The Little Silvaer Dragon’s cheeks puffed up, staring at the girl with clear defiance.
“I never said that.”
But as Alice slowly approached, she awkwardly retreated nine steps, clearly losing her nerve.
“Is that so?”
The poised young lady first bent at the waist, then reached out to grab Selina’s chin.
“But your tone says exactly that, Luo Lin!”
“You’re the one who’s too sensitive. How is that my fault?”
Selina wrenched herself free and made for the exit. She didn’t have time to mess around with this “Alice” here—she still needed to find a way to contact the Knights Order and get them to come for reinforcements.
“You figured out I’m not her a long time ago, didn’t you, Luo Lin!”
Selina’s small body froze in place. It took a long moment before she slowly turned her head to look into the shadows.
The girl who looked exactly like Alice curled her lips into a mocking smile and walked toward her without an ounce of fear.
“Every time someone’s about to expose me, you deliberately interrupt with hostility. What, are you pitying me? Or is it that you can’t bring yourself to strike when you’re looking at Alice’s face?”
“Afraid this monster might kill someone, right?”
Watching the Little Silver Dragon clam up again, Shadow Lady angrily planted her hands on her hips and decided to just lay her cards on the table.
“Honestly, every time I walk away, you just have to keep staring at me, don’t you?”
“I’m done pretending. I’m done playing along. This lady is the shadow who wants to replace Alice!”
Shadow Lady was even more infuriated by this tsundere little girl who thought herself so superior.
It was absolutely infuriating. She, Lady Shadow, had come to this world to prove herself. The original host might be a pushover, but she, Lady Shadow, was not.
She was starting to think the original host was truly remarkable—to have put up with this taciturn fool for so long despite all those misunderstandings.
In the cramped space, Alice’s watery peach blossom eyes made the Little Silver Dragon want to look away.
“You always do this! Whenever there’s a hard question, you just shut up!”
“Then you go and make up excuses in your head—’it’s for her own good,’ ‘my talent’s too lacking,’ ‘even if I try it won’t work,’ afraid of failure, so you won’t even dare to try!”
“Enough, shut up! You’re not her. What would you know?!”
The shrill voice trembled out of Selina’s throat, her pupils shaking uncontrollably.
She actually wanted to say that wasn’t it.
From the moment this girl had shielded her in the tavern, she could feel it—this shadow might have a completely different personality from Alice, but she was still a kind, good girl at heart.
But her throat felt like something was stuck in it. No words would come out.
She closed her eyes, hoping her silence would make the girl in front of her stop.
But the shadow kept pressing forward, step by step.
“Hmph, I’m going to say it! Why did you suddenly start desperately pursuing Laura, that woman who’s inferior to me in every way? Why did you wallow in self-destruction back then!”
She couldn’t stand Selina’s stubborn awkwardness any longer. She shoved her against the wall with one hand, her cherry-pink eyes looking down at her from above.
“You keep running from your problems like this, saying nothing at all—how is that any different from when you left Alice because of those rumors?!”
Selina finally mustered the strength to yank Shadow Alice’s hand away.
The cold memories and the shadow’s words tore open the most painful wound Luo Lin had ever carried.
He still remembered—it was a winter so cold that even breathing left trails of frost in the air.
Wearing a thick cotton coat, he’d trudged through the Imperial Palace’s snow-covered grounds, leaving deep footprints behind him.
That day was when Sera Academy’s Grand Exam results were announced.
So he’d arrived at the Imperial Palace early, wanting to be the first to congratulate Alice.
The boy ran and jumped, the goose-feather snowflakes unable to dampen his enthusiasm.
Incredible!
Not only was she the youngest genius of her class, she’d also ranked second overall and earned admission to the continent’s number one academy.
A smile beamed across his face. His childhood friend was just too amazing.
He genuinely felt proud of Alice from the bottom of his heart.
Maybe it was fate—no sooner had he rounded a corner than he spotted that familiar cherry-pink figure.
He was about to approach when shocking words came out of Martha’s mouth.
“Princess Her Highness, do you truly intend to give up your Early Admission opportunity to Sera Academy?”
“Yes, I’ve decided! I’ll wait a year. It’ll be the same if I go tomorrow.”
The news hit Luo Lin like a thunderbolt, striking straight through his heart.
His hands trembled. He couldn’t believe it.
Alice was giving up her chance to enter Sera Academy. Why?
“Is it… because of Young Master Lorin?”
“Martha, you’re overstepping. Don’t make wild guesses! I’ll speak to Aunt myself. Don’t interfere!”
Alice’s eyes locked straight onto Martha. Having served the Pope for years, how could Martha not see what was in the young lady’s heart?
She gave a slight bow and continued:
“Your Highness, forgive my bluntness, but Young Master Lorin’s Magic Talent is truly regrettable. I can only call it regrettable. What if he still can’t awaken his Magic Power next year? What then?”
“Then I’ll keep waiting! If one year isn’t enough, then two. If two isn’t enough, then three. We made a Pinky Promise—we’re definitely going to school together!”
At the corner, Luo Lin stood dumbfounded, staring at that stubborn back, its small face flushed red in the snow.
His heart felt like a overturned spice rack—a chaotic mix of emotions.
The girl looked up at the snow, a smile at the corner of her lips, and said to Martha:
“Alright, Sister Martha, that dummy Luo Lin will be here any minute. Whatever you do, don’t mention this to him!”
“Otherwise, I’m afraid that dummy will be upset. I chose to give this up on my own. I don’t want that dummy carrying any guilt!”
She reached out and caught a falling snowflake, her tone light as she watched the white ice crystal melt slowly in her palm, as if she’d just made an insignificant decision.
But Luo Lin knew—Alice truly wanted to go to Sera Academy too.
The excitement in her eyes when she pulled him along to read magic books, the longing in her voice when she planned their campus life together—he remembered all of it.
Martha’s parting words were soft, but they slammed into Luo Lin’s heart like a hammer, hurting more than anything.
“If he truly cared about Your Highness’s wellbeing, he wouldn’t stand in the way of you becoming better!”
The snow fell heavy that day—so heavy it buried the boy’s ankles.
The wind carried the snow, muffling the sobs he tried to hide behind his hand.
The snow was cold. So cold it left his heart hollow.
On the pure white snow, the beautiful Princess still waited full of hope for her childhood friend.
But in the unseen corner, the insecure boy hung his head, his frozen feet forcing him to limp his way into the shadows.
“You heard it that day, didn’t you!”
“What’s with that shocked expression? Didn’t you notice that when you were hiding there, you were directly facing Alice’s shadow?”
Shadow Alice didn’t hesitate for a moment. She tore straight into the wound Luo Lin least wanted to touch.
“Why… why did you have to say it?”
Selina drooped her head, her voice shaking with obvious sobs.
“What, you thought I’d be like her? That as long as the other party doesn’t bring it up, I’d just pretend not to know? Exposed is exposed!”
“You keep hiding your problems, refusing to answer, thinking you can dodge forever?”
She let it all out—everything the original host’s idiot self didn’t dare say, wouldn’t say, or couldn’t bear to say—in one unrelenting flood.
“You know what? You weren’t the only one freezing in that snow until you burned with fever!”
“That naive fool waited in the snow wearing a carefully prepared dress, from daylight all the way to dark, her eyes red the whole time!”
This is a repeat of the previous chapter