afina had no idea what language they just communicated but she could see the secret message in their gazes.

Finally, "serve prince Cargan with blue hair and blue—" he decided her hair was what mattered more than her eyes.

"Yes, with blue hair." Afina, with a sheepish grin, affirmed.

The guard's hand went on his ear. "Wait a sec." she saw the silent beep he made on the headset stuffed hiddenly in his ears.

"A blue-haired high house scholar is here wanting to ser—" he was saying but it seemed the voice at the other end had interrupted.

"Okay, I will send her in." The guard finished before bringing his look to Afina. "Follow me," he instructed.

Afina, who had been concerned she might have forgotten the directions and was worried about being clumsy and getting lost was overjoyed to be led ahead by this guard.

As she passed in front of the other guards, she shot them a sheepish grin but by the stern look on their faces, she doubted if they even saw her at all – not to mention returning her smile.

The dark sunglasses was craftily concealing their eyeballs so, it was hard to decipher where their gazes were.

.

Closely, she followed behind the guard as they climbed the stairs until they arrived at the second floor. Just as Gia had directed, they halted by the second door on the second floor.

Afina was hearing some noises coming from the room. Some silent screams or voices of a woman.

"Knock on the door and go in." the guard declared and walked away.

Afina was nodding and offering a 'thank you' but the indifferent guard seemed less concerned and was already out of sight.

"Prophet of doom." Afina cursed under her breath as he walked away.

Swiftly, she rubbed her palms together until the coldness in them turned warm.

Gently, she placed a knock on the door. She was about to knock on the door the second time when the door opened wide in her face.

It was the face of Royal Advisor Celio that came after the door.

Again, Afina grinned a sheepish grin at him which the young man tried to return but it was very obvious of how uneasy he felt at the presence of women.

"Come in." He ordered with a low tone when Afina did not take any step further.

Afina saw that his dress code was like that of the day before. It was as though the black t-shirt and suit pants were a uniform of his too.

He still looked as manly as ever which was a contrast to his shy outlet. She had not seen a commoner more gracious in looks than him in the line– not that she explores men's looks at all.

But from the few she had noticed, none could match this royal advisor in looks.

However, she had seen a commoner who was a hundred folds alluring looking than this man. He was—the thief she met earlier today.

Again, thoughts about him had wriggled their way into her mind. Shaking off any thoughts about men, she faced reality.

.

Obediently, Afina entered the room but got to find out that room was about three sizes of the big room she had in the duplex.

It was sectioned into two sections while the part where Royal Advisor Celio stood was designed like a living room with a TV and sofas.

The other end was where the noises were coming from. It was even more audible now that she was inside. It was as though a woman was being beaten and she was wailing.

The sound was just too annoying in Afina's ears but what could she do? She needed to follow orders and that's it.

Royal Advisor Celio motioned to one of the sofas. "Be comfortable on a sofa while you await his eminence. He is currently tending to some matters in the inner room," he said.

Currently tending to some matters huh?

Even now that she had walked over to sit on a sofa according to Royal Advisor Celio's words, she could hear more clearly the mumbles and moans emanating from within.

"Oh, Cargan, dive in harder."

"Yes—yes!"

"Ah— I'm exploding!"

The woman's voice kept on moaning louder and louder with each minute that passed.

The most interesting thing was that if she hadn't mentioned and called seductively Prince Cargan's name, no one would have guessed that he was in there with her.

They would have thought she was moaning alone in there by herself as no sound of a man could be heard.

Even if she was naive, Afina need not be told the business that was going on inside.

How on earth could Royal Advisor Celio stand there unmoved by the irking sound of lovemaking?

Was the poor young man made to listen to such outrageous moans every day?

Would she be subject to the same fate? Hear more of...

"I'm coming Cargan, I'm coming!"

Arghh, if she did not block her ears with her fingers right now, she might die of ear blockage. Or her entire system shut down as a result of irritation.

However, were holy grounds not meant to be accorded holiness?

This Prince was making love to a woman right inside his cultivation ground. One by one, she was coming to realize that the rumors about him were true even before knowing him.

One thing she knew was that she would never like him one bit. He was such a loose and lust-driven man.