“Ah, good morning, good evening, good afternoon, dear junior Sheffil! Mm~ and the lady beside you looks like she’s from Chixia.”
A tall, blond man waved energetically as he approached the two of them.
The girl behind him looked like she had something to say but ultimately followed along, stopping in front of Tianxia and Sheffil.
“I’m doing great, but you don’t look too well, Luther. Have you considered going home to sleep?”
Sheffil tried to shove his hands into his pockets, but the bags he was carrying got in the way.
He lowered his raised hands again and responded coolly.
This guy—nothing good ever happened when he smiled, yet he was always smiling.
“Do I? Lize, help me out here. Do I look pale?”
The man named Luther leaned his face close to the girl next to him.
“No, Sheffil is probably just joking,” the girl replied, frowning as she took two steps back, clearly trying to put some distance between herself and Luther.
“See? I’m perfectly fine, dear junior. Thanks for your concern,” Luther said cheerily, turning and slinging an arm over Sheffil’s shoulder.
“Now, before we get to where Dorothy ran off to, won’t you introduce me to this young lady here?”
“You’re the number one paparazzo of the news club. Don’t tell me you don’t know who she is?”
Sheffil gave him a sideways glance and sneered.
“I bet you came here today because of her, didn’t you?”
“Now now, I just saw my beloved junior and thought I’d say hello.”
“I’ve got no juicy Dorothy gossip today, so don’t expect to get anything from me.”
So… he’s already been burned by this guy once?
Tianxia, who had been left out of the loop until now, listened to the exchange and pieced together the relationship between the two.
Luther seemed to be someone who dug up people’s personal information and published it for others to see—something like the visiting officials in Liexia’s imperial court.
But this guy clearly lacked professional ethics.
It looked like he had once dug up some secret Sheffil didn’t want made public and printed it, leaving the two on bad terms.
Judging by the expression of the girl next to him, she didn’t seem to like Luther much either.
This man… didn’t seem to be liked anywhere.
“Don’t act all buddy-buddy with me. I still haven’t dealt with you over that fake rumor you spread—remember? The one where you said I was into men, and I got flooded with confessions from gay guys?”
Sheffil shook off Luther’s arm.
“And the time before that, you used my name to write that ridiculous article, ‘Why Dorothy is a Goddess,’ that was you too, wasn’t it?”
“And the time before that, the guy who photoshopped me into a fight against Dorothy and her two friends—wasn’t that you too, you bastard?”
Sheffil had zero patience for this shameless tabloid hack.
But Luther was sly enough to always include the word “allegedly” in every piece.
That way, he got paid, the school paper got clicks, and he still had the nerve to go around debunking his own rumors.
“Come on, the newspaper was just starting out—we needed a little boost. Look, I even gave you a profit-sharing stake. Now you get a cut every month even if you don’t lift a finger. Isn’t that financial freedom?”
“This is the money-making method you pitched to me back then?”
“Isn’t it great? Right, little Lize?”
Luther shrugged, unfazed by Sheffil’s sarcasm.
“I really have no interest in whatever shady collaboration the two of you have,” the girl named Lize said, turning her head and walking over to Tianxia instead.
She pulled out a small notebook and smiled politely.
“Hello. I heard you’re a new transfer student from Chixia. I’m Lize, an intern report Jadecrest Academy’s news club. Would you mind answering a few simple questions?”
May I?
Tianxia turned to look at Sheffil, her gaze silently asking for permission.
“As long as it’s not Luther, it’s fine. Just give her a few short answers. Luther, what did you tell your junior? Why does she think we’re in cahoots?”
“Wouldn’t know!”
Luther returned the question with a face full of mock confusion, mimicking Sheffil’s tone.
“May I ask your name, classmate?”
“Tianxia.”
“I see. Then, Tianxia, could you briefly share why you decided to enroll at Jadecrest Academy?”
“Sure, I’ll start with—”
As the two girls’ conversation gradually deepened, Luther got bored and turned his teasing attention back to Sheffil.
“Didn’t expect this from you, Sheffil. Finally letting go of your childhood sweetheart and opening up to someone new?”
“You mean Tianxia?”
“Mm? Ah, yes.”
“Why the hesitation?”
Sheffil gave Luther a puzzled glance, then continued, “No. It’s just Dorothy’s assignment. Besides, Tianxia isn’t my type.”
“So it’s still Dorothy?”
“I’ll let you ponder that one.”
Sheffil gave Luther, who was grinning like an idiot, a sharp look.
Ever since he found out Sheffil was Dorothy’s childhood friend, this guy had been itching to spin some fake romance between them.
If Sheffil said even one remotely affectionate word about Dorothy, by tomorrow it would be twisted into an outrageous headline on the front page of the school paper.
Then he’d be hunted down by Dorothy’s rabid fan club.
“Has no one ever told you you’re incredibly annoying?”
“Nope. But I’ve been told I’ve got a wicked tongue.”
“Hah. Fair enough.”
Luther laughed loudly and slapped Sheffil on the back. Meanwhile, the two girls had wrapped up their short interview and returned.
“Yo, little Lize, judging by your face, I’d say your first interview went pretty well.”
“It was thanks to Tianxia’s cooperation. Thank you for your time today, Tianxia.”
“No problem. It was a pleasure talking to you too, Lize.”
“See, little Lize? Didn’t I say we’d find a great story here? Come on, give me some credit!”
“No way. You’re disgusting, senior.”
“Ugh… that really hurts, you know.”
And then, to everyone’s horror, Luther actually started bawling—big, dramatic tears—and dropped to his knees, hugging the girl’s leg.
“Wha—?! Don’t cry in the middle of the street! It’s embarrassing! Okay okay, you’re amazing, alright? Let’s just go already!”
Clearly not expecting Luther to have absolutely no shame, Lize scrambled to drag him away while waving goodbye to Tianxia.
“Tianxia, I hope you enjoy your time at the Academy! Oh, and be careful of Sheffil! Bye! Come on, stop crying already!”
“Goodbye,” Tianxia said with a smile, waving in their direction.
“She’s working really hard, Miss Lize.”
“No idea why, but that girl seems to really hate me,” Sheffil muttered, frowning as he stared after Lize and Luther.
“I think Sheffil should consider if the problem lies with himself,” Tianxia said coolly, her tone noticeably chillier than before.
But she didn’t owe Sheffil any explanations.
She simply held out her hand.
“Thank you for today, Mr. Sheffil. I can take it from here. I’ll carry my own things home, so you don’t have to trouble yourself.”
“Alright. Here.”
Sheffil handed them over without protest.
He wasn’t interested in explaining himself.
Maybe Lize really did badmouth him to Tianxia, but what did it matter?
The opinions of people who didn’t matter meant nothing to him.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Sheffil.”
Tianxia bowed slightly and gave a polite gesture he didn’t recognize before turning and walking away.
Maybe it was a custom unique to Chixia?
He’d heard they were into that kind of thing over there.
But—
“Shouldn’t she have said ‘until we meet again’?”
Sheffil had a gut feeling that this strange connection with Tianxia wasn’t going to be so easily severed.
What a pain.
One problem after another.
He still hadn’t gotten any leads on that imposter running around pretending to be him, and now he had Tianxia to deal with.
“Shouldn’t Dorothy be handling this sort of thing?”
Muttering to himself, Sheffil reached the entrance of his dormitory, only to notice light spilling from inside.
He lived alone.
Only one other person had a key to his room.
“Dorothy? What’s she doing here so late?”
With that thought, Sheffil opened the door.