Chapter 32: But No, I Refuse!

Stare!

“Miss Yiluo is highly suspicious!”

Before Yiluo could even speak, Coco—who was sitting beside her—grabbed Yiluo’s sleeve with both small hands, then leaned closer, shielding her with her own body like a hawk protecting its chick.

“Pfft.”

“Mm—cough, cough… cough cough cough…!”

Seeing Coco’s reaction and realizing that she could tell the girl in front of them was suspicious, Yiluo felt deeply pleased.

She couldn’t help laughing—only to be tragically choked by the blood pastry.

Coco hurriedly patted Yiluo on the back, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief from her pocket,

and then saw the suspicious girl very naturally pick up the drink Coco had been drinking, hold it up to Yiluo, and say with concern,

“Blood Sussuly Liquid—

it’s really good.

Have some to moisten your throat.”

Seeing the girl so casually take her drink and attentively offer it to Yiluo made Coco’s sense of danger skyrocket.

But when she saw Yiluo take the cup and drink a big gulp right from the spot Coco had just used—

Coco’s face went whoosh—bright red.

Th-th-that’s—!

That’s where I drank from!

Mm…!

The place my lips touched—

Miss Yiluo’s soft lips also—

!@#￥%……

Coco’s defenses collapsed.

Naturally, the girl seemed completely unaware of Coco’s internal meltdown.

She continued asking gently,

“Feeling better?”

“I almost choked to death!

I’ve finally come back to life.”

Yiluo patted her chest to steady her breathing, finally feeling more comfortable.

This proved one thing very clearly—

no matter how powerful you are, choking still feels awful.

Even Demon Kings are no exception.

“So?

I’m Alexia.

I’m a student of Caledonia Academy.”

Alexia’s eyes were filled with pleading.

Her pure, beautiful face seemed to shine, making it impossible for ordinary people to refuse her.

“Oh.

Young, beautiful, apparently high-status, very strong, and looks simple and pure.”

Yiluo wiped the grease from her hands with a napkin, then twirled her silver hair around her fingers while tilting her head at Alexia.

“Mhm mhm!

Is that okay?!”

Alexia nodded eagerly, her eyes sparkling with stars.

This—

how could anyone refuse this?!

At that moment, Yiluo narrowed her eyes, the corners of her lips lifting slightly.

“But—

I refuse.”

???

Alexia didn’t understand what Yiluo meant.

After hesitating for a moment, she leaned even closer, making the outline of a certain raised area beneath her white blouse even more obvious.

She smiled brightly and innocently as she said,

“That means you agree, right?

You agree, right!”

“Mm…

So happy…”

Watching Alexia inch closer and closer, Yiluo stood up, reached out, and pushed the girl’s cute forehead, sending her back to her own seat.

“Rejected.

It means rejected.

Go back to your seat.

And stop deliberately showing off certain parts.”

Alexia didn’t look disappointed at all.

She simply asked, puzzled,

“Why reject me?

Is it because I’m not good enough?”

Yiluo sat back down, one hand on her hip, wagging a finger as she said,

“A perfect invitation paired with a beautiful face and such sincere pleading—

anyone would be unable to refuse.”

“Then why did you refuse?”

Yiluo grinned slyly.

“Sorry.

I hate going with the flow.

The more something is ‘impossible to refuse,’ the happier I am to refuse it.”

After thinking for a moment, Alexia deliberately put on a fierce expression and declared,

“Bastard.

Be my friend!”

In reality, her expression wasn’t fierce at all—

it was adorable.

“I resolutely refuse!”

Yiluo crossed her arms in front of herself, forming a big X.

“Huh?!

Why are you still refusing?

Normally, when someone’s this forceful, people do refuse—

so shouldn’t you agree this time?”

Yiluo calmly admired Alexia’s expression and replied,

“Sometimes, going with the flow can be fun too.”

Huh…?

Alexia was speechless.

“So cruel…

You really are worthy of being my best friend.”

Still, the unyielding Alexia simply convinced herself that Yiluo had agreed.

“???”

At this moment, Coco—whose love-struck brain had temporarily shut down—suddenly snapped back to reality.

She stared wide-eyed at Yiluo in shock.

“Master, what just happened?

Why did she become your best friend?”

“Coco, that’s just her lying to herself.

I didn’t become friends with her.”

“Oh.

That’s good.”

Coco finally relaxed, patting her chest while continuing to glare warily at Alexia.

Seeing Coco beside her, Yiluo decided today was a good day for a lesson.

“Coco, time for a lesson.”

“Mhm!”

Coco nodded obediently.

Yiluo straightened her posture, picked up a blood pastry shaped like a chocolate stick, and waved it at Alexia.

“Miss, are you from the Western Continent?

And how old are you this year?”

Seeing Yiluo finally show interest, Alexia quickly answered,

“Yes!

You could tell I’m from the Western Continent—amazing!

I’m from a small country there, kind of a noble.

I’m sixteen.”

As soon as Alexia finished speaking, Yiluo ignored her and began explaining seriously to Coco.

“The first sentence casually praises the other person—

that’s a conversation technique to gain favor and lower their guard.

Saying ‘a small country’ implies she wants to hide her real nation.

And ‘kind of a noble’ is clearly a trap—

because if she were royalty or a princess, that would be far higher than a noble,

yet still technically counts as nobility.”

“This young lady’s bearing is not something an ordinary noble could have.”

Alexia looked at Yiluo with admiration, eyes full of awe.

“You’re amazing!

Everything you said is correct!”

Yiluo pointed at Alexia with the blood pastry, took a bite, and said slightly muffled,

“Western Continent nobles normally aren’t allowed to consume blood products.

Yet this young lady eats them with great enjoyment and clearly isn’t here for the first time.

That means she’s a rebellious princess who dares to break rules—

far from as innocent as she looks.

Her persistent attempts to strike up a conversation show an extremely aggressive personality.

She’s dangerous.”

“Mhm mhm, very dangerous.”

Coco listened carefully and nodded vigorously.

After all, the way Alexia had naturally handed over Coco’s own drink was far too bold!

Mm…

Miss Yiluo’s lips…

Lost in thought, Coco started drifting again until Yiluo knocked her lightly on the head, snapping her back to attention.

Not only Coco—

even Alexia listened carefully, nodding the entire time.

“When we entered, she was sitting in the corner.

That means even though she’s rebellious, she still instinctively avoids attention.”

“Her uniform is immaculate—almost obsessively so.

Her hair isn’t flashy, yet neatly styled, clearly done with care.

And yet, while eating pastries, she left crumbs at the corner of her mouth without noticing.”

At this, Alexia touched her mouth in surprise, then smiled awkwardly and popped the crumbs into her mouth.

“Coco, what does that tell you?”

Coco stared at Yiluo, thinking only how cool, pretty, and cute she looked while teaching.

She hadn’t absorbed a word.

Panicking, she answered,

“Huh?

Ah!

Uh—?”

“It means even careful people can make mistakes!”

Yiluo felt heartbroken.

Coco was too pure.

She explained patiently,

“No, Coco.

It means she did it on purpose.”

“She was pretending to be cute, innocent, and harmless!”

Hearing this, Coco shot Alexia a fierce glare, then immediately turned back to Yiluo with sparkling eyes, nodding hard.

“Miss Alexia, that six-pointed star emblem with the number 77 on your white shirt—

is every Caledonia student’s number unique?”

“Uh, yes.

Student numbers are all unique.”

Yiluo narrowed her eyes at Alexia.

Alexia deliberately straightened her chest and tugged her jacket aside, making the number even more visible.

This only made Yiluo feel more convinced of her danger.

“What does that number mean?” Coco asked, confused.

“Of course it means something.

Seventy-seven is clearly a high-ranking number—

it suggests she has some standing within the academy.”

“More importantly—

a sixteen-year-old who has reached the Earth Rank.

I honestly don’t know if there’s a second one like her in the academy.

Or even on the entire continent.”

At this point, Yiluo’s gaze turned sharp as she looked at Alexia.

Alexia, meanwhile, smiled sheepishly.

“Thanks for the praise, but I really don’t have much status at school.

My reputation isn’t great either…”

“Among the three Holy Maidens of the Holy Church,

the Sword Saintess Eve reached Earth Rank at thirteen,

and the Flower Saintess Seviera was even more terrifying—

she reached Earth Rank at twelve.”

The Holy Church has three Saintesses:

the Sword Saintess, the Shield Saintess, and the Flower Saintess—

corresponding to three of the four holy relics on the Church’s banner,

representing Judgment, Protection, and Glory.

After staring at Alexia for a while, Yiluo memorized those two names and turned to Coco, shaking her head.

“So, this Alexia is a girl skilled at disguise,

high in status, aggressive in nature,

and extremely strong.”

“Coco, did you learn anything?”

Coco nodded seriously.

“I learned that we should stay far away from this bad woman!”

In truth, Coco had only learned that Miss Yiluo was amazing and everything she said sounded right.

How to actually observe people and extract information from conversation—

she learned absolutely none of it.

In other words—

lesson failed successfully.

Hearing Coco’s answer, Yiluo snapped her fingers happily.

“Correct answer.

We’re done eating—let’s go!”

Coco nodded eagerly, wanting to take her Miss Yiluo far away from this dangerous woman.

But Alexia had no intention of giving up.

She stood up as well, reaching for Yiluo’s sleeve—

only to be blocked by Coco first.

Still, Alexia said excitedly,

“You understand me better than I understand myself!

Can’t you really let me be your best friend?

I do have some flaws, but I’ve never hurt anyone!”

Yiluo turned back, smiled faintly, and rejected her calmly.

“Sorry.

I can’t be friends with someone more two-faced than me.”

After that, Yiluo asked the goat-headed shop owner a curious question, then left without looking back, taking Coco with her—

leaving Alexia standing there in a daze.

But after a brief moment of shock, Alexia’s face lit up with a smile again.

Muttering to herself, she said,

“This is amazing.

I have to become her friend.

I love her personality—

I love it so much!”

Then she cheerfully called to the shop owner,

“Boss, I’m so happy today!

Another Blood Lingling mini cake and Red Amber, please!”

“Oh—and pack two more to go!”

While eating the newly served exquisite pastries, Alexia murmured softly,

“Coming to Caledonia must be for school…

I hope we meet again at the academy…”