A week had passed since the library incident that nearly shaved years off my life.
Today, Luna Academy was holding its *Annual Magic Festival*. The entire campus was decorated with grand banners, floating magic lanterns lit up the air, and stalls selling food and games lined the main street.
It was supposed to be a romantic, festive occasion. But for me? It was a minefield waiting to blow up at any second.
"Lady Rosel, please open your mouth..."
A soft yet absolute voice sounded from my left.
Chloe, wearing a pastel pink festival dress today, held a skewer of candied strawberries. Her green eyes shone with an intensity that was... a bit much.
"I can eat by myself, Chloe," I declined gently, trying to take half a step back.
"You can't," Chloe interrupted quickly, a sweet smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes. "Lady Rosel's hands are too precious to hold a rough wooden stick. Open up, or... do I have to feed you another way?"
*What other way?! Please don't say lines that provoke the netizens' wild imaginations!*
*Ping!*
[User_YuriSimp]: "I KNOW THE OTHER WAY! IT'S MOUTH-TO-MOUTH, RIGHT?!"
[User_OlympicShip]: "Aaaaah Chloe is getting bolder! Rosel, just give in already!"
[User_OrangeCat]: "Rosel looks like she's resigned herself to execution, LOL!"
I reluctantly swallowed the candied strawberry for the sake of my survival. Chloe cheered happily, clasping her hands together as she gazed at me with an adoration that was becoming scarier by the day.
However, my brief moment of peace was shattered when a tall shadow blocked the sunlight.
"Well, well. What a pitiful sight, Rosel."
Crown Prince Leo stood there in an extraordinarily dazzling outfit, holding a bouquet of rare blue roses in his hand.
"Are you strolling with this scholarship student at the festival just to make me jealous?" Leo smirked arrogantly, stepping closer. "You don't need to go to such lengths. I visited the rose stall specifically to buy flowers that match the color of your eyes."
I unconsciously rolled my eyes. *There he goes with his narcissism again.*
Before I could decline the roses, another figure emerged from behind a magic stall.
Adrian von Silvershade stepped out in his lab coat, holding a medium-sized memory crystal.
"Highly inefficient, Your Highness," Adrian stated neutrally. "Those blue roses will wither in three days. Meanwhile, this *mana*-focusing magic crystal I made specifically for Lady Rosel will last forever and increase her magic efficiency by twelve percent."
Adrian stared straight at me. "Lady Rosel, please come to the laboratory with me. I have prepared an experiment to measure your pupil response when you look at me."
*CAN YOU GUYS JUST ACT NORMAL FOR ONCE?!*
Instantly, a cold war zone erupted around me.
Leo glared at Adrian with fiery anger. Adrian looked back at Leo with disdain. And Chloe? Chloe stood in front of me, spreading her arms like a mother hen protecting her only chick, throwing deadly glares at both men.
"Please keep your distance from Lady Rosel," Chloe hissed in a low, threatening tone. "She is spending her festival time *with me*."
[Special Feature Unlocked: Reading the Characters' Hidden Thoughts!]
[Reading Leo von Grandia's Thoughts...]
*‘Rosel's tactic is brilliant... She used this girl and the glasses wizard to block me so I'd get more curious about her! Fine, I will win back your attention, Rosel!’*
[Reading Adrian von Silvershade's Thoughts...]
*‘Interfering variables. The Prince and the scholarship girl are disrupting my observational focus on Rosel. I must find a way to isolate Rosel in my lab...’*
[Reading Chloe von Valois's Thoughts...]
*‘These two useless men... Why do they keep ruining my date with Lady Rosel? If they dare touch Lady Rosel, I'll slip nerve-paralyzing poison into their drinks at the party tonight...’*
*All three of you belong in a mental asylum!*
The system screen in front of me went out of control with comments roaring with laughter.
[User_OrangeCat]: "A LOVE TRIANGLE? NO, THIS IS AN INSANE LOVE SQUARE ROFL!"
[User_LocalObserver]: "Rosel standing right in the middle of three crazy people. Sad but hilarious!"
[User_YuriSimp]: "Chloe, hurry up and run away with Rosel from those two weirdos!"
"Enough!" I finally yelled, massaging my pounding temples.
The three of them instantly fell silent, looking at me expectantly.
"I am going to the restroom. *Alone*. No one follows, no one gives me flowers, and no one measures my pupils!"
I turned on my heel and walked away as fast as possible from the festival grounds, leaving behind a Crown Prince who thought I was being shy, a Genius Magician busy taking notes on my reaction, and Chloe staring at my back with an increasingly intense yandere smile.
*God... can this novel's plot just let me breathe peacefully for one second?!*