Chapter 184: A Quantum Confession

The wheels of the carriage rolled over the gravel-paved street, making a rhythmic sound.

The carriage was lined with thick, soft cushions and even had a small warming ward constantly active, completely isolating them from the cold wind outside.

Lia curled up in a corner, burying her face in the collar of her cloak, leaving only her eyes to observe the person across from her.

Klein was leaning against the back of his seat, holding a copy of the Capital Evening News he had just bought.

He read with great focus, the lines of his side profile appearing especially soft under the dim magical light.

“So, why didn’t we just teleport?”

Lia finally couldn’t resist breaking the silence.

The carriage ride from the mage tower to the Central Plaza in the city center would take half an hour.

“With teleportation, it would only take the blink of an eye.”

Klein turned a page of the newspaper without looking up.

“The process of a date includes the anticipation along the way.”

“Teleportation omits the process, leaving only the result. That’s conducting an experiment, not living life.”

Lia pouted.

This man always had so much twisted logic.

“Besides,” Klein lowered the newspaper, his gaze falling upon her.

“I want to spend more time with you, in a space with just the two of us.”

Lia felt her cheeks grow a little hot.

She buried her face deeper into her collar.

“It’s just the two of us here, very quiet, suitable for contemplating questions of truth.”

She tried to steer the conversation toward academics.

“If you dare mention a single formula right now,” Klein leaned forward, moving closer to her.

“I will kiss you right here.”

Lia immediately shut her mouth.

She covered her mouth with both hands, looking at him warily.

Klein chuckled softly and reached out to ruffle her hair.

The carriage slowly came to a stop.

The coachman’s voice came from outside: “My lord, we’ve arrived at the Central Plaza.”

Klein got out of the carriage first.

He stood by the door and offered his hand to Lia.

Lia took his hand and jumped down from the carriage.

A gust of cold air rushed to meet her, carrying the aroma of roasted meat and the clamor of the crowd.

The once-spacious Central Plaza was now packed with people.

Today was the last day of the Ice and Snow Festival, and it seemed all the residents of the Royal Capital had come out.

A giant ice sculpture stood in the center of the plaza, shimmering with iridescent light under the multicolored magic lamps.

The calls of vendors, the songs of bards, and the shrieks of children were everywhere.

Lia was momentarily stunned by the overwhelming scent of worldly life.

She subconsciously leaned closer to Klein.

A large, warm hand took hold of hers.

Klein’s palm was large, dry and strong, completely enveloping her hand within his.

“Don’t get lost.”

He led her into the crowd.

There were many people around, shoulder to shoulder.

But strangely, no one managed to bump into Lia.

Klein walked slightly ahead and to her side, like a sturdy breakwater, holding back the surging tide of people.

Lia noticed that whenever someone was about to squeeze into them, they would inexplicably slide off to the sides.

‘That’s the application of spatial magic.’

‘Extremely fine spatial pressure, applied only to a ten-centimeter radius around them.’

‘Using an Eighth-Circle spell to navigate a crowd.’

‘This is probably something only Klein would do.’

“What do you want to eat?”

Klein stopped in front of a stall selling tanghulu.

The stall was filled with skewers of crystal-clear candied fruit, though they were not made with the hawthorns of her previous life, but another kind of red berry.

“That one.”

Lia pointed to the largest skewer.

Klein paid and handed the tanghulu to her.

Lia took a bite.

The sugar coating cracked, and the sweet and sour juice exploded in her mouth.

“Delicious.”

She squinted her eyes, like a satisfied cat that had just been fed.

Klein looked at her puffed-out cheeks, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes.

“Your mouth.”

He reminded her.

Lia stuck out her tongue to lick the corner of her mouth, but missed.

“Here.”

Klein reached out and gently wiped the corner of her mouth.

A small piece of sugar crystal stuck to his fingertip.

Lia thought he would flick the sugar crystal off.

Or take out a handkerchief to wipe it away.

But Klein naturally brought his finger to his lips, licking off that little bit of sugar.

“Quite sweet,” he commented.

Lia’s face instantly turned beet red.

They were surrounded by people, and although no one was paying attention to them, this kind of intimate act in public still made her heart race.

“You… that’s unhygienic.”

She managed to squeeze out this sentence after holding it in for a long time.

“I don’t dislike you,” Klein said as he continued to lead her forward.

When they passed a shooting game stall, Lia stopped.

It was a game of shooting balloons with a magitech device.

The prize shelf was filled with all sorts of dolls.

Among them was a white snow owl doll, plump and round, with its eyes wide open, looking both silly and cute.

“You want it?”

Klein followed her gaze.

“That owl looks a bit like Master Laplace,” Lia couldn’t help but remark.

“Especially that look in its eyes, as if everyone else is an idiot.”

Klein glanced at it and agreed it did look a bit similar.

“Proprietor, ten shots.”

Klein tossed a silver coin to the stall owner.

The owner, grinning from ear to ear, handed over a magitech device with an exaggerated design, closely resembling a flintlock pistol.

“This… this has been tampered with.”

Lia took the gun, weighed it slightly, and made her judgment.

“The sight is skewed to the left, and the air pressure is unstable.”

As a Seventh-Circle Mage, such little tricks could not escape her eyes.

“Can you hit it?”

Klein stood behind her.

“You underestimate me.”

Lia raised the gun.

She quickly constructed a ballistic model in her mind.

Wind speed, gravity, sight deviation, pressure fluctuations.

Bang!

The first shot missed.

The bullet whizzed past the balloon.

Lia frowned.

‘The pressure fluctuation is non-linear.’

Bang!

The second shot hit, but the balloon didn’t pop.

‘Insufficient kinetic energy.’

Lia was a little annoyed.

This stall owner was too crooked.

This wasn’t a matter of skill, but a problem with the equipment.

Just as she was preparing to adjust the parameters for the third shot, a warm chest pressed against her back.

Klein’s body was flush against hers, his hands helping her steady the gun.

“Parameter calculation is your strength,” he said into her ear, his warm breath ghosting over the shell of her ear.

“But in such an unreasonable situation, you have to use unreasonable, cheating methods.”

Lia felt a faint wave of magical power from her back.

It was spatial calibration.

Klein had minutely adjusted the space in front of the muzzle.

“Shoot.”

Pop!

The balloon burst on cue.

What followed was a continuous series of popping sounds.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

The remaining seven shots were all perfect hits.

One bullet even made a turn in mid-air, hitting two balloons with one shot.

The stall owner stared, dumbfounded.

He had rigged this thing so much that even its own mother wouldn’t recognize it.

‘How did they hit them?’

Klein put down the gun and took the snow owl doll from the pained-looking stall owner.

He stuffed the doll into Lia’s arms.

“Hold this.”

Lia hugged the plump doll, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

“Doesn’t this count as bullying ordinary people?”

“This is called making reasonable use of the rules,” Klein said with perfect justification.

The two of them, holding the doll, continued to wander around the plaza.

The sky gradually darkened.

A huge bonfire was lit in the center of the plaza.

A group of dancers in colorful costumes danced around the fire, and many passersby joined in.

The atmosphere was incredibly lively.

“Want to go dance?” Lia asked.

“No,” Klein refused flatly.

“I don’t like being touched by other people.”

‘Except you.’

He didn’t say the last part, but Lia understood.

“Then let’s go over there.”

Lia pointed to a clock tower on the edge of the plaza.

It was the highest point nearby, with fewer people and a good view.

The two of them climbed up to the clock tower’s terrace.

The noise from below became a little more distant.

The cold wind blew past, and Lia shrank her neck.

In the next second, a trench coat carrying body heat was draped over her shoulders.

Klein was only wearing the shirt and vest underneath, but he seemed completely oblivious to the cold.

“What time is it?”

Lia wrapped the trench coat tighter. It had Klein’s cool, clean scent, which was very pleasant.

“One minute left,” Klein said, looking at his pocket watch.

“One minute until what?”

“Fireworks.”

As soon as his voice fell—

Whoosh—

A bright light shot into the sky.

Immediately after, a huge golden flower bloomed in the night sky.

Then came a kaleidoscope of colors, illuminating the entire night sky as if it were day.

These were magical fireworks, far more brilliant than ordinary gunpowder ones, capable of conjuring all sorts of complex patterns.

Dragons, castles, stars.

Lia tilted her head back, watching the scene.

The light and shadows reflected in her pupils, flickering.

“It’s so beautiful,” she murmured to herself.

“That’s the flame test reaction of cesium and barium.”

She still couldn’t stop herself from making a mood-killing remark.

Klein sighed silently.

He put his arm around her shoulders and turned her to face him.

“Lia.”

“Hm?”

Lia turned her head and met those deep blue eyes.

The fireworks continued to bloom behind her, the flickering light playing across Klein’s face.

He looked even more beautiful than the fireworks.

“Do you know why I like the observer effect theory?” Klein suddenly asked.

Lia was taken aback.

“Because… it explains wave-particle duality?”

“No.”

Klein shook his head.

He lowered his head, pressing his forehead against hers.

The tips of their noses touched.

“Because before I met you, my world was a chaotic wave. Both existing and not existing. Until you appeared. Until your gaze fell upon me.”

Klein’s voice was very soft, yet every word struck Lia’s heart with clarity.

“At that moment, the wave collapsed. Only then did I gain a definite form. Only then did I truly… exist in this world.”

Lia’s heart skipped a beat.

This was probably the most top-tier corny pickup line she had ever heard in her entire life—no, in two lifetimes combined.

Confessing using quantum mechanics.

This was very Klein.

And very unfair.

“You…”

Lia opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say.

All her theories, all her formulas, seemed to have lost their effect at this moment.

“So,” Klein’s fingers threaded through her long hair, cupping her face.

“Don’t look away. Keep looking at me. Let me continue to exist.”

Lia felt her eyes begin to burn.

She stood on her tiptoes.

On this winter night, under a sky full of fireworks, on the terrace of the clock tower.

She took the initiative and kissed his lips.

“Okay,” she responded indistinctly between their lips.

“I will always look at you. Until the end of time. Even if time is relative. Even if space is curved. In this coordinate system. You are my one and only origin point.”

(TN: Finally!!!)

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