The day of the Academy Anniversary Celebration drew ever closer, and on the second-to-last day, they held a dress rehearsal.
“We’ve really gotten better and better with practice. There definitely won’t be any problems tomorrow!!!” Diane said excitedly to Wuli.
“Mm!” the white-haired girl replied with a smile. She still had the script in her hands and planned to go over her lines several more times that evening.
The black-haired young man sat nearby. Everyone was chatting about tomorrow, and he neither had a place in the conversation nor any desire to join it. His gaze drifted involuntarily toward the white-haired girl.
He remained silent. There was little emotion in his dark red eyes, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
‘She’s so warm and gentle with everyone else, yet she always keeps her guard up around me.’
The dark red gaze of the black-haired young man lowered slightly. Then, as if he had thought of something, a faint glimmer lit his eyes.
‘She always has her thorns out when she’s with me. Doesn’t that count as a different kind of special treatment?’
After the rehearsal ended, the atmosphere remained lively for a while. Just as everyone was happily celebrating the fact that the auditorium doors would open again tomorrow, the doors were pushed open once more, and another person entered.
The moment she saw that familiar figure, Wuli’s heart tightened.
The spot where Wuli was standing happened to face the entrance directly, so the newcomer could see her at first glance as well. Her reaction was immediate. Instinctively, she put on a smile and greeted him cheerfully.
“Brother, what brings you here?”
Not a single flaw could be seen.
The black-haired young man noticed Shuen as well and flashed him a provocative smile. Shuen had obviously seen him too. The white-haired young man merely swept his gaze past him indifferently before offering a cordial smile to those around him and turning his attention back to Wuli.
“I heard my little sister is playing the female lead. Since the performance is tomorrow, I thought I’d take this opportunity to come and have a look.”
The white-haired young man did not move. He remained standing by the doorway, his smiling eyes fixed unwaveringly on Wuli.
Hearing his words, the people around them could not help admiring the apparent closeness between the siblings.
Only Wuli felt that something was very wrong.
In fact, it was absolutely disastrous!!!
Glenn was still here!!!!
Another death trap of a situation!!
And the white-haired young man had clearly noticed Glenn. Yet he remained where he was, his gaze locked firmly onto Wuli.
This was no longer just a battlefield between two male leads.
She had become the cannon fodder caught in the crossfire!
The white-haired girl inwardly cursed the absurdity of it all. Then, with a cheerful smile, she immediately walked over to the white-haired young man without showing the slightest hint of displeasure.
“Brother, if you were coming, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
There was no reproach in her words. Her tone was bright and upbeat, and her expression completely natural, making it seem as though she was genuinely delighted.
A flicker passed through the white-haired young man’s eyes as a subtle smile appeared on his face.
The moment he had seen Glenn here, his evaluation of the white-haired girl had been: ‘Little liar.’
But when he saw her smiling as she came over to greet him, that judgment changed.
‘At least she’s smart.’
No matter how many conclusions the white-haired young man drew in his heart, they had little effect on Wuli outwardly.
However, anyone paying close attention would have noticed that the expressions of the people around them had become rather interesting…
Everyone was shocked.
Who present had not heard the Sinclair family’s well-known secrets? The young lady and the eldest young master of the Sinclair family were famous for never getting along.
So what in the world was this unexpectedly harmonious scene?
The people nearby desperately shot meaningful looks toward Diane, the person most likely to know the inside story.
‘Th-This! What is going on here?!’
Diane forced out a couple of awkward laughs under everyone’s scrutinizing gazes.
‘I don’t know either…’
Yet the two people whom everyone believed were hiding some enormous secret seemed completely unaware of the situation.
Shuen naturally picked up where Wuli had left off.
“I only decided to come at the last minute.”
Wuli smiled and let out an “Oh.”
The white-haired young man smiled as well and shifted his gaze away.
That gaze landed directly on Glenn.
“I didn’t expect His Highness the First Prince to be here as well.”
Wuli: !!
The gunpowder she had been unable to contain finally ignited between the two male leads.
Glenn met his gaze with an equally pleasant smile. The instant their eyes met, the air seemed thick with the smell of gunpowder.
“Of course I’d be here,” he said teasingly. “The male lead can’t exactly be absent.”
The male lead?
Wuli’s expression froze.
‘It’s over.’
The male lead was Glenn.
But his good little sister had never mentioned that fact to him.
This time, Shuen’s deep blue eyes settled heavily upon the white-haired girl, as though they could devour her whole.
The black-haired young man wore an amused smile. Naturally, he knew Wuli had never wanted Shuen to find out that her acting partner was him. This was both a way of irritating Shuen and a warning to Wuli.
Meanwhile, the white-haired girl stood rigidly in place.
She was still smiling on the surface.
Inside, however, she was falling apart.
‘So this is what a death trap of a situation feels like…’
she reflected.
She even gave up struggling and let him scrutinize her as much as he liked, refusing to step on this particular landmine by saying anything. For a moment, the air itself seemed frozen.
The people around them could only sense that the atmosphere had become somewhat strange, but none of them understood why.
Wuli could understand that.
After all, they had never witnessed the power of a death trap situation before.
Just then, her savior appeared.
Wuli watched helplessly as Diane cleared her throat twice and inserted herself into the silent battlefield.
“Senior Shuen came at an unfortunate time. We just finished the dress rehearsal. But the official performance is tomorrow, so you can look forward to that instead. Wuli has been especially hoping you’ll come.”
Especially hoping…
Shuen’s gaze shifted.
His deep blue eyes turned toward Diane with a smile before he looked back at Wuli.
“Is that so?”
How could Wuli possibly say no?
Before the words had even fully left his mouth, she was already nodding frantically, terrified that he might not accept the answer.
Seeing the somewhat ingratiating expression on the white-haired girl’s face, amusement flickered across Shuen’s eyes, and the pressure surrounding him finally eased.
Unfortunately, the pressure around Glenn began increasing instead.
His gaze settled on Wuli. He was still smiling.
But the smile looked hollow.
There were blades hidden behind it.
Wuli screamed inwardly.
‘Diane!!! Well said!!! Say more!!!!’
Diane did not disappoint her. Turning her head, she added, “His Highness the First Prince’s performance is equally outstanding. He and Wuli look perfectly matched on stage. If tomorrow’s performance maintains this level, it’ll definitely be a success.”
Hearing that, Glenn shifted his gaze away.
He offered no comment.
But one thing was obvious.
The Wuli trapped between the two men was finally safe.
She shot Diane a grateful look.
In return, Diane secretly winked at her.
At that moment, Wuli felt a sense of security unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
Diane!!!
She declared that starting today!!!
She had a goddess!!!
Shuen had originally come to watch Wuli’s rehearsal, but because he had classes of his own, he had still arrived a step too late.
Fortunately, that worked out perfectly for Wuli.
Wuli’s only thought was: ‘Thank goodness you didn’t see the script.’
If he had witnessed the interactions between the male and female leads during the performance, another round of interrogation would undoubtedly be waiting for her when she got home.
Of course, Wuli had miscalculated.
Because whether he saw the rehearsal or not, it did nothing to stop Shuen from getting angry simply because she and Glenn had been in the same space.
The two of them returned to the Duke’s Residence together.
The moment they arrived, Wuli tried to slip away under the pretense of returning to her room.
Unfortunately, Shuen saw through her plan before she could even act on it.
“Brother, I’ll head back to my room first…”
“Hm?”
The white-haired young man’s fingers wound around a strand of Wuli’s hair.
His deep blue eyes fixed on the white-haired girl. Both his gaze and his actions carried an unquestionable possessiveness that allowed no refusal.
To catch Wuli, all he needed was a single strand of her hair.
Startled, Wuli looked up.
Shuen bent down slightly, studying her from close range. His tone rose faintly at the end, casual and unhurried.
For some reason, Wuli’s heartbeat sped up.
“Aren’t you going to explain things to your brother first?”
“You were so afraid of telling me who the male lead was.”
“Are you really that scared of me?”
Shuen’s lips formed a straight line, his face expressionless.
Half of his face was veiled in shadow, yet it could not conceal the brilliance of his deep blue eyes. His sharply defined brow ridge and jawline became blurred and darkened beneath the shadows, making him look even more striking.
Under the assault of such devastating good looks, Wuli only wanted to close her eyes.
Wuli turned her head away and quietly steadied her breathing.
The feeling of being watched so directly seemed to press down on the very air around her, making it difficult to breathe.
Unhurriedly, Shuen hooked a few more strands of her white hair around his fingers.
His long fingers played with them at a leisurely pace.
After all, the white-haired girl wasn’t going anywhere.
He could afford to give her some time.
Truthfully, he wasn’t even sure what answer he wanted.
But whatever answer Wuli gave him had to satisfy him.
Silence lingered between them for a long while before Wuli finally answered calmly.
“I thought Brother would be angry.”
The white-haired girl did not look at him.
Her head remained lowered, her posture carrying a mixture of guilt and self-reflection.
One of Shuen’s brows lifted slightly as he waited for her to continue.
“Brother…”
Wuli brought out her trump card.
She placed her hand over the one that was twining around her hair and slowly lifted her gaze, inch by inch, toward Shuen’s eyes.
When their eyes finally met, she spoke obediently.
“Could you not be angry anymore?”
‘Heh.’
The white-haired young man’s pupils trembled slightly.
The hand hooked around her hair tightened in an instant, pulling hard enough to make Wuli wince in pain.
“Hiss…”
She frowned.
Only then did Shuen let go.
‘Impressive.’
Shuen truly thought it was impressive.
He suddenly understood why Wuli had managed to survive under Glenn’s hands.
Wuli reached up and rubbed the back of her head where it hurt.
‘Not bad, not bad. He only pulled my hair. At least he didn’t take my head off.’
On the day of the Academy Anniversary Celebration, the performances were held class by class.
Wuli’s play was scheduled near the end of the program.
Even so, she had to arrive at the dressing room early to prepare.
“Wuli!!!” Diane waved a princess costume at her.
“Come get changed!”
“Coming.”
Wuli tossed aside her script and ran into the fitting room to change.
The princess costume was a rose-pink gown adorned with countless decorative crystals. The skirt was voluminous and somewhat elaborate, and Wuli spent quite a while trying to straighten everything out.
Unfortunately, a problem still appeared.
She had never played a Western European-style princess before, so when she looked at the altered straps at the back of the dress, her expression resembled someone witnessing a traffic accident.
Utterly lifeless.
She had no idea how to tie it.
No matter what she did, it remained loose and presentable to absolutely no one.
Wuli struggled inside the fitting room for more than ten minutes.
Her hands were practically stiff from tying and retying the straps, yet she still couldn’t get it right.
In the end, she tied it however she could and stepped out of the fitting room, deciding that she looked barely respectable enough to seek help.
With a swish, the curtain was pulled aside.
The white-haired girl narrowed her eyes.
One hand pinched the waist of the rose-pink gown while the other lifted part of the skirt. She did not look disheveled at all.
Instead, there was something beautifully untidy about her appearance.
“So pretty!!”
Diane had been discussing entrance and exit cues with the event organizers, but the moment she saw Wuli emerge in costume, she forgot everything she had been about to say.
Her full attention settled on the heroine she had personally chosen.
“I think… maybe I tied the straps wrong. The dress keeps feeling loose.”
“Let me see.”
Diane trotted over to Wuli’s back and tugged at the straps a couple of times.
“You tied it correctly. Your waist is just too slim, so it’s a little loose,” Diane said before turning to the others. “Does anyone have a safety pin or something similar?”
The people nearby all looked over.
Glenn had changed into his costume long ago and was sitting off to the side reading through the script. He had watched the entire scene unfold ever since Wuli stepped out of the fitting room.
The black-haired young man’s eyes lowered slightly.
In truth, Xilin had been right about one thing.
His fiancée really was beautiful.
It wasn’t long before someone brought over a safety pin.
Diane carefully adjusted the dress for Wuli, securing it properly before stepping back to admire her handiwork.
“Perfect.”
Diane nodded approvingly.
“Darling, with a face like yours, you’d look beautiful no matter what you’re wearing!”
Wuli smiled shyly.
There were only a few minutes left before they went on stage.
Some people were reviewing their lines, others were nervously preparing themselves. Diane peeked at the performance currently taking place in front of the curtain while continuing to reassure everyone not to be nervous.
As for Wuli…
Before transmigrating into this world, she had been an award-winning actress.
She had long since grown accustomed to standing beneath the spotlight.
At this moment, she truly wasn’t nervous.
It was just that…
The white-haired girl lowered her lashes.
She felt that this might be the last time she would ever act.
This performance would become her final farewell to her acting career.