Chapter 58: A Royal Encounter and Teasing Revelations

The next morning, Gern awoke from his slumber. He was still disoriented by his surroundings, momentarily believing himself to be in his own small house. It was only after he sat up and took in the scene around him that the realization dawned.

Undeniably, the large residence provided by the academy was of excellent quality, constructed entirely from a composite material. The interior design was predominantly white, furnished with a comprehensive array of furniture. Most importantly, the bed was incredibly soft; Gern felt he could happily lie there all day if he had no pressing matters.

However, today marked the official start of the academic year, and time was already pressing. Even as a special recruit of Miss Snow, he was obligated to attend the opening ceremony.

After a quick wash, Gern left his dormitory apartment. As he strode towards the academy plaza, he spotted a familiar figure. Lilia was leaning against the courtyard wall of the dormitory building, seemingly waiting for someone.

‘Who is that girl waiting for?’ Gern wondered, scratching his head. ‘It certainly isn’t me. Our acquaintance extends only to a single shared drink; at best, we’re drinking companions, hardly close enough for her to wait for me.’

With that thought, Gern intended to feign ignorance and hurry past Lilia.

“Gern, why the rush?”

Gern froze, then mechanically turned to face Lilia. Today, the young woman was clad in a white dress, her face subtly adorned with light makeup. Her breathtaking beauty momentarily captivated Gern, leaving him slightly dazed. Lilia, truly living up to her royal lineage, exuded an air of nobility even in such a simple outfit.

“Gern greets Your Royal Highness.”

Gern offered a slight bow, a simple gesture of respect, but he did not answer Lilia’s question. He was about to turn and leave when a small hand grasped his arm.

“This isn’t the Klett Kingdom; there’s no need for such formality. Here, I’m just an ordinary student.”

“No, no, this etiquette cannot be abandoned,” Gern replied, subtly wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. He tried his utmost to maintain a respectful distance from Lilia. Yet, Lilia was relentless; the more Gern resisted, the more affectionate her actions became.

Lilia gazed at Gern’s somewhat guilty expression, finding it rather amusing. Anyone unaware of the situation might have mistaken Gern for a scoundrel who had wronged Lilia.

‘Ah… if only Luoya could revert to her true form right now, I could be even more unbridled,’ Lilia mused inwardly. Meanwhile, the two had already arrived at the plaza, where they coincidentally ran into two familiar faces.

One was a pink-haired girl, the other a golden-haired girl whose attire was remarkably daring, covering only the most crucial areas, making her as cool and revealing as possible.

“Were those two always like this before?” the golden-haired elf inquired, leaning in to whisper to the pink-haired girl. The pink-haired girl merely shrugged.

“Don’t ask me; I wasn’t close with them before either.”

These two were Hera and Sina. Their dormitories were close, so they had naturally walked together.

“Ahem, you two are quite early, aren’t you?” Lilia greeted them warmly. Having shared a life-or-death experience, their relationship was naturally more intimate. Gern, mimicking Lilia, also offered a greeting to the pair.

“Hello, everyone.”

“Hello…” Sina responded, somewhat reserved and a little embarrassed, but she eventually managed to finish her sentence. “Thank you… for saving me.”

“Oh, it was nothing, truly. Just don’t think of me as a cultist in the future, alright?” Gern said with a laugh, which earned him a roll of Sina’s eyes. He scratched his head, slightly bewildered, a hint of confusion in his gaze.

“Who knew you possessed the movement techniques and martial arts of the Heretic God Cult, yet weren’t actually one of them?” Sina’s voice was so soft that Gern didn’t quite catch it. Not intending to press the matter, Gern turned to the elven princess, Hera.

Upon seeing Hera’s outfit, Gern was somewhat taken aback. Attending an opening ceremony dressed so revealingly was, to say the least, a peculiar choice. However, as he considered Hera’s race, he found himself understanding.

“Hello there,” Hera said, nodding at Gern, her demeanor quite lively. She immediately began circling the two of them, her dark green eyes scrutinizing them from head to toe.

“Oh, so Miss Lilia didn’t accept that scoundrel’s advances because her heart already belongs to someone else, I see.”

At Hera’s words, Lilia uncharacteristically blushed.

“What are you saying? I simply didn’t like that person, that’s all.”

“Oh? So that doesn’t stop you from liking *this* person, does it? Let me think… a hero saving a beauty, an old acquaintance, and not bad-looking either. If it were me, I might have already fallen for him, you know.”

Lilia watched Hera’s playful antics before her, unable to stop a soft smile from gracing her lips, the blush on her cheeks largely faded. That fleeting moment of shyness had already revealed her truest feelings: she truly had fallen for this little dragon girl before her.

‘Eh? Wait… this isn’t right,’ Gern initially thought nothing of it, just girls playfully teasing each other. Girls their age loved to ship various couples and gossip about interesting tidbits. But when he saw Lilia’s blushing reaction, he realized the situation might not be so simple. From what he knew of Lilia, she was always the dominant one; how could she possibly blush?

‘Something’s off, nine-tenths off. She couldn’t actually like me, could she? No, no, this girl only likes girls, doesn’t she? Could I have straightened her out in this life? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!’

The more Gern thought about it, the more he felt something was amiss. Subconsciously, he broke free from Lilia’s grasp, maintaining a safe distance between them.

Lilia, in turn, showed a hint of displeasure, her beautiful eyes piercing Gern with a sharp glare.

“Hera, don’t talk nonsense! We have a normal relationship, a perfectly normal relationship.”

“A normal relationship would be like this? Like *this*?” Hera’s eyes seemed to see through everything. She slowly walked in front of Gern, mimicking their previous posture, her mischievous little expression quite amusing. Sina, standing nearby, couldn’t help but be entertained by Hera’s antics and stepped forward to defuse the atmosphere.

“Alright, alright, this is between them. You shouldn’t get involved, okay? Look at how flustered they both are.”

“Oh, you two, can’t you just be honest? The scent of hormones is practically overflowing!”

Gern’s mouth twitched. This was truly a misunderstanding. How could he, of all people, possibly straighten out the leader of the ‘girl-loving’ faction, who was bent beyond recognition? It was simply an impossible feat!