Sunlight streamed in through the classroom window, lighting up tiny specks of dust floating in the air. The white curtains by the window swayed gently in the breeze.
Felyn took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He could feel his classmates whispering around him, those mixed emotions in their gazes all directed at him.
Normally, people would gossip behind his back, but at least they wouldn’t look at him like this.
Was there some brand-new version of a rumor going around again?
Felyn closed his notebook and stretched.
He had spent a satisfying afternoon studying.
In the past, he had to spend time every day thinking of new ways to please Viloti.
Now he only needed to focus on his studies.
"Felyn."
Felyn turned his head and saw a classmate with a gloomy face standing behind him.
Was this going to be some sort of school bullying?
"Viloti is looking for you."
The moment those words left his mouth, the classroom fell completely silent.
Who didn’t know that Felyn was Viloti’s hopeless simp?
The things Felyn had done for Viloti could take three whole days and nights to list.
But wasn’t Viloti the aloof campus goddess? Most guys didn’t even dare talk to her.
And she came to find Felyn?
Felyn tilted his head and sure enough saw a head of unmistakable pink hair standing at the door.
Like a cherry blossom tree radiating the scent of summer in the afternoon light.
"Viloti? What is it?"
Felyn ignored the stares and walked to the door.
"To give you some books."
Viloti took two notebooks out of her bag and held them out to Felyn with both hands.
"Books? What for?"
"I want you to get into the Royal Capital School."
Felyn froze. He could see a faint look of anticipation in Viloti’s eyes.
He couldn’t be too involved with her.
Felyn reached out to push the notebooks back.
But Viloti stubbornly held them out, putting in all her strength to hand them over.
Just as they were tugging back and forth, a shout rang out.
"What are you two doing!"
Both of them looked toward the corner.
That familiar golden hair appeared once more before them.
Linda was furious.
The jerk was back.
And now he was trying to give Viloti books?
Did he think girls were that easy?
Felyn looked at the approaching Linda and sighed in his heart.
This young lady had been strangely hostile toward him since morning.
Not that it was completely unfounded.
To use Linda to stall Adelina at the banquet, Felyn had investigated her background.
This pure-hearted girl had just lost 100,000 crowns in an online romance scam.
She now hated lying men to the core.
Back at Adelina’s house, Felyn had seen Linda’s chat logs with her so-called boyfriend.
He immediately saw that her online lover was actually some middle-aged woman pretending to be a shy young man.
Linda was a hopeless romantic fool.
So seeing Felyn with Viloti probably triggered memories of her own deception.
"Viloti, is this man harassing you again?"
Linda strode to Viloti’s side, gently pulled her into a protective hug, and separated her from Felyn.
The notebook in her hand was flung at Felyn.
"You’re actually giving Viloti study notes? Do you even know your own grades? Couldn’t you think of a better gift?"
Viloti was about to say something, but seeing the notebook end up in Felyn’s hands through that weird sequence of events made her lips curve ever so slightly.
"Linda, I didn’t—I wasn’t—"
"Still trying to talk your way out? Viloti, let’s go. Don’t talk to liars like him. Men are just the worst!"
Linda tried to drag Viloti away by the hand.
But Viloti stayed rooted to the spot.
No matter how she pulled, she wouldn’t move.
She turned to look and saw Viloti staring at her with a cold gaze.
"Don’t talk about Felyn like that."
The air instantly froze.
The students who had been crowding at the windows, watching like it was a show, suddenly wished they hadn’t heard those words.
Their once-distant, unapproachable Viloti had just defended her simp Felyn.
Their worldview collapsed.
Linda stood still, still holding Viloti’s hand.
"Vi...Viloti?" Linda’s voice trembled. Her already romance-clueless brain simply couldn’t process what was happening.
"He’s Felyn, you know. That annoying simp of yours..."
Linda tried to remind her, but her voice only got smaller and smaller.
"Felyn is a good person. Don’t say that about him."
Viloti’s heart was pounding faster and faster. She wasn’t used to having so many people’s eyes on her.
Her cheeks began to flush slightly, like cherry blossoms blooming on her skin.
Linda slowly let go of her hand, feeling like the world had hurt her all over again.
What even happened between these two?
Wasn’t Felyn just some loser chasing Viloti?
Did he somehow win her over?
No no no, that couldn’t be.
But… but…
But the way Viloti was defending him—what else could it be but catching feelings?
Linda wanted to scream and clutch her head.
She had just wanted to save Viloti.
She didn’t expect to be force-fed dog food instead.
The school bell rang at the worst possible time.
"What are you all still doing here?"
Sofia, the patrolling grade teacher, saw the crowd at the classroom door.
And why were people from other classes peeking over too?
At the sound of the teacher’s voice, the students scattered.
When she saw Felyn and Viloti at the center of it all, Sofia wasn’t even surprised.
Viloti taking the initiative to find Felyn? That was headline-worthy news.
If it were up to Sofia, she’d gather the whole school and give a three-day seminar on this incident.
"Teacher Sofia."
Sofia saw Linda walk toward her like a ghost and instinctively pulled her into a hug.
I understand. I really do.
I looked like that just now too.
Felyn stiffly walked back to his seat in the classroom. He didn’t even notice he was still holding Viloti’s notebook, and casually shoved it into his bag.
He hadn’t expected Viloti to defend him in front of everyone.
She was just a clueless fool with zero experience in romance or socializing.
From Felyn’s perspective, she probably just thought he looked pitiful, getting yelled at by Linda, so she stood up for him.
But from everyone else’s perspective, wasn’t this exactly like a plot twist in a wish-fulfillment novel?
Even though he couldn’t see it with his own eyes, Felyn could already feel that moment spreading through the entire academy, through countless mouths and countless notes.
If Lord Silafiel found out his daughter was at the center of such rumors, Felyn would be doomed.
He doodled aimlessly on his paper.
Come to think of it, if he messed up in front of Daiyi’s father, he’d also be doomed.
Was he just cursed this year when it came to father figures?
On the surface, nothing seemed to happen at school in the days that followed, but under the surface, waves were brewing.
Felyn, under countless gazes, walked out of the school alone with his bag.
But he didn’t notice the soft pink shadow following not far behind.
Viloti watched his silhouette gradually blend into the sunset.
She still hadn’t told Felyn she was going to his house to help him with his studies after school.
She had to hurry up and talk to him.
Otherwise, if she waited too long and he got home, it would be rude to speak up then.
(End of Chapter)