Chapter 12
Fu Xia’s eyes snapped open.
Her mind was wide awake; there was no way she could go back to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was Pei Wang’s face.
Fu Xia turned over, reaching for her phone to check the time, but as she did, she came face-to-face with a pair of dark, cat-like eyes.
She jumped, startled again.
In the middle of the night, Xie Rin wasn’t sleeping. He was kneeling by her bed, propping his chin on his hand and watching her. His pale, beautiful face was expressionless, but for some reason, his gaze was exceptionally resentful.
“…What’s wrong with you?” Fu Xia asked.
“Sweetie, what did you dream about tonight?” Xie Rin asked.
Fu Xia raised a hand to her face. “Did I cry again?”
This time it hadn’t really been a nightmare… Not only had she eliminated the person who bullied her, but she had also gotten to step on Pei Wang for a good while. Aside from his last words being a bit scary, it could have been considered a wish-fulfillment dream.
—And Fu Xia, indeed, had not cried.
Dreams are a projection of the subconscious. Fu Xia’s first dream, of an inescapable grasp and an imprisoning cage, was a manifestation of her panic and insecurity. When a person is anxious, their mental state is at its most fragile.
Conveniently, Xie Rin could invade and modify the dreams of others.
He had planned to enter her dream while her psychological defenses were weak, play the hero saving the damsel in distress, and make her wake up even more dependent on him.
…Instead, he saw her dreaming of Pei Wang.
Pei Wang had appeared as her protector, letting her experience the delicious taste of power, before presenting himself in a more vulnerable position.
And she even got to step on him?
—Why him?
Xie Rin had endured it for a long time, watching Fu Xia have the time of her life, barely resisting the urge to storm in and shake her awake. He had stood in the shadows, secretly watching her and Pei Wang, the hem of his dress pushed out into a subtle curve.
This scene perfectly matched his original expectations. Xie Rin had approached Fu Xia in the first place to watch the show. To see his own kind fight tooth and nail for the love of a tiny ant—there was no better entertainment.
But watching the look of dazed pleasure on Pei Wang’s face in the dream, Xie Rin suddenly felt a little annoyed.
He hadn’t even experienced it yet. Why did Pei Wang get to feel it first?
The young, beautiful vampire wanted to possess more.
His thoughts returning to the present, Xie Rin said, “You didn’t cry this time, sweetie.”
He pushed himself up, sniffed gently at the side of her neck, and then slid into her bed.
“…It’s just that your breathing was heavy the whole time.”
“Sorry,” Fu Xia said immediately. “I must have disturbed your sleep.”
Xie Rin said it was fine. He wrapped himself tightly around her, his cool body temperature seeping into her through their shared skin.
He couldn’t help but ask, “Sweetie, are you going to fall in love with him?”
Fu Xia patted his back. “That… would be a little difficult, don’t you think?”
Xie Rin mumbled that that was good.
This little girl’s possessiveness is really something, Fu Xia thought.
“Aren’t you supposed to be seducing Pei Wang, sweetie?”
“Tomorrow… let’s practice.”
Xie Rin was well-behaved for the rest of the night. It was hot in the summer, and he was like a walking ice pack; they didn’t even need to turn on the air conditioner while sleeping together. Fu Xia slept surprisingly soundly and didn’t wake up until after eight.
She left the dorm and headed for the classroom, only to find ambulances and police cars on campus. She could also hear students discussing the incident that had happened last night.
Listening along the way, Fu Xia managed to piece together the whole story. An Art Division student had drowned. There were no wounds on the body, ruling out homicide, and the forensic report found a high level of alcohol in his blood.
“He probably drank too much, wasn’t watching where he was going, and fell into the lake.”
“Sigh, why can’t these students just focus on their studies instead of getting wasted?”
…So, it had been staged as an accidental drowning.
Fu Xia pulled out her phone, logged into the school app, and quickened her pace toward the classroom. The benefits of the school app were on full display now; she didn’t need to ask around. A quick glance at the forum gave her all the information she needed.
The students of Lorenz, with their connections and free time, had quickly dug up all the information on the Art Division student. He was an only son whose family ran an auction house. His parents had stormed the school that morning, angrily demanding an explanation.
However, Lorenz Academy reacted swiftly. They produced a mountain of evidence of the student’s past bullying, along with a long list of other improper behaviors—such as spreading rumors about other wealthy classmates, frequently sneaking off campus to stay out all night, and hosting chaotic parties.
When this evidence was thrown in the parents’ faces, they ultimately agreed to accept a compensation payment and leave, wanting to avoid the school leaking the information and damaging their company’s reputation.
Apparently, compared to their dead son, the company was more important.
Fu Xia breathed a sigh of relief.
She was late to class today. When she pushed the door open, she saw that the classroom was already full of students. And behind her own seat, two or three people were gathered around Pei Wang. They were holding brochures and club application forms, introducing the school’s various clubs to him.
The young man’s brow was furrowed with a faint impatience and weariness. He lifted his gaze and met Fu Xia’s eyes.
“Have her tell me,” Pei Wang tilted his chin.
All three of them turned to look at Fu Xia.
Fu Xia: “…”
His reaction was so normal. At this point, all she could do was pretend yesterday never happened and force herself to continue interacting with him.
Fu Xia walked to her seat, and two documents were thrust into her hands. The student in the lead gave her a meaningful look.
She spoke with her usual commanding tone. “When you’re done, bring it over—”
Halfway through, she felt the pressure of Pei Wang’s gaze and awkwardly changed her phrasing. “Never mind, I’ll come get it later.”
The group quickly returned to the front of the classroom.
Fu Xia turned to the side and sat down, spreading the application form on Pei Wang’s desk.
The arrogant young master seemed to be in a good mood. “What club are you in?”
Fu Xia buried her head in the brochure. “This one.”
Pei Wang spared it only a single glance and snorted. “…What role do you play in a place like that?”
An employee, Fu Xia thought.
She patiently asked, “Have you decided which club you want to join? Or should I just pick one for you?”
“The same one as you.”
Success without any effort!
Without looking up, Fu Xia quickly filled in the name of Chen Wang’s club for him and began to fill out the rest of the information. It was a little embarrassing, actually; they had named the club “The Secret Garden.”
“Write down my contact information,” Pei Wang said.
“Mhm,” Fu Xia replied.
Pei Wang narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t missed a single one of her micro-expressions. He could sense that last night, she had still been afraid of him. But when they met today, her state was subtly different.
…Did Xie Rin say something to her?
Pei Wang stared at the crown of her head. Without realizing it, the arrogant Vampire Prince reached out and hooked a stray strand of hair that had fallen beside her face. He didn’t gently tuck it behind her ear; instead, he hooked it with his index finger and, under her confused gaze, gave it a sharp tug.
“Hiss…!” Fu Xia winced.
…There, that’s more like it.
Fu Xia was furious but didn’t dare to show it, silently cursing him for being a psycho. She quickly finished the form, stood up, and handed it to the girl from before. The girl glanced at the form, and the look she gave Fu Xia was incredibly complex, but her overall attitude had improved dramatically.
“Thank you,” she actually said.
As Fu Xia returned to her seat, she thought sourly, Having a backer really is completely different. When would I ever receive thanks from these nobles otherwise?
Just as she sat down, the homeroom teacher walked in with his books. He scanned the classroom and made an announcement. “The new first-years are enrolling this afternoon. As is tradition, our class will send four volunteers.”
He called out the names of several scholarship students, including Fu Xia.
It was called “volunteering,” but it was really just manual labor. Although the school had shuttle buses and would pay the scholarship students a subsidy of two hundred yuan an hour, the new students were not easy to serve. The wealthy students always had a lot of luggage, and many of them already disliked scholarship students. A single bump or scrape while carrying a suitcase could easily lead to trouble.
The teacher started the lesson right after his announcement, not even bothering to ask for the scholarship students’ opinions. After all, a job that paid two hundred yuan an hour was rare. And if they wore masks, the young masters and misses wouldn’t recognize them anyway.
Getting yelled at is fine. I’ll just think of it as earning money.
With that, Fu Xia’s mood leveled out.
—But the afternoon was incredibly hot.
The weather was too good, not a cloud in the sky. The sun baked the earth, and as she walked, Fu Xia felt like she was being turned into human jerky.
She usually had a low presence, but today was strange. Even though she stood at the back of the crowd, some of the young masters and misses could pinpoint her location with uncanny accuracy. Fu Xia carried luggage several times, gave directions to numerous people, and had to answer questions about school activities. She was as busy as a worker bee in a hive. Someone even tried to pay her to give them a campus tour, which she politely declined.
She was busy for nearly two hours. Finally, on her way from the dorms back to the school gate…
…She got heatstroke.
The sun was making her dizzy. Fu Xia looked around and saw no one, so she decided to move to a shady spot to rest. She found a clean, hidden place, leaned against a tree, and took out her phone.
New posts were constantly popping up on the school’s forum, most of them discussing the new students. This was an annual tradition: discussing the new students’ identities, looks, and social connections. Lorenz Academy was its own little society, and before enrolling, almost all the students were told by their parents to get on good terms with certain classmates.
Fu Xia casually clicked on a few posts discussing looks. She frowned as she scrolled through them, then backed out and kept refreshing.
What a bunch of duds.
If Pei Wang and Xie Rin hadn’t transferred from the Night Division mid-year, their looks would have surely made them the center of discussion as well.
Fu Xia clicked on another post. This time, she didn’t immediately back out.
The first post was a profile picture. The new student was very tall, at least 1.9 meters, and stood out in a crowd. What’s more, he wore two round black earrings, which immediately drew the viewer’s attention. Even in a candid side-profile shot, his handsome features were obvious.
Someone in the comments said he was the most handsome of the new students so far.
Fu Xia silently agreed.
Her dizziness seemed to be getting better. She was about to get up and rejoin the group. Just as she put her phone away, she heard a voice.
“Um…”
Fu Xia looked up.
She was met with a wave of sunshine and youthful energy. A young man was dragging a suitcase. He had soft, curly blond hair, and when he smiled, you could see his pointed canine teeth, making him look like a big, fluffy dog. Fu Xia noticed his eyes were a brilliant gold color.
He bent down, his fluffy hair bouncing adorably, revealing the two neatly arranged earrings on his left ear. When their eyes were level, the young man gave her a dazzling smile.
“Hi, senior. Would you like some water?”