At this moment, on the sixth floor of the School of Sages' Ancient Tower Library, on an upper gallery merely meters below the dome, leaning over the balustrade afforded an effortless view of the entire ground floor central hall.
Anyone with sharp enough eyes could spot three figures standing in the central circular plaza.
Furthermore, with the aid of a magic tool positioned beforehand on a table near the plaza's perimeter, their conversation could be heard clearly.
Hyperion and Sophia had lightly disguised themselves today, arriving early by the stone railing on the sixth floor. They held books in their hands while watching the ground floor from afar.
According to Lanqi, this was a practical lesson.
As Karen unleashed her manipulative rhetoric, Sophia was supposed to observe carefully and reflect on how to respond properly.
Initially, Sophia had felt somewhat uneasy, worried that Lanqi wouldn't be able to handle a green-tea manipulator like Karen if he took the field himself.
Yet before Lanqi and Karen could even exchange many words, simply seeing Karen suffer an opening setback made Sophia giggle in gloating amusement.
"Sophia, you..."
Hyperion, who had only come along to accompany her, remembered that back at the Card Makers Association, Sophia had been the one standing in Karen's current position.
Now, far from having painful memories stirred, Sophia was watching with relish—leaving Hyperion deeply concerned about her friend's mental state.
Just how had she evolved from being unable to bear seeing Ainuoer close to Lanqi to actively savoring this spectacle...?
Hyperion could never truly feel at ease leaving Lanqi out of her sight for too long anyway. After finishing breakfast with Miss Tata this morning, she had asked Miss Tata to drop her off at the academy and pick her up in the evening.
The two of them continued to watch the situation on the ground floor plaza in secret.
Lanqi appeared both helpless at Ainuoer's warm familiarity and disinclined to push him away, simply letting him have his fun.
He waited patiently through Ainuoer's long, self-absorbed chatter, listening attentively.
"In any case, I'm truly thrilled to see you today! Whenever you're free, I must bring you to the royal palace to see the famous paintings in my collection and hear your thoughts on them."
Ainuoer clapped Lanqi on the shoulder as he spoke.
Finally, during a pause in Ainuoer's chatter, Lanqi smiled, looked into Ainuoer's eyes, and said:
"Actually, Prince Ainuoer, I was quite surprised to see you today as well. I heard from Hyperion that Sophia had planned long ago to invite you to view the Original Slate together. If everything had gone smoothly, she would have requested Dean Loren's trial once she reached the third year. Unfortunately..."
At this point, Lanqi lowered his eyes with a look of deep regret, as though sensing it would be improper to say more.
"...Is that true?"
"You can ask Sophia yourself."
The moment Ainuoer heard Lanqi's certain reply, the smile on his face faded, replaced by profound self-reproach.
"..."
Ainuoer fell into acute inner conflict.
In his heart, he truly wanted to go with Sophia. But having already promised Karen, he could hardly back out now in good conscience—especially since, as a prince, breaking a promise was out of the question.
"Prince Ainuoer, I overstepped..."
Noticing Ainuoer's state, Karen spoke with an anxious tone.
"I finally understand why Sophia was so angry that day. It was all my fault after all..."
Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke.
This left Ainuoer even more tongue-tied.
Karen subtly glanced at Lanqi out of the corner of her eye.
She couldn't tell whether this kid was deliberately stirring up trouble or had brought up Sophia purely by chance.
Yet after a swift analysis, if this Lanqi were truly one of her kind, he would normally exploit his intellect and charm to make others fall for him, rather than selflessly playing matchmaker for someone else.
That would be a contradiction between thought and action. After all, what sinister schemer spent all day doing nothing but good deeds to accumulate virtue? If someone could genuinely keep that up, they could practically be called a good person.
So in all likelihood, the brat was just naturally infuriating.
Not that it mattered.
No matter what Ainuoer and Lanqi said, she had ways to make Ainuoer stay with her today out of pity, and then step by step, tear him and Sophia apart completely.
Just as Ainuoer found himself caught in a deeper bind, looking at Karen's pitiful gaze and feeling unable to hurt her—
"I'm sorry. As your best friend, I won't put you in an awkward spot. Just follow your heart."
Lanqi spoke from the side with immense guilt.
His eyes looked as though he genuinely shared every ounce of Ainuoer's pain.
"Lanqi..."
Ainuoer looked at Lanqi with heartfelt emotion.
"Ai—"
Karen opened her mouth to speak, but Lanqi's words effectively stopped her throat. Her expression shifted several times, yet she couldn't string together a single suitable retort.
On the sixth floor of the Ancient Tower Library, Sophia and Hyperion leaned over the stone railing, looking down.
"Why did Karen stop talking?" Sophia asked Hyperion in bewilderment.
Previously, whenever Karen was with her and Ainuoer and Ainuoer was on the verge of making a choice, Karen would retreat in order to advance, putting on a pitiful act. Sophia had witnessed it multiple times.
Unable to prove Karen was faking, Sophia had been forced to swallow her grievances time and again.
Yet Lanqi's response to the same situation seemed utterly ordinary in Sophia's eyes.
And yet, the result was that Karen was struck dumb!
Sophia couldn't fathom the secret behind it at all. It wasn't as if Lanqi could have cast a Mute spell on her in a setting like this, could he?
Hyperion remained silent for a moment.
Her feelings appeared somewhat complicated.
"...What Lanqi actually meant was: 'All you girls do is fight over Prince Ainuoer, while I'm the only one who truly cares about him.'"
Hyperion finally shook her head, translating Lanqi's words for Sophia.
When every woman's intentions were an inscrutable riddle that Ainuoer couldn't understand, only his best friend Lanqi was able to understand him in return.
Once Lanqi said that, Karen realized that anything further from her would only make her look selfishly demanding and pressuring toward the prince.
"!"
Sophia had an epiphany, then looked at Hyperion with a conflicted expression.
"Why can you understand Lanqi's words?"
Having grown up together since childhood, Sophia knew Hyperion's character well and firmly believed she was an exceptionally good girl.
"Yeah... why can I understand it...?"
Hyperion stood in a daze, looking at Sophia while fighting back tears.
After spending so much time around Lanqi, she was gradually learning to read his mind too.
Wasn't that a form of mutation in its own right?
Her human citizenship...
Chapter 211