The Story of Headmaster Lan's Scandal

The brief halftime intermission quickly drew to a close amid the feverish excitement of the Golden Bee Amusement Park. Not even commercial advertisements could dampen the audience's enthusiasm. No one could have predicted that tonight's rare grand opening of Love Obstacle Corridor Academy Season 2 would feature a couple who spoke with such explosive, jaw-dropping audacity. As night deepened, spectators not only lingered under the crystal projection screens hanging before the attraction, but even the surrounding open-air restaurants, lounge areas, and the actual theater seating where the Shadow World was hosted became completely packed, with tourists craning their necks from the aisles. The magical screen illuminated once more. The familiar music classroom sliced through the night sky, and the broadcast resumed. "Hello, everyone! Love Obstacle Corridor Academy is back!" "According to our latest update, a challenger played an Assistance Card during halftime!" "Therefore, for Rounds 4 and 5, we will have a guest assistant!" The bumblebee emcee, having monopolized the entire display, announced cheerily before shifting aside so everyone could see the Shadow World again. This time, Lanqi and Minier were no longer the only figures in that pure, heavenly music classroom. Beside Lanqi, in what had previously been an empty seat, sat an eye-catching new arrival. The silver-haired girl wore a matching school uniform in the same color palette as theirs, complete with a black ribbon bow at her collar. She looked just like a cherished, pretty transfer student from the class next door. She sat primly beside Lanqi, her hands resting obediently on her knees. Her eyes were filled with pure, innocent bewilderment as she glanced at Lanqi beside her, then at Minier further away, looking like a little lamb that had wandered into a wolf pack. Just moments ago, she had been contacted by the staff of Love Obstacle Corridor Academy, informing her that Minier had used an item card to summon her as an assistant. *Whatever. Free VIP seats, after all.* And so, completely clueless about the situation, Iphatia had ended up here in a daze. Out in the spectator stands, the audience erupted into a buzzing frenzy the moment Iphatia appeared on-screen. "Looks like all three of them know each other!" "The new girl seems so sweet, chatting and smiling with both of them." "Wait, why does the guy have such a bizarre expression?" "Something tells me their relationship is pretty complicated!" People leaned in, murmuring excitedly with bright eyes. First they had looked like an older sister and younger brother, and now another girl had joined them. Didn't this look an awful lot like a childhood friend trio? Perched atop Antanas's head, Boss Cat listened to the idle chatter of the crowd. These people were thinking far too simply. This wasn't some twisted love triangle among childhood friends; this was clearly a cage tailor-made for Lanqi. Its gaze returned to the Shadow World. Having been summoned, Iphatia quickly adopted an attitude of taking things as they came. She turned sideways, ready to listen to the two read their lines for the new round. Lanqi's attempt at maintaining his composure was a masterpiece in itself. Though he tried his absolute best to keep a neutral expression, the tight press of his lips and the subtle twitch at the corner of his eye betrayed how deeply unsettled he felt. "Now that's just vicious," Antanas remarked, clutching a handful of popcorn. "With Iphatia sitting right next to him, I have no idea how Lanqi's going to say those demon jokes." She shook her head with a sigh. They had originally assumed Minier would summon Talia to torment Lanqi. Who would have guessed she would pick Iphatia instead? From the moment Iphatia appeared, Antanas saw right through Minier's sinister scheme. If Minier wrote an outrageous demon joke targeting their race or domestic life, forcing Lanqi to recite it in front of the very target of discrimination—the girl who loved calling him 'Big Brother' most—it would be nothing short of a public execution. At this moment, Lanqi was genuinely sitting on pins and needles. He looked at Iphatia, who was gazing back at them with pure, trusting eyes, and then at Minier, whose face practically screamed *You're finished*, utterly at a loss for words. Then, amid the bumblebee emcee's energetic cheers, the second half of Love Obstacle Corridor Academy officially commenced. "Welcome back to Operation Heartbeat, ladies and gentlemen!" "The gentle testing of waters in the first half is over! In the second half, our challengers will face lines aimed straight at the soul!" "In this classroom where only romance exists, can our challengers guard their heart rates, or will a wondrous reaction spark beneath the watchful eyes of their guest assistant?!" Hovering in midair, the bumblebee emcee vigorously waved her baton, leaving a rainbow-pixel trail in her wake. "Are you two ready to weather the storm of Round 4?!" She flew over the stack of blocks at the back of the music classroom and called out to the trio. "No problem," Minier responded with a smile. "I'm ready too," Lanqi answered with equal calm, though as he spoke, his gaze involuntarily drifted sideways to steal a glance at Iphatia—a detail the director's camera did not miss. The one-minute writing period passed swiftly while Iphatia waited quietly. The Coin of Destiny signaling the official start of Round 4 was flipped high into the center of the screen, golden radiance spinning rapidly over the blocks. *Ding.* The coin landed, its crisp ring deciding who would take the initiative. This time, the face showing was Minier's avatar. Minier won. Lanqi would speak first. Taking a deep breath, Lanqi looked down. The small chalkboard in his hands hummed as the screen lit up, dense white lettering scrolling downward like a waterfall. With plenty of time during the halftime break, Minier clearly hadn't wasted a single second. She had planned her fourth-round lines well in advance. During that single minute, she had unleashed an unhinged barrage of writing, producing a paragraph of appalling length. Lanqi didn't even have time to read through it all; he only knew he was in for a grueling monologue: "Ever since the Incident in the City of Flowers, tensions between the citizens and demon residents in the capital of the Kingdom of Posen have flared up from time to time. Radicals sparked unrest, but Lieutenant General Nigel of the City Defense Command suppressed them all. Consequently, many residents call Nigel a 'running dog of the Senate' and a 'traitor to demons'…" Bracing himself, he began reciting in a flat, emotionless news anchor cadence. The opening sounded ordinary enough, like a dry political broadcast. "To that, I say: Splendid work, Nigel! Every useless, good-for-nothing demon who steps out of line belongs behind bars." Lanqi's tone took a sudden turn. Even though he tried desperately to keep it detached, the sheer aggression of the lines cut like an unsheathed blade. Iphatia stared at Lanqi in utter disbelief. Lanqi tried his best to avoid her eyes. "My, how discriminatory, Lanqi," Minier chimed in softly from the side, as if entirely innocent. "…During an interview in the City of Flowers a while ago, I was asked about my past experiences with that exiled demon girl, as well as the recent signs of demon activity. To that, I must declare—" The text on Lanqi's board was still scrolling; pausing for more than three seconds would count as a forfeit. "If the demons ever manage to restore their nation, it'll be entirely thanks to me! Do you honestly expect those good-for-nothing princesses to pull off a national restoration?" "*Whoa!*" The entire venue erupted into an uproar. "Are Little Hypie and I… both good-for-nothing?" Iphatia's mouth fell slightly agape, completely stunned. "Then again…" Minier interjected at the perfect moment, teasing faintly without even waiting for her own turn, "If we optimize away the Demon King, a national restoration might actually succeed." "Indeed," Lanqi read the next two words that appeared on the board. Minier had clearly calculated this in advance, setting up this affirmation for him. Yet it wasn't over; he had to keep reading. … Laughter rippled continuously through the audience. On the screen, Lanqi had transformed into the most vicious of critics, firing off blistering jokes at the demons' expense with a deadpan expression. "Lanqi…!" Sitting in the audience, Talia clenched her fists tight. This was the first time she had ever seen Lanqi mock the demon race so relentlessly. What infuriated her most was that she felt everything he said was true! Only after Lanqi finally finished the absurdly long monologue did he let out a long breath. Under Iphatia's gaze, the heart rate on the back of his board climbed steadily higher throughout the round. "The terrifying part is that there's a second turn coming up," Antanas observed the screen, shaking her head in helpless pity for Lanqi. In Round 5, Lanqi would face another round of torture. The rules of the Assistance Card dictated that its effect lasted for two rounds. That meant for the upcoming fifth round, Iphatia would still be sitting beside Lanqi, roasting him over an open flame with her bewildered, heartbroken eyes. "Old Mi is too ruthless, meow," Boss Cat was now thoroughly convinced. Although Minier and Lanqi shared striking similarities in their lines of thought, Minier's baseline of decency was unmistakably lower than Lanqi's. Minier simply relished a life of wicked amusement. Take her childhood pranks on Hyperion: she had tricked the young girl into believing luck was tied to moral merit, artificially manipulating her luck whenever little Hyperion did something naughty, leading her to firmly believe that sacrificing merit would inevitably bring disaster. Curiously enough, Lanqi had ended up validating that belief later on. Back in the music classroom of the Shadow World, the three sat in a row, the air thick with awkwardness. "Big Brother… what you just said… none of that was what you really think, right?" Iphatia turned her head cautiously, looking at Lanqi with wide, pleading eyes. "Have I really just been a useless freeloader all along?" Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum. "Those were just lines, Iphatia. Just words written on a board," Lanqi explained with the utmost sincerity. Yet even to his own ears, it sounded like a clumsy cover-up, as if he had harbored a chest full of grievances all along and had finally seized this game as an excuse to vent them all. "How cruel. How could you bully her like that?" Sitting on the other side, Minier shook her head, wearing an expression of someone who couldn't bear to watch. And yet, this very display of misunderstanding, grievance, and awkwardness sent the audience outside into a frenzy of excitement. Cheer after cheer rolled across the stands, the viewers captivated solely by their expressions and emotional tangle. Round 4 continued. It was Minier's turn. She picked up her board and glanced at the lines. Her usually serene black eyes flickered slightly upon reading the first sentence. "Today, I took him to an intensely thrilling place… where we called each other 'darling' and 'sweetheart'…" Minier's voice maintained its characteristic sacred composure, sounding like someone reciting a beautiful poem, yet the content was brimming with illicit, scandalous intrigue. Her eyes swept to the next line, and she continued: "We played many games together and had him pick out plenty of outfits for me… Everything I have just said is the truth." As the final syllable fell, a brief, dead silence settled over the classroom. Her heart rate hadn't changed much. However, a scorching, innocent gaze immediately locked onto her face like a physical beam of light. "?" The confusion in Iphatia's eyes was gradually fading, replaced by an obstinate determination to uncover the truth. "Don't worry, Iphatia," Lanqi took advantage of the gap to whisper in a voice only the three of them could hear, "That's definitely a lie made up for the show. When we get back later, you can have Tata appraise it, and you'll know whether it's true or false." He whispered his well-meaning explanation quickly and reassuringly. "Oh, that makes sense," Iphatia nodded thoughtfully after hearing Lanqi's reassurance. Indeed, it sounded far too absurd. Nothing about it seemed real. Her sister would surely see right through a lie like that in an instant. However, just as Iphatia was about to look away, she caught a glimpse of the back of the board in Minier's hands. The previously steady heart rate reading was now skyrocketing at a visible pace—85, 92, 98… "Huh?!" Iphatia froze. Her gaze snapped back. This time, it was a silent, soul-piercing interrogation, locked onto Minier's shifting eyes. "Look me in the eyes," Iphatia said in a low yet chilling voice, the highlights in her eyes darkening. "No, wait, that was completely misleading!" Minier stammered an explanation, a rare hint of fluster in her voice. She knew this off-the-board tactic was a heartbeat trap laid by Lanqi, but Iphatia's gaze was genuinely terrifying. "Then why is your heart rate climbing?" Iphatia tried to lean past Lanqi in the middle, attempting to inspect Minier's face up close. "Because…" Minier reached out and grabbed the back of Lanqi's shirt, hiding behind him and using him as a human shield against Iphatia. "Big Brother, move aside! Let me talk to her!" "Hey, both of you! Stop using me as a shield!" "Lanqi, if I go down, you're coming with me!" The music classroom quickly devolved into a chaotic battlefield. Iphatia tried to reach around Lanqi to grab Minier, while Minier clung to Lanqi's other side, the two circling around him in a frantic game of cat-and-mouse. Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, the bumblebee emcee in midair frantically waved her wand. A compulsory stream of light swept over them. The Shadow World's administrative privileges kicked in, forcibly separating the three tangled figures and pressing them back down into their respective seats. Outside, however, the laughter, cheers, and catcalls reached their absolute peak for the night. "Their baseline just keeps dropping lower," Sinora remarked, sipping her drink. This round had devolved from Operation Heartbeat into pure, unadulterated mutual sabotage. "Those two are having the time of their lives," Antanas observed with great amusement. On the massive screen, the heart rate on the back of Minier's board had crossed the 100 mark in vivid red, oscillating at a high baseline. "Round 5! Are you ready?!" Once the bumblebee emcee finally restored order to the near-battlefield of a classroom, the bell for Round 5 chimed without suspense. Given the unyielding momentum between Lanqi and Minier, both confirmed their readiness without hesitation when asked whether they wished to proceed. The procedure remained as familiar as ever: one minute to write lines, followed by a coin toss. "…" Yet Iphatia remained in the room, waiting for them to finish writing. "Time's up!" The coin traced a golden arc through the air and fell. Minier won once more. Lanqi would speak first. He glanced sideways at Minier beside him. After Round 4, both were bound to unleash everything they had. And since this was the final round with Iphatia present, Minier would undoubtedly make full use of her. Sure enough, Minier's eyes glinted with mockery and malice, the curve of her lips practically announcing: *Prepare to die.* Lanqi looked down at the board lighting up in his hands. The moment the real-time text appeared before his eyes, his brow furrowed. "I feel like I don't have enough fiancées right now. Really, far too few…" The moment that opening line left his lips, it dropped like a depth charge into the tranquil lake of the audience. Yet that was merely the beginning. In the next instant, Lanqi's eyes widened in horror. "I also like you, Miss Iphatia, and I like Miss Minier as well. I'm certain I can convince my fiancées to welcome two more members into my household…" By the time he read the final few words, Lanqi felt his very soul shattering, a sensation far more violent than the day he had publicly proposed in the opera house. The red digits on the back of his board leaped wildly, blasting past 120 and continuing to climb. "N-No… Big Brother… y-you…" Iphatia was utterly dumbfounded. Her mouth hung open, stammering to form words, only to find the language center of her brain completely paralyzed. The reaction outside was even more unhinged. A roar of voices swept over the audience like a tidal wave, threatening to blow the roof off the entire music classroom. "Coach! I want to learn this! Please, teach me!" "What on earth is their relationship?!" "Can someone seriously confess to multiple people to their faces all in one breath?!" "…" Lanqi's scalp tingled at the cacophony. While he had never feared romantic crossfire, he had truly never imagined being thrust into such an absurd circus with Minier and Iphatia. … Outside the stage. "All of Professor Landry's scandals in the Creti Empire just came true!" Antanas stared at the shifting lights on the stage, thoroughly worked up into a manic blend of excitement and tension. "How is Lanqi going to counter this time?" Sinora asked from the side, looking slightly concerned. Even after that, Lanqi hadn't yielded. He had clearly prepared a generous return gift for Minier. In Round 5, it was Minier's turn. On the screen, Minier took a deep breath and stared at the board in front of her. She maintained her guard against Lanqi. Yet the text that initially appeared looked remarkably mundane, carrying no hint of a threat. *[Earlier, we mentioned the good-for-nothings among the demons, but I honestly don't think that amounts to much…]* Having no clue what Lanqi was scheming, she simply began reading: "Earlier, we mentioned the good-for-nothings among the demons, but I honestly don't think that amounts to much. Here, I would like to publicly call out the biggest piece of trash of them all: the Bishop of Extinction, Caos Clesmante. Oh—" However, the moment her eyes caught the text that followed, her exquisite poker face nearly cracked. Upon reciting that name, her voice shuddered violently, and she nearly leaped out of her chair as if electrocuted. It didn't feel like reciting a line; it felt like reading her own epitaph. "…Your war with the Northern Continent may be over, but your war with Mikhail Aransal has only just begun!" Yet, through sheer force of will, Minier gritted her teeth and finished reading the declaration that posed a genuine threat to personal safety. The previously raucous, boiling crowd outside fell into dead silence in an instant. The spectators who had just been jeering were left doing nothing but drawing in sharp, synchronized gasps of cold air. Immediately after, scattered murmurs surged in from all directions like a rising tide. "Oh gods…" "Has she lost her mind?!" "That little girl is doomed! And if she's the Duke's younger sister, then the Duke is doomed too…" The sheer destructive power of that statement had plainly transcended the boundaries of an amusement park game. It scared the wits out of more than a few people. "Meow," Boss Cat was struck speechless, raising a paw to cover its eyes. *The final episode of Old Mi's Bizarre Adventure.* "Lanqi and Tata's mutual sabotage last time doesn't even compare to this. That was downright gentle," Antanas marveled, shaking her head. Lanqi and Minier genuinely only cared about socially murdering each other. On the big screen, the heart rate on the back of Minier's board soared straight to 150. Precisely because Minier was an insider within the Resurrection Church, she understood far too well the sheer gravity of what she had just said. "I kind of feel like… Operation Heartbeat isn't supposed to be played like this, meow," Boss Cat offered meekly. In its memory, Operation Heartbeat was supposed to be a sweet, thrilling, romantic game of fluttering hearts. Not something packed with political thrillers, death threats, character assassination, and mutual destruction. "You tell me whether their hearts are beating fast or not," Antanas retorted, pointing at the two blinking red numbers on the screen, her face a mixture of absurdity and admiration. "We should be truly grateful Hyperion didn't turn into a villainess," Talia remarked, watching with lingering dread. So Hyperion had grown up in a family like this. Perhaps those rumors about the villainous young lady of the ducal house hadn't been baseless after all, and perhaps none of it had been Hyperion's fault. … Inside the Shadow World, with the guest assistant's time limit expiring, the doodle-filled classroom emptied out once more, leaving only Lanqi and Minier seated side by side. Though that timed round with Iphatia's intrusion had ended, it had made both sides fully realize the opponent's bottom line—or rather, the total lack thereof. "Your Grace, if the Bishop of Extinction truly comes knocking down the road, you are welcome to ask me for help," Lanqi offered in a tone so sincere it sounded as though he were genuinely looking out for her. "I can arrange an escape route for you to seek refuge in the Creti Empire. After all, that's our merchant guild's specialty," he added. "Then I truly must thank you," Minier replied, her hands clenched tight on her knees as she forced a smile. "Challengers, that previous round was simply spectacular!" "Controversy, buzz—my absolute favorites!" "Now then, shall we proceed to the challenge of Round 6? We are merely a single step away from the final seventh-round limited reward!" The bumblebee emcee fluttered in at the perfect moment, breaking the standoff between the two. "Continue," Minier spat out coldly. The situation was abundantly clear. By Round 6, conventional methods could hardly induce severe fluctuations in either of their hearts. The explosive material leveraging each other's vulnerabilities had been almost entirely depleted during the middle rounds. Such tactics had diminishing returns. Even though their total scores were neck and neck, the final outcome remained shrouded in suspense. "Let's do it, then," Lanqi nodded in agreement. The procedure remained as fixed as ever. The ticking countdown echoed through the music classroom of Love Obstacle Corridor Academy. The one-minute writing period slipped by rapidly. Both were composing their lines for this penultimate round. *Ding.* The Coin of Destiny was tossed high once more. This time, the coin landed with Minier's avatar facing up. "Phew." Lanqi took a deep breath and picked up the illuminated board before him. As his eyes swept across the dense text, his pupils trembled slightly. Minier had clearly abandoned all restraint, no longer caring about winning within the rules of the game, intent instead on muddying the waters entirely. "When I was young, I once saw a woman at my family's merchant guild. She was incomparably beautiful…" Lanqi cleared his throat and began reciting: "From that day forth, I swore I would have her. And so I meticulously plotted a grand conspiracy, patiently waiting for the Duke to fall into a trap in the Creti Empire, seizing the chance to control his lonely, helpless young daughter, sweet-talking the Duchess's sworn sister, and even traveling all the way to the Northern Continent to secure another bishop's aid…" Lanqi's voice echoed through the classroom, carrying a bizarre sense of storytelling. He didn't dally, continuing to read through the script Minier had woven for him: "…All of this was solely so that one day, I could achieve my ultimate goal: to publicly coerce that dark-haired beauty into submission in a theater, letting everyone know she has been conquered by me." Having delivered that final, dagger-revealing conclusion, Lanqi raised a hand to cover his eyes, unable to face what lay ahead. This was an outright confession designed purely to ruin his reputation. Absurd as it was, he understood Minier's vicious intent. At this stage, since breaking the opponent psychologically was proving increasingly difficult, the priority shifted to attacking outside the game. … Sure enough. "Holy crap, a Lanqi conspiracy theory, meow!" As the longest-standing partner of the Lan-Cat duo, Boss Cat knew most of what had happened along the way. Even so, listening to those lines spoken from Lanqi's own lips sowed a sliver of doubt and suspicion even in its mind. Lanqi lacked the motive, but he certainly possessed the capability. The thought was chilling. If one attributed everything to the wicked Bishop Lanqi orchestrating events from the shadows, the logic flowed with terrifying smoothness. And if his motive was set as the Duchess… the entire logical loop locked together seamlessly. On the screen, the fourteen-turn slugfest drew near its end. It was Minier's turn to read. Minier looked at the board, her brow furrowing almost imperceptibly at the text appearing upon it. She then began to read: "Here, I wish to apologize to my dearest friend, Countess Rosalinda. In truth, I noticed your feelings for me long ago…?" She read along with the text on the board, yet the confusion in her tone grew thicker, clearly catching her off guard. "However, I have no desire to endure another failed marriage. And so, I am sorry, but we can only ever be best friends…" Minier finished reading the final sentence, full of hesitation. She paused, seemingly pondering why Lanqi had written something so baffling and devoid of aggression. Only after a moment of silence did she seem to snap out of it, gradually realizing a certain possibility lurking behind those words. "…" Minier looked up and glared at Lanqi. Lanqi dropped his hands from the board and merely sat across from her, offering an innocent shrug of his hands as if to say, *I'm merely speaking the truth.* … Outside, in the spectator stands. "Surprisingly, there isn't much gunpowder in that one," Antanas commented, munching on snacks. "Wait, is Lanqi doing this out of kindness or malice?" Talia spoke up in bewilderment, her golden eyes filled with confusion. Countess Rosalinda was her good friend. Even though she had later learned that Rosalinda was her sister's romantic rival, that didn't affect her friendship with Rosalinda, who had always been kind and warm-hearted. Yet Lanqi's move left her thoroughly puzzled. "Will Lanqi's line cause any fallout?" Sinora asked curiously. Compared to demons like herself and Antanas, who had never visited the City of Flowers and understood little of its interpersonal relationships, Talia was obviously far more familiar with Rosalinda. "Well… Rosalinda has always liked the Duke, but she never lets her feelings show in front of him," Talia struggled to explain. Every time Rosalinda saw the Duke, she likely maintained the noble, dignified, and charming Countess persona that Talia and Lanqi had witnessed upon first meeting her. The one person who most needed to see her chugging drinks had never once seen Rosalinda in her thoroughly defeated state. "I see." Antanas analyzed the situation. Whether Lanqi was helping to untie the knot or planting a landmine was impossible to tell. A state of duality had emerged. The only certainty was that during the next Platinum-rank card maker examination, Mikhail and Rosalinda's meeting would be excruciatingly awkward. If Lanqi was also present, whether the knot would be untied or detonated would depend entirely on his mood. … Inside the Shadow World, the light in the music classroom had shifted to the hues of dusk, with only bubbles and background music drifting and echoing through the space. "Congratulations, brave challengers! You have miraculously completed six rounds of soul interrogation!" "Now, only one final step remains to clear the game!" The bumblebee emcee spun in midair with excitement. "Will you enter the final round?!" she asked the two. Even without asking, she already knew the answer. No one would stop right before the final threshold! "Fine," both Lanqi and Minier agreed to the emcee's inquiry. Claiming that box of Animal Crossing Limited Chocolates as the clear reward would at least make Talia and Iphatia very happy; both of them adored sweets. However, Minier had grown remarkably quiet starting from Round 7. Ever since Lanqi had used his lines in the previous round to convey that matter regarding Rosalinda, she had reined in all her sharpness and mockery, sitting as serene and still as an exquisite sculpture. Within one minute, both finished writing their lines. "All right! The final showdown! Let the Coin of Destiny decide who goes first!" The bumblebee emcee launched into her usual hype-up routine. The coin flipped high into the center of the screen, spinning into a golden blur. The coin landed with Lanqi's pixel avatar facing up. Lanqi won. According to the rules, it was Minier's turn to read first. "…" Minier picked up the glowing board in her hands, yet she hesitated to look at the content displayed upon it. Her gaze drifted past the classroom, resting unfocused on a point in the empty air, as if looking through this virtual Shadow World into the distant past. "Never mind. I forfeit," she suddenly said, her voice soft as a sigh. "Are you sure?! The outcome hasn't been decided yet!" the bumblebee emcee prompted. "Yes," Minier confirmed. In truth, Lanqi hadn't needed to do what he did in Round 6. He clearly had far more aggressive options to strike back, yet he had chosen to use this ridiculous game, in the most roundabout and gentle way possible, to let her know about something. This was a game with relatively low aggression. A game where all honest truths could be laughed off as mere jokes. Perhaps only in a setting where truth and falsehood blurred could something so heavy for a person be conveyed. In a sense, she considered Lanqi the victor. "I acknowledge that you are no longer the 'matchmaker welder' who simply forced red threads together at random. Lanqi, you truly have changed." Minier closed the board in her hands and laid it face down on her lap. She leaned back against her chair, relaxed, gazing through the ceiling of the Shadow World at the silhouettes of the two of them reflected there. Simply hearing the tales of Lanqi's past at Ikerite Academy had once filled her with disdain for him. Yet by the end of this journey, she had to admit that people could change. A true master of love didn't merely know how to bind people together; perhaps they understood even better how to help people let go. Feelings destined for no answer, heavy words that could never be spoken aloud, lingering regrets and dead knots that had weighed on hearts for so long… She believed the present Lanqi could help unravel them all in his own unique way. "Let's call it an even draw. That part is the truth. It was a pleasure playing with you, Your Grace." Seeing her sense of relief, Lanqi extended his right hand toward her, intending to conclude this long and thrilling duel with a handshake. "Heh." Looking at his outstretched hand, Minier merely smiled, her expression holding only pure appreciation and a touch of her signature pride. "Remember, don't hold someone's hand so casually. People might get the wrong idea." Rather than taking his hand, she slowly raised her fist and lightly bumped the back of Lanqi's hovering hand in midair. *Bump.* The moment their fists met, the entire Shadow World seemed to press a shutter. The frame froze. Perhaps captured by the director, dazzling, iridescent light burst around the two of them like grand fireworks, rendering the pixel classroom dreamy and magical. "Though there was no confession, and though they didn't hold hands, isn't this unspoken bond and mutual release more touching than any sweet nothings could ever be?!" The bumblebee emcee circled excitedly in the air. "However! This round isn't over yet! If you want the reward, at least one person must complete their lines in Round 7!" she explained the rules. If both chose to surrender, the game would only count as having reached Round 6. The rules gave players no opportunity to freeload the Animal Crossing Limited Chocolates. "As the victor, if you want the final reward of this stage, you still have to finish reading the rest," Minier lowered her head slightly, her eyes sweeping over the board Lanqi had yet to put down. "Not that I wrote anything outrageous, of course," she added. "Yes! Exactly!" the bumblebee emcee in the sky affirmed. Lanqi sighed, his eyes falling back onto the board in his hands. "Here is one last line to serve as the closing statement…" he read the emerging text aloud. This was plainly the forfeit script Minier had prepared from the very start of Round 7. Hence, the lines left for him explicitly stated it was a closing remark right in the opening sentence. Only, beside this line, an utterly preposterous stage direction was enclosed in parentheses: *[Here is one last line to serve as the closing statement (Please affectionately take the other's hand)…]* Naturally, he had no intention of doing so. Such ridiculous stage directions were not lines meant to be read aloud according to the rules. Even if he ignored the instructions, the Shadow World wouldn't judge it a failure. He continued reading: "Your Grace, I will stop at nothing to marry the most adorable girl in your household. Just you wait to attend the ceremony." As he said that, a soft, slightly cool hand stole over without a sound, seizing his hand firmly without giving him any say in the matter. "?" Lanqi's eyes collided with Minier's, which were brimming with innocent, mischievous laughter. The already restless audience exploded once again in an instant. The cheers, screams, and whistles outside rose louder than ever before, threatening to lift the roof of the theater in the central courtyard of the Golden Bee Amusement Park. In the eyes of the audience, this was a textbook display of an overbearing declaration. Before everyone's eyes, the young challenger held the Duke's young lady firmly by the hand, calling out to the legendary Duke himself through the camera and swearing to take the most adorable girl in his house as his bride. "Haha!" Seeing Lanqi's expression freeze into stone, Minier could no longer maintain her dignified facade and burst into laughter. Her laughter was crisp and melodious, brimming with the exhilarating joy of sweet vengeance. To prank Lanqi like this at the very end and watch him eat dirt brought her boundless delight. "Your Grace, are you a child?" Lanqi was thoroughly struck speechless. He hadn't taken Minier's hand, yet she had taken his. Ever since he held her hand once in the theater back then, everything that followed had been pure karma. "Don't blame me. You're the one who wanted the limited reward," Minier blinked, looking at him with an innocent face. Amid the chaotic, jubilant atmosphere, the closing theme of Love Obstacle Corridor Academy chimed in right on cue, a melody bursting with festive finale flair. "♫ In the magnificent parade ~" "♫ That begins tonight ~" "♫ Dancing lightly by your side ~" "♫ Let's make our move ~" The entire music classroom underwent a drastic transformation. The previously static backdrop began to flow, turning into petals and ribbons fluttering through the air. Curtains descended from the ceiling, and the stage lights softened into a radiant glow. "Forget it. I'm used to it. Perhaps this is simply the fate of a dean," Lanqi stood helplessly upon the curtain-call stage. This very moment mirrored Valentine's Day at the Ikerite Opera House, when the opera dance had drawn to a close. He felt he really ought to have the School of Magic Engineering shut down this Love Obstacle Corridor Academy project, or at least install some sort of limiting lock on it. Without the technical support of those mad geniuses from the School of Magic Engineering, the Golden Bee Amusement Park likely could never have conjured up such a Shadow World in the first place. "Lanqi, that's why accumulating merit is truly important," Minier suddenly turned her head and spoke to him earnestly, mimicking Hyperion's usual solemn, heartfelt tone. Her expression, her tone, even the slightly worried glint in her eyes seemed stamped from the exact same mold as Hyperion's. "You're the last person who has any right to say that," Lanqi looked at the instigator of it all, nearly laughing out of sheer exasperation. He glanced around, listening to the clamor of the tourists still excitedly debating what they had seen. After today, the academy—no, perhaps the entire royal capital—would be flooded with yet another batch of preposterously wild rumors.