Draco coughed awkwardly twice, looking somewhat annoyed as he glared at Lucius with an expression that said, “Am I an idiot? Why would I tell my parents everything?”
“How could I? That kind of thing… what’s there to say?”
Draco looked sheepish; it wasn’t like he was a baby who hadn’t been weaned yet.
Lucius breathed a sigh of relief and smiled awkwardly, saying, “…It’s all because of your family’s Owl. It’s way too impatient. It probably took the wrong gift. What I prepared for you was a bottle of perfume… As for the love potion, it was completely a misunderstanding.”
Draco’s mind buzzed twice before he processed what Lucius had said. His face flushed almost instantly, and he gritted his teeth. “A misunderstanding? Who were you planning to give that love potion to? Harry Potter? I think your taste isn’t that bad, right? That scarhead has nothing going for him!”
Boy, you’re steering the conversation off track, aren’t you? Lucius forced a smile, feeling a bit confused: Why does Draco always drag Harry into things?
As their conversation in the hallway gradually drew the attention of quite a few people, accompanied by whispers of gossip, Lucius had no choice but to pull Draco, who wore a constipated expression, into an unseen corner. Trying to negotiate, she said, “…Could you give that thing back to me? I’ll exchange it for something else. Sorry, this time it really was my oversight.”
“No way! Once it’s given to me, it’s mine! Don’t even think about it!” Draco gritted his teeth, his little face puffed up with anger.
“You don’t even have a use for it. The young master of the Malfoy family wouldn’t stoop so low as to use a love potion to charm girls, would he?”
“None of your business, hmph!” Draco haughtily shook off Lucius’s hand and stomped away angrily.
Lucius watched his retreating back with a speechless expression, listening to the ding-ding sounds of the System in her head. It was time for the prize draw again.
“One bag of fresh green apples, approximately one pound and two ounces. Please check!”
Looking at the bag of apples that had appeared out of thin air on the ground, Lucius pursed her lips with a look of disdain: Not happy. The System is getting more and more perfunctory—just a bag of apples? They look so sour, and she doesn’t even like green apples!
……….
Even during lunchtime, when Draco received a bag of green apples personally delivered by Lucius, he still wasn’t very happy.
He was still brooding over the love potion incident, wondering who Lucius had originally intended to give that thing to.
To be precise, Draco wanted to figure out whether Lucius had developed a crush on any boy.
Because of this, looking at Blaise, who was dressed to the nines and could be called a “beauty harvester,” Draco felt nothing but disdain, thinking to himself: Could Lucius have taken a liking to this playboy Blaise?
Of course, besides Blaise, Draco also noticed some boys with ill intentions trying to get close to Lucius, including quite a few outstanding upperclassmen, both handsome and ugly.
A bunch of toads trying to eat swan meat! →_→
Although these guys temporarily outmatched him in height, when it came to intelligence, strength, and even family background, Draco was absolutely confident that Lucius wouldn’t be interested in those big fools.
Lucius was eating spaghetti, scooping up a spoonful of fresh pea shoots as a side, when she felt Draco’s blond head leaning closer toward her.
She quickly tilted her head, thinking Draco was still angry, and couldn’t help complaining, “Hey! What are you doing? Haven’t I already apologized to you?”
“Who exactly is that person?” Draco took a bite of an apple, still unwilling to give up. Please forgive his insatiable curiosity and competitive spirit.
Lucius was taken aback, utterly confused. “What person? Who are you talking about?”
“…The one you’re obsessed with… Who is he?” Draco took another fierce bite, thinking about how Lucius had gone to great lengths to brew such a difficult love potion. It was highly likely she was trying to win over some man, which made him feel extremely displeased.
Lucius thought Draco’s brain was full of holes, and those holes were filled with at least a liter of water. However, she couldn’t be bothered to explain the matter again. The more she explained, the more it would seem like she was hiding something—a chain reaction of trying to cover things up. So she simply turned her face away, ignoring him, and focused on eating her spaghetti.
“Harry Potter?” Draco thought of his archrival, his face twisting with disgust as he dismissed the idea. He continued guessing, “The red-haired, freckle-faced Weasley? Probably not, his family is so poor!”
“Blaise? You don’t seem particularly enthusiastic about him, so probably not.”
“Goyle and Crabbe are definitely out!”
“Theodore Nott? He doesn’t seem to have much presence.”
“Could it be someone not in our year?” Draco stopped muttering to himself and glanced in Lucius’s direction.
Lucius remained expressionless and indifferent.
After eating her fill, Lucius made a special trip to the Owlery. She suddenly remembered she hadn’t sent a Christmas gift to Professor Snape.
It seemed she would have to buy an owl next school year, Lucius thought to herself.
The gift was ready—a black woolen scarf she had knitted herself. The pattern featured elegant cursive initials, the professor’s full initials, and behind the abbreviation, she had embroidered an adorable cartoon snake using silver and green yarn.
In her previous life, she had learned knitting specifically to relieve stress. While her roommates embroidered cross-stitch, she devoted herself to knitting, gradually honing her skills.
Lucius had bought a beautiful gift box and carefully wrapped the scarf. She sprinkled some owl treats for the adorable messenger, tied the package and her belated holiday wishes to it, and watched as it flapped its wings and flew toward the dungeon.
Whether the professor liked it or not, it was a gesture of goodwill.
As for why she chose a scarf instead of something else, Lucius had her own little secret. When she used to browse videos, her two favorite actions of Professor Snape were: one, when he used Expelliarmus to send Lockhart flying—swift and elegant, utterly cool; and the other, when he wore a black scarf, tilted his head back, and tossed his hair—unexpectedly charismatic and handsome, absolutely mesmerizing!
Lucius had once fantasized about becoming the professor’s scarf, though of course, that was just a daydream. (≧≦)/
Just as she was about to leave, Lucius suddenly heard a long-unheard, overly sweet voice. “Riddle, I never thought your target was Snape.”
Lilith stepped out from the shadows, wearing an expression as if she had uncovered the truth. Judging by her smug look of having figured everything out, she must have been watching Lucius for quite some time and had let her imagination run wild.
“Stringing Malfoy along while cozying up to Snape—you really have quite the skills,” Lilith continued, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
Lucius hadn’t expected her long-quiet fellow countrywoman to suddenly pop up again, and with such a vivid imagination at that.
“Only someone with a dirty mind would think that way.” Lucius retorted without backing down, looking at her with a hint of curiosity. “Sometimes I really don’t understand what’s going on in your head. You’re overthinking things too much!”
Lucius thought for a moment, then seemed to recall something and chuckled mischievously. “Could it be that you still can’t get over Draco?”
Remembering how Lilith had once acted cute, clingy, and relentless toward Draco, Lucius felt certain she had hit the nail on the head.
“Pfft! I’ve lost interest in that immature, bad-tempered Malfoy boy! If it weren’t for his good looks and family wealth, who would bother being his lapdog? He can’t compare to Harry Potter’s protagonist aura, his grades are overshadowed by you and Hermione Granger—forever stuck in third place. The worst part is, he has no gentlemanly manners whatsoever and doesn’t know how to treat a lady with care. Anyone who marries him would be downright unlucky!”
Lilith sneered disdainfully, feeling an inexplicable sense of shame when she recalled her past fawning behavior.
That remark hit a nerve!
It’s like the classic case of sour grapes.
The young master isn’t that bad, really. Handsome and wealthy, with a foul temper but not a bad nature at heart. In modern times, he’d be a sought-after high-society heartthrob, even if he’s a bit short for now.
Draco Malfoy, who happened to be looking for Lucius and unintentionally overheard Lilith’s final comment, stood there with a face as dark as thunder, his expression so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water.
If looks could kill, Lilith would have been sliced to pieces ten times over.