“Hmph, don’t believe me then.”
Yuriko clutched her phone, replying to Carmilla’s messages.
Yuriko: “That’s great. I was still worried that I’d be hated by my classmates on the first day.”
Yuriko: [Happy expression.jpg]
Carmilla: “How could that be? You should have more confidence in yourself, Ruri. Everyone in the class likes you very much!”
Carmilla: “I’m looking forward to going to school with you again tomorrow, Ruri~”
Seeing this message, Yuriko rolled around on her bed while hugging her phone, feeling like all her hard work today had been worth it.
“Truly pathetic meow,” Phantom said expressionlessly.
“Mind your own business!”
Yuriko stopped rolling and continued sending messages.
Yuriko: “Me too. With you around, Carmilla, even classes feel easier~”
At the other end of the city, a girl with light brown hair sat on a sofa with her legs tucked against her chest.
She looked at Yuriko’s reply on her phone, and a faint smile unconsciously played across her lips.
Beside Carmilla, her younger brother noticed his sister smiling — a rare sight — and couldn’t help but ask:
“Sister, you’re smiling so happily. Did something good happen?”
Carmilla patted his small head and said, “Mhm, I made a wonderful friend today.”
“Eh, what kind of friend? Can you tell me about her?”
“She’s a very beautiful girl with pink hair, and her smile is like — “
Just as Carmilla was about to share her joy, her stepmother’s voice called out from the kitchen.
“Carmilla, can you give me a hand? Your father will be home soon, and we’re running out of time!”
“Coming!”
Carmilla stood up and said to her brother, “I have to go help now. I’ll tell you more later.”
“Okay~”
At the same time, she didn’t forget to reply to Yuriko on her phone: “I have to go help in the kitchen. Let’s talk more tonight.”
Yuriko: “Okay.”
Yuriko: [Bye-bye.jpg]
After her chat with Carmilla ended, Yuriko set her phone down.
“How nice. I wonder who will be lucky enough to marry a girl like her.”
Yuriko stared at the ceiling, which was reflecting the afterglow of the setting sun.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the room gradually grew dark.
“If you work hard, maybe you can take her for yourself.”
“Teach me some Hypnosis Magic, and I’ll go take her down tomorrow.”
“…”
Phantom remained silent for a moment, then actually answered:
“Mental hypnosis-type magic is quite difficult. With your current level, you would need at least one week to learn it.”
Yuriko turned her head to look at Phantom and realized that she was actually considering it seriously rather than joking.
“I was kidding! If anyone ever used Hypnosis Magic on Carmilla, I’d punch their lights out!”
After saying that, she sighed again.
“Sigh, I’d love to pursue such a wonderful girl, but I’m a girl now. Carmilla is a girl too. Would she even accept that?”
“Besides, even if she could accept it, I’m still hiding my identity as part of The Mafia from her. If she found out, she’d definitely hate me.”
“Instead of waiting to be hated and dumped once she finds out, it’s better to just stay friends from the start. Friendship is much more durable than romance anyway!”
After listening to Yuriko’s long monologue, Phantom finally said expressionlessly, “You said all that, but it really just proves you want to pursue her, doesn’t it?”
“…”
“With my years of experience, you actually have a very high chance. If you just nurture your feelings a bit more and then go for a direct attack, there is at least a nine out of ten probability of success.”
“…”
“You should have more confidence in yourself, even if — “
Yuriko suddenly sat up and looked out the window, speaking somewhat stiffly:
“Oh, look how late it is. It’s time for dinner! I promised to take you out to a restaurant. Let’s go. Where do you want to eat?”
“…”
Seeing Yuriko start to dodge the topic, Phantom knew it was useless to say anything more.
“I want to eat hot pot.”
“Then hot pot it is! Eat as much as you want today. I don’t care if you eat so much that you turn into a little gas tank!”
“…”
—
The next day.
Today, Phantom was being carried in Yuriko’s arms as they walked.
It wasn’t that she wanted to be carried, but she had eaten so much last night that she still hadn’t recovered.
Her stomach was so full that she didn’t want to move at all.
Last night, she had said several times that she couldn’t eat anymore, but Yuriko didn’t care whether she could handle it or not and kept stuffing food into her mouth.
In the end, Phantom had ended up lying on the floor with her limbs sprawled out, completely immobilized by food.
When they arrived at the classroom, Carmilla was already in her seat, using the time before class to review yesterday’s lessons.
“Good morning.”
Yuriko placed Phantom on the desk and sat down.
“Good morning.”
Carmilla looked at Yuriko, covering her mouth as she let out a light giggle.
“You’re smiling so happily. Did something good happen?”
“Not really. If I had to say something… is seeing you considered a good thing?”
“Ugh.”
Yuriko’s face turned slightly red. Did that mean Carmilla was happy because she saw her?
She looked at Carmilla. The other girl was beaming, her beautiful face filled with undisguised joy.
This made Yuriko recall what Phantom had told her yesterday.
Maybe she really did have a chance?
As soon as the thought popped up, Yuriko shook her head vigorously.
What was she thinking? Carmilla surely just saw her as a friend, and of course one would be happy to see a friend.
It was too rude of her to think that way.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Carmilla asked with concern.
She leaned a bit closer to Yuriko, her face showing a hint of worry.
As the distance closed, a faint, elegant fragrance wafted from Carmilla.
It reached Yuriko’s nose, causing her to daze for a moment.
“No, I just think you’re so kind, Carmilla. And you’re so beautiful, too. I bet many people like you.”
Yuriko looked away, her heart racing slightly.
This is how a little virgin acts — just smelling a girl’s scent is enough to make her mind wander.
‘Truly pathetic meow.’
‘I’m not pathetic!’
Phantom, who was lying on the desk, mocked her.
Yuriko poked her in the belly, causing the undigested food from last night to churn, forcing Phantom to behave.
“Is that so? I had many good friends before, but unfortunately, they couldn’t pass the Final Trial and all dropped out.”
Carmilla sighed softly. Last year, her final friend had failed to make the cut.
“Ah, you must have been very lonely then.”
Yuriko actually understood Carmilla’s situation. The difficulty of advancing each year at Shengxiu Academy was extremely high.
There were 1,000 students when they entered the first year, but by the fifth year, only about 100 remained.
By the time they graduated next year, those 100 people would likely dwindle to only a few dozen. Out of those, perhaps only twenty or thirty would truly graduate.
The rest would fail the Final Trial and would only be granted a certificate of completion.
Furthermore, Carmilla had a personality that enjoyed helping others, so her friends were mostly not as academically gifted as she was, which led to them dropping out.
“It did feel a bit lonely before, but talking to you these past two days, Ruri, has made it feel much better.”