Chapter 19: Cold Medicine (2)

“You might be fine now, but if you keep eating like that, you’ll get into trouble. Do you really need to prove it to yourself?” Tiger Girl felt utterly powerless.

“Will something really happen?” Thirteenth Young Master still had a certain trust in Tiger Girl; since she said so, it might really be true.

Of course it’s true—only you could be so clueless. And to think you’re supposed to be an alchemist.

“Yes, something will happen. I’ll throw away these expired potions in a moment. And if any of the potions are about to expire next time, you can’t eat them either. Medicine is only for when you’re sick, and you can’t just take anything at random. Don’t go taking stomach medicine for a cold, for example.” Tiger Girl gently admonished him.

“I know, I’m not that stupid,” Thirteenth Young Master replied disdainfully, as if he would never do something so foolish—though whether he really wouldn’t was another question entirely.

Just then, he sighed and said regretfully, “But isn’t it a waste to throw them away?”

Tiger Girl was speechless. If anyone else had complained about waste, she might have understood, but he was famous for being a spendthrift—how could he even know what the word ‘waste’ meant?

“You call yourself the world’s number one spendthrift—are you really worried about wasting a bit of medicine?”

“A spendthrift is a spendthrift, but that doesn’t mean I waste things. I just spend, I don’t squander,” Thirteenth Young Master began to explain, drawing a clear line between being extravagant and truly wasteful.

“Well…” Tiger Girl was at a loss for words. Come to think of it, though he was extravagant, he really didn’t like wasting things.

Her foolish young master defied all common sense.

Tiger Girl smiled and returned to her tasks. Her foolish young master did the same, and so the two of them continued with their day, beginning anew.

At this time, the foolish young master was thirteen years old, and Tiger Girl was fourteen…

The Imperial Capital’s Royal Academy—a super-elite institution that even nobles might not be able to enter—was ranked second across the continent. However, this ranking was always a topic of debate.

But the controversy was not about the Royal Academy wanting to be first or resenting its second place. Everyone agreed from the bottom of their hearts that the first-ranked academy was truly unrivaled; its position was unshakable.

The real debate was about the Royal Academy’s second place. The academies ranked third and fourth eyed that position hungrily, seizing every opportunity to take it for themselves.

How was this ranking determined? It wasn’t based on some committee collecting data and scoring every aspect. Instead, it was simple: every ten years, a grand tournament was held, and your overall strength in the competition decided your rank.

Thus, each ranking lasted ten years. If you lost the next tournament, you would drop in the standings; if you won, you could rise. As the saying goes, fortunes turn every thirty years, but here, it was only ten.

The tournament was also not a free-for-all, but divided by type: there were magic competitions, martial arts competitions, the rarely entered alchemy competition, and mixed events as well. Participants competed both individually and in teams.

On this continent, where strength reigned supreme, academies focused on raising individual power, so their students’ abilities directly reflected the academy’s standing.

It’s worth noting that the academies ranked second to fourth were nearly all run by the three great empires, but the top academy belonged to neither of them. Instead, it was in a small, inconspicuous country—so much so that one could say the country was the academy, and the academy was the country.

Perhaps it was this insulation from politics that allowed it to become number one.

Even the nobles from the three empires mostly sent their children to this top academy as their first choice. For example, in the Ye family, Thirteenth Young Master’s older brother, Ye Hui, studied at the first academy, as did his second sister and several cousins.

If Thirteenth Young Master were not a special case, the Ye family would have sent him there as well. But as things stood, even if the Royal Academy ranked much lower, they preferred to keep him close, where they could look after him.

Moreover, Thirteenth Young Master’s elder sister, Ye Lanyu, refused to attend the top academy, choosing instead to stay at the Royal Academy, citing her wish to take care of her brother. With her abilities, she would have excelled even in the top academy; at the Royal Academy, she was certainly an outstanding student.

Being a girl, the family didn’t have high expectations for her. She could study wherever she liked.

And since the siblings attended the same academy, they naturally went to school together every day. Sure enough, Ye Lanyu appeared before Thirteenth Young Master once again, her beauty already attracting the attention of many noble youths in the city.

She had just reached the prime of her youth, blossoming into womanhood.

“Brother, time for school,” Ye Lanyu announced, kicking open the courtyard gate and pulling the already-prepared Thirteenth Young Master along. Her actions were practiced and smooth, done in one fluid motion.

“Oh…” Thirteenth Young Master was thoroughly used to this; he let Ye Lanyu hold his hand while reading a book with the other.

Tiger Girl, seeing this scene, just as skillfully put her things away in her spatial pouch and hurried after the two siblings.

Every day, Tiger Girl accompanied these unusual siblings to the Royal Academy. As a noble, Thirteenth Young Master was allowed a companion servant at school—a privilege permitted at all academies on the continent, though nobles had to pay extra tuition for them.

Of course, not every noble brought a companion—Ye Lanyu, for example, did not.

The Ye family’s carriage would take the three of them to the gates of the Royal Academy, where they would disembark and walk in, as was the rule: no vehicles allowed inside. Otherwise, with so many nobles, there would be traffic jams every day.

At this time, a crowd always gathered outside the academy gates, waiting for the trio’s arrival. But they were not waiting for Thirteenth Young Master—though he inspired some envy, he had never made enemies and therefore was not the target of any ambush.

No, they waited for his sister, Miss Ye Lanyu.

“Miss Lanyu, here are nine hundred and ninety-nine roses from the Eros Flower Shop, a symbol of my love for you…” A massive bouquet appeared before them, though the voice’s owner remained hidden from sight.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t like roses,” Ye Lanyu replied with a gentle smile, her tone and demeanor noble yet kind.

It was the perfect demeanor for a lady of a great house. Was this really the same Miss Ye who had once been so different? Had she changed now that she was grown?