Anna couldn't even remember how she got back to her dormitory.
Leaning against the windowsill, she looked down at the red rose in her hand.
The bright red petals swayed gently in the moonlight, and crystal-clear dewdrops slid down the stem onto her hand.
It was ice-cold.
Looking out into the distance, the fork in the road was already completely empty.
That overbearing man had so brashly disrupted her peaceful day, only to irresponsibly make his exit.
Anna stood leaning against the windowsill for a moment before slowly raising her hand to take off her thin-framed glasses.
From amidst her light-blue hair, she gently removed a pale silver magical accessory.
A subtle ripple of mana spread out, like the surface of water being dispersed by a night wind.
In the next moment, the delicate features belonging to “Sasha” quietly faded away.
Her long, light-blue hair began to lose its color from the tips, turning in an instant into a deep purple as magnificent as amethyst, cascading down to her waist.
Her originally soft and gentle eyes changed as well. Her facial features became so exquisite they bordered on sharp, and her violet eyes turned cold and deep. Just by standing there quietly, the nobility and majesty of an imperial princess naturally revealed itself.
The girl in the mirror was noble and perfect.
Just like the forever calm and composed Second Princess of Bauhinia under the brush of a court painter.
But at this very moment—
That stunning face, which should have been cold and majestic, was slightly flushed with red.
Anna stared blankly at herself in the mirror, turning her face away as if refusing to admit something.
Her slender, delicate fingers involuntarily stroked the rose.
“My lady friend”... What kind of address is that...
Exaggerated and frivolous.
No noble etiquette at all.
She puffed out her cheeks and leaned over the long table, carefully poking the rose's petals.
Poke~
As if imagining it as a certain punchable face, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Beep—
The brief chime of the clock interrupted her reverie.
“...It does seem to be getting a bit late...”
Anna took off her long dress and changed into lightweight silk pajamas. Her fair, tender toes had just kicked off her slippers.
As if suddenly remembering something, she turned around. Ignoring her slippers, she began to run across the wooden floor barefoot.
Her delicate, youthful toes curled and rubbed against each other involuntarily from the cold.
She quickly walked over to the side room and picked up an exquisite vase.
The body of the vase was transparent, carved with intricate and delicate life spell formations. With just a small injection of mana, any flower placed inside would remain in full bloom, unfading for months.
In the imperial palace, this kind of magical tool was only ever used to preserve rare flowers from important celebrations.
Anna was silent for a moment. She snapped the precious orchid that was originally planted inside, then carefully inserted the rose.
Adjusting the angle, she placed the vase squarely on the nightstand, and finally snuggled into the blankets with satisfaction.
The fatigue of the day quickly washed over her as she relaxed. In the final moment before sleep claimed her, her sleepy, beautiful eyes stole one last glance at the rose.
“Next time we meet...”
The murmur was incredibly faint, almost scattering into the gentle night wind.
Anna Via suddenly felt a bit of anticipation for tomorrow.
It would no longer be an unchanging tomorrow.
...
...
Meanwhile, Lynn—
[Just as planned!]
No, I can't laugh yet.
Thirty-five seconds. I'll declare victory in thirty-five seconds!
“That girl definitely didn't realize, right!”
“What rare breed from the Norman Empire worth fifty academy points... There's no such thing!”
Please, Traveler's Street is already closed, okay? Where would I even buy it?
I just took advantage of her distraction to masterfully 'borrow' a common rose from the academy's flowerbed.
Lynn had opened his mouth and slapped a fifty-academy-point debt onto Anna, then bolted before she could react, locking it in completely.
This is your Brother Lynn's technique! If you want to make a rich girl cough up some cash, you'd better learn from this quickly!
“Getting fifty academy points for free—this is victory number one!” Aside from that—
【Emotion Points +40】【Emotion Points +40】...
The system's rapid-fire notifications almost made Lynn's head spin.
Heavens, there has never been such a wonderful start. As expected of a galgame master like me!
【Current Emotion Points: 4999】
“I've only been at the academy for a few days, and I've already earned nearly three thousand Emotion Points!”
“Reaping a massive amount of Emotion Points—this is victory number two!”
Rounding it up, I, Lynn, have won twice. So between Anna and me, it's a win-win (assuredly)!
In addition—
【Quest completed. You have obtained one gold trait draw. Target designated: 'Anna Via'.】
【Detected that the Advancement Quest has been completed. Obtained one trait draw (random quality).】
“Awesome! System, you're a real god this time.”
“Let's use the random quality one first.”
【Regal Bloodline (Gold): The ancestral imperial bloodline of the Bauhinia family has fully awakened in the girl. She is the undisputed uncrowned king. All Magic Resistance +50%.】
【May the Thunder God Aid Me! (Gold): You possess a 95% immunity to lightning magic. At the same time, the damage of lightning magic you cast is increased by 500%, and its mana consumption is also increased by 500%.】
【Blazing Slit Pupils (Gold): Triggers in battle. You can see the flow of mana of all living beings within a two-hundred-meter radius, and always predict their movements three seconds in advance.】
【Peerless Elegance (Gold): You are a natural succubus. Your every movement carries an alluring aura that makes hearts flutter.】
The familiar wheel appeared before Lynn once again. The four gold traits occupied one corner each, while the rest were various purple and blue traits from Anna's body.
After excitedly pressing start, the pointer slowly began to spin.
【Regal Bloodline】—out.
【May the Thunder God Aid Me!】—out.
The pointer's spinning speed gradually slowed down. Under Lynn's thrilled gaze, it looked as if it was about to stop right on 【Blazing Slit Pupils】.
Suddenly, the pointer gave a violent shudder and made a sudden, massive jump.
A blinding golden light nearly blinded his eyes.
“It's a gold!!!”
Before he could celebrate, the cold system announcement dragged him back to reality.
【Congratulations, you have obtained the gold trait: Peerless Elegance (Gold).】
【Detected that the host already possesses a similar trait: Apex Cao Cao (Gold). Initiating automatic fusion.】
【God of Cao Cao (Gold): You are a leader in the incubus world. No female can resist your charm. It is easier for your words to open up others' hearts. Attraction +300%, extra effectiveness against the opposite sex +50%.】
【Evaluation: Your Brother Lynn might have screwed up, been weak, or lost, but he has never been ugly.】
As a staunch combat-oriented player, Lynn was furious!
Sure, he got a gold, but why couldn't he feel any joy?
【Remaining trait draw attempts (guaranteed Gold quality) x1】
“...Fortunately, there's still a guaranteed pity.” He sighed and clicked again.
The massive wheel instantly shrunk to only three options. This time, perhaps because the luck of a lucky bastard finally smiled upon Lynn for once, it stopped on the option he had been looking forward to all along.
【Congratulations, you have obtained the gold trait: Blazing Slit Pupils.】
A fiery, burning sensation flared from the corners of his eyes, and Lynn looked at himself in the mirror.
The handsome youth was slightly dazed. His gold-plated pupils narrowed with an imposing, natural authority, as if fire was burning within them.
In an instant, the entire world seemed to be slowed down several times by an invisible hand.
The dust floating in the air, the swaying path of the branches outside the window, and even the subtle magical fluctuations kicked up by a distant night bird flapping its wings were all so clear it was almost blinding.
What was even more bizarre was that, layered over reality, there was a faint, shimmering afterimage.
That was [the future].
Lynn narrowed his eyes slightly.
In the next split second, the glass at the corner of the desk, nudged by the night wind, wobbled gently, tipped over, fell, and finally shattered to pieces on the floor.
Yet the glass in reality was only just beginning to tilt outward at this moment.
...
Lynn's body moved before his conscious mind did.
He reached out casually, catching the glass firmly in his palm when it was only half an inch from the floor.
In the quiet room, only the soft rustling of leaves rubbing together outside the window remained.
Lynn looked down at the undamaged glass in his hand, then raised his eyes to look at the burning gold slit pupils in the mirror.
Three seconds.
This was the current limit of 'the future' he could see.
Before he could burst into a sinister laugh of self-satisfaction, a feeling of exhaustion spread from his abdomen.
His massive reserves of mana were shrinking rapidly at a visible rate.
“Wait, this thing drains mana this fast?”
No wonder Anna used it so rarely in the original plot, basically only activating it at critical moments in battle.
This rate of mana consumption... even Lynn, who possessed the gold trait 【Favor of the Sinfire Witch】, found it a bit hard to bear.
‘My limit... is probably about three minutes of forced activation.’
After calculating the consumption and replenishment, Lynn made a precise judgment.
“Alright, let's turn it off for now.” He shook his head.
But the burning golden eyes remained exactly as they were. Lynn's expression froze.
“Wait, how do I turn this thing off!???”
A faint wail penetrated the tightly shut doors and windows, echoing in the quiet night sky.
We still do not know how much effort Lynn put in that night to familiarize himself with his newly acquired 【Blazing Slit Pupils】.
...
...
At the fork near the dormitory buildings, a small, white-haired head poked out cautiously from behind the shadow of a tree trunk.
Only after confirming that everyone had gone far away did she dare to step out completely.
“...Is it really okay for us to do this?” an adorable, dorky voice said hesitantly.
“Those... are all other people's private matters. For us to do this...”
A cold and aloof voice interrupted her.
“Don't get it wrong—I didn't do anything.”
“I just happened to run into them while taking a stroll, and then happened to be heading in the same direction.”
The cold tone suddenly shifted. “Or are you saying... you even want to take back this kind of 'freedom'?”
“Don't forget, tonight was originally the night we agreed to swap.”
“Ugh...” The innocent voice was instantly at a loss for words, and she dejectedly hung her head.
“And you saw it too, didn't you... what kind of scumbag your so-called 'good person' actually is.”
In the dead of such a quiet night, despite already having a partner, he was still flirting improperly with a woman he just met.
The unpleasant smell of alcohol on those two... she could smell it from ten kilometers away.
“B-But Pandora... I think...”
“Stay far away from that guy! If you can't do it... heh, I don't mind personally teaching him a lesson.”
The talking figure finally stepped completely out of the shadows.
The dilapidated streetlamp flickered once, fully illuminating the person's face.
It seemed they weren't actually 'two people' conversing.
At this moment, exposed under the light was only a single, stunning, white-haired girl.
Irene Durandal hung her head in dejection, her facial expression shifting between disgust and grievance.
Her low self-muttering finally turned into a pitiful wail.
“Ugh... I think I messed up again...”
Rate on N.U.
