When they returned to the secluded Old Dormitory of the Academy, night had deepened, and the silence among the three seemed to take on a tangible weight.
Especially for Huayin, who felt a bone-deep exhaustion she could not shake.
The day’s experience had been a dizzying rollercoaster.
She had finally met the legendary figure she’d long admired, only to discover that the person was a slovenly, lazy silver-haired shut-in.
She’d intended to test her opponent’s strength in battle, but ended up entangled in a deeper mess.
Not only might she have inexplicably gained a child, but her own future marriage now hung in the balance…
All this, mixed with the emptiness that followed the ebb of post-battle adrenaline, left her brain nearly shutting down—leaving only the most primitive desire.
To sleep.
“I’m going to bed,” Huayin waved her hand feebly, not even having the strength to bicker with Ange, and walked straight toward her room.
She didn’t want to think about anything else, only to bury herself in the soft bed and let sleep shield her from the chaos, if only for a while.
“Good night, Huayin,” Ingrid Beltans still maintained her polite composure, though she herself was full of worries.
Ange only nodded silently, watching Huayin’s slightly staggering back.
A complicated emotion flickered in those violet eyes, but in the end, she said nothing.
Huayin pushed open her door; the room was pitch black.
She closed the door behind her and, almost by instinct, fumbled her way toward the bed, just wanting to throw herself onto it and let her consciousness sink into darkness.
However, as her eyes gradually adjusted and outlined the room in the darkness, she suddenly froze.
On the Sofa by the window, at some unknown time, there was now a slender figure, legs elegantly crossed.
In the darkness, only a rough silhouette could be made out, and a wisp of what seemed to emit its own faint glow—emerald green hair.
Huayin’s heart tightened instantly, sleepiness vanishing, replaced by full alert.
Who was this? When did she get in here?
Click.
A soft sound.
Warm, gentle light spilled from the overhead lamp, illuminating the uninvited guest.
It was a woman in a smart OL Suit, exuding both a crisp professionalism and a dangerous air.
She had a cascade of emerald green hair, and eyes of the same color—now glinting with an amused, all-seeing smile—resting on Huayin.
Huayin recognized her almost at once: the Academy’s Chief Strategy Officer, Rita—a woman said to hold authority second only to the Board of Directors, one whom even the Academy Head must defer to.
What was she doing here?
Huayin’s breath caught.
She was about to speak, but her eyes couldn’t help but follow Rita’s gaze—to the hand resting casually on the arm of the Sofa, and to the delicate Wooden Box in her grasp, the one containing the fate-deciding Egg!
Her heart leapt into her throat.
“Huayin! Wait! I—” Ange’s somewhat panicked voice came from outside the door, accompanied by hurried footsteps.
She didn’t even knock before pushing open the door, clearly having rushed over.
But the moment Ange’s eyes met those of the green-haired woman on the Sofa, all her words got stuck in her throat.
The color drained from her face, then rapidly flooded back as an awkward blush.
She opened her mouth, hesitated, then just stood at the doorway like a child caught in the act, frozen.
Seeing this, Huayin instantly understood—so, the high-and-mighty Chief Strategy Officer and her own slovenly teacher had a relationship far more complicated and… intimate than she’d imagined.
Rita’s gaze lingered on Ange’s awkward expression for two seconds, the dangerous smile at her lips deepening a touch.
But she said nothing to Ange; instead, her attention returned to Huayin.
Those emerald eyes were as deep as the darkest lake, carrying a pressure as if she could see through everything.
Huayin felt a chill run up her spine.
She finally understood why outsiders called this woman the “Smiling Tiger”—her smile felt like being stared down by the most poisonous of vipers; it made one’s blood run cold.
“So it seems,” Rita finally spoke, her voice lazy yet magnetic, breaking the suffocating silence.
“Our little Phoenix has gone through quite a lot today.” Her gaze swept over Huayin meaningfully, then flicked to Ange, who looked as if she’d rather sink through the floor.
She gently shook the Wooden Box in her hand, the Egg inside making a faint rolling sound.
“This, I’ll be taking with me for now. When the result comes out, you’ll be notified.”
With that, she rose gracefully and headed for the door.
As she brushed past Ange, she paused, turned her head, and whispered low—just loud enough for the two of them.
“You’ll have to take responsibility, Ange.”
She paused, a glint flickering in her emerald eyes, and her voice rose just enough for Huayin to hear inside the room.
“And besides, since her Special Period has ended this year… I think you can consider asking her to help solve your troublesome Magic Mark problem. After all, in theory, she’s safe now.”
When her words fell, Rita didn’t linger.
Her figure melted into the corridor’s darkness like a shadow, leaving only those earth-shattering words echoing through the room.
Inside and outside the door, Ange and Huayin were like statues under a petrification spell, rigidly staring at each other, pupils quaking.
Rita’s words were like a thunderclap, shattering all pretense between them.
Take responsibility?
Solve the Magic Mark problem?
Already safe…
Huayin’s cheeks instantly burned hotter than her own fire, while Ange’s ears were red to their very tips, mouth open but unable to utter a word.
In that moment, the air seemed to freeze completely.