Loyalty, Absolutely Loyal.

Sakayanagi Arisu looked up at Dongfang Yi, her expression somewhat displeased.

Her intuition told her that she needed to carefully reconsider her plan to recruit the person before her as a subordinate, but...

He was the most suitable candidate so far.

Forget it, they were all pawns anyway; as long as they were useful, that was enough.

"I will give you one chance to make me forgive your insolence."

Although her voice was soft, it carried an unquestionable arrogance.

Is this girl really such a sore loser?

Dongfang Yi, looking down at her, complained inwardly, but on the surface, he widened his eyes, putting on a perfectly timed look of surprise.

"Could it be that Her Highness the Princess wasn't worried about the strong wind and low temperature on the rooftop making it difficult to move, or the danger of falling, and thus wanted to reach a warmer place as soon as possible?"

This was both a rhetorical question and an explanation.

An explanation for his non-existent sincerity and loyalty.

Translated, it meant: I may have been a bit rough, but it was all for your own good!

After all, Sakayanagi Arisu was indeed freezing; the tsundere loli had been standing in the drafty area for several minutes wearing a short skirt and white hollow-out suspender stockings, and her hands and calves were as cold as if they had just come out of a refrigerator.

It was just that not enough time had passed for her to notice it herself yet.

If he hadn't felt that she would probably catch a cold if he didn't carry her down, he wouldn't have bothered to intervene.

It was definitely not because he suspected she wanted to pat his head or anything! Definitely not!

"..."

Feeling underestimated, Sakayanagi raised her cane and tapped Dongfang Yi's calf in a fit of shy annoyance, though unfortunately, her strength couldn't even break through Dongfang Yi's defense.

It felt like a tickle.

"Do not interpret my intentions so casually in the future."

Her tone was firm, but her voice was very gentle.

Clearly, the young girl had tacitly accepted Dongfang Yi's explanation.

"Yes, Your Highness, your subordinate will be mindful of that in the future."

Dongfang Yi lowered his head, looking sincerely into Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes.

Extremely loyal.

This angle was perfect; the detestable loli who denied her feelings with her mouth while her body was honest should be looking up at him from below.

Having been taken advantage of by the little shrimp for so long, how could he not take it back?

However, from this angle, it appeared she was truly a barren land, with everything in plain sight.

Although Dongfang Yi was smug inside, he still maintained a look of trepidation on the surface.

Because this loli was someone he couldn't afford to provoke for the time being.

Have you not seen how the Black Room's greatest masterpiece bumped into someone in the previous volume, only to be completely erased from the records two volumes later?

And that was even without this girl using her father's connections.

In order to successfully live the life he wanted, he currently lacked the qualifications to ignore the threat of expulsion.

The reason was simple: his family was truly out of money, and he had scraped the bottom of the barrel.

However, Dongfang Yi had already sorted out the logic before coming here, basically clarifying why Sakayanagi Arisu was in such a hurry to recruit him as a subordinate.

Simply put, it was due to the two identities he currently held: an active employee at a highly popular cafe with great looks, and the suspected boyfriend of Sakura Airi from Class D.

Dongfang Yi knew that the cafe could serve as a cover for obtaining information, and Sakayanagi Arisu naturally knew even better how much gossip could be gathered there; after all, the white-haired loli loved drinking corporate-slave beverages and eating small cakes at cafes.

Of course, being a cafe employee alone wouldn't be enough for the little princess to personally recruit him, but the existence of Sakura Airi invisibly elevated his importance—

The channels within Class D were helpful for the white-haired loli to monitor and understand Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

Therefore, Dongfang Yi had no right to refuse; he was definitely going to be brought under her command.

Although he had actually wanted to struggle a bit, the fact that this girl could even boss around the cafe manager meant there was no need to waste any more time.

It was better to just surrender and avoid further trouble.

"You are very eager to work for me?" Sakayanagi Arisu held her neck high like a white swan, stepping back until she leaned against the wall.

According to the Pythagorean theorem, given a constant height difference between Dongfang Yi and the white-haired loli, the further apart they were, the smaller the angle of elevation.

So, doing this allowed her to lower her angle of elevation by a few degrees, so she wouldn't have to crane her neck to speak, which was too tiring.

But Dongfang Yi wasn't finished enjoying himself yet; how could he let her off like this?

He stepped forward eagerly, carrying the drive and vitality unique to a young man, placing his left hand against the wall to perform a perfect wall-slam, chanting as he did so:

"It is my honor to work for Your Highness! To tell you the truth, ever since I saw you on the first day of school, I have greatly admired your imposing figure. That imposing nature does not stem from your physique, but from your wisdom. I mean, your excellence is something I can only look up to..."

The aura of burning loyalty radiating from him rushed toward her, pinning Sakayanagi Arisu into the corner, unable to move.

With the wall behind her, the white-haired loli had nowhere left to retreat.

The height difference between the two had returned to what it was before, but because of the wall, Sakayanagi Arisu could now only see the jade-like, smooth neck and collarbone of Dongfang Yi.

She should have been annoyed, but her gaze inadvertently drifted to the boy's collarbone and remained there for a moment. This stirred a strange, peculiar feeling in her heart, as if her mind had gone blank and everything had returned to nothingness, diluting the anger she should have felt; even the compliments Dongfang Yi had racked his brain to come up with, which brushed past her ears, became blurred.

Although she did not know what this feeling was.

She felt a bit dazed, likely because she had been blown by the spring breeze for too long and had caught a slight cold.

"Your vocabulary is truly rich, Dongfang-san."

Kamuro Masumi, who had chased after them, twitched the corner of her mouth; having seen three different versions of Dongfang Yi in such a short time, she now found it hard to tell which one was the real him.

Come to think of it, could this guy be a perverted lolicon?

Her gaze was filled with more scrutiny and suspicion.

"No, these are all words from the bottom of my heart."

Dongfang Yi turned around, his eyes bright, continuing to emphasize his loyalty.

It was just that the arc curling at the corner of his mouth could not be suppressed no matter how hard he tried.

You have zero loyalty.

Kamuro rolled her eyes; she didn't even need to analyze it to know that the person in front of her was lying.

Because this guy's expression was exactly the same as when he had scammed a free bread in the hallway! It was smug to the point of being detestable!

But she kept her eyes on her nose and her heart on her mind, merely clicking her tongue without saying another word.

Sakayanagi Arisu hadn't made any requests, so there was no need for her to do anything unnecessary.

Besides, watching the little loli get frustrated wasn't bad either.

But since a third party was present, Dongfang Yi found it difficult to continue teasing the White-Haired Loli; it wouldn't end well if he really made her bristle.

He stepped back to clear the space, making it easier for the little princess to collect her thoughts.

However, he still had to provide a step to guide her thinking; he couldn't let her actually realize that Dongfang Yi was teasing her.

"Speaking of which, what exactly do you need me to do, Princess?"

Dongfang Yi continued to play dumb.

Sakayanagi Arisu regained her composure because of his retreat, but her annoyance only grew.

Although she knew that the height difference between them was the source of the pressure she felt, the fact that she had stopped thinking simply because of the proximity of a member of the opposite sex was something she, who prided herself on being a genius, could never tolerate.

She was a natural-born genius; she should remain calm at all times, shouldn't she?

However, that was not important for the moment.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, looked at the two people waiting for her to speak, and reopened the topic with a soft voice:

"Dongfang-kun was right before; this school does indeed have an assessment system closely related to class points. Of course, even the class rankings have different values."