It was very early in the morning and most of the students were really upset that they had to get up extra early just to welcome someone special in the academy. Everyone was standing by the balconies or on the bridges with their hands by their backs and with sulky faces. Investigators were standing behind the students, making sure that their eyes were facing the entrance.

  The shiny pastel pink and blue gates opened slowly. One carriage entered the premises out of the three carriages. Amelia showed a bright smile immediately after the carriages just entered the premises. While everyone else was glared at Amelia with sulky faces. The carriages stopped by the entrance next to the three butlers. One butler went to one carriage and opened the doors widely. In the first carriage, a young woman came out of the carriage. She was dressed in a big white fluffy cloak since it was really cold in the mornings. She was wearing the most expensive green and golden chiffon patterned dress. Her dark brown hair was curly and had some golden coloured diamond jewelleries.

  Shilin came out of the building with a welcoming smile. “Welcome to the academy, Princess Dariana Fantasia Emberbane.”

  “Thank you, Emperor Huang.”, she answered, then looked around. “Thank you for this wonderful grand entrance.”

  Some of the students rolled their eyes after hearing that statement. “My pleasure. Please, let my servants show you to your room.”

  Dariana walked into the room with her own servants behind her. The students still had to wait until the servants were fully inside.

  Absolutely, ridiculous!

  Eleanor crossed her arms while looking away at this ridiculous grand entrance. A junior investigator appeared next to Lithanya and whispered. “Emperor Huang wants to see you in the office now.”

  Tension appeared in Lithanya’s body. “Okay.”

  The investigators were directing the students back to the main academy. While Lithanya was heading in a different direction which was Shilin’s office.

  Shilin was in his office, going through some background checks on some of the new students. Someone knocked on the opened door and it was Lithanya.

  “Your majesty, you said that you want to see me.”, she went straight to the point.

  Shilin smiled. “Yes. Please come in and take your seat.”, he showed her the chair opposite him.

  She walked further into the room, heading straight to the chair with some tension. Shilin closed the doors by using his mind so no one could disturb them. Lithanya took her seat on the opposite side and waited for Shilin to start the conversation.

  “I was going through your background. I found out that you used to catch criminals before you stopped after you started learning the empress work.”, he said.

  “That’s correct.”

  “Okay, since you’re back in the investigation world, we've got a case. I received a letter from a village by the mountains. They’ve been strange noises happening and three people are going missing every evening. I want you and Yaithra to see them during your lunch break. Ask them as many questions as you can.”, he explained.

  That wasn’t entirely true but she used to do investigations when she was dealing on cases for her clients. And so far, that information wasn’t enough.

  “Did you receive any more information about these unusual noises?”, Lithanya asked.

  “They didn’t give me much details. All they said in the letter was that they had been hearing strange noises and during that noise, some teenagers disappeared.”, Shilin explained.

  She nodded while looking at the desk. “Okay. Is there a deadline to complete this case?”

  “No but try to finish it quickly. To prevent more people from going missing.”

  She nodded. “Is there anything else?”

  “No, you can leave.”, he smiled.

  “Thank you.”, she got up and walked to the door.

  Shilin continued with his own work.

  Haoran was in his office going through the note he would be discussing today with the third year students. Yaithra appeared by the door, dressed in the uniform. She was feeling nervous meeting Haoran without Lithanya with her. She wasn’t used to meeting new people on her own. Her left fist gently knocked on the door and it caught Haoran’s attention.

  “Come in, Yaithra.”, he looked at her.

  She walked into the room with her hands together. “I heard that you’re the one who put my name on the list as students.”, she said with some frustration

  “I’m here to inform you that my sister and I’ve a case. Three people have been going missing every night during unusual sounds.”, she stopped by his desk.

  “Is Lithanya with Miss Moonshadow and informing her?”

  “Yes. We’re going to The Golden Snake Island to question the villagers where the missing victims lived.”, she added to the conversation.

  Haoran listened carefully. “Okay, when you come back you must let me know what happens.”

  “Why did you put my name on the list?”, Yaithra asked firmly.

  He knew that she was going to ask him that question. “Because, it shows that you’re interested in education considering how many times you attended the classes.”

  “It’s stated in the rule book that right hand knight can attend the classes with their princes or princesses.”, she mentioned.

  He looked at her. “But none of them are showing interest in learning besides you so I put your name on the cases.”, he answered.

  “You do realise that I’m not a student.”

  “Yes.”, he answered patiently. “But now that you’re one, you can go with your sister to The Golden Snake Island.”

  Yaithra shook her head out of disbelief then walked to the door. Haoran continued reading the notes from where he stopped.

  Lithanya and Yaithra were walking down the hill below the academy. Lithanya was holding a map that Marie-Anne gave her before they left the premises. The sisters were heading to The Golden Snake Island which was on another island that was near The Academy Island. There was a bridge about four miles from the academy connected to The Golden Snake Island. The reason it was called that was because the island was shaped as a snake. And the land was known for producing golden in certain parts of the island.

  Lithanya and Yaithra appeared by the golden bridge that was covered in red roses. They were admiring the beauty of Celestina.

  “I didn’t expect this world to be massive, considering there is a small population living here.”, Yaithra started a conversation.

  “In fact, this map is half of the size of this world. Marie-Anne couldn’t get the whole of the entire map because it’s big.”, Lithanya mentioned.

  “So, how are you going to focus on the academy? You’re being an undercover student, Haoran’s plan and now a new case.”

  “Haoran and I are dealing with the same case. The other stuff, I can handle.”

  Yaithra wasn’t convinced at all. “Hopefully, when you get your powers, you can work faster than normal.”, she really hoped.

  Lithanya could feel something weird happening in her body. She wasn’t feeling sick or weak but she just didn’t understand what was going on. She continued walking without thinking about her body feeling weird.

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  The sisters were now on The Golden Snake Island. They were heading to the highest mountain on this mountainous island. They were also walking in a long pathway in between the high mountains.

  As the sisters got further into the island that looked like a really rich island because they could only see massive mansions. Each mansion was in their unique shape and colour. But the one thing Yaithra noticed was that all the buildings were painted in shiny paint that were shining underneath the sunlight. And some of the buildings were made out of strong glass. Everything was looking more enchanting compared to The Academy Island. Even the villages were looking more enchanting and magical.

  Lithanya and Yaithra had arrived at the highest mountain on this island. The back of their necks were hurting while trying to look right at the top.

  “Are we really going up there?”, Yaithra asked, pointing at the mountain.

  “Yes.”, Lithanya answered, then spotted wooden stairs. “And this is how we go right to the top.”, she walked up the stairs.

  Yaithra wasn’t confident in going right on the top because she was afraid of heights. Which was ironic considering that she lived on a continent that was also mountains and the palace was placed on the mountains.

  Lithanya had arrived on the top of the mountain and waited for Yaithra. Yaithra popped her face to see if there were fences by the edges.

  “I’m not coming up.”, she moaned.

  Lithanya rolled her eyes. “Come on, it’s not that bad. You can hold my hand if you’re really that scared.”, she offered.

  This was one of the rare times they would be holding hands if they were scared of something. Yaithra managed to get on top of the mountain, immediately holding her sister’s arm instead of her hand. Lithanya continued walking where she could see people digging in the middle of the land.

  “Good afternoon.”, Lithanya tried to catch their attention.

  They immediately stopped what they were doing when they saw her uniform. A young man came forward with a bright smile. “Good afternoon.”

  “I’m Lithanya Manrayar, a student from The Investigator’s Academy. You sent a letter to my headmaster that there had been strange noises and teenagers are disappearing when the noise is happening. I’m here to ask you a few questions about the missing people.”

  “Our children, teenagers, specifically. Every night, three are going missing when a strange sound is happening.”

  “Can you describe the strange sound?”

  He gave a very descriptive explanation. “It sounds like gentle chimes with a smooth flute in the background. In the middle of the sound, a person would start humming a lovely but creepy song. Unfortunately, I can’t tell who was humming, meaning a man or woman.”

  Lithanya nodded. “Do you know the reason for that person targeting teenage…”, she couldn’t say it. “Members.”

  “No, none of our children have done anything wrong.”

  “Were they in the houses before they disappeared?”

  “Yes. They were eating with us before they went to their rooms. They were in their bedrooms before they disappeared.”

  “The windows weren’t opened in the bedrooms or bathrooms.”

  He shook his head. “All the windows were locked and they still haven’t mastered their powers yet because they’re waiting for the right age to enter the academy.”

  Lithanya nodded. “Do you’ve portraits of them in order to search for them?”

  A couple of people walked away and were heading further away. Further away from the field were a couple of enchanted houses.

  The people appeared back in the group and handed her the portraits. “These are their portraits.”

  Lithanya took the portraits and had a quick look. “Thank you. I’ll send you letters if I find anything that leads to their location.”

  “Thank you. My name is Christian.”, he said.

  She nodded then walked back to the stairs. This time, Yaithra was really going to hold Lithanya’s hand the whole time while walking down.

  Finally, they were on the ground safe and sound. Yaithra was shaking a little bit but she would calm down very soon. Lithanya waited for Yaithra to calm down and was also rubbing her poor palm after Yaithra gripped it.

  “Your grips are really painful.”, Lithanya moaned.

  “Miss!”, Christian ran down the stairs and stopped next to Lithanya. “My children worked with this merchant not further away from here. They worked in a black and white mansion, it’s the only mansion in those colours. Maybe he knows more about our children’s disappearance than us because they aren’t at home most of the time.”, he explained.

  Lithanya nodded firmly. “Thank you.”, she appreciated it. Yaithra was feeling much better and calmed down. “Come Yaithra, we’re going to see a merchant.”, Lithanya said and continued walking in the same direction.

  “What? But the break will be over soon.”

  “Shilin said that we can go over it if it's related to the case.”, she answered.

  Yaithra was already tired from all the walking down the stairs. She walked faster to catch up with her sister.

  “While we’re here, can we find a restaurant on the way?”, Yaithra asked, holding her growling stomach.

  “Okay.”, Lithanya answered.

  Yaithra was feeling much better after hearing that she was getting food.

  After having a couple of snacks in a village, Lithanya and Yaithra continued walking to their destination. While Lithanya was looking for the specific mansion, Yaithra was admiring the beautiful, magical and enchanting island. One thing she noticed was that there were mansions also floating on the clouds. Sometimes, she couldn’t believe her eyes that she kept on rubbing to see that everything was real.

  Finally, Lithanya found a mansion that she was looking for. She was standing in front of a beautiful square back and white mansion. A male guard appeared by white and black marbled gates with a straight face.

  “Can I help you, Miss?”, he asked.

  Lithanya glanced at him. “I’m Princess Lithanya Manrayar, a student of The Investigator’s Academy. I’m here to see the owner of this mansion.”

  “May I know your reason to visit?”, he asked firmly in a rough tone.

  “The teenagers that are going missing every night happened to work here. I want to ask the owner a few questions, just to see if he knows anything about their disappearance or anything happened to them before their disappearance.”, she explained descriptively.

  He nodded. “Wait here, let me check if he is available to see you.”, he said and walked to the building.

  Lithanya listened and looked at the buildings that were sitting on the massive clouds. Like Yaithra, Lithanya didn’t expect to be seeing that all.

  “Do you know how we can get up there if we’ve to visit?”, Lithanya asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe we’ll have to fly there.”, Yaithra answered.

  Lithanya liked that answer. The guard appeared. “A servant will escort you to his office.”, a gate opened by itself.

  The sisters walked through the small gap while thanking the guard by nodding. Lithanya didn’t have enough time to admire the massive garden because she was more interested in this case. Yaithra wanted to look at the garden so badly but she couldn’t because she needed to be right behind Lithanya. Plus, she was too scared to be alone in new places.

  Another guard opened the door for Lithanya. She thanked him while walking into the building. But she stopped and waited for Yaithra. Yaithra immediately walked into the building then stood right next to Lithanya.

  A female servant appeared. “Good afternoon, let me escort you to our master’s office.”, she said politely then walked to the stairs.

  The sisters followed behind the servant. Again, they weren’t interested in looking at the interior design because their main focus was on the case right now.

  The servant knocked on the silver and crimson doors. “Come in.”, a man answered.

  She looked at the women. “Mr Norman is happy to see you.”, she smiled.

  “Thank you.”, Lithanya appreciated it then walked into the room.

  Yaithra followed her closely. They were now in the fanciest office they had ever seen. But they lost focus on the office and focused on the man who was standing by the window, further away from them.

  “Good afternoon, I’m Princess Lithanya Manrayar and a student of The Investigator’s Academy. I want to ask you a few questions about the missing teenagers.”, she went straight to the point.

  Norman had his back facing her but he glanced at it with the corner of his eyes. “I heard about it. I’m surprised that the academy acted faster than usual.”

  “How long have these events been going on?”

  “Going almost three days.”

  Lithanya turned to Yaithra. “That’s so ridiculous.”

  “Why didn’t they assign us earlier?”, Yaithra whispered.

  “That’s how they work in the academy. They’re more worried about following the process before turning it into a case.”, he heard their questions. He turned around, revealing his handsome facial features. “What questions do you want to ask?”

  “Before the teenagers left here, did you see them looking suspicious or unusually strange?”

  “No, they were themselves before they disappeared. They have always been really good children.”, he answered firmly.

  She nodded. “Did the other employees notice anything strange about the teenagers?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Do you know the reason for their disappearance?”

  Norman was thinking hard. “It could be out of jealousy because those kids were really good at their jobs. Always finishing deadlines before the actual deadline dates. They were really brilliant at their duties with no complaints. One thing I also noticed was that some older employees were unhappy that I was employing younger people into the business.”, he explained.

  “Can I question all your employees to see if they’ve anything to do with the teenagers’ disappearance?”, she asked politely.

  “You need to send me a letter to let me know when you’ll be questioning them so I can get all of them here. Employees don’t come here everyday.”, he explained steadily.

  She nodded. “May I ask what you’re the owner of?”, she was interested.

  “Platinum mining.”

  She nodded one more time. “Thank you for your time. If you find anything that’s related to the teenagers’ disappearance, please let me know. If I’m not available, my sister Princess Yaithra Manrayar will attend your letter.”, she said and Yaithra smiled.

  He nodded. “Okay. Good afternoon, your majesty.”

  “Good afternoon, Mr Norman.”, the women said together then walked to the doors.

  Norman watched them walk to the doors with no emotions.