Chapter 99: Confession, Meow?

Ye Xinglan was very angry now, but it wasn’t directed at Xiaoxi—it was at herself.

Originally, Ye Xinglan had planned to head straight home, but the commotion caused by the strange person’s anomaly made her unable to resist turning back.

She knew Xiaoxi, as a Magical Girl, would definitely take action; she was worried Xiaoxi might get hurt.

Even though Xiaoxi had already done this kind of thing behind her back… yet in this situation, she still couldn’t help but worry about her!

So when she returned and saw Xiaoxi sitting there in a daze alone, Ye Xinglan’s anger flared uncontrollably.

She didn’t even care to wait until they got home to say anything. She grabbed Xiaoxi’s wrist and dragged her straight into the mall’s fire escape.

The noisy mall sounds were completely cut off by the thick fire escape door. Inside the dim stairwell, Ye Xinglan slammed Xiaoxi against the wall.

“You said you were working today, didn’t you?”

“I… I am working. Didn’t I just finish handling a strange person incident? Are you okay, Xinglan? Are you hurt?”

Ye Xinglan’s unusual behavior made Xiaoxi wonder if she too had been possessed by Black Rose, but just as she was about to check, Ye Xinglan slapped away the hand Xiaoxi had raised toward her neck with a sharp “smack.”

“Still trying to lie to me! You’re calling it ‘working’ when you’re out with another woman?”

Ye Xinglan’s phone cracked against Xiaoxi’s face, pictures flashing across the screen: Xiaoxi eating with Xingge, Xiaoxi and Muxingge picking out gifts at a jewelry store… all snapped by Ye Xinglan.

“Explain to me what the two of you were doing!”

Now Xiaoxi understood why Ye Xinglan’s reaction was so intense. Hah, it was a misunderstanding about her relationship with Muxingge.

She thought it was no big deal; as long as she explained it clearly, Ye Xinglan wasn’t the unreasonable type.

“Hah, Xinglan, it’s not what you think. Muxingge and I are just—”

Xiaoxi opened her mouth, but after trying twice, no words would come out. It was as if she’d been muted.

It was the Magic Contract! Xiaoxi immediately realized that the contract forbade her from revealing the real reason she was with Muxingge.

But why did it have to restrict her at this very moment? This was killing her!

Seeing Xiaoxi open her mouth repeatedly but fail to say a single word, Ye Xinglan’s expression darkened even more.

“Not even one excuse after all this time, huh?”

“Listen, Xinglan, although it looks like Muxingge and I are a bit close, it’s really not what you think!”

“All you can say are meaningless words like that. You think you can fool me in a situation like this?” Ye Xinglan lowered her head, “I even heard what you said to her outside the jewelry store… that you liked her.”

Xiaoxi admitted what she said sounded like the cliché excuse a scumbag gives when caught, but it wasn’t that she didn’t want to explain.

She simply couldn’t say it! Besides, when had she ever said anything like that to Muxingge?

Xiaoxi changed her approach. The contract only prevented her from telling the truth; she could lie to keep Ye Xinglan calm, then leave the rest to Muxingge to explain!

“Actually, it’s like this, Xinglan, Muxingge and I went to the jewelry store because…”

The words got stuck again. Xiaoxi was stunned. She thought the Magic Contract’s restriction was a bit flawed—any explanation involving the reason she went out with Muxingge was impossible to say!

But from Ye Xinglan’s perspective, Xiaoxi was clearly caught red-handed, stammering and unable to say a word.

Could she even lie to herself? Even if she said her words outside the jewelry store were just roleplay rehearsals simulating a confession to herself, Xiaoxi wasn’t even willing to make that excuse?

“That’s enough!”

Ye Xinglan pressed Xiaoxi firmly against the wall. In the dim fire escape, a faint crimson glimmer flickered in Ye Xinglan’s eyes—signs of her losing control over her emotions.

“Xiaoxi, I can accept if you don’t like me, or if there’s someone else you like. But I can’t accept you lying to me like this!”

“If you already have someone you like, I won’t force you. You must find this fake relationship with me annoying, right? You don’t have to ever admit I’m your girlfriend to anyone again!”

A faint unstable magical energy flickered around Ye Xinglan.

As the Blood Moon Witch, when emotions ran too high, she would sometimes lose control of her magic, but now Ye Xinglan no longer cared about such things.

“All I want today is for you to tell me one honest sentence—what exactly is our relationship right now?”

Xiaoxi had just started to speak when the fire escape door suddenly burst open. Seeing the two of them inside, Shandie froze on the spot.

“T-Tian, Sirius?”

Shandie was there to escape. Last time Black Rose found out about her galgame-style gift-giving attempts to raise affection, she laughed so hard she was furious, which led to today’s situation.

Originally, the plan was for Black Rose to disguise herself as a rampaging strange person causing trouble in the mall.

When Muxingge struggled against the strange person, Shandie would “just happen to pass by and heroically step in,” saving the hostage after suffering serious injuries.

That was the proper way to raise affection. That was how the script was supposed to go… but who expected the strange person to be taken care of before Shandie even appeared? The plan had to be scrapped.

To avoid drawing attention, Shandie chose the quiet fire escape to escape, but never expected to open the door and find Sirius blocking her way.

Shandie’s emotions were unsettled.

Wasn’t Sirius supposed to be guarding the scene and waiting for the Logistics Department? Why would she suddenly abandon her post and come so far from the incident?

Shandie didn’t believe Sirius would come here without reason… Could it be that Sirius found something suspicious and deliberately came to block her?

“What a coincidence. Didn’t expect to see you here… Is this your girlfriend?”

Shandie casually tried to break the ice with a question, but in truth, she was ready to fight.

“She… I…”

“She is… my girlfriend.” Xiaoxi tightened her grip on Ye Xinglan’s hand. Both their faces flushed with shyness at that moment.

Shandie: “???”

What the hell was going on now?

She just randomly threw out a topic. Was that a hard question? Why did it take so long for them to answer?

And it’s just a girlfriend—what’s so hard to say? Clearly, they were hiding something.

Now Shandie was even more suspicious. She cautiously started walking down the stairs step by step, prepared for the two to suddenly attack her.

“Um, well, I’ll be going now then, won’t disturb you two anymore.”

Shandie didn’t dare attack first and only sped down the stairs after disappearing from their sight.

Sirius really couldn’t be underestimated. Even the S-Rank Muxingge hadn’t noticed anything wrong, but she had sensed something and came to the fire escape to block people!

What Shandie didn’t know was that as soon as she left, the atmosphere between the two instantly became awkward and intimate.

Although Xiaoxi hadn’t officially answered Ye Xinglan’s earlier question… it seemed like it wasn’t needed anymore.

“Xinglan, um… uh uh…”

Xiaoxi wanted to say something to fix this awkward confession, but before she could finish, Ye Xinglan pressed her against the wall again, silencing her with soft lips.

“Xiaoxi? Are you here? The Logistics Department is here. Where did you run off to…”

The fire escape door opened again and quickly slammed shut with a “bang.” Muxingge slapped herself twice in frustration—damn it, how could she have guessed that Xiaoxi had disappeared here to kiss her girlfriend!

“Sorry to interrupt you. I’ll handle the Logistics Department. You two carry on.”

Muxingge was tactful and wanted to leave immediately, but Xiaoxi’s eyes lit up as if she had found a lifeline.

“Don’t go! Senior Muxingge, if you don’t help explain this soon, I’m really doomed!”

……

After a while, having understood the full story, Muxingge gave a concise explanation.

“…That’s basically it. Sorry for causing this misunderstanding. I never expected the Magic Contract to cause such a mix-up.”

Muxingge found it a bit amusing. How did such a low-probability event happen to Xiaoxi? Suddenly, this misunderstanding seemed enough to atone for her sins of writing School Romance Novels.

“Seems the Magic Contract not personally released still has some flaws. Whatever, let’s just 解除 (解除 =解除 means “lift” or “remove”) the Magic Contract. I’m sure you won’t dare go around spilling secrets.”

Ye Xinglan finally calmed down. She believed Muxingge’s explanation.

After all, she had fought the S-Class Magical Girl Judgment Scales who wielded the Magic Contract ability and knew it was real.

Who would’ve thought this would turn into a Spring Festival Gala-level comedy of errors? In the end, everyone was happy and ate dumplings together.

The only regret Ye Xinglan had was that she originally wanted to confess to Xiaoxi with some ceremony but ended up confirming their relationship in this way…

Looking at the couple holding hands, Muxingge suddenly spoke up after a brief silence.

“But the thing about you writing my School Romance Novels isn’t totally over yet,” Muxingge stared deeply into Xiaoxi’s eyes, “You still owe me a proper apology. Remember? We agreed on that.”

“Go get a bouquet from that flower shop over there, then apologize to me properly, and we’ll call this settled. Got it?”

“No, no problem, Senior Muxingge!” Xiaoxi understood immediately and dashed to the flower shop. Thankfully, the earlier fight hadn’t affected it.

Before long, Xiaoxi returned holding a large bouquet. Muxingge nodded in satisfaction and then looked over at Ye Xinglan.

“Miss Ye Xinglan, could you help me record a video with your phone?”

“Sure. I need this one to swear she’ll never write such School Romance Novels again when she apologizes. The video will be evidence. Make sure Xiaoxi’s fully in the frame or I’m afraid she won’t admit it.”

“Oh, of course~”

Ye Xinglan, still lost in the pink bubble of having confirmed their relationship with Xiaoxi, nodded and took out her phone.

Pointing the camera at Xiaoxi, after a “beep,” the recording started. Xiaoxi coughed nervously twice, took a few steps holding the flowers, then suddenly stopped in front of Ye Xinglan.

“My shoelace seems to have come undone. Xinglan, can you hold the flowers for me while I tie it?”

Ye Xinglan didn’t think twice. She took the bouquet and, through the phone’s camera, watched Xiaoxi slowly crouch down before her… The next second, a moon-shaped Ring was held up in front of the lens.

“Xinglan, I like you. Will you be with me?”

Xiaoxi gazed softly into Ye Xinglan’s eyes.

A deafening boom exploded in Ye Xinglan’s mind. The Blood Moon Witch, known for her ruthless heart on the battlefield, was completely blank at this moment.