The Mediocre Monarch and His Insomniac Friend

Shangguan Che sat in his seat with an expressionless face, his hand gripping his phone, the screen displaying the message he had just sent to Sakura.

[Sakura, I think I saw you holding a pink envelope. Is it a love letter?]

The notification that the message had been sent successfully had barely popped up when Sakura, sitting nearby, lowered her head to look at her phone. Her cheeks instantly flushed a faint red, and her fingers tapped rapidly against the screen.

[No, it's not. I'm not sure either; I haven't read it yet.]

Shangguan Che raised an eyebrow and replied: [You haven't read it either?]

This time, it took a while for Sakura to reply, and the message was accompanied by a small, aggrieved emoji: [...I was planning to read it when I got back to the dorm.]

As expected, you can't get anything out of her in person. Chatting on the phone is definitely more comfortable, Shangguan Che muttered to himself. He looked up at Sakura, who was staring at her phone screen. Her bangs hung down, obscuring her eyes, and her earlobes were still red. She looked incredibly nervous.

He followed the trail of clues: "So, she received the envelope when she left the dorm today? No one was pressuring her to open it, so she dared to put it off until she got back. Looking at the envelope, it was likely slipped to her in secret by someone; there wasn't even a signature. The sense of mystery is off the charts."

Curiosity scratched at Shangguan Che's heart like a kitten's claws. He stared at Sakura's profile as she ate, a battle raging within him: Should I... use Clairvoyance to take a peek? If I don't say anything, no one will know. Besides, I'm just practicing being thick-skinned. It's all part of the mission!

Caught in hesitation, it wasn't until dinner that Shangguan Che finally made his decision.

Thinking of this, he shouted "Fight!" in his heart and activated the skill without hesitation.

But the moment he scanned the contents of the letter, Shangguan Che frowned, nearly spitting out the rice in his mouth: No way, what kind of garbage is this? It reeks of lust—so cheesy and disgusting. I can't look, I really can't look!

He wanted to deactivate the skill immediately, but his gaze was hooked by a specific term in the letter—"Shizuku-chan."

"Shizuku-chan?" Shangguan Che's heart skipped a beat. "What kind of name is that? I've never heard of Sakura going by that name."

The first thought popped up: Could this be Sakura's secret?

The second thought followed closely: No, peeking at someone else's secrets is so rude. I'm not that kind of person.

The third thought slapped the first two away: Forget it. I've already seen this much; it's too late to play the gentleman now. I've already walked by the river, so why worry about getting my shoes wet?

"If I'm going to be thick-skinned, I have to see it through to the end!" Shangguan Che gritted his teeth and continued reading.

A few minutes later, he deactivated the skill, his chopsticks nearly snapping in his grip—the contents of the letter completely overturned his perception of Sakura.

The person who wrote the letter called themselves a fan of "Shizuku-chan," and every line was filled with obsession over the photos "Shizuku-chan" had taken, even mentioning terms like "social media account" and "racy photos."

"Sakura is actually an online influencer? And the kind who takes racy photos? Her fans call her 'Shizuku-chan'?"

Shangguan Che's brain was buzzing. He turned to look at Sakura, who was eating her vegetable salad in small bites, shyly avoiding his gaze, looking exactly like the timid and socially awkward Sakura he always knew.

"The contrast is just too huge, isn't it?" Shangguan Che muttered to himself. "She looks so introverted, how could she do something like this? Did I misread it?"

By the time dinner ended and he said goodbye to Sakura at the elevator, he still hadn't recovered. When Sakura blushed and said, "Goodbye, Shangguan-san," he waved mechanically, his mind filled only with the name "Shizuku-chan."

Stepping out of the elevator, he happened to run into the legendary archer Miyake Akito returning. Shangguan Che greeted him out of habit: "Miyake-san, good afternoon."

"Shangguan-san, good afternoon to you too." Miyake Akito maintained his usual cold, aloof demeanor, nodded, and walked away.

Back in his dorm, the moment he closed the door, Shangguan Che suddenly slapped his forehead: "Right! How could I be so gullible as to believe the contents of a letter? This is just spreading rumors! In ancient times, I'd be a total tyrant for this!"

He immediately pulled out his phone, opened a search engine, and typed in "Shizuku-chan," silently praying: Please let it be fake, please let it be fake.

But the moment the search results appeared, his expression froze—the page was filled with photos of "Shizuku-chan." The background style was exactly as described in the letter. Although the person in the photos wore a mask and a hat, those eyes were identical to Sakura's.

"It's over. It's real." Shangguan Che slumped into his chair, his heart a mix of complicated emotions.

He had wanted to be a "wise ruler" and uncover the truth, but now that the truth was laid out before him, he didn't know what to do.

After thinking for a long time, he sighed: "Fine, I'll just be a mediocre ruler. Don't think about anything, just take it one step at a time. I'll decide how to react based on what Sakura does next. That should be safe, right?"

Having said that, he tossed his phone aside, lay down on the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling. His mind was a tangled mess, alternating between Sakura's shy appearance and the scenes from the "Shizuku-chan" photos.

"Forget it, I won't think about it. The sky isn't going to fall anyway." Shangguan Che rolled over, deciding to take a nap; maybe he'd have an idea when he woke up.

The lighting in the cafeteria was warm and cozy, making the fried chicken on the plates glow with an enticing sheen. Sakura Airi held her chopsticks, picking at her rice in small bites, but the corner of her eye couldn't help but glance at Shangguan Che across from her—Shangguan-san was acting so strange today.

Usually, when they ate together, Shangguan Che would always take the initiative to start a conversation, whether it was discussing math problem-solving strategies, talking about a new sci-fi novel from the library, or occasionally telling a dad joke to make her laugh.

But today, he remained silent the entire time, his chin resting on his palm, his eyes fixed straight ahead, barely even touching his chopsticks.

What made Sakura's heart race even more was that his gaze seemed to be fixed somewhere near her chest.

"Sh-Shangguan-san, why aren't you eating?" Sakura finally couldn't help but ask in a voice as thin as a mosquito's hum.

Shangguan Che snapped back to reality, his eyes darting around before he hurriedly picked up his chopsticks to grab a piece of fried chicken: "Ah? It's nothing, I was just thinking about a problem." After saying that, he lowered his head and fell silent again, his gaze drifting back unconsciously.

Sakura's cheeks turned bright red instantly. She subconsciously pulled the collar of her school uniform tighter, her mind in a whirl: Why does Shangguan-san keep staring at me there... Could it be that my uniform buttons aren't done up right? Or... does he have other thoughts about me?

Little did she know, Shangguan Che's attention wasn't on her at all, but rather on the school bag resting on the back of her chair—the pink envelope was lying safely inside.

His mind was filled with information about "Shizuku-chan," "online influencer," and "racy photos," so his gaze had naturally locked onto the position of the bag, even though it looked like he was staring at Sakura's chest.

It's all this letter's fault! Shangguan Che muttered to himself. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't be so distracted, and I wouldn't have been misunderstood by Sakura.

But he couldn't explain it; he couldn't exactly say, "I was peeking at the letter in your bag," could he? If he did that, forget about maintaining a friendship—Sakura would probably never talk to him again.

The meal ended in that bizarre silence. When they reached the elevator, Sakura hugged her bag and whispered, "See you tomorrow, Shangguan-san."

"Ah? Oh, see you tomorrow." Shangguan Che responded absentmindedly, his eyes still dazed, as if he had lost his soul.

Watching the elevator doors slowly close, Sakura's heart was still beating rapidly.

She leaned against the elevator wall and touched her burning cheeks, her guesses growing more numerous: Shangguan-san is acting so strange today, it must be because of that pink letter! Is he worried that it's a confession letter for me? Or... does he actually like me, and he's unhappy because he saw me receive a love letter?

As soon as this thought popped into her head, Sakura hurriedly shook her head: "No, no, how could that be? Shangguan Che is so outstanding and surrounded by so many people, why would he ever like someone like me?"

Yet, she couldn't help but let her imagination run wild: "Could it be that this letter reminded him of ones he received in the past? Has he received a pink envelope like this before? And has he still not forgotten it?"

Sakura hugged her schoolbag tightly to her chest, her fingertips gently tracing the lace trim of the envelope. This was the first time in her life she had received such an exquisite letter; just looking at the envelope made her feel both nervous and expectant.

"I really hope this isn't a love letter like Shangguan Che guessed," Sakura muttered to herself. "If it really is a confession, I definitely won't be able to sleep." She had been shy since she was a child and had no idea how to reject others, let alone handle such ambiguous relationships.

Back in her dorm, Sakura placed her bag on the desk and stared at the pink envelope for a long time. She took a deep breath, as if she had made a major decision, and carefully tore open the envelope.

The stationery was pale pink with elegant, neat handwriting, but the content made Sakura's face turn pale bit by bit—the letter wasn't a confession at all, but a threat!

The person who wrote the letter claimed to be her "fan," knowing that she was the "Shizuku-chan" from the internet, and threatened that if she didn't do as the letter demanded, they would make her suggestive photos public.

Sakura's hand holding the letter trembled uncontrollably, and tears fell like beads from a broken string. She hurriedly crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it into the trash can, but the contents echoed in her mind like a curse.

"What do I do? If others find out, what will I do?" Sakura curled up on her bed, hugging her knees and sobbing softly. She didn't dare tell anyone, and she especially didn't dare tell Shangguan Che—the boy who had always been so kind and caring toward her.

That night, Sakura suffered from total insomnia.

The moonlight outside the window shone through the gap in the curtains, making the tear tracks on her face stand out clearly. She stared at the ceiling with wide eyes, her mind filled with the threats in the letter and fear for the future, until she finally drifted into a hazy sleep just before dawn.