You Look So Pretty When You Smile. You Should Smile More...

As everyone knew, among Resonators, powerful Resonators who could not freely control their abilities either blew up into Tacet Fields or went mad, becoming less than human.

As a congenital Resonator, Lu Guan possessed an extremely powerful Resonance ability he could not control. Yet he had somehow lived carefree into adulthood without incident, only occasionally acting absurd without causing any serious harm. That alone was extraordinarily rare.

Judging by his temperament alone, Lu Guan was enough to catch the attention of Huanglong's upper echelons. With his formidable Resonance ability on top of that, some people within their ranks had even begun quietly treating him as the leading figure of Huanglong's next generation.

All of that, however, depended on one condition: he had to gain control of his Resonance ability.

So far, everything was going smoothly. According to feedback from the academy, Lu Guan had gained rudimentary control over his ability and could even exchange a few moves with the mysterious leader of the Fractsidus.

During the months Lu Guan had spent studying, the Ming Court's upper echelons had learned of him and quietly marked him as a future pillar of the next generation. Naturally, when he boarded the ship to Jinzhou, they notified Changli.

After putting that together with the information she had received from her pen pal, Changli realized that the boy had already grown to such an extent?

Thus, in her recent lessons with Jinhsi, she had repeatedly brought up Lu Guan, sometimes deliberately and sometimes in passing, hoping his experiences would give Jinhsi some motivation to grow...

But Changli clearly had not accounted for a certain someone's absurd personality. Her accounts of Lu Guan had left Jinhsi viewing him through the rose-tinted lens of a young prodigy, an outstanding peer.

Now... that lens had shattered to pieces.

Back in the reception room.

Listening to Lu Guan's rather comical accent, Jinhsi could no longer hold it in.

She was only sixteen years old. After taking up the post of Magistrate, she spent every day either occupied with official business or inspecting conditions among the people and solving their problems.

Whenever an emergency arose, she would sometimes be among the first to arrive, all to reassure the people of Jinzhou.

The exhausting work had neither crushed Jinhsi nor worn away the girlish spirit natural to someone her age. It had merely suppressed it, burying it deep in her heart.

Jinzhou needed a capable Magistrate named Jinhsi, not an ordinary girl named Xi.

But now that her rose-tinted impression had shattered, she actually laughed out loud at the rather comical Lu Guan.

"What are you laughing at? Did you remember something happy too?"

Jinhsi waved her hand. "No... it's nothing... It's just that your laugh is a little... infectious... hahaha..."

Only after laughing did she realize she had lost her composure. She hurriedly suppressed the remaining smile on her face and said seriously,

"Sorry... I lost my composure just now."

"It's fine... I don't mind." Lu Guan waved a hand without concern. "If you keep holding it in, you'll turn into a holding-it-in bomb eventually."

"Even though you have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, sometimes you should do things someone your age ought to do too..."

"Besides..." Lu Guan looked at the beauty mark on Jinhsi's cheek. "You look really pretty when you smile. You should smile more..."

"Is that so... I'll remember those words." Jinhsi gave a faint smile in response to Lu Guan's words.

Yet for some reason, Lu Guan's face flushed. He seemed to be desperately holding something in as he hurriedly stood and said to Jinhsi,

"In that case... let's talk again when we have the chance..."

"We're a little tired from our journey..."

"All right..." Jinhsi nodded. "Sanhua, sorry for the trouble."

Sanhua stepped forward. "Honored guests, this way, please..."

"Two guest rooms have already been prepared..."

"No need..." Dania interrupted with a smile. "One room is enough. He and I are used to staying together... and it'll make it easier for you to keep an eye on us."

With that, she gave Jinhsi a deep look, leaving the young Magistrate somewhat puzzled.

Unable to make the decision, Sanhua looked at Jinhsi.

"One... one room is enough!" Lu Guan said, grimacing. "She isn't very familiar with Huanglong, so I need to look after her at all times..."

"That works too..." Jinhsi nodded. Then she noticed Lu Guan's expression and asked curiously, "Lu Guan, you look a little... pained... Do you need my help?"

"No, no... I'm just... tired!"

Lu Guan lowered his head and waved his hand, speaking in a voice only he could hear.

"Jarvis, turn on holding-it-in mode!"

When he raised his head again, his expression was eerily calm. Even if a dozen or more Carlottas on stilts suddenly appeared before him, he could easily keep a straight face.

Imagine it: a dozen or more noble second young ladies of the Montelli Family, tottering clumsily toward you on ridiculous stilts, all so they could get a good look at your face...

Anyone who could keep a straight face through that was practically a god!

Though Jinhsi was somewhat surprised by Lu Guan's ability to control his expression, she still said to Sanhua, "Since our guests are tired, Sanhua, sorry to trouble you with showing them to their room..."

"If you have no objections... please have your three daily meals at the Frontier Court for the rest of your stay..."

A guest room in the Frontier Court.

Only after Sanhua left did Lu Guan grab Dania's little hand and pry the fingers pinching the tender flesh at his waist apart.

"Jarvis, turn off holding-it-in mode!"

As soon as he said it, he leaped three feet into the air.

"Ooooooooooh!"

Thanks to Teacher Tom for making it open-source.

Lu Guan had even modeled that cry of pain on Tom Cat's, since Tom always went right back to chasing Jerry as if nothing had happened after each scream in the cartoon.

Sure enough, it was extremely effective. Once he finished yelling, the patch of tender flesh Dania had pinched red stopped hurting instantly.

"'You look really pretty when you smile. You should smile more...'" Dania repeated what Lu Guan had said to Jinhsi, looking at him with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "Darling~ Don't I look pretty when I smile?"

"No, no, no... you're different." In this critical situation, Lu Guan's emotional intelligence had, for once, gained the upper hand. "You look pretty even when you're not smiling."

Actually, he had only wanted to lay some groundwork to build goodwill. After all, the system had just shown that Jinhsi's Oath rewards included a special item...

Besides, Dania was still right beside him. Even if he wanted to pursue Jinhsi, it couldn't possibly be now. How could he have any ulterior motives?

"...Saying something sweet like that all of a sudden." Dania sat down beside Lu Guan, blushing. "Do you know you're actually really good at charming girls?"

"If Yangyang heard you say that, she'd definitely disagree." Lu Guan smiled and rubbed Dania's head. "What do you think of Jinzhou?"

Dania gave a soft humph and offered her assessment.

"It's all right, I suppose... Although you can tell things are pretty tense here, the people who live here are still quite warmhearted..."

"That Magistrate girl named Jinhsi is still so young, but I feel like she has an awful lot on her shoulders..."

"As the Sentinel Jué's Resonator, she was born to be the most suitable leader for Jinzhou," Lu Guan explained. "She took up the authority of Magistrate when she was thirteen, and it's been three years since then..."

Dania covered her mouth and cried out in surprise. "Thirteen! Doesn't that mean she was carrying all of that when she was Sigelika's age?"

She couldn't help feeling a little discouraged. "Jinhsi really is amazing... If it were me, I'd probably have given up and sprawled on the ground long ago..."

"You're remarkable too..." Lu Guan said with a smile. "Finding meaning in your existence again after drifting through aimless nothingness isn't something an ordinary person could do."

"Hehe..." Dania leaned in and straddled Lu Guan's lap. "Wasn't that all because of you? My great hero!"

Seeing Dania's posture, how could Lu Guan not know what she wanted to do? He hurriedly patted her smooth thigh.

"Stop it... I really am a little tired."

"Let's talk about it tonight. Right now, I just want a good sleep."

"Mm-hmm~ All right, then." Seeing this, Dania didn't want to push too hard. After all, too many times would make things loose. It was better to develop sustainably than drain the pond to catch the fish.

Then she took off her shoes, slipped under the covers, and opened her arms to Lu Guan. "In that case... let's take a nap together!"