May You Wear the Crown of This World

"Don't be so nervous."

Seeing the way she looked so delighted, Wuling felt a pang of heartache.

"It's just a regular hair clip. Why don't you try it on now? It'll help keep any stray hairs in place."

"Now... now?" Cartethyia was instantly at a loss, her heart pounding.

Wearing the hair clip he gave her in front of Wuling made her so embarrassed she could hardly lift her head.

The evening breeze once again stirred her soft, light golden hair, a few strands playfully clinging to her cheeks and obscuring her eyes, adding a touch of disarray.

She stiffly raised her hand, clutching the hair clip, her fingertips trembling slightly, clumsily trying to gather the stray hairs beside her ear.

But her nervousness completely disrupted her movements. She tried twice but failed to get it on smoothly. Instead, she became more and more flustered, and her ears turned so red they looked like they were about to bleed.

Seeing her nervous yet adorable expression, Wuling couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Don't move."

The cool yet gentle voice reached her ear, Cartethyia's body instantly froze completely, even her breathing subconsciously becoming softer.

The next second, a warm hand gently approached.

Wuling leaned down slightly, raised his hand and gently gathered the stray hairs that had fallen in front of her ear. His fingertips accidentally brushed against her warm earlobe, and the subtle touch sent shivers down Cartethyia's spine.

His movements were gentle; he carefully and gently pinned the blue and white unicorn hair clip to her temple.

The whole thing only took a few seconds, but for Cartethyia it felt like an eternity.

Her CPU had clearly burned out again; her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of her chest; and her mind went completely blank.

After putting on her hair clip, Wuling straightened up, took a half step back, and gave it a careful look.

The dim streetlights cast shadows on the girl's light golden hair, adorned with delicate unicorn hair clips. The cool color scheme made her skin appear even whiter and more translucent.

Thanks to his previous experience helping Aimisi and Yangyang with their hair clips, he did a pretty good job.

But it seems like girls don't like to wear hair clips themselves; they all help themselves to put them on, which is really strange.

It's a pity; it would have been better if he could have lifted his head at that moment.

"It looks great, and it suits you perfectly."

Wuling chuckled softly to himself.

A simple compliment instantly caused the temperature of her entire face to rise sharply.

She abruptly lowered her head, staring intently at the overlapping shadows at her feet, not daring to look up at him, yet a faint smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.

Hehehe, Wuling gave me something, and even put it on me herself. She also complimented me on how pretty it looked. Hehe, I'm so happy.

If Wuling could hear Cartethyia's inner thoughts at this moment, he would probably think he had encountered some infatuated woman, since the contrast was truly quite striking.

But at the same time, neither of them noticed a pair of eyes watching them from not far away.

Kuai Niang from the restaurant next door, who had nothing to do, came to sit in the front hall for a while:Σ(ﾟдﾟ;)

She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, leaning forward until she almost pressed her face against the glass, before finally confirming that what she was seeing was not an illusion.

But can anyone tell her what's going on?

An hour has passed since they left until they met again. Why is the girl next to Wu Wuling different again? Where is Chun? Where did Chun and Encore go?

Oh, right, it seems they were on their way home, meaning this girl arrived after Chun went home.

You just got rid of one and another one comes along? You little rascal, I thought you were a bot, turns out you're a player, pshaw, scumbag.

Where Wu Wuling couldn't see, the Kuai Niang silently gave him the middle finger, leaving the other diners stunned.

No, no, maybe I'm mistaken. But the hair clip is already on, and they put it on for me themselves. Can normal people be that close? Hmm, could they be siblings? It's not impossible.

Never mind, I'll ask Chun later and see if she knows about this. Besides, maybe they really are siblings, hahaha, I guess I'm just overthinking it.

Kuai Niang was trying her best to reassure herself. After all, her previous behavior didn't seem like an act. "I was real, so it should be fine. But if it was fake, then it would be terrible."

After all, if it's fake, Chun might already be a fish in the other party's fishpond, and she herself wouldn't even know it.

The diners nearby watched as the Kuai Niang would sometimes give the middle finger to the glass and sometimes shake her head, and silently moved their stools to the side.

Are chefs under this much pressure these days? Has this chef gone mad from cooking?

"Ah!"

Unaware of what was happening, Wuling suddenly sneezed.

No, who is insulting me now?

He took a pack of tissues out of his pocket and wiped his nose, somewhat puzzled.

It must be that guy Calcharo. I bought you milk tea and you were still badmouthing me behind my back. I'll throw away your milk tea when I get back.

Wuling was already used to it; he'd push the blame onto Calcharo whenever he had a chance. Whether it was true or not, it was always good to hurl insults; consider it an advance payment.

"Ah!"

Calcharo, who was playing games in his dorm, suddenly sneezed without even having a chance to do so.

That's strange, which little girl is thinking of me?

"Where's the jungler? What's the jungler doing? A team fight is about to start, hurry up and come over!"

"Oh, coming, coming."

Kaka immediately realized what was happening, put on his headphones, and continued the battle.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Cartethyia, who was standing nearby, felt a little worried when she saw Wuling suddenly sneeze.

She subconsciously took a small step forward, her eyes filled with genuine concern, her fingertips hovering in mid-air, almost wanting to touch his forehead, but then suddenly realized that the movement was too intimate and quickly withdrew it.

"Are you feeling cold? Let's go back quickly, the night air is still quite chilly."

"It's nothing, it's probably just someone talking about me behind my back."

Wuling waved his hand jokingly and casually threw the tissue he used to wipe his nose into the trash can next to him.

"It's a minor issue, nothing serious, but you're right, we really need to head back quickly; we have to go to work tomorrow."

"Working? Do you have a part-time job too, Wuling?"

Cartethyia slightly widened her eyes, and the blue and white unicorn hair clip at her temple swayed gently as she turned her head.

"Pretty much. Although I'm not short of money right now, I still need to think about the future. I'll avoid using that money if possible."

"By the way, why did you say 'also' just now?"

Upon being asked this question, Cartethyia stiffened slightly, her gaze unconsciously drifting to the ground beneath her feet, her shoes lightly scraping against the pebbles.

I just said it offhand; I never expected things to turn out this way.

"Ah... me."

She bit her lower lip, hesitated for a moment, but did not continue to hide it.

"Didn't you ask me before why I was still out so late? It's because I've been working a part-time job, and I had just finished get off work at that time, so when I heard you say 'working,' I subconsciously said 'yes.'"

As she said this, she slightly hunched her back, as if afraid of being stared at strangely.

Wuling paused slightly, her gaze falling on her rather thin coat. After thinking for a moment, she realized it made perfect sense.

"I see."

He didn't show any sympathy or surprise, but his tone softened.

"You're working while attending classes, it must be tough for you."

"It's nothing, you'll get used to it."

She lowered her eyes and put her hands behind her back.

"My grandmother passed away early, and I don't have any other relatives, so I have to learn to take care of myself."

Her tone was calm and even, as if she were recounting something trivial, but the phrase "I have no other relatives" floated lightly in the air, causing a slight unease in one's heart.

Wuling remained silent for a moment, refraining from offering a barrage of words of pity and comfort; excessive sympathy might have been a burden for her.

Just as Wuling was about to speak, she saw her raise her hand to wipe the corner of her eye.

"Sorry, I got carried away and started talking about all this. Let's not talk about that anymore. Wuling, what about your parents? How are they?"

"Them..."

Wuling was silent for a moment.

"... dead."