At the same time, the teacher's voice rang out. "Kiana, you've been here for a month now. Why are you spacing out in class every day? Can't you pay a little more attention?"
"Huh?" Kiana was even more confused.
Hadn't she only been at Senba Academy for about a week? Why was the teacher saying it had been a month? Could she have slept her way into the future?
"Kiana!"
"Yes, teacher!" Kiana answered quickly.
Though she was full of questions, the teacher was clearly in a bad mood, so Kiana didn't dare argue.
I'll wait until class is over, then find Moqian and ask him what's going on.
Before long, the bell rang. Kiana dashed out of the classroom and hurried to the door of Su Moqian's class.
She was about to go in when someone suddenly appeared in the doorway and blocked her. It was Raiden Mei.
"Kiana, may I ask what you're here for?"
For some reason, Raiden Mei's tone was unusually cold.
But Kiana was too anxious to think much of it. She answered at once, "Mei, I'm here to see Moqian."
"Hm?" Raiden Mei narrowed her eyes and said coldly,
"Then you should go back. Su Moqian is my boyfriend now. Please remember to keep your distance from him."
What Kiana Saw of the Future
"Huh?" Kiana froze.
When had Su Moqian become Mei's boyfriend?
She'd only met Mei a few days ago... Had she really slept her way into another time?
"Moqian... became someone else's boyfriend?"
At that moment, Kiana suddenly felt hollow inside.
"What do you mean, 'huh'? Stop pretending you don't understand." Raiden Mei glared at Kiana and said coldly,
"Kiana Kaslana! I suggest you learn your place. If Moqian hadn't begged me after he became my boyfriend, do you think I would've let you off so easily before?"
"This..." Kiana instinctively took a step back.
She had no idea what Mei was talking about. What major events had happened over the past month?
Kiana knew nothing about that. But the one thing she did know was that something was very wrong with Mei.
The Raiden Mei she liked would never act like this!
At that thought, Kiana's eyes grew sharp. She raised her voice and demanded,
"Who are you?"
"What do you mean, who am I? I'm obviously Raiden Mei. It's not as if I'm the Herrscher of Thunder, right?" Raiden Mei chuckled.
"Impossible! You're definitely not Mei!" Kiana stepped forward, trying to confront Raiden Mei.
But she never expected that Raiden Mei, who was supposed to be an ordinary student, could overwhelm her with a single look—even though Kiana was a warrior of the Kaslana family.
"Stop causing trouble, Kiana. Go back quietly. There's no place for you by Moqian's side."
Raiden Mei glared at her once more, then returned to the classroom.
The students nearby all stood up unconsciously when they saw Raiden Mei come back in, their eyes filled with awe.
Raiden Mei paid none of it any mind.
Watching her walk away, Kiana knitted her brows.
She was deeply confused, both by Mei's change and by the way her own feelings had changed.
Why did it feel as if her heart had been emptied out when she heard that Su Moqian and Mei were a couple?
Su Moqian and Mei were both her friends. Shouldn't she be happy for them now that they'd gotten together?
Then why couldn't she feel happy at all?
Kiana tried to make herself smile, but her facial muscles were stiff. She couldn't manage it.
It was lunchtime. Normally, Kiana would have eagerly gone to find Su Moqian and Mei so they could eat together.
But this time, she didn't even get any food. Instead, she went alone to the back of the school building and hid in a corner to watch Su Moqian.
"Come on, Moqian. Try some of my cooking."
Raiden Mei smiled as she picked up a morsel and brought it to Su Moqian's mouth.
Su Moqian's expression looked a little unnatural as he watched Raiden Mei.
Though his girlfriend was enthusiastically feeding him, there wasn't a trace of happiness on his face. He simply opened his mouth stiffly and ate the food Mei offered him.
Once she saw him swallow, Raiden Mei smiled with satisfaction. Then she said softly,
"Moqian, you've finished eating. Does that mean it's my turn now?"
With that, Mei set her lunchbox aside, held Su Moqian by the shoulders, and leaned in to press her lips to his.
Watching them act so affectionately from her hiding place, Kiana felt a suffocating tightness in her chest for some reason.
The heavy feeling almost stopped her from breathing, and her body began to tremble.
This was the first time Kiana had felt anything like this in her life—a feeling she couldn't put into words...
"Is Moqian really that important to me?"
The moment the thought crossed Kiana's mind, she already knew the answer.
He was important—so important that she wanted him all to herself, no matter what!
And yet now, he belonged to another woman—and that woman was her best friend!
After coming to Senba Academy, Kiana had felt that making friends with Su Moqian and Raiden Mei was the luckiest thing that had happened to her.
But now they'd left together, and she was the only one left behind.
"Am I alone again?"
Kiana weakly looked away, a nameless ache rising in her heart.
Just then, a petite girl walked up beside her and spoke softly.
"Kiana, want to work together?"
"Work together?"
Kiana lifted her head and looked at the girl before her, who had pale gray spiral twin tails.
"That's right. Join Bronya and take Su Moqian back from that woman!"
The words seemed to carry a strange magic, circling endlessly through Kiana's mind.
"Take Su Moqian back from Mei? Take him back from Mei..." Kiana murmured.
"Well? Will you do it?"
As she listened to Bronya, Kiana looked straight at her and slowly opened her mouth.
Just as she was about to answer, the world suddenly spun around her.
"Ah!"
Kiana bolted upright in bed. She stared around her room, dazed for a long time.
Then she seemed to remember something. She hurriedly grabbed her phone from beside the window and checked the calendar.
"It's today's date... What's going on? Was that just a dream?"
Kiana frowned, unable to be sure.
The ache in her chest still lingered, and the memories of the dream seemed carved into her mind. She couldn't forget them.
Bronya's words from the dream still echoed in her head, too.
"Take Moqian back from Mei..." Kiana murmured without thinking.
But soon, her expression changed.
"Wait! Su Moqian and Raiden Mei are a couple. How could I even think about breaking them up?!"
At the thought, Kiana quickly shook her head, trying to drive the idea of betraying her friend from her mind.
"No, no. I should figure out why the future Mei turned out like that first!"
"She was so haughty and cold, almost like a completely different person. What could have happened in the future to make Mei turn out that way?"
Suddenly, Kiana's not-so-bright brain seemed to realize something.
"Huh, wait. Something that happens in the future? That means I haven't traveled through time!"
Kiana's eyes widened as a daring thought rose in her heart.
"If Moqian and Mei aren't dating yet, then doesn't that mean..."
A Duckling at Home, a Bug in Her Heart
Early morning, at the Su family home.
After getting up, Bronya began putting on her clothes.
Bronya had already summed up the reasons for last night's failure and made some changes. She had even gone out in the middle of the night to buy props.
"Today's persona is a pure, emotionless white-haired loli! I hear people from Shenzhou love this sort of thing."
"I'm sure the success rate of today's plan to win over Su Moqian will be one thousand percent!"
Once she had put on her clothes and wig, Bronya looked in the mirror and nodded.
The problem with her emotional circuits had made it hard for her to act consistently. Her performance was either too exaggerated or not convincing enough.
But if she went with an emotionless persona, she wouldn't need to worry about that at all.
"I may be young, but I'll take Moqian from the midst of a million troops!"
This time, Bronya's eyes brimmed with confidence.
Just as Bronya was adjusting her outfit, someone knocked on the door.
"Bronya, breakfast is ready."
Standing outside the door, Su Moqian waited quietly for her to open it. He couldn't help wondering,
I wonder what Bronya's going to do today.
A moment later, the door opened.
Bronya stood there expressionless. Aside from the white wig she was wearing, she looked almost no different from usual.
When Su Moqian saw that she hadn't said anything strange or acted strangely, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Looks like Bronya's finally back to normal.
Feeling more at ease, Su Moqian said warmly,
"Good morning, Bronya. Let's go eat."
Bronya nodded without expression, showing no inclination to say anything.
Seeing how cool and distant she seemed, Su Moqian was a little surprised, but then he smiled.
Well, this was fine too.
She wasn't as enthusiastic as before, but this seemed more genuine. Su Moqian was happy to leave things that way.
A little while later, just as Su Moqian was thinking that...
"Hey, Bronya, don't you think this is a little weird?"
Unable to help himself, Su Moqian asked as he looked at Bronya, who was sitting expressionlessly in his lap.
"What's weird? Bronya is just eating breakfast like normal."
Before you continue