Dania

"...This is so annoying."

Anyone's good mood would be utterly ruined if the food on their plate suddenly turned into a pile of wrinkled, foul-smelling socks in the middle of a meal.

All the more so for Dania, who had never eaten anything good at "home."

Dania turned toward the direction Lu Guan had fled. A terrifying glint of icy light suddenly flashed through her pinkish-blue eyes, which had once been indifferent to everything.

The infirmary.

Lu Hes brought Lu Guan a plate of freshly baked waffles and asked with a smile, "Careful, they're hot. You're not going to turn them into anything strange, are you?"

"No, no..." Lu Guan averted his eyes. He felt that if he said something inappropriate now, triggered his resonance ability, and ruined Lu Hes's freshly baked cookies, his fate would be very, very grim.

"Sigh... It must feel awful not being able to control your resonance ability, right?" Lu Hes sighed wistfully. "Principal Lacerta left the school yesterday to find you a teacher who can help you control your ability. I'm sure they'll be back soon."

"As a doctor, this sort of thing isn't within my area of expertise. For now, all I can do is offer you as much counseling as I can."

"Mmm... delicious დ്ദി◝ ⩊ ◜.ᐟ" Lu Guan first praised Lu Hes's cookies, then said without a care, "I don't really need counseling or anything."

"After all, this is how I've lived all these years. I've just changed environments, that's all. I'm sure I'll adjust soon."

"I see... All right, then." Lu Hes smiled, looking very reassured. "I hope you can fit in as soon as... uh... get used to being around everyone at the academy as soon as possible and make lots of friends."

"Definitely, definitely."

After saying goodbye to Lu Hes, Lu Guan left the infirmary and walked back to the dormitory alone.

There were no classes that afternoon, and he had originally planned to visit the library. But after thinking it over, Lu Guan decided to go back to the dormitory for a nap instead.

Yet ever since he had left the infirmary, he had felt a chill down his back, as though something unclean had its eyes on him.

He looked back several times but found nothing unusual, and a creeping unease rose in his heart. The feeling of being watched was extremely uncomfortable, and he unconsciously quickened his pace.

After he turned into a small alley, the system's voice rang out.

[Beep! An eligible character has been detected. Would you like to add her to the list of romanceable characters?]

"A romanceable character?" Lu Guan couldn't immediately recall whom he had met recently. He nodded instinctively. "Add her!"

[Beep! The character list has been updated. Please check-]

[Character added: Dania.]

[Dania]

[Current affection: -25]

[Opinion of host: The bastard who ruined my lunch!]

"...I think I know where that feeling came from now." Lu Guan swallowed, his thoughts racing. I'm not the president. That pink-haired girl probably... won't hold that much of a grudge, right?

As he was thinking, Lu Guan felt a soft little hand pat his back.

He turned around and saw Dania wearing a smug look.

Lu Guan gave an awkward laugh. "Hey... can I help you?"

"You really are... good at acting, aren't you?" Dania narrowed her eyes. "After doing something like that in the cafeteria, the culprit can actually pretend nothing happened..."

"Ahaha..." Lu Guan unconsciously took two steps back, still trying to play dumb and brush her off. "What... what are you talking about? I don't understand a word."

Unlike her usual couldn't-care-less self, Dania pressed closer to Lu Guan step by step. "What do you think would happen... if the other students found out you did it?"

Seeing this, Lu Guan stopped panicking. "What do you want?"

"Mm-hmm~ So you can't keep up the act anymore?" Dania raised her eyebrows and put on a fierce expression. "If you don't want me to tell everyone, then make up for the lunch you ruined!"

After saying that, she guiltily added another sentence.

"O-of course, I'm not threatening you. You ruined my lunch, so you should compensate me!"

Clearly, the kindhearted peach had little experience threatening people. She had probably just instinctively copied the president's expressions and movements, while her words were nowhere near as aggressive.

The contrast even made Dania seem a little cute.

"Pfft~"

"What are you laughing at? I'm serious!" Dania puffed out her cheeks and clenched her pearly teeth, looking just like a hissing kitten. "Is it that funny? I'm threatening you-I'm threatening you!"

"No... I just remembered something happy."

"What happy thing?"

"I just had some really delicious cookies at Dr. Lu's."

Dania immediately perked up. "How delicious?"

"Hehe, I'm not telling you!"

"You!" Dania bared her teeth. "You're awful!"

"Aren't you afraid I'll get angry and tell the other students what you did in the cafeteria?"

"Oh my, I'm so scared!" Lu Guan pretended to be frightened, hugging his shoulders and shrinking back. Then he grinned. "But... why should anyone believe your side of the story?"

"As long as I don't admit it, what can you do?"

"...You!" Dania's chest rose and fell slightly. Aside from the president, this was the first time she had met someone with such an awful personality.

"All right, all right, I was teasing you." Lu Guan patted Dania's head. Because of their difference in height, the gesture looked more like he was coaxing a child. "What do you want to eat? I'll go buy it for you."

"Don't touch my head!" Dania reached out and slapped Lu Guan's paw away. "How can you just touch a girl's body whenever you want?"

Then she folded her arms and thought for a moment before asking,

"Have you ever had cake? The kind with fresh fruit inside, covered in cream, with words written on top in chocolate sauce."

"Hmm... I've heard of it." Lu Guan nodded. "You want some? That's not easy to get in Lahai-Roi."

"It's hard to get? Then..."

Seeing that Lu Guan was having difficulty, Dania intended to give up on the idea, but before she could finish, Lu Guan said,

"What flavor do you want?"

"Huh?"

"From your description... you're talking about a birthday cake, right? Is it your birthday today?"

"Ahaha..." The smile on Dania's face grew a little strained. "S-sort of!"

Lu Guan was speechless. He could tell at a glance that Dania was lying through her teeth, but he didn't intend to expose her just yet. After all, exposing a girl's lie to her face would show a terrible lack of tact.

He still wanted to see if he could win back some affection!

"Since it's a birthday cake... of course you should choose the flavor yourself!" Lu Guan spread his hands. "What if I went to all the trouble of getting a cake and it wasn't to your taste?"

"Is that so... I didn't expect you to understand girls so well..." Dania's eyes suddenly lit up, then quickly dimmed again. "Actually... any flavor is fine. I'm not a picky eater."

"Then you should at least tell me your name, right?" Lu Guan shrugged. "A birthday cake should at least have your name written on it, shouldn't it?"

"My name... I'm Dania."

Lu Guan lowered his head in thought. "Dania..."

"What is it? Is there a problem?"

Lu Guan shook his head. "Not really. I just think your name is a little uncommon..."

"Normally, a person's name comes with wishes and stories behind it... but the name Dania..."

"It feels like something people in a certain region often say..."

"...Yes." Dania looked somewhat moved, and her voice took on a slight tremble. "Do you... know that phrase?"

"Dasvidanyia," Lu Guan said. "It means... until we meet again."

Dania: "..."

[Beep! Dania's affection +10]

[Current character affection: -15]

[Host, please keep up the effort.]

What do you know? I'm pretty good at galgames... Lu Guan secretly rejoiced. Next, I just need to get Dania a birthday cake, and won't her affection skyrocket?

But the problem now was... where could he get one?