Book 3: Chapter 40: The Slyest Was The Most Popular
St. Caroline Academy, the best academy on the mainland.
Since its founding, the Kulun Military Academy of the Northern Macedonian Empire was its sole competitor. But ever since the infamous dragon-blooded lunatic graduated from the St. Caroline Academy, the position of the once prideful Kulun Military Academy fell to second place.
The academy was built on the fertile land of the Kaz Plains, where it stuck out like a huge boulder in a vast desert. There was a high hill on the otherwise extremely flat plains, and the academy was situated atop this hill.
To the east was the Dragon God Lake. To the south of the largest lake in the empire was a sea of flowers that bloomed throughout the seasons. It could be said that the academy was placed at an excellent location.
To the west and north was the city that was built because of the academy â St. Caroline City.
At this time, in a hotel in St. Caroline Cityâ¦
âWeâre finally hereâ¦!â
Lilith let out a long sigh of relief and plopped to the side after entering the room, conveniently occupying the most comfortable bed in the room.
âI thought my skeleton was going to fall apartâ¦â
Thea rubbed her numb bottom. After a crazy long journey for the past few days, she almost felt as though that was not her own butt.
Even so, she quickly plopped herself down on the only chair in the room.
After all, sitting was still a lot more comfortable than standing up, especially after an exhausting journey.
Sae floated through the door in her nearly disappearing form. She looked at the small room, then at the two useless girls who hadnât done much during their travel, yet were quick to snatch up the most comfortable spots for themselves. âI donât need to lie or sit to rest in my current form! What were you two rushing for?!â she hissed through her clenched teeth.
Lilith turned over. âYeah right! If you donât need to lie down, then why do you sleep while lying down every time we stop for a rest?â
Saeâs cheek twitched. She wanted to so badly pull Lilith by her ear and shout into it. She only slept lying down because she had gotten used to that position when she still had a physical body. It wasnât like sheâd take up any space. Yet in the end, she said nothing and just returned into the broken dagger to recover her stamina.
She knew it was useless for her to try and argue because of her masterâs selective hearing.
There was only one room for the two girls and a spirit to squeeze in.
It wasnât because Lilith was being stingy with money and only reserved one room. They actually checked everywhere in St. Caroline City. This was the only hotel that still had an available room. The others were either full or fully reserved. Even their woodshed was full.
The room was pitifully small, with only a bed and a chair in it. This was also the reason why Lilith was able to plop down on the bed right after she came in. The room was simply too narrow.
âWhat to do? Itâs the academyâs enrollment period right now.â
The St. Caroline Academy was accepting students now. In fact, the enrollment period started yesterday. Due to its reputation, the academy was always receiving a huge number of applicants every year. Hence, the entrance exam was divided into three days. Fortunately, they made it on time.
At least they didnât rush all the way for nothing. Lilith even had to offer a drop of her blood to the dragon steed. It was thanks to that, that the horse was able to gallop three days and three nights tirelessly as if being on drugs.
It ultimately died from exhaustion, but at least it had done its best to serve a purpose.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Lilith was originally planning to teleport here via the portal in Aeria. But who could have known so many things would happen and that her plan would be disrupted in the end.
It was already a miracle to be able to arrive on time.
The next morning, Lilith stretched herself after sleeping nearly an entire day away. She took Thea out of the room and was going to have a perfect breakfast, only to find that the hotel lobby was already packed full.
Most of them were energetic-looking teenagers, probably the students who were applying to the St. Caroline Academy.
Lilith frowned then shouted at a sweaty waiter who was coming over. âDo you have a free private booth?â
âTerribly sorry, our private booths are fully occupied.â
âFully occupied?â Lilith looked around. They were indeed almost fully occupied, save for one by the window on the third floor.
âIsnât that empty?â
âThatâsâ¦â The waiter kept wiping the sweat away from his forehead with his towel with a troubled expression.
Lilith didnât want to waste any time. She tossed a few gold coins to the waiter, then took up the private booth with Thea while the waiter was busy gawking at the shiny gold coins in his hands.
âBring me all the good stuff, the more the better.â
The waiter looked at the gold coins that would probably take him a year of hard work to earn in conflict, then finally nodded. âRight away, miss.â
In the private booth, Lilith looked at the bustling street outside the window, then at one of the overcrowded tables in the lobby. Thinking back at the troubled expression on the waiterâs face, realization dawned upon her.
âThea, do you believe that some things are connected?â
âWhat things?â Thea had a puzzled look on her face.
âScenes depicted in books often happen in reality.â
Thea blinked her huge eyes, expressing her confusion at Lilithâs statement.
Lilith didnât force her to understand. She just poured a cup of tea for herself, then sipped on it. âIâm talking about a trap. Itâs all a trap.â
âWhat? Which b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ is so brave to snatch away my seat?â
A commotion suddenly came from downstairs, as a few youths dressed in the same uniform rushed upstairs, ignoring the waiterâs attempts to stop them.
There were three males and one female. The leader was a blonde, but he looked nothing like Durango. On the contrary, he was a burly and hairy man that looked like a golden gorilla.
âItâs those two young ladies upstairs. I told them that the seat isnât available but they insisted on sitting there. Then again, they are also customers and our shop has always upheld the principle that customers are gods. If customers insist on taking a seat, we canât stop them either, right?â Upon seeing that there was no stopping them, the waiter suddenly became a turncoat. He pointed to Lilith and made her into a scapegoat, acting as though he was the victim even after receiving some money.
The blondieâs eyes widened, making him look more like a gorilla. âI donât care if sheâs a customer or not. Anyone who takes my seat is my enemy. Iâm supposed to treat a lady to a meal today. I didnât expect my seat to be taken before I could even order my meal. How am I supposed to impress anyone?!â
Lilith set her teacup down, as she muttered âas expectedâ under her breath. A cliche like this was overused in books.
Due to their angle, Lilith could see the blondie and his companion, but the other party could only see her after they came upstairs.
The blondie took one step at a time upstairs and looked pretty strong.
Even so, Lilith wasnât afraid of anything. She had beaten a saint-level expert before, what was there to be afraid about a few brats?
The golden gorilla probably had some influence here. He must have ordered the best spot at the busiest hour to impress the girl he was trying to pick up and also his lackeys. Now that his seat had been taken, he had no choice but to find trouble with Lilith.
Well, at least that was how it was written in the books.
The guy was probably quite unlucky to run into Lilith, who didnât care about power and influence. If it was someone else, the golden gorilla could probably beat that person up badly and make himself look even better.
Hm, maybe I should just play dead since it wouldnât be good to draw so much attention at an unfamiliar place.
The blondie finally reached upstairs and spotted Lilith and Thea sitting in his seat.
Lilith cracked her knuckles to loosen up a bit, just in case she would have to get someone killed with just a punch.
However, as soon as the blondieâs fierce gaze fell on Lilith, he was taken aback.
Not only he was taken aback, but his cheeks were also even tinted by a strange shade of red.
Lilith frowned, wondering why the golden gorilla hadnât struck at her yet. Could it be that she had to take the initiative to attack?
The golden gorilla finally moved. He took two steps forward.
Lilith prepared herself to beat someone up.
The golden gorilla suddenly stopped in his tracks, thenâ¦
He fell on one knee loudly.
Lilith was stunned, puzzled by the golden gorillaâs sudden action. Could that be some special martial technique that she had never seen before?
Something more terrifying happened next. The golden gorilla clasped a hand over his chest and stretched another hand out. On his rough face was an extremely affectionate expression.
âOh, what a beauty you are! Iâve fallen in love with you at first sight.â
ââ¦â¦â¦.â
Lilith could almost hear the sound of eyeballs falling to the ground, hers along with the others. She felt dizzy, as though her brain just got knocked by a combo of punches and lost its ability to think.
While Lilith was still in a daze, the golden gorilla pulled a small beautiful box out of nowhere.
The box was slowly opened, revealing an exquisitely crafted ring in it. The crystal on the ring shone like the brightest star in the sky, so dazzling that it could blind eyes.
The eyes of the golden gorilla were filled with deep emotions as he spoke gently, âBeautiful lady, please marry me.â
Upon hearing his words, everything before Lilithâs eyes turned black.
She couldnât figure out how to cope with the situation, even with all the insights she had from her previous and current life.
Even she, a self-proclaimed ruler of an empire in her previous life, had never received a marriage proposal.
Letâs emphasize the important point again:
She was proposed to!
The human brain came with a self-defense mechanism. When one received a shock, the brain would shut down to protect itself.
Even if Lilith had accepted unthinkable things like reincarnation, she couldnât accept the situation before her eyes.
Hence, her brain shut down.
And Lilith fell unconscious.
The last moment before she lost her consciousness, there was only one sentence echoing in her mindâ¦
âDamn, why didnât he hit me with the cliche?â