Chapter 21: You are playing paranoia, she is really sick

Even Karlen, who was deeply scheming, couldn’t help but grin and let out a sneer when he heard Shiya acting so recklessly.

“Haha!”

The man gave up as well.

He lifted the piglet above his head and shouted loudly:

“Ah, my child. You are as imposing as your father, and you will surely achieve great things in the future!”

The little piglet, startled, twisted its chubby body frantically and actually managed to break free for a moment.

The next second, it slammed heavily into Karlen’s face, and just before falling, it kicked the fool behind its butt.

Seeing Karlen land on his butt with a red nose and a black mark under one eye socket, Shiya couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

But out of modesty, she tried to lightly cover her delicate cherry lips to act more ladylike.

Then she was choked by the fishy smell on her hands from helping with the delivery earlier and coughed violently, her face scrunching up like a bitter gourd.

The two looked at each other, saw each other’s ridiculous states, and after a moment of silence, they burst into laughter, swaying back and forth, and finally even collapsed on the ground pounding it, too weak to move.

“Hahahahahaha!”

The increasingly unrestrained, almost pathological laughter of this man and woman echoed through the entire first floor of the Student Council building.

Eventually, the laughter ceased.

Their gazes clashed fiercely in the air, sparking a few sparks.

It was the light of shared hatred.

“Li! Ao! No! La!”

“Ai! Lian! Na!”

Director Feen, standing below, jerked his head back in fright, then turned to look at the girls on either side.

“So who actually wrote this final part of the script?”

The princess and the young lady both silently lowered their heads and looked away, not daring to admit it.

All they could say was that when two pens had been tangled together on the script paper for too long, it was inevitable that sparks would fly and they would end up doing something to betray Shiya and Karlen.

Feen sighed, waved his hand, and signaled the Student Council members to carry the two mentally unstable leads off the stage on stretchers.

Then he rubbed his chin, thoughtful.

Although this version of the script was absurd, based on the principle of not wasting a comedic segment—

The great director clapped his hands:

“I’ve decided to adapt it slightly. We’ll serve it straight to His Majesty the Emperor!”

Were they going to perform a delivery in front of His Majesty?

The faces of the two prideful young ladies instantly turned pale.

They slammed the table at the same time:

“I won’t allow it!”

“I’ll have your hands and feet bought off!”

But Director Feen seemed to misunderstand.

He impatiently pressed his hands downward:

“Alright, alright. I’ll put both your names on the script.”

Then this man muttered things like “new inspiration” and “high art,” lowered his head, and walked away on his own.

Leaving only the two girls, as uncomfortable as if they had swallowed flies, standing in the wind, quietly wondering if the Emperor would be so pleased that he would perform a “disappearing person” trick on their Student Council.

The farce was presumably over, but work had to continue.

Shiya cleaned the Student Council building floor by floor, and finally helped Leonora organize the clutter in the magic training room.

The sunset gradually sank below the horizon.

She rubbed her slightly sore waist, let out a sigh, and prepared to wrap up for the day.

But her hand instinctively touched the purple gem hairpin at the back of her head.

After hesitating for just a moment, Shiya resolutely removed it.

Returning to the Vice President’s office, Shiya carefully placed this valuable hairpin on Leonora’s desk.

Actually, out of politeness, she should have handed it to the young lady in person.

But doing so, she felt that the proud duke’s daughter would get angry and turn against her on the spot.

Shiya didn’t want that to happen.

However, when Shiya walked out the door, she happened to bump into Elena.

“You worked hard today, Shiya.”

The warm afterglow of the setting sun fell through the window onto the princess’s fair, perfect face, inch by inch, like golden waves, sweeping down from her heroic brows and eyes, past her high nose bridge, and finally converging on her plump, luscious lips.

And this warmth completely hid the other half of her face in shadow.

“Rest a bit, have a drink of water.”

Shiya thanked her softly, took the water bottle Elena handed her, and took a few sips.

Then, for some reason, she reached up to touch her forehead, feeling her whole body burning hot, her limbs wrapped in a sense of fatigue.

Darkness gradually began to replace her vision.

But just as Shiya was swaying and about to fall, a familiar golden-haired figure moved nimbly forward and caught her.

Was it Elena?

Shiya thought so, but soon she wasn’t sure.

Because this person, familiar yet bringing her a sense of strangeness, now buried their face in her hair, took a deep breath, and gently rubbed against her cheek.

As a princess who valued etiquette and grace, she would never do such an outrageous thing, would she?

Shiya murmured “no” under her breath, trying to push away this person taking advantage of her.

But her palms were too soft and too weak.

Instead of pushing them away, it made them snap back to attention and lift her into a princess carry.

Before long, she was placed on a soft bed.

In the last moment of consciousness, she felt the same figure climb onto the bed as well, their palm gently resting on her waist.

But no matter how terrified Shiya was of what might happen next.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself on a vast sea.

More precisely, in a room on a moving sailboat.

Shiya blinked, meeting the gaze of the princess lying sideways on the same bed, playing with her long hair.

Elena clearly hadn’t expected Shiya to wake so quickly.

She quickly pulled her hand back.

Shiya sat up, stared fixedly at Elena in silence for a long time, and asked:

“Where are we now?”

Elena’s gaze flickered for a moment, but finally met the girl’s light golden eyes, tinged with sorrow.

“Going to Flower God Village to discuss with Village Chief Edwin about re-hosting the Flower God Festival.”

Her suspicions finally confirmed, Shiya wiped the crystalline moistness from the corner of her eye and didn’t even glance at Elena again.

This silent resistance was more painful to Elena than any struggle or crying.

Seeing Shiya looking around for something, the princess’s pale blue eyes cooled.

She simply spoke directly:

“Don’t bother looking. This time, for the sake of the bigger picture, Leonora also agreed to let you board the ship and go to Flower God Village.”

Meanwhile, at the Student Council front desk, Leonora impatiently curled her index finger and tapped the table.

The female Student Council member on duty there, lost in thought, was startled awake.

“Vice President Leonora…”

“Where is Shiya? Why didn’t she come today?”

The receptionist swallowed, lowered her head, and pretended to organize files:

“Miss Shiya… she took sick leave today.”

Leonora let out a cold snort, which frightened the female Student Council member at the front desk, who tightly covered her mouth.

Leonora gave her a strange glance, tightening her grip on the purple gem hairpin in her palm.

“That girl is getting bolder and bolder. I didn’t want it, and she brought it back and put it on my desk.”

Seeing the duke’s daughter turn around, the receptionist let out a long sigh of relief.

But the next moment, Leonora spun around abruptly, let out a sneer, and pointed at the female bodyguard following her.

“Lilith, this one’s still playing dumb. Show her some color—pry her mouth open.”

Including Elena, nearly a third of the Student Council members had disappeared.

Did this receptionist really take her, the young lady of the Celestine family, for a fool?

“Understood, young lady!”

The tall, cool, black-haired bodyguard suddenly became excited.

Under Leonora’s extremely shocked gaze, she pressed the receptionist onto the desk.

Then the originally sturdy table legs began to creak and shake.

A series of ambiguous sounds reached her ears.

Leonora twitched her mouth and held her forehead.

“Damn it, when will you ever be serious?!”

The scene cut back to the sailboat room.

Seeing Shiya’s gaze completely drawn to her, Elena became unhurried instead.

She stood up, in the vast sky, the boundless sea outside the window, the waves surging, under the direct sunlight.

Her perfect silhouette stretched confidently, carrying an indescribable atmosphere, fully cast into Shiya’s eyes.

She swept her long golden hair over her shoulder, then slowly put on her inner shirt and coat piece by piece, tossing two new blue ribbons to Shiya.

“As a child of a great noble family, Leonora has to think of her own family.”

“My father has always regarded the most powerful Celestine family as a thorn in his side. If this Flower God Festival goes badly,”

“He can use punishing Leonora as an excuse to strike at the Celestine family.”

“This is a very straightforward truth, and the reason Leonora tacitly agreed to you coming.”

After hearing this, Shiya silently lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously rolling the two blue ribbons until finally tightly tying her own index finger.

“I… should help her, right?”

Upon hearing this, instead of being pleased, Elena tightly grabbed Shiya’s shoulders and said seriously:

“No, Shiya. I’m telling you this to let you know—Leonora will ultimately only think of her own family. As for you…”

The princess considered her words, but finally steeled herself:

“She’s just toying with your feelings.”

“You like her, don’t you? But she’s not worth giving yourself to completely. No, feelings between girls are wrong in themselves.”

But upon hearing this, Shiya raised her head.

Her beautiful eyes, clear as autumn water, were now covered with confusion.

Was this right?

Was this wrong?

What was Elena even saying?

From start to finish, the young lady just wanted to compete with her for a man.

Looking at Shiya’s slightly strange expression, Elena, who had been calm and even cold just a moment ago, suddenly became uncertain.

“Is there something you don’t agree with?”

Shiya shook her head very decisively:

“Sister Elena, between me and the young lady, it’s just a pure friendship.”

“What I actually like is…”

The words came to Shiya’s lips, but she couldn’t continue no matter what.

Right now, whether to complete the task the young lady gave her, or to win Elena’s favor and trust, she should boldly confess like the original owner would.

But Shiya just couldn’t do it.

In these past couple of days, playing the stubborn girl, she was never able to straightforwardly say “I like you” to Elena.

For the first time, Shiya felt a bewildering helplessness toward the task she had originally been so confident she could perfectly accomplish.

Just as the atmosphere was about to solidify, a light knock came from outside the door.

A Student Council member entered with a tray, set warm dishes on the table, and respectfully withdrew.

Elena looked at Shiya, softening her voice:

“Let’s eat first.”

Shiya didn’t move.

She just lifted her eyes to look at her and said calmly:

“Let me go. If you don’t let me go, I’ll go on a hunger strike.”

Elena’s face visibly darkened.

She took a deep breath and thought for a moment.

“Leonora instructed me to make sure you eat well and don’t do anything foolish.”

Shiya froze for a moment, then obediently picked up her chopsticks and bowl and began to eat silently.

In truth, she hadn’t believed a single word Elena said from start to finish.

If she needed to confirm anything, she would only confront the young lady directly.

She followed Elena’s wishes and ate obediently only to regain her strength for a later escape.

Shiya never placed her hope of survival on others’ mercy.

Seeing Shiya immediately obey at the mention of “Leonora,” a faint trace of red blood vessels crept into the depths of Elena’s eyes.

It shouldn’t have been like this.

The old Shiya would only follow her, depend on her, always calling her Sister Elena.

Maybe she herself was just that fickle.

When Shiya loved her to the point of madness, Elena always deliberately cold-shouldered and rejected her.

But once Shiya acted soft and cute around other women, Elena’s heart felt tight.

Elena was almost certain that Shiya’s outright denial of liking Leonora earlier was not sincere—it was only to protect that Celestine girl.

And she herself was no better.

Those words of sowing discord just now—every word was a lie.

Elena knew that once Shiya returned to the Imperial Capital, this little lie would be easily exposed.

But she still did it.

How foolish.

But it didn’t matter.

Elena propped her elbows on the table, interlaced her fingers, gently rested her chin on them, and stared straight at the cute girl who even ate cautiously, taking small bites one by one.

Outside the window, the waves churned.

Her light blue eyes also resembled an icy, bottomless abyss.

Wasn’t Shiya only working at the Student Council for a salary?

When they returned to the Imperial Capital, she would find a way to transfer Shiya somewhere completely away from the Student Council, far from Leonora.

And the next moment, a certain idea took root in her heart, making her entire body tremble and delight.

…Why not make Shiya her personal maid in the Imperial Palace?

In such a deep palace, Shiya wouldn’t be able to see anyone other than her.