Chapter 26 - Fire! Fire! Fire!

"I know that it's getting late and I should return to the palace but.....just one look won't be too much." 

Jiang Ying Yue whispered to herself as her eyes roamed over the silent garden and the courtyard standing in front of her.

She was currently at the Star Lake Manor, standing next to the trapdoor as she was heading back to the Cold Palace after finishing her tasks at the market.

However, as soon as she stepped inside the manor and noticed the usual silence of the place, she could not help but become even more curious about the mysterious manner.

She had been controlling herself for the past several days, but since this time there was no one to stop her, she was finding it hard to not give in to the inner voice that was telling her to risk it and satisfy her curiosity since she had the chance.

Her stupid curiosity won over her sensibility and soon she found herself walking towards the courtyard. It did not take her long to find the entrance but soon she realized that the door was locked.

She searched around the little garden surrounding the courtyard but did not find anything useful. Coming back towards the locked main door of the courtyard, she pondered on her options.

Should she try to break in? Though that's illegal, she was not planning to steal anything. She just wanted to take a look. That won't be too much, right?

"Just a locked door. It's not really that big of a problem for me," she muttered as she observed the wooden door. Besides, it did not even appear to be strong enough but after probing for a little bit longer, Ying Yue found out that some kind of mystical force was protecting the door.

"Let's see if my basic powers will work now since I have finally fed," she murmured to herself as she stretched out her right hand, making her palm face the wooden door.

She focused her eyes on the door and called upon the energy residing inside her. Just like she guessed, feeding from the handsome dude in the hidden cave the previous day had really helped her in balancing her powers.

She felt a ball of energy flew out of her palm and hit the wooden door. She was too happy about finally being able to use her powers to basic levels that it took her quite some time to notice that something was wrong.

"What the.....Why is it on fire?" 

The panic was clearly audible in her tone by the time she reached the end of her question. Her eyes stared at the burning door with confusion and shock filling in them.

Exactly what happened? Did she somehow end up using fire magic instead of the one she wanted? 

Questions were piling up in her confused brain but she realized that her priority should be to stop the fire that would soon spread over the walls and windows if she did not do anything to stop it.

"What should I do? What should.....Oh, right! Water.....Yes, yes.....water..." 

Ying Yue closed her eyes and took a deep breath to relax herself before she once again stretched her hand out and called on the energy inside her, ordering it to convert into a water spray.

But it was like her powers were malfunctioning because instead of water, she found a gust of fragrance surrounding her for a few seconds before it disappeared.

"Oh my! What's wrong with me?" She asked out loud to no one in particular as she stared at her hand in exasperation. 

Her eyes slowly returned their attention towards the burning door which was on the verge of collapsing any moment. The fire had already spread over the walls and was turning intense with every passing second.

She took a few steps back as she cursed herself for letting her stupid curiosity win over the sensible part of her brain. If she had minded her own business and stayed away from the mysterious manor, then it would not end up like this.

"Whoever is the owner of this place, I'm really sorry. It's not intentional at all. I promise that one day in the future I'll compensate all your losses but right now, I need to leave." Saying that Jiang Ying Yue turned around to finally run away from the scene before someone could have noticed her.

She turned around to flee from the burning place but immediately stopped in her tracks when her eyes landed on the figure standing in front of her.

A man in a royal blue robe with long black hair tied in a high ponytail was standing there looking at the burning courtyard. His eyes were black but Ying Yue could see the reflection of flames in them which made them so alluring. 

Just the previous day she met a man who was so good-looking that she could barely believe her eyes and here she was, once again finding a man who looked like the pure definition of the word ethereal.

She could not help but keenly observe every single detail about him. Her eyes moved over her face, taking in his long eyelashes, smooth skin, thin lips. Then her gaze started traveling down and it did not stop until it reached his foot. 

Unfortunately, because of his long robes, she did not get the privilege of seeing his body, unlike the previous day where the man was half-naked.

As her eyes returned to his face, her breath got caught in her throat as she found him staring right back at her.

Had he noticed her ogling him? The thought made Ying Yue filled with embarrassment.

She watched the man flicking his left sleeve once towards the burning courtyard, his eyes never leaving hers.

Curious to know what he had done, she slightly turned her head to look at the courtyard only to find it looking just like it was before she somehow ended up setting it on fire. 

A gasp left her lips as she took in the appearance of the wooden door and the walls which appeared to be completely untouched by any kind of fire.

Who was this man?