Dozens of meters beneath the domed ceiling, the voices of three young people were faint yet distinct. The ambient light in the hall resembled the soft glow of dusk, casting a shimmering golden filter over their figures.
"Karen, I am truly very sorry. I still want to go with Sophia."
Ainuoer had finally made up his mind, offering Karen a sincere apology.
The way he bowed his head made it utterly impossible to imagine he was a prince.
Karen stared at him with wide eyes, looking as if she couldn't believe Ainuoer would go back on his word at the last minute.
Then she shrank back slightly, letting out a self-deprecating, somewhat relieved smile.
"I knew it... Your Highness must secretly despise me, don't you?"
Karen's voice gradually choked up. Looking exceptionally wounded, she forced a smile through her brimming tears. "A humble girl of my background would never have had the chance to meet someone like Your Highness if not for good luck."
"No, absolutely not!"
Panicking at Karen's reaction, Ainuoer was completely at a loss as to how to explain himself to a girl who seemed ready to shatter at the slightest touch.
Guilt threatened to drown him.
Had he made the wrong judgment again?
He didn't know why, but lately, every time he had to make a choice, whatever he picked seemed to be wrong.
Ainuoer looked toward Lanqi as if pleading for help.
*Best friend, save me!*
However...
At this moment, even Lanqi's expression was no longer calm and unhurried. Instead, he grew solemn as he fixed his gaze on Karen.
Up on the library's sixth floor, Sophia struck the stone balustrade in fury.
"Here she goes again! I've caught on to her trick of retreating to advance, but this time she's retreated all the way to rock bottom, making it look like we in the Hutton Kingdom are bullying her with our status!" Sophia ground out through gritted teeth.
Last time, right outside the dean's office in the School of Sages' main building, Karen had pulled this exact stunt, spinning Ainuoer around her little finger.
Sophia knew that even if Ainuoer caught on and realized Karen was a scheming manipulator, he would still prioritize the bigger picture and take Karen's side.
Back then, Sophia had been so anxious and frustrated that she cried and fled in defeat, after which she bumbled her way over to the Old Liberal Arts Building and bumped into the student council president and vice president passing by.
Right now, Karen had given up on directly swaying the prince's words.
Yet, faced with the prince breaking his promise, she could play defense into offense—backing against the wall and occupying the underdog position.
Consequently, whatever Ainuoer or Lanqi said next would sound like they were bullying and envying a poor girl from the Aloran Kingdom.
Seeing Lanqi's expression turn grave downstairs, Sophia knew things were going south.
Lanqi was probably feeling the pressure too, helpless against Karen!
"Is that all...?"
Hyperion gazed downstairs with a calm expression, seemingly not thinking Lanqi was facing any difficulty whatsoever.
Her reaction left Sophia thoroughly astounded.
*Xiubao, when did you turn out like this?!*
*Do you have any idea that you look like a high-level wicked woman right now?!*
Amid Sophia's astonishment, she looked back down.
On the immense circular carpet at the center of the ground-floor plaza, the young man—wearing a solemn expression yet possessing friendly eyes, his emerald-green gaze deep as the night sky—seemed to serve as a bridge among the three.
"His Highness Ainuoer is the most approachable prince, beloved by the citizens of the royal capital and his fellow students alike. Even toward a commoner like me, he treats me as a brother. So please, Karen, do not misunderstand His Highness any longer," Lanqi said sincerely to Karen.
He went out of his way to defend Ainuoer. Hearing this, Ainuoer looked at Lanqi with immense gratitude and delight; had the atmosphere not been weighed down so heavily by Karen, he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from rushing over to hug Lanqi.
"Furthermore, Karen, even though you come from commoner origins, you are extraordinarily talented. I believe the royal family of any country would recognize your potential and cherish you as a precious treasure. So please, do not belittle yourself any longer," Lanqi continued to Karen.
His words were not merely a response; more often than not, they felt like an enlightenment, offering the young people a fresh perspective to help them see the complexity and beauty of the world more clearly.
"..."
Karen fell silent for a moment, unable to utter a single word for quite some time.
What was this feeling of being called into the headmaster's office for a counseling session...?
At the edge of the sixth-floor gallery, Sophia had an epiphany.
*!!*
At a time like this, there was no need to indulge Karen's self-deprecating line of thought; the right move was to defend Ainuoer.
And on top of that, showering Karen with praise so gently that she couldn't refute it would completely stump her!
Using her binoculars, Sophia observed Ainuoer's current expression in the distance. She couldn't begin to imagine how utterly bewitched Ainuoer would be by Lanqi if Lanqi were a girl—or if Ainuoer were a girl...
Wait.
Then why didn't Lanqi have a girlfriend yet?
Sophia could only look toward Hyperion in confusion.
Besides, Sophia was also starting to wonder: was Lanqi playing chess against Karen, or was he truly this pure-hearted, transparent, and effortlessly sincere by nature?
"Don't look at me. There are too many dualities in him; I can't explain it either..." Hyperion closed her eyes and spoke, having noticed Sophia's puzzled look.
As the most authoritative Lanqiologist of their time, she was still researching and exploring.
"...I wish you luck in figuring him out soon."
Sophia felt more and more that the woman with the best chance of handling Lanqi was Hyperion.
After all, there were only two ways to master an anomalous creature like Lanqi:
Either understand Lanqi, or conquer Lanqi.
Setting aside the feasibility of the 'conquering Lanqi' path for now, when it came to 'understanding Lanqi,' no woman could surpass Hyperion.
Still, Hyperion currently didn't seem to have any romantic inclinations whatsoever.
Then again, she didn't have any competition at all, so naturally she wouldn't give it much thought.
Of course, as Sophia saw it, with Lanqi's godlike abilities, it was utterly impossible for him to get caught up in a romantic vortex, let alone slip up and trigger a nuclear-grade love triangle hellscape.
...
The ground-floor hall lapsed back into silence. Along the perimeter, shimmering stained-glass flooring wove into a colorful tapestry, each small tile seemingly reflecting a tale of history.
Karen's lowered gaze drifted endlessly across those colors.
She had already realized it.
The man before her was no ordinary character.
Back during that last duel, Adams ending up frozen and hospitalized had stirred up much controversy. In truth, Lanqi bore no responsibility at all: Adams had chosen the terms of the contest himself, and Lanqi had offered all sorts of kind advice, doing every good deed he possibly could. It was Adams who refused to believe him.
Now that they had met in person, even Karen couldn't fathom whether this black-haired, green-eyed fellow was deliberately meddling or genuinely as warm as sunshine, filled with goodwill toward everyone.
Still, she had never feared anyone.
*Fine. If you want to play, I'll play with you to the end.*
She glanced at Lanqi, a hint of seriousness creeping into her emerald pupils.
Chapter 212