Returning to his mansion, Lorin had just stepped down from the carriage when the maid greeting him gasped at his appearance.
"Your Highness, were you in a duel? Or an accident?"
To outsiders, a large gash was clearly visible at the corner of Lorin’s mouth. Though the blood had clotted, it still looked severe.
"An inside job," Lorin sighed. He waved her off, skipped dinner entirely, and headed straight to his room.
Lying on the bed, he touched his lips. The moment his fingers brushed the wound, sharp pain shot through him.
"*Hss—*" He sucked in a breath. Xueyi truly had no sense of restraint—he’d half-expected a chunk of his lip to be missing.
"Was this part of the story?" Lorin asked the Bookkeeper in his head.
Unlike usual, the Bookkeeper remained silent.
"Hey. I know you’re there. Stop playing dead."
The Bookkeeper had witnessed everything just now. Its sudden silence annoyed Lorin.
After a long pause, the voice finally came. "No. This isn’t in the original storyline."
In the original tale, Xueyi was merely a minor character. Lilith was the true protagonist.
But Lorin himself was an outsider here—this Second Prince identity didn’t belong to the story either.
"This was her own will," the Bookkeeper concluded.
"*Her* will..." Lorin murmured.
Today was the most Xueyi had ever spoken to him. Her emotions had felt utterly genuine.
Yet Lorin couldn’t understand: he’d only tried to help her. How had she fallen for *him*?
"Didn’t that god say I just needed to change Xueyi’s storyline?"
"Yes."
Lorin recalled the deity’s words: alter Xueyi’s tragic fate. Nothing about *this*.
"What a mess," he sighed.
Xueyi had laid her feelings bare like a flood, sweeping over unprepared Lorin, threatening to swallow him whole.
Now he agonized over how to respond.
Xueyi wasn’t as effortlessly likable as Lilith, but she had her charms—enough to catch a god’s attention.
*Accept her?* His sole purpose was to rewrite the story.
*Reject her?* She’d warned this was only the beginning. If *this* was just the start, could he endure what came next?
Lorin lay awake all night, finding no answers.
By morning, dark circles shadowed his eyes. Even at the academy, he remained dazed.
"Second Prince, did you not sleep well?" A girl approached him.
Since the last incident, greetings from peers had grown frequent.
Lorin forced a stiff smile. "Just insomnia."
"Eh? Your lip—were you injured?"
"My lip? It’s..."
Before he could fabricate an excuse, a familiar voice cut in.
"A cat bit him." Xueyi appeared as if she’d been waiting, smiling up at Lorin.
"A cat?" The girl blinked, confused.
"Right?" Xueyi pressed.
"Uh." Lorin turned his head away. Seeing her now only brought yesterday’s memory rushing back.
Noticing his avoidance, Xueyi suddenly wrapped her arms around his in front of the stunned girl.
"Ah... Second Prince, Miss Xueyi—I won’t disturb you further!" The girl fled without looking back.
Lorin rubbed his temples. Xueyi was right—it *was* a cat bite. And now, this cat seemed to be staking her claim.
He opened his mouth to scold her, but Xueyi had already lowered her head. Between strands of hair, her ears glowed crimson like rose petals about to bloom.
Her grip on his arm loosened, then slid down to brush his fingers hesitantly before settling on his sleeve.
"What are you..." Even without seeing her face, Lorin guessed she was flustered.
"I told you," she whispered, barely audible, "I’m not good at this in crowds."
Lorin remembered: around Lilith, Xueyi had always been composed. Never like yesterday.
But alone with him, it was as if a lock had snapped open—revealing someone entirely new.
"Then why act like that just now?" Relief washed over him as she reined herself in.
Had she repeated yesterday’s stunt here, the entire academy would’ve been scandalized.
"What does it matter? We lived together before. No one cared then." Xueyi’s voice tightened. "Besides... since yesterday, I’ve hated seeing them talk to you."
When Xueyi had stayed at his mansion, the academy had buzzed briefly. But after the misunderstanding with Lilith cleared and Xueyi returned home, gossip faded.
Compared to *that*, holding his arm was nothing.
Yet Lorin had always insisted it was purely practical—she’d needed shelter. Nothing more.
Her last words echoed in his mind, crystallizing into one concept: *possessiveness*.
They walked down the corridor, Xueyi trailing half a step behind.
Just as Lorin reached the classroom door, she tugged his sleeve.
Before he could react, she rose on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to the wound on his lip. She darted a glance around afterward, checking for onlookers.
"That’s for today."
Watching Xueyi slip into the classroom, Lorin shook his head with a bitter smile.
