A group of three.
…How could there be such a proposal that defies common sense! Zhuang Chi was dumbfounded, feeling that it wouldn’t be right to refuse, but even stranger to accept. For a moment, she was stuck on the spot, eventually turning her head slowly to look at Gu Ximian.
Mm, her face is practically screaming, “I don’t know what to do,” Gu Ximian thought. She looks so pitiful, it makes me want to pinch her cheeks in all sorts of ways.
She could understand why Zhuang Chi had raised her hand earlier. Thinking about it, it was the most reasonable thing to do in that situation—after all, her dance partner was very soft-hearted and could never bear to watch Olivia’s spirits fall due to her own oversight.
…Sigh, don’t look at me with such a helpless expression. Olivia has already said it so directly in front of everyone; I don’t have any good ideas either. Gu Ximian met Zhuang Chi’s gaze for a long moment, then blinked at her, a helpless smile touching her lips. In this situation, they really only had one option.
She wondered if Zhuang Chi would still have raised her hand if she had known beforehand that Olivia would make such a suggestion.
“…Mm, of course, we’d be happy to.”
Zhuang Chi heard Gu Ximian respond this way. She gave an elegant curtsy towards the stage and said gently, “Let’s be a group of three, then.”
The situation, which she thought had calmed down, had become strange again.
Standing at the edge of the floor, Zhuang Chi looked at Olivia on her left, then at Gu Ximian on her right, and felt a deep sense of confusion as to why she always ended up in the middle of a trio today.
To put it simply, Olivia’s whimsical proposal had actually been approved. After all, the banquet was being held for Olivia, so the organizers naturally wouldn’t refuse her request. Zhuang Chi had been worried that this would leave someone out, that the friend of the original number 62 would be left alone, but then An Chen, who had thought of the same thing, appeared just in time to dispel her concerns.
‘I gave him my number card. Don’t worry,’ An Chen had said, pointing to the side of the dance floor. ‘I’ll just wait on the sidelines for a while.’
‘Eh,’ Zhuang Chi lowered her eyes apologetically, ‘but then, won’t you…’
‘Don’t mind it. This is the fate a loser deserves.’ An Chen was quite nonchalant about it, adding, ‘Besides, I decided before coming to this banquet that I wouldn’t dance with anyone but Ximian.’
…His tone was so firm. It made Zhuang Chi silently shut her mouth. An Chen’s gaze shifted back and forth between the two people not far behind her, and before leaving, he couldn’t help but say, ‘…I can’t say much about the princess joining in… but as the one who beat me, you can’t admit defeat. If Ximian becomes unhappy later, I’ll immediately appear and sprinkle plastic foam on your head. That’s all.’
What kind of lingering spirit was he! Having been threatened for no reason, Zhuang Chi watched An Chen’s dashing departure with bewilderment, and then it was the present moment.
The first dance song was about to begin. Many people were already eagerly striking a pose with their partners, while the three of them stood quietly at the edge of the floor, no one speaking.
…Alright, then, to avoid getting plastic foam sprinkled on my head, I guess I’ll be the one to break the ice. Zhuang Chi thought, bracing herself before speaking up. “…Should we… go dance?”
“Okay!” Olivia responded quickly. She looked at the people who had assumed ballroom dance poses and happily suggested, “Then the three of us together?”
The only image that came to Zhuang Chi’s mind was the three of them holding hands and spinning in a circle. She found the scene far too surreal and was trying hard to think of a polite way to convince Olivia to drop the idea when Olivia’s smile bloomed like a flower. “Of course I’m kidding. That wouldn’t be considered ballroom dancing—ah.”
The music started at that moment. The newly acquainted dance partners began to dance gracefully on the floor. Olivia watched for a while before sighing with some regret, “Looks like we’ll have to wait for the next song.”
…Why did she just start waiting obediently after saying that? The problem still hasn’t been solved.
She was gradually getting the sense that this princess was a bit eccentric. It seemed her younger sister was actually the more composed one. Zhuang Chi blinked helplessly and subconsciously glanced at Gu Ximian, who hadn’t said a word since a while ago. Gu Ximian was looking at the dance floor, but her gaze was distant and nonchalant, her profile cool and proper, as if she were deep in thought.
But she quickly noticed Zhuang Chi’s gaze, and her long eyelashes trembled as she looked up. She didn’t speak, just quietly met Zhuang Chi’s eyes. Her gaze was clear and limpid, yet it somehow made it difficult for Zhuang Chi to speak. For some reason, Zhuang Chi didn’t dare to look away first, and the two of them remained in a stalemate for a few seconds.
“…I’m sorry,”
In the end, it was Olivia’s timid voice that broke the stalemate. Zhuang Chi jolted and turned to look at her, seeing an expression that was, for some reason, apologetic yet tinged with a faint excitement. “When I suggested the three of us be together earlier… did I disturb you two?”
Disturb. Zhuang Chi frowned. That word seemed a bit strange to use.
“Because…” Olivia’s sapphire-like eyes sparkled, darting back and forth between her and Gu Ximian. She lowered her voice as if sharing a secret, “You’re a couple, right?”
“Completely wrong.”
She had responded subconsciously in a very firm tone. Zhuang Chi looked at the stunned Olivia, wondering why the princess would have such a misunderstanding. Her Highness quickly recovered, though she didn’t seem to believe her words. “B-But, aren’t those couple items?”
As she spoke, she pointed to Zhuang Chi’s neck, then gestured towards Gu Ximian, tilting her head up with the small triumph of someone who had discovered a secret. “—You two are the only ones in the entire hall wearing this kind of neck ring accessory!”
In any case, she understood one thing: A Country didn’t have this kind of Pheromone Blocking Collar.
“Where I’m from, we all use inhibitor patches… they’re like medicinal plasters…” After listening to Zhuang Chi’s earnest explanation, Olivia lowered her head in shame. “This is the first time I’ve seen a ring-shaped one… I’m sorry, I misunderstood.”
“…It’s fine. As long as it’s cleared up now…”
Thankfully, Olivia was a good kid who listened to others and corrected her mistakes. If it had been Ling Jing or An Chen, she didn’t know how much more explaining she would have had to do. Thinking this, Zhuang Chi gave the dejected Olivia a comforting smile. The two exchanged a smile, and the atmosphere was exceptionally friendly.
“In that case,” Gu Ximian, who had been listening quietly during Zhuang Chi’s explanation, suddenly spoke up, raising an eyebrow inquisitively at Olivia. “If you thought Zhuang Chi and I were a couple, why did you still suggest you wanted to be in a group with us?”
…Indeed. In that situation, wanting to stay away would be human nature, right? Zhuang Chi grew confused as well, then saw Olivia’s face flush slightly, her hands wringing together nervously.
“I…” Olivia hesitated, stammering, but soon seemed to make up her mind. She took a shallow breath and lowered her voice as if about to confess a world-shattering secret. “…I’m actually… very interested in romance…!”
“…”
Although it did seem like a secret—and there was a subtle difference from the information she’d heard from An Chen—it didn’t feel like something that needed to be said with such caution. Zhuang Chi was a bit baffled. But once Olivia started, she couldn’t be stopped, continuing to stumble through her explanation. “Although you may have heard, my search for a fiancé hasn’t been going very smoothly… but that doesn’t mean I’m unwilling. It’s just that, for some reason, all sorts of strange problems keep popping up, and I haven’t met the right person… Besides, a situation that’s so obviously for political reasons is just too uninteresting! That doesn’t count as love!”
…Her tone grew more intense towards the end. Zhuang Chi blinked blankly and couldn’t help but ask, “So you mean… you’d prefer to choose who you love freely?”
“Yes! B-But it’s not just that…” Olivia seemed to struggle with how to express herself accurately. After a moment, her eyes suddenly lit up. “For example, a romantic relationship like you two have! That’s the kind I really admire!”
“Wait a minute.”
“First, Zhuang Chi, you were invited to this ball by Gu Ximian, right? But you two weren’t together before, as if you were deliberately keeping your distance—how precious! The desire to dance with your beloved, even if your relationship can’t be made public for now! Second, with Gu Ximian as a witness, you won the battle against those two Alphas—how dazzling! The strength to seize the fruit of victory in front of your lover! Finally, you became Gu Ximian’s dance partner in a drawing that was purely based on luck—how beautiful! The red string of fate that connects you two!”
“Mm, that was like a poetry recital. You’re very fluent in our country’s language, but wait a minute.”
I take back what I said before. Olivia definitely has the potential to be a problem child. The content of her three sentences was entirely her own fantasy. Seeing that she still looked like she had more to say, Zhuang Chi had to interrupt her. “You… you heard our explanation just now, right? We’re really not a couple…”
“…Mm, I know,” Olivia finally calmed down a little, a genuinely regretful expression on her face. “What I mean is… when I was under that misunderstanding, I felt that you two were exactly my ideal kind of romance.”
…Putting it that way, I can sort of understand. So, Olivia admires that kind of…
“A highly dramatic romantic relationship, like in a story,” Gu Ximian pointed out incisively before Zhuang Chi could speak. “Olivia, don’t tell me you’re a big fan of romance novels?”
“…” Olivia was quiet for a moment, a blush slowly creeping onto her face. She pursed her lips in embarrassment. “…A little.”
I see, Zhuang Chi thought. Olivia’s character setting is “a cute little princess who yearns for a fairy-tale romance.”
Gu Ximian also nodded with a look of understanding and then asked casually, “By the way, which one is your favorite?”
“It’s Romeo and Juliet!”
“Isn’t that a tragedy?”
“Ah, it is. In that case… your country’s The Butterfly Lovers.”
“…Isn’t that also a tragedy? It feels hard to say which is more tragic than the last one.”
“Mm, mm…? Now that you mention it, you’re right. How strange…”
…Something seems subtly off again. Zhuang Chi frowned slightly. So it’s “a cute little princess who likes tragic love stories”… that sounds a bit weird. She didn’t set her character in such detail back then. This is probably the result of this world’s Olivia developing freely from the flimsy foundation of the character Little Zhuang Chi created…
“…In any case,” watching Olivia fall into confusion over her own answers, Gu Ximian chuckled and steered the conversation back on track. “You proposed joining our group because you wanted to observe Zhuang Chi’s and my… ‘romantic relationship’ up close?”
“That’s about half the reason.”
Olivia temporarily set aside her confusion and gave Gu Ximian a sweet and sincere smile. “The other half is… I like you both very much. I mean, I like each of you separately.”
“…” Zhuang Chi’s eyes widened after a delayed reaction. “…Eh? Me too?”
“Mhm!” Olivia nodded emphatically at her. “It’s rare to meet someone like you who isn’t all nervous and fearful upon meeting me for the first time and just treats me normally. You two are the only ones in the whole hall!”
“And didn’t you say you’d teach me the rules of rock-paper-scissors? I was so happy then!” Olivia said, moving a little closer to Zhuang Chi like an affectionate ragdoll cat, her azure eyes looking at her with friendliness and no trace of guardedness. “You’re a student at St. Blaisedon too, right? Teach me more things later, be my friend, and dance with me!”
“Oh, oh…”
Oh no. Zhuang Chi was forced to lean back slightly by Olivia’s soaring enthusiasm. In a different sense from Ling Jing and the others, Olivia was also the type of person Zhuang Chi didn’t know how to handle… She was too enthusiastic! So much so that Zhuang Chi worried this princess might be deceived because of her naivety—
“…Huh? Dance…?”
After subconsciously agreeing twice, she realized the request seemed to be for the present moment. Suspecting she was overthinking it, she glanced tentatively at Olivia, only to see the little princess’s eyes filled with pleasant surprise. Olivia very proactively reached out to take her arm. “Really? Then let’s go dance during the next song?”
…S-Strange. For the umpteenth time today, Zhuang Chi was thrown into confusion. Why would Olivia invite me to dance first? Logically, shouldn’t she ask Gu Ximian—ah, looking at Olivia’s expression, I know she definitely didn’t think too much about it. She probably just got carried away by her excitement and extended the invitation on impulse…
Although she had already agreed with an “oh,” but… Zhuang Chi stiffly leaned back and stole a glance at Gu Ximian beside her. She saw Gu Ximian looking down, as if it had nothing to do with her. She must have heard their entire conversation clearly and surely noticed Zhuang Chi’s gaze, yet she still had no intention of looking at Zhuang Chi, as if determined to stay out of it.
Receiving no response, Gu Ximian seemed to be expressing with her actions an indifferent “just decide for yourself.” Zhuang Chi withdrew her gaze, her fingers curling tightly in hesitation.
…Even though she knew Gu Ximian probably didn’t care, she still couldn’t bring herself to readily accept Olivia’s invitation. It wasn’t because she was afraid of An Chen sprinkling plastic foam on her head, but simply… when she pictured the scene of Gu Ximian standing all alone at the edge of the floor, Zhuang Chi felt her heart being gently squeezed, a sense of resistance rising within her.
This is most likely just me being self-conscious, Zhuang Chi thought self-deprecatingly, her hands behind her back unconsciously twisting her fingers together. For all I know, Gu Ximian might prefer being alone, finding it quieter without the two of us constantly chattering beside her…
“…”
As Zhuang Chi’s thoughts ran wild, she didn’t know that Gu Ximian had quietly raised her eyes to look at her after she had looked away. Her gaze was deep, taking in all of Zhuang Chi’s small movements.
Gu Ximian watched for a long moment. Just as Zhuang Chi’s silence was reaching its breaking point and she was about to give a compromising answer, Gu Ximian suddenly reached out and gently tugged on her sleeve.
Then, Gu Ximian met the eyes of Zhuang Chi, who had turned to look at her. The swirling neon lights from the dance floor grazed her long eyelashes and reflected in her eyes, painting them with a dazzling, enchanting kaleidoscope of colors, making her gaze bright and focused.
“For the next song, I want to dance with you too.”
Captivated by her gaze, Zhuang Chi was momentarily dazed. It took her a beat to realize what Gu Ximian had said, and then her breath caught.
“What should we do?” Gu Ximian looked at her, her eyes like a sea gathering waves that were about to crash against the rocks. She said softly, “Who will you choose?”
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