She Stole Away in Shyness, Leaned Against the Door and Looked Back, Yet Sniffed the Green Plums

Dark protested this kind of unannounced intrusion. But his protest was ignored.

Pandora narrowed her eyes into long, slender slits, her long lashes trembling like ripples on water.

Patricia Bolin was something of a celebrity among the upper-year Magister House students, so the two sides were generally acquainted.

Realizing that things were going badly, Patricia immediately sat up straight, reined in every little movement that might cause misunderstanding, and cursed Winnie nonstop in her heart.

Winnie Scati merely snickered like a little fox. "Taking part in..."

In an instant, Dark weighed three answers—"taking part in the Heroes' Convention," "taking part in the Golden Cup," and "taking part in the Academy Cup"—then decisively chose D.

"Taking part in what? That's all trivial. Weren't you busy researching tonight, Senior?"

Pandora Doragon's feigned "anger" did not last long. She strode over to Dark and sat beside him, and the icy expression on her face melted away like snow.

She had long since noticed that she could no longer keep herself composed in front of Dark. It was not an intense change, but one that had accumulated bit by bit.

Sometimes, she quietly worried that she might one day become a weak woman who let her husband have her completely wrapped around his finger. But when she imagined it that way, she found it did not seem so bad, and could not help smiling.

She relaxed and let her body sink into the embrace of the sofa's backrest. Looking at Patricia, who was inferior to her in every respect, she said, "I just reached a stopping point, so I thought I'd come see you. Am I not welcome?"

"Of course you are." Dark leaned over, took out a fresh teacup, rinsed its inside with tea, poured a new cup, and moved it in front