The Moderate King and His Insomniac Friend

Shangguan Che sat expressionlessly in his seat, holding his phone. On the screen was the message he had just sent Sakura.

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

As soon as the delivery notification appeared, Sakura beside him lowered her head to look at her phone. A faint blush spread across her cheeks, and her fingers tapped rapidly on the screen.

[No, 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, Sakura took a long while to respond. Her message even came with a tiny, aggrieved emoji: [...I was planning to read it back in my dorm.]

"Figures. I'd never get anything out of asking her face-to-face. It's easier to chat over the phone." Shangguan Che glanced up at Sakura, who was staring at her screen. Her bangs hung low, hiding her eyes, and her ears were still red. She looked incredibly nervous.

Following the clues, he reasoned, "So she got the envelope when she left the dorm today? No one's pressed her to open it, so she's dared to wait until she gets back. Judging by the envelope, someone probably slipped it to her secretly. There isn't even a name on it. Talk about mysterious."

Curiosity scratched at Shangguan Che like a kitten's claws. Watching Sakura's profile as she ate, he wavered between two impulses. "Maybe I should... use Clairvoyance to sneak a peek? I won't tell anyone, so no one will know. Besides, it'll help me practice being shameless. It's just part of the mission!"

He hesitated until dinner, when he finally made up his mind.

At the thought, he shouted "Tatakae!" in his heart and activated the skill without hesitation.

But the moment he scanned the letter's contents, Shangguan Che furrowed his brows, nearly spitting out the rice in his mouth. "No way. What kind of nonsense is this? It reeks of lust. It's so sleazy and disgusting—I can't even look!"

He was about to deactivate the skill at once, but a name in the letter caught his eye—"Shizuku-chan."

"Shizuku-chan?" Shangguan Che's heart gave a jolt. "What kind of name is that? I've never heard Sakura mention anyone by that name."

His first thought was: "Could this be Sakura's secret?"

His second thought immediately followed: "No, it's so rude to snoop on someone else's secrets. I'm not that kind of person."

His third thought swept the first two aside: "Come on, I've already seen this much. It's too late to pretend to be a gentleman. I've already walked along the riverbank—why worry about getting my shoes wet?"

"If I'm going to practice being shameless, I have to see it through!" Shangguan Che gritted his teeth and kept reading.

A few minutes later, he deactivated the skill, gripping his chopsticks so tightly they nearly snapped. The letter's contents had completely upended his impression of Sakura.

The writer claimed to be a fan of "Shizuku-chan." Every line was full of adoration for the photos "Shizuku-chan" had taken, and the letter mentioned things like "social media account" and "teasing photos."

"Sakura's an online creator? And she takes teasing photos? Her fans call her 'Shizuku-chan'?"

Shangguan Che's head buzzed. He turned to look at Sakura. She was eating her vegetable salad in tiny bites, shyly avoiding his gaze. She looked just like the timid, shy Sakura he knew.

"Isn't this a huge contrast?" Shangguan Che wondered. "She seems so introverted. How could she do something like that? Did I get the wrong idea?"

Even after dinner, as he said goodbye to Sakura by the elevator, he still hadn't recovered. Sakura blushed and said, "Goodbye, Shangguan." He mechanically waved back, his mind filled with the words "Shizuku-chan."

He stepped out of the elevator and happened to run into Miyake Akito, the legendary Archer, returning. Shangguan Che greeted him casually. "Good afternoon, Miyake."

"Good afternoon to you too, Shangguan." Miyake Akito nodded, still as aloof as ever, and walked on.

The moment he got back to his dorm and closed the door, Shangguan Che slapped his forehead. "Right! How could I blindly trust the contents of a letter? That's just spreading rumors! In ancient times, I'd be a total foolish ruler!"

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

But the moment the search results appeared, his expression froze. The page was full of pictures of "Shizuku-chan." Their backgrounds were exactly as the letter had described. The person in the photos wore a mask and hat, but those eyes were identical to Sakura's.

"It's real." Shangguan Che collapsed into his chair, feeling a jumble of emotions.

He'd wanted to be a "wise ruler" and get to the bottom of things, but now that the truth was right in front of him, he had no idea what to do.

After thinking it over for a long while, he sighed. "Forget it. I'll be a moderate ruler instead. I won't think about it—just take things as they come. I'll wait and see what Sakura does next, then decide how to respond. That should be fine, right?"

With that, he tossed his phone aside, lay down on his bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling. His mind swung between Sakura's shy expression and the scenes in "Shizuku-chan's" photos, a tangled mess.

"Whatever. I'll stop thinking about it. The sky won't fall." Shangguan Che rolled over and decided to get some sleep. Maybe he'd figure things out when he woke up.

Warm light filled the cafeteria, making the fried chicken on the trays gleam appetizingly. Sakura Airi held her chopsticks and picked at her rice in tiny bites, but she couldn't help sneaking glances at Shangguan Che across from her. Shangguan was acting so strange today.

Usually, when they ate together, Shangguan Che always started a conversation. He would talk about how to solve a math problem, tell her about the new science fiction novels at the library, or sometimes crack a corny joke to make her laugh.

But today, he'd been silent the whole time, propping his chin on his hand and staring fixedly in one direction. He'd barely touched his food.

What made Sakura's face burn even more was that his gaze seemed to keep settling around her chest.

"S-Shangguan, why aren't you eating?" Sakura finally couldn't hold back and asked in a small voice, so faint it was almost a mosquito's buzz.

Shangguan Che snapped back to his senses. His gaze darted away, and he hurriedly picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a piece of fried chicken. "Huh? It's nothing. I was just thinking about a problem." Then he lowered his head and fell silent again, his gaze unconsciously drifting back.

Sakura's cheeks turned bright red. She instinctively tugged her uniform collar into place, her thoughts in a jumble. "Why does Shangguan keep staring at me there...? Did I forget to button my uniform properly today? Or... does he have some other feelings for me?"

She had no idea that Shangguan Che's attention wasn't on her at all. He was looking past her at the bag resting on the back of her chair. The pink envelope was tucked safely inside.

His mind was full of "Shizuku-chan," "online creator," and "teasing photos." Without realizing it, his gaze had fixed on the bag, making it look as though he was staring at Sakura's chest.

"It's all because of that letter!" Shangguan Che grumbled to himself. "If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be so distracted—and Sakura wouldn't have gotten the wrong idea."

But he couldn't explain. He couldn't exactly say, "I was sneaking a look at the letter in your bag," could he? Forget maintaining their friendship—Sakura probably wouldn't speak to him again.

Their meal ended in an awkward silence. When they reached the elevator, Sakura hugged her bag and said softly, "See you tomorrow, Shangguan."

"Huh? Oh, see you tomorrow." Shangguan Che replied absentmindedly, his gaze still vacant, as if his soul had left his body.

As the elevator doors slowly closed, Sakura's heart was still racing.

She leaned against the elevator wall and touched her burning cheeks. Her suspicions kept multiplying. "Shangguan was acting so strangely today. It must be because of that pink letter! Is he worried that it's a love letter for me? Or... does he actually like me, and seeing me get a love letter made him unhappy?"

As soon as the thought appeared, Sakura hurriedly shook her head. "N-no, that's impossible. Shangguan is so impressive, and he has so many people around him. How could he like me?"

But she couldn't help overthinking. "Maybe the letter reminded him of one he received before? Has he gotten a pink envelope like this too? Could he still be unable to forget about it?"

Sakura hugged her bag tightly, gently running her fingertips over the lace trim of the envelope. This was the first time in her life she'd received such an elegant letter. Just looking at it made her feel both nervous and excited.

"I really hope it isn't the love letter Shangguan guessed it was," Sakura murmured. "If it really is a confession, I won't be able to sleep." She'd always been shy and had no idea how to reject someone, much less handle this kind of ambiguous relationship.

Back in her dorm, Sakura placed her bag on her desk and stared at the pink envelope for a long time. She took a deep breath as if steeling herself, then carefully opened it.

The stationery was pale pink, and the handwriting was neat and elegant. But as she read, Sakura's face gradually turned pale. It wasn't a love letter at all—it was a threat!

The writer claimed to be her "fan" and said they knew she was "Shizuku-chan" online. They threatened to expose her teasing photos unless she did what the letter demanded.

Sakura's hands trembled as she held the letter. Tears fell like beads from a broken string. She quickly crumpled the paper and threw it in the trash, but the letter's contents echoed in her mind like a curse.

"What should I do? What if other people find out? What am I going to do?" Sakura curled up on her bed, hugging her knees and sobbing quietly. She didn't dare tell anyone, least of all Shangguan Che—the boy who had always been so kind and considerate toward her.

That night, Sakura couldn't sleep at all.

Moonlight slipped through a gap in the curtains, making the tear tracks on her face stand out. She stared at the ceiling, her mind filled with the threat in the letter and her fear of the future. It wasn't until dawn was near that she finally drifted off.