The Holiday Arrives

Always remember one thing: unless you were a Shilin Emperor, never provoke Sandora.

The enormous trump card our princess had played caught everyone off guard. Ding Bai, lying on the floor, looked as if someone had grabbed him by the throat. His groans abruptly stopped, replaced by meaningless croaks. I could imagine some of the terror in his heart. He had only wanted to use the opportunity to get close to the princess and, while he was at it, make that nobody who had appeared out of nowhere get lost. But he had never expected the princess to side with that inconspicuous poor kid. What surprised him even more was that the princess was so cunning and devious, using just a few words to push him into the terrifying position of a political spy. Though protected by his family, Ding Bai firmly believed he would not truly be punished for it, but he was definitely taking a major fall this time.

Although Sandora was not a government official and was a guest here, a princess from an imperial nation was no ordinary figure. The pressure of receiving her was certainly no small thing for Ding Bai. On top of that, Sandora had been so forceful from the start and had continuously cast faint Mind Interference on those around her, leaving Ding Bai completely unsure how to respond.

The people around them looked at one another. They had all seen clearly what had just happened. Ding Bai had committed none of the so-called political espionage Sandora accused him of; the princess was simply making things difficult for him on purpose. But they were in no position to explain on his behalf. Every word Sandora had said was true—though somewhat embellished...

By then, sweat was practically breaking out on the forehead of the military-looking man. With a forced smile, he said, "Um... Your Highness, I believe there has been some misunderstanding. I can guarantee that Mr. Ding has no ill intentions. He merely..."

"He was merely being conscientious and acting out of concern for my safety, is that it?" Sandora replied coldly. The other man shuddered under her imposing presence, but still gathered the courage to argue, "If Mr. Ding has offended you or your friend, I can apologize on his behalf. I hope that you..."

Sandora waved her hand impatiently, cast a disdainful glance at Ding Bai on the floor, and said, "I dislike trouble, and I have no desire to cause any unpleasantness with your side. Since you can guarantee this person's motives, I am willing to trust your attitude. I apologize for the disturbance just caused."

Seeing Sandora finally relent, the other party breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly had someone carry Ding Bai away.

After all that, the atmosphere of the entire banquet cooled considerably. No one dared casually approach Sandora to strike up a conversation again, afraid that one careless word would earn them some anti-humanity charge from that vicious princess. In the end, the banquet concluded hastily.

As for dancing... I had originally thought that, even though I could not dance, it would be nice if I could use the chance to get a little closer to Qian Qian. Unfortunately, Sandora resisted that idea completely. Likewise, Qian Qian refused to give an inch when it came to stopping Sandora from being with me. The final result... the two of them actually became dance partners, while I could only sit off to the side and eat pastries with Pandora. Still, holding a loli while watching two gorgeous women dance before my eyes was not a bad pleasure, even if the looks they gave each other were a little vicious...

The next day.

The brief one-day holiday passed just like that, and the students were still not quite satisfied. But winter break was coming soon, so everyone had something to look forward to. No matter how intense senior year studies were, they would not cancel the New Year holiday altogether.

The moment I entered the classroom that day, I sensed that something was off. It felt as if everyone was staring at me, which left me utterly confused.

"What's wrong?" I asked Zhao Pangzi, who sat behind me.

Zhao Pangzi stared at me as though he had seen an alien. "You're still playing dumb? A princess! Sandora is a princess! My God, am I dreaming?"

I finally understood why my classmates were reacting like this. After yesterday's welcoming ceremony, Sandora's identity had been made public. With Zhao Pangzi's talent for gathering information, everyone must have learned by now that Sandora was the princess of the Liska Kingdom. And if Zhao Pangzi's connections reached as far as the noble district in the center of the square, they might even know about Princess Sandora standing up for me at the banquet—though even if they did not, it did not matter. On Sandora's first day in this class, she had accomplished the feat of throwing herself into my arms. Seeing was believing, and that was probably more convincing than anything Zhao Pangzi could spread around.

"Chen Jun," Zhao Pangzi suddenly said in a very serious tone, "is this still Earth?"

"Go back to Mars!" I snapped.

"No jokes, I'm serious this time. How did you become friends with a princess? Heaven above, she's a princess! I thought people like that only existed on TV, but there she is in the flesh, right in front of us, and she's even with you..."

"Don't talk nonsense!" I hurriedly cut him off. Qian Qian had only just managed to coexist peacefully with Sandora; letting this fatty babble on was not a good idea. "Sandora and I are just ordinary friends. If you keep talking nonsense, watch out—I'll humanely destroy you..."

"Ordinary friends?" Sun Yang, who sat in front of me, turned around with a look of bitter grief. "Do ordinary friends throw themselves into your arms the moment they meet? Beast... You're the public enemy of our Great Bachelor Party!"

At that moment, a girl leaned over and said in an ambiguous tone, "Looks like we know why Her Highness came to our ordinary school now. I was wondering—if a princess wanted to study in China, she should have gone to a national key school or an aristocratic school like Canglan. Why would she come to such an ordinary school as ours? So it turns out..."

I say, wasn't your imagination a little too powerful?

Just then, the somewhat noisy classroom suddenly fell silent. Curious, I let my gaze pass over Sun Yang's weathered face of a single man and saw Sandora and Qian Qian walk into the classroom hand in hand.

I truly could not understand those two. Sometimes they were like fire and water, fighting the moment they met, yet other times they got along like sisters. Did the saying that a woman's heart was as deep as the sea not apply only to Earth women?

At my suggestion, Sandora no longer brought bodyguards to school. The Shilin subordinates she had brought to China were also left in the care of the commanders of the Pandora Heavy Armored Legion. After all, the Three Hundred were more familiar with this place. Well, as long as Sandora's subordinates did not get trained into the next batch of unlicensed street vendors by the Three Hundred...

The impact of two stunning beauties appearing together was enormous, especially when one of them was a legendary creature like a princess. The shock they caused was even more exaggerated. The students all held their breath, utterly intimidated by Sandora's identity.

"Hello, everyone!" Sandora walked into the classroom, suddenly raised a hand, and spoke with a gentle smile.

It was as though a beam of warm sunlight had spilled into the classroom, and the students' nervousness immediately eased.

Sandora's voice rang out in my mind. "I thought it over after returning home and decided to listen to you. I'll try to get along properly with these Carbon-Based Lifeforms."

It seemed my advice had worked after all. Sandora had finally decided to truly integrate into this class instead of treating these Carbon-Based Lifeforms as toys to mess around with. I also breathed a sigh of relief—for my classmates, facing a beautiful woman with an aristocratic bearing was much better than facing a cold and haughty princess.

Sandora's greeting relaxed everyone, and they began greeting her back. A few bolder ones even teased, "Morning, our princess!"

With a noble yet gentle smile, Sandora walked over with Qian Qian, then sat down on either side of me.

"A Jun," Qian Qian leaned closer, "don't you think Sandora has changed a lot? She suddenly seems much easier to get along with."

I came up with a pretty good excuse. "She was always easy to get along with. She just lived in the palace before and did not know how to interact with outsiders like a normal person."

"Oh, right, A Jun," Qian Qian suddenly remembered something and broke into an excited smile. "Winter break starts in half a month. Have you thought about where you want to go?"

"Where could we go?" I shrugged. "We're in senior year. Even if we get a break, it's only half a month. There's really nothing much to do. I'd rather stay home with my sister."

"You're the only one who thinks that!" Qian Qian pouted cutely. "A few days ago, Chen Qian told me she wanted to take Lily traveling for the New Year! I was thinking..." At that point, Qian Qian suddenly lowered her voice and leaned close to my ear. "Why don't you discuss it with Lin Xue and have their organization arrange a good travel destination for us? This is the final holiday of our high school years. I don't want to waste it."

Traveling? I pondered it. In the past, I had always spent winter break at home with my sister, but we did not have any relatives to visit. Going on a trip did sound like a good choice.

"All right!" I nodded. "This winter break, we'll travel together!"