Realm of the Sun

Part 2: Luminary Crescents (Chapter 13)

Sylas sipped his tea, enjoying the caffeine he had stirred in in the early morning. His tea bags were spiked with caffeine, specially stored in his and Professor Cao's secret cabinet.

He had been warned not to drink caffeine in the evening, but usually disregarded the advice.

Usually that led to sleepless nights of painfully excruciating studying, reading, and other random topics he stumbled across in the late hours of night.

One time, he had consumed so much caffeine that he didn't sleep for a full two weeks, locked away in his room. Even Yue was concerned when he asked what day it was, stumbling downstairs holding an open book on the study of physics applied to house blessings. Professor Cao considered removing his caffeine supply, but when he saw the symptoms and effects of Sylas' withdrawal, he reconsidered.

Last night, he went downstairs again, drank more caffeinated tea, and ended up finishing the mystery novel he was reading. He had placed a bet against Ashlee that he could finish the book faster than her even though he wasn't a fan of fiction and she had a head start of about a third. Unfortunately for her, Sylas was addicted to caffeine and had a strong sense of competition, and had now won twenty gold, thirteen silver, and five copper pieces from her. The novel wasn't that boring; it was just that it made no sense. There were so many red herrings, random quips about nonsense thrown in as filler. And those god awful twists- why would the investigator investigate a murder he committed? It was illogical. Surely, his superior would realize that the case was oddly going nowhere, and that key pieces of evidence were missing from the vault. Who had access to the vault? Nobody except the detective. And the reason why was even more idiotic. Just because he wanted to be famous? It was a stupid motivation. And the way he hadn't worn gloves, didn't bother to change his suit after the murder, and was caught on leaving the crime scene hours before someone had reported it?

Sylas scoffed. He could plan a much better murder. He would wear gloves, stun his victim before killing them, and take a clean laceration to the jugular. Minimal blood to clean up, and he would then charge the body so full of electricity that it would burn to a crisp. Anyone could use fire. Nobody would trace it to him. Later, he would use a mixture of chemicals to create a piranha solution and douse the body so it would simply shrivel and disintegrate. Many people in the palace had access to the laboratory, and piranha solutions were often stored in the back storage anyway. He could probably add a few smears of blood away from the crime scene, making it seem like the victim had survived and tried to get out of the room. Any high court house could kill with ease; only a lower court house would struggle. The remains and waste would probably be tossed in among the rest of the uneaten food after dessert, to be emptied outside palace grounds. No body, no way to tell who was murdered. Sooner or later they'd do a head count to figure out which Elite was missing, and someone may assume that the blood was the result of a training accident.

"Hey, watch where you're going!"

Sylas snapped out of his murderous thoughts, looking down to find his tea spilled on his little sister's fancy new lavender cheongsam. He quickly set his cup down and scrambled to the ground, grabbing a fistful of napkins to try and dry up the affected area as well as his sister's dress.

"Great," she huffed. "Now I have to wear that stupid hanfu. Gee, thanks a lot Sylas." Ashlee spat, wrinkling the fabric as she tried to wring out the tea. She didn't have much luck.

Sylas didn't have to guess what she was talking about. "If mother dearest wants you to wear it, you probably should. Plus, all houses are expected to attend, and in proper wear. Also-" he walked over to the nearest rubbish bin, dumping the soaking clump of tissue. "I beat you. Finished the novel last night."