"Well..., I would still have completed the challenge..."

The shouts of shocking complaints almost made her cover her ears as she looked at her mates who were glaring at her.

"What? At that time I was not aware of you guys being my mates. You can't hold that incident against me." She immediately defended herself.

"B-but...still...how can you k-kiss another m-man?" Ruoshan asked as he looked at her with a horrified expression.

"Well..."

"No need to answer that question. We don't want to hear your answer. Let's finish this game." Wen Guiying said as he hurriedly cut her off.

"..."

Her mates quickly took care of all the wine jars and glasses and without even saying a single more word they hurriedly left the room.

"Hey! Are you going to leave me here?" Li Ming shouted at them but unfortunately, not a single one replied.

"Whatever!"

She scoffed as she took out a robe from her closet and put it on.

As she walked out on the balcony of the West wing, the cold wind made her shiver as her ears and nose started turning red.

It only took a single flick of her fingers and a warm shield covered her body, protecting her from the chilly wind.

"Here."

Li Ming's eyes landed on the cup of hot coffee that was shoved in front of her. She turned to look at the Fourth Prince who was standing beside her.

"I thought you guys were planning on ignoring me. How did you end up here, then?" She asked him as she accepted the coffee.

"They are just jealous and no matter how much they trust you in their hearts, they could not help the jealousy that immediately took over them whenever you mentioned other men. You can understand that way better than anyone else."

Zhang Yong simply replied as he snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest.

Li Ming felt her body relaxing as her soul was suddenly filled with warmth and love that it felt coming from her mate.

"I know. If it has been the other way around, I'm sure my reaction would have been the same as theirs. Maybe even worse. The jealousy that a mate feels is a hundred times more than the normal jealously felt by a human. The fact that they handled the situation in such a better way, is really admiring." She said as she sipped the warm coffee that made her taste buds dance in happiness.

"Don't you think you should do something to make them feel better?" Zhang Yong asked as he started swaying from left to right, with her still in his arms.

"I don't think there's any point in doing that..." Li Ming replied with a sigh as she placed the coffee cup on the railing beside them.

"Huh?"

Zhang Yong stopped moving as he made her turn to face him.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he looked directly into her eyes.

"I think by now you are already aware of how I was trying to find information about Guixian Island and the Academy..."

She waited until the fourth Prince nodded his head in agreement before she continued.

"...well, there is something I want to tell you and there's also a favor I want to ask from you."

There was silence for the next few minutes as she waited for Zhang Yong's response.

The fourth prince kept looking at her as if he was trying to see into her soul.

But then a smile suddenly bloomed on his lips as he cupped her face in his large warm hands.

"No matter what you need me for, no matter what you want to tell me, you can always trust me, Ming'er. I will never disappoint you, no matter what. Before being bondmates, we are best friends, and you are the most precious person in my life. I'll do anything for you."

Li Ming smiled softly as she felt her heart filling with love ss she stared at her handsome bondmate.

He was still childish, funny, and even irritating sometimes, but over the months that they had spent together she had come to recognize the serious, kind, and helpful nature of the fourth prince.

"You are pretending like I'm about to ask you to gift your life to me. Don't overreact. Even though I'm not going to ask for something impossible but still what I'm going to ask from you is not a simple thing. And I can understand if you don't want to agree. But first, you need to promise not to shout at me after hearing what I'm about to say, alright?"

She waited for a while and when she finally got the promise from the Shadow Lord, did she started explaining her plans to him.

****

Li Ming turned to once again look at the group of immortals who were standing around the table that was placed inside one of the pavilions in the Water Courtyard.

The pavilions that were standing around them were also filled with teenagers, aging from seven to nineteen, and their family members.

The loud chatter that was filling the surrounding was making it hard for her to concentrate on the constant glaring that she was receiving from her mates.

They sure were not happy and did not even try to hide it. Though no one was paying any attention to their pavilion due to the invisible spell that was cast around them, but Li Ming was praying for someone to appear and whisk her away from her angry mates.

"You sure are something. I thought that you were avoiding us because of the matter that happened on the night of your birthday, but never have I ever thought that you were actually hiding something like this from us. Good, really good!"

Li Ming cringed as the harsh mocking words of Hei Long entered her ears.

"I know that you guys are not that happy about my decision but can you put aside your anger and focus on the fact that I'm about to take the entrance exam of Guixian Academy? Should not you all be motivating me?"

She asked as she looked at the group of her mates, waiting for them to finally push their anger aside and shower her in their warmth.

"No way! You have started taking too much advantage of our love and trust. It's a different matter that you are planning about joining Guixian Academy and will probably be away from us for the next few years. But the fact that you did not even tell us about this matter is a completely different thing. There's no way I'm going to forgive you so easily."

This time it was Ruoshan who too showed his disagreement on the topic of her keeping the matter of her joining the Academy a secret.

"At first, I did not want to create tension between us before leaving for the Island. But then the incident of my birthday night happened and if I have told you about my plans then, it would only have led to more tension..."

"Enough! There's nothing that we can do now. Rather than fighting and getting angry, we should think about helping her with the exam." The Moon Immortal, always the calm and collected one, said as he tried to calm the situation before it could turn worse.

Even he was not happy with Li Ming's decision of hiding such a huge thing from them and disclosing it at the very last moment, but he was never going back on his promise.

He had promised her to be always there for her, no matter what and that's exactly what he would be going to do.

The others slowly started nodding their heads, but before any of them could speak, a cold and commanding voice boomed through the pavilion.

"No need! Since she has informed us at the very last moment, I'm sure she is already preparing for whatever going to happen next. Let's not waste her time."

Li Ming looked into the dark eyes of Wen Guiying as he stared directly at her, his eyes held no warmth and kindness in them.

"Sure! Let's leave now. We will see you on the other side of the sea."

And with those departing words of the Heaven Emperor, her mates disappeared from the pavilion, leaving their young mate behind.

"Why did not you tell them about your second plan? It will only make their anger rise when they will come to know of it in the future."

Zhang Yong appeared beside her the very next second and a sigh left Li Ming's lips as she listened to his words.

"Did they even give me the chance? There's nothing that can be done. Right now I have to put my entire focus on the exam. I can't let their anger at me, ruin my plans. I'll find a way to make up for them. I'm sure once their anger will calm down, they will understand."

Even though Zhang Yong nodded his head, there was a doubt that was blooming in his mind.

For some reason, he had a feeling that things were about to go down between his mate and his brothers.