In the lounge area of the student council room, a dark wooden coffee table stood quietly.
President Monaster rose leisurely, walked over to the counter on the other side of the room, and returned shortly after with a tray and porcelain cups, pouring two cups of cranberry tea for Lanqi and Hyperion.
Ever since Vice President Asna graduated and became the head chef at Boss Cat's Restaurant, the tasks their senior had routinely handled in the student council room had fallen into the president's daily routine.
"Regarding your clothes, make sure you only wash, dry, and put them away when Loren isn't home. Under no circumstances let him discover women's clothing in the house."
"Also, take special care: [Polymorph: Human] has a twenty-four-hour cooldown. Do not casually undo the transformation at his place, or you might not be able to change back right away. You'd either have to face him in your combat armor, or he'd catch sight of a girl appearing in his house."
Lanqi continued giving guidance to Florence.
"Furthermore, even if Loren feels completely down or suffers a crushing blow one day, don't go hugging a pillow into his room to keep him company and chat, and whatever you do, don't end up falling asleep beside him while talking."
*Cough.*
Hyperion took a sip or two from her teacup and nearly choked.
Still, seeing that the president had no objections, she could hardly say anything.
After all, how to choose was entirely up to Miss Florence's judgment, and their Ikerite Student Council's community service never interfered with a client's own wishes.
"Lanqi, I've committed it all to memory. Thank you," Florence said gratefully.
"Don't mention it. Regarding this request involving you and Dean Loren, I'll see it through to the end. Feel free to come to me whenever you have questions," Lanqi replied with bright, earnest eyes, practically radiating a "dedicated to your service" posture.
"Then I leave it in your hands!"
Florence nodded repeatedly.
She lowered her head in thought, and when she looked up again, her gaze fell upon Hyperion sitting on the sofa across from her.
"Uh, I actually have a small girl-talk question I'd like to ask Hyperion," Florence murmured, fixing her eyes on Hyperion.
"I'll head downstairs to find Lanfu. She's in Professor Borao's experimental workshop down below; it's about time I called her back," Lanqi promptly stood up, resting one hand on the back of the sofa as he smiled.
At this distance, he could clearly sense Lanfu's coordinates. It was high time to stop her from studying any further—no more intense grinding allowed.
"Hyperion, I'll wait for you downstairs in a bit."
"Oh, all right."
"I'm heading out too. Sister, when you leave, just make sure to close the room door."
Monaster waved his hand as well, walking out alongside Lanqi.
The voices of the two men outside the student council room gradually faded into the distance until silence settled in.
A rich, sweet-and-sour aroma drifted from the cranberry tea in the porcelain cups, filling the room and instilling a sense of tranquility.
"Hyperion, you and Lanqi have such a wonderful relationship. You can open up your hearts to each other and interact so easily," Florence sighed wistfully.
Her usually vibrant eyes were uncharacteristically tinged with a touch of envy toward Hyperion and worry for herself.
"Miss Florence, is it really impossible to drop the disguise and go see Dean Loren as you are?"
Hyperion could roughly understand Florence's sentiment. She had long been curious why Florence was so unwilling to let Loren know the truth.
"Monaster and I were born into a prestigious martial family in the Canberra Kingdom on the western side of the Southern Continent. As the eldest daughter and heir to the family, I was raised as the eldest son from childhood. Later, after Monaster was born, Father realized he lacked talent for combat, which solidified his decision to groom me as the next head of the household..."
Florence gazed out the window of the student council room. Hyperion could only see her profile, unable to read the look in her eyes.
"So when I first met Loren, we were both young on the battlefield, and our thoughts were pure and simple: survive at all costs.
"Before we knew it, we had gone through life-and-death situations together time and again, becoming friends who wouldn't think twice about entrusting our lives to each other."
Having explained up to this point, Florence didn't delve further into the past. She believed anyone who could understand would understand.
It was like wearing a mask for so long that it could no longer be taken off.
"So that's how it is," Hyperion nodded.
She felt that if she had disguised herself as a boy when she first met Lanqi and gone through everything together to become close friends, she probably would never have let Lanqi find out she was actually a girl in this lifetime. She couldn't say whether it would be "unable to," "unwilling to," or "afraid to"—none of those words quite captured how she felt.
"Miss Florence, is there anything I can help you with?"
Hyperion stood up, crossed over to sit beside Florence on her side of the sofa, and asked gently.
She felt a strong urge to help Florence—not just because they were both clergy who worshipped the Goddess, nor simply because the president and the others in the student council had always looked after her. She purely and simply wanted to help the woman before her.
"Hyperion..."
As if feeling Hyperion's genuine goodwill, Florence looked at her with touched emotion.
"It's... it's just..."
Yet when it actually came to voicing her request, she seemed at a loss for words.
"The truth is, I promised Loren we'd hang out together next time. Even though he doesn't know I'm a girl, when I really think about it, this is my very first time going on a date with a man. I... I'm a bit lost on what to do."
Florence finally closed her eyes and blurted out the words that filled her with such embarrassment and shyness.
"Uh..."
Hyperion froze in surprise upon hearing that.
In truth, she had zero dating experience herself—unless walking to and from school every day with Lanqi, strolling around and chatting, counted as dating. If it did, then she had arguably been on countless dates.
"I can hardly ask a guy for help with something like this, and Monaster told me you're very dependable. Could I trouble you to give me some dating guidance?" Florence pleaded.
"Next time?" Hyperion snapped back to her senses and asked.
"Yes. Essentially, teach me how to interact with a close male friend on a date, and give me a heads-up if I do something wrong."
Florence didn't know when Loren would be free next—maybe in a month or two, maybe half a year—but he had promised that it would definitely happen next time.
Hyperion, who had felt a bit flustered at first, seemed to catch the key phrase and suddenly saw the light.
"No problem! Leave it to me. I'll teach you how to face off against a close male friend on a date," Hyperion said confidently, balling her hands into fists.
"Thank you, Hyperion!"
"It's nothing, Sister Florence!"
The two hit it off immediately, exchanged contact methods via communication magic, and beamed as they clinked their teacups together and began to chat away.
Chapter 641