Really? I'm fighting the Dark Emperor.

Chapter 197 A Minor Showdown

—"I like you."

She didn't feel like it was a confession.

His voice, full of energy, sounded almost like a vow.

"you……"

The man who had just "sworn" still felt a sense of unreality. The moonlight was hazy, and the attic was dark. A hand adorned with a bracelet grasped his hand, which was resting on the table. In the instant of contact with another warmth, he trembled, turned his head to the side, and saw two hands interlocking their fingers.

He and...she.

As everything before him became "real" through touch, he felt a dryness in his throat.

Their clasped hands swayed in the moonlight. She gazed at them for a long time, admiring them before preparing to let go, when suddenly her hands were grasped in return, and she was pulled into a tight embrace.

This position made her feel a little strange and uncomfortable. After a while, she got used to it and heard Miya Xing's voice through gritted teeth: "Is it fun?"

"Ok?"

"Have you been teasing me for so long? Is it fun?"

Now, is there anything you can't figure out?

No wonder whenever he felt their relationship had taken a step closer and he was thinking about what to do, he always felt like he was going back to being just friends.

She clearly noticed his feelings a long time ago, but she kept pretending not to know anything!

Hesitating multiple times, I wondered if it wasn't obvious enough. Every now and then, I thought about whether to just be direct, but then I worried about being awkwardly rejected...

The entanglements of the past have turned into frustration at this moment. He feels a small ball of anger stuck in his heart, and that small ball of anger makes him urgently want to do something. In the end, he just tightens his grip on her.

When was it discovered?

he does not know.

It could be another "chance encounter" on campus, it could be during one of his tests, or it could be because someone else discovered it...

"No wonder I always felt something was off." The doubts of the past drifted away at this moment, and he remembered that he had almost asked Eric about those things!

"Uh……"

She felt a little guilty, but not much.

But when he realized that he didn't let go of her hand, whether it was a hug or a handshake, and after careful consideration, he realized that there was no accusation in his "gritting his teeth" words. That little bit of guilt quickly turned into full of righteous indignation.

"I wasn't kidding you!"

"is it?"

She was actually prepared to retaliate by saying he was just stupid for not noticing, but when she heard his question—whether he believed her or not—she ultimately decided to stop while she was ahead.

However, Miya Xing seemed to have heard her thoughts: "You mean I was just too stupid to notice?"

yeah?

"You've even come up with examples, like if Ginny were to poke you or pinch your face, you'd just slap him and not let him succeed, right?"

cough.

The long embrace finally ended, and he and she looked into each other's eyes, their right hands still tightly clasped together, leaving her no room to escape.

Besides, there was only a large open space behind her. Even if she stepped back, the most likely outcome would be that she would pull Miya Xing down with her.

He muttered a dissatisfied tone:

"You've already told me what I wanted to say, so why are you asking me again?"

So what if I know?

There's nothing he can do to her!

He tapped her forehead with his left hand, as if venting after being "teasing" her, but the force was lighter than a leaf falling.

Rui Bu Si winked at him: "Okay, okay, my little scheme has been discovered by the clever Star of Wisdom. What should I do? My fragile girlfriend will be hit by the Heartless Technique, and she'll writhe on the ground in pain for a couple of minutes before she kicks the bucket~"

He gently brushed aside her stray hairs that were obstructing her view: "Really? Is it that serious?"

"Mmm." So fragile, so very fragile!

The light in the attic flickered on dimly thanks to the power of the swivel. Rui Bu Si looked up, not quite understanding why they hadn't turned the lights up brighter since they were already on. Before she could look back down, she heard his conciliatory voice: "I was too stupid."

So she stopped worrying about such trivial things as lighting: "Doesn't that mean I'm smarter than Zhizhixing?"

"Yes~, Lady Ruibusi's intelligence is the best in the world, unmatched by anyone."

“That’s right, that’s right,” she accepted the “praise” without any modesty, and added, “I’ll let you pass by a little bit.”

"Then I should thank you?"

"You're welcome, you're welcome. But..."

How much longer are we going to hold hands like this?

She loosened her grip, but the other person showed no sign of letting go.

Instead, he suddenly brought up: "Do you remember the favor you owed me?"

Is there such a thing?

She wanted to shake her head, but when she met Mi Yaxing's eyes, which seemed to see through everything, she stiffly nodded in a barely perceptible arc.

However, at such close range, even the slightest movement will go unnoticed.

Besides, he only has eyes for her.

"Probably..."

She sensed his sinister intention in not letting go.

"I only copied half of your monster studies textbook, you can't make unreasonable demands!" Suddenly bringing up a long-overdue condition under these circumstances is definitely not a good thing.

"Oh~" He noticed the slight threat in her voice as he looked at her wary gaze. "You remember so clearly?"

……hateful!

"So, will Lady Ruibusi, who is known for keeping her word, fulfill her promise?"

Gritting his teeth, he said, "Of course!"

Wait, something's not right! I seem to have agreed a little too quickly.

How could you agree to something before the other party even explained what it was about?!

How could she do something so unwise?!

Time machine!

Is there a time machine that lets her travel back just one minute to the past?!

However, let alone a time machine, there wouldn't even be a vending machine in the attic unless a huge brick fell from the sky and hit a school leader on the head.

Even if Head Nurse Da Tiantian became the principal, no matter how "incompetent" she was, she wouldn't suddenly have the idea to install vending machines in the attic where hardly anyone came.

"Can I...take it back?"

"...Okay, okay, I won't back out."

"Next semester, the school will be holding an anniversary celebration." With their fingers intertwined, the fingertips unconsciously traced patterns on the back of her hand because of a hint of shyness in the boy's heart. Rui Busi felt a little ticklish, but she did not remind this bright student that he had inadvertently revealed his little thoughts again.

"Okay." She wasn't worried that he would ask any inappropriate questions anymore, and waited for him to continue.

"Would you...dance with me for the first time?"

The condition has inexplicably transformed into a request.

"Why are you thinking so far ahead now?" Isn't this a bit too premature to plan ahead?

"The first dance of the school anniversary celebration should be danced with people we like."

If it weren't for that slight stutter, his tone would have been even more assertive.

"Oh, I see, of course..." Wait a minute!

Squinting, Ruibusi recalled something else.

"You knew all along that the Potions test would be linked to tutoring, and you even planned for tutoring to happen on Valentine's Day, which is today?"

It's a question, but it's stated with absolute certainty.