"Miss Charlotte, may we inquire when you and Ayrin came to know each other?"
"Miss Charlotte, you must know how Ayrin’s recuperating now? Will he return to team Holy Dawn in time for their match against Rapier Academy?"
"Miss Charlotte, may I inquire what you think of cradle-snatching?"
In the same afternoon basking in warm sunlight, Charlotte, Ivan, Wilde, and the others were sitting in an ordinary tea shop drinking tea and chatting when a group suddenly spilled inside, surrounding Charlotte and asking all sorts of questions.
"What cradle-snatching!"
Charlotte immediately lowered her head, shy and bashful. "I have no idea what you’re talking about!"
"Miss Charlotte, is that a tacit approval, or does it mean you don’t want to answer upfront?"
"Miss Charlotte, we heard that during the night of the Evil Dragon disciples’ turmoil, the reason why you happened to discover their scheme was that you were in the middle of a date with Ayrin inside the athlete village. Is that true?"
"Breith Magazine said you’re the reason why Ayrin and Rinsyi are like oil and water, is that true?"
Charlotte was so angry and embarrassed she had been on the verge of asking Ivan and the others to chase those blatantly rumor-mongering tabloids away, but her eyes suddenly widened when she heard their final question. "What was it, Ayrin and Rinsyi because of me?"
Ivan and Wilde and the others looked at each other. "Charlotte and Ayrin, what does it have to do with Rinsyi now?"
"What, you don’t know? It seems you haven’t seen today’s issue of Breith Magazine." A group of tabloid reporters threw the newest issue of Breith Magazine in front of Charlotte and the others.
"What the hell is this Breith Magazine spouting now!"
After glancing quickly through the magazine, Charlotte almost threw away the facade of a lady to blow off her top.
"The rivalry between Holy Dawn’s wonder genius and Golden Stag’s death god: is the reason fanning the flames of war mere sentimental rivalry?"
This sentence was printed on the magazine’s cover, together with Charlotte’s portrait.
Following that, the content inside made a show of saying that the reason Rinsyi especially went to St. Lauren before the nationals was that he held Charlotte in high regards. But Ayrin hit it off with Charlotte by taking advantage of proximity. That was the reason why Rinsyi and Ayrin became mortal enemies, standing at daggers drawn since they hadn’t been drawn in the same group, both of them eager for a decisive duel.
"This Breith Magazine is amazing at idle gossip." Clearly aware how Ayrin came to butt heads with Rinsyi, Wilde and the others couldn’t help but crack up. "That said, no wonder it’s the king of magazines when it comes to the nationals. Its reputation of so many years isn’t undeserved, it’s really good at latching onto hot topics. Right now, the ones most in the limelight are precisely Ayrin and the boss and the others."
"Listening to you guys, Breith Magazine made up all of it?" The tabloids people looked expectant. "It doesn’t matter anyway. Can you provide some sensational enough information? It’s fine if you randomly make it up."
"Is that so?" Wilde and the other looked at each other, suddenly energized. "Breith Magazine isn’t entirely talking nonsense. In fact, the truth of the matter is that Rinsyi likes Agate Lake Academy’s ‘Bucket Sister,’ but Bucket Sister became Ayrin’s fan, that’s why Rinsyi fell out with Ayrin."
"Who’s Bucket Sister?" Tabloid eyes suddenly shone bright.
Wilde and the others laughed out loud. "The most heavyset girl in Agate Lake Academy, her height is the same as her waist measurement."
"That sounds too fake," the tabloid guys said with wry faces.
"Is Divine Shield Academy’s Charlotte here?"
Just then, an Eichemalar courier suddenly came into their view. This courier recognized Charlotte the moment he saw her and ran to her with a wide smile. "Charlotte, Ayrin sent you a letter."
"What? Are you really at this stage already? Your relationship is already so romantic you have to send love letters via mail?" Seeing the courier give her the letter, Wilde and the others almost had eyeballs about to pop out.
"He actually wrote me a letter?"
Charlotte subconsciously snatched this letter, but seeing the meaningful eyes of those around her, she suddenly blushed bright red. "It’s not what you think!"
"If it’s not what we think, then what is it?" Ivan didn’t pull any punches, his soft voice contemptuous. "Why are you afraid of admitting it. If someone had fought for me like he did, I’d devote myself heart and soul with no hesitation. Plus, it’s not like you don’t like him either. Looking at you, it seems you haven’t even held hands, to say nothing of kissing. Really useless. I’m telling you, don’t let another girl snatch him away before it’s too late."
"What do you know!" Angry and embarrassed at the same time, Charlotte couldn’t help but blurt, "I already kissed him back when we were under there, not only once at that!"
"Oh?"
Everyone suddenly fell quiet when those words left Charlotte’s mouth. Their mouths shaped into a "O."
"I…" This time, Charlotte felt she couldn’t wash herself clean anymore even if she were to go back to the water tower.
…
"Sophia, letter for you."
"From who?"
"It’s from Ayrin."
"What?"
Almost every member of team Agate Lake had been training intensely, because their next match was already against a freakish team like team Golden Stag. But everyone in team Agate Lake immediately ran outside and surrounded Sophia as soon as they heard.
"Ayrin can write letters now, it looks like he’s recovering well."
"Ayrin actually wrote a letter just for you, captain Sophia. Who would have thought? I haven’t seen you and Ayrin that close either… When did you poach him from Charlotte?" the Agate Lake girls said, looking at her with praise.
"What are you girls spouting now!"
"Then open that letter and show it to us. We’ll believe you then."
"That…" Sophia’s cheeks were a little hot for no discernible reason. Though she was convinced there was nothing between Ayrin and her, she didn’t know what Ayrin would write on the letter.
"Just in case Ayrin really…"
Adolescent girls were given to flights of fancy. Before she could come back to earth, a girl already snatched away the letter from her hand while she was distracted.
"Haha, well done. Hurry up and open it, let’s read it together."
With a sudden fit of proud, wild laughter, the girls restrained Sophia.
"This…" That girl swiftly tore open the letter, but after sweeping through it, she was a little stunned.
"It couldn’t be. Ayrin wouldn’t directly express his feelings inside and ask the captain to be his girlfriend, would he?" the girls suddenly shrieked in disbelief.
"It’s not that."
The girl who’d torn open the letter shook her head. "He explained the details about two arcane skills inside."
"Describe two arcane skills? What does that mean?" The girls released Sophia and rushed to see.
"It’s the skills from those two substitutes on Golden Stag Academy… How does he know?" they exclaimed in soft disbelief.
…
"Breith Magazine, Ayrin sent you a letter."
Almost at the same time, a messenger had also hurried his way to Breith Trading Company’s doorway.
"Ayrin wrote us a letter?"
A manager inside suddenly blinked in surprise.
"He wouldn’t have written a letter just to criticize us, would he?" he couldn’t help but think while opening the letter.
"Good news!
"Another explosive scoop!
"Hurry up! Tomorrow morning, I want this on the front page!" this manager immediately shouted in glee as soon as he read it.
…
"An incoming letter from the Office’s infirmary’s sickroom. Ayrin’s and Rinsyi’s indirect dialogue!"
"The showdown between the love rivals escalates once more."
"Ayrin reminds Rinsyi of their agreement!"
"In the match against Agate Lake Academy, does Golden Stag still dare to continue with an all-substitute lineup?"
Early morning the next day, when many people bought the newest issue of Breith Magazine as they were used to, they immediately saw such an eye-grabbing headline.
Inside the lounge in team Golden Stag’s lodgings, while pasting a fresh, tender petal facial mask on her face, that flirty girl with hairs and fingernails all painted black looked at the issue of Breith Magazine on the table. She asked Rinsyi sitting not far away, "Rinsyi, first they say you’re secretly in love with Charlotte, now Ayrin especially wrote a letter to Breith Magazine and is asking you if you dare fight against Agate Lake Academy with an all-substitute lineup just like in the previous round. How do you feel right now?"
"Our House Baratheon only ever uses the most direct way to handle provocation. We’ll directly flatten him dead," Rinsyi said. "I’m going to give him a good lesson first."
"But he can run away from Lotton, he might be even more powerful than I thought," the flirty girl said with a soft giggle. "Aren’t you worried?"
"Lotton isn’t the only one who can kill."
Rinsyi gave the flirty girl a cold stare, silently saying those words to himself with a grim smile.
…
"Charlotte, I really miss you guys very much. I’m bored senseless here… I can’t go out of the sickroom, and they won’t even let me do any training. There’s a very perverted medical master here called Songat, he likes to stare at female medical masters every day like a lecher. He tries every day to have dinner with these women, go stargazing and whatever.
"That said, I hear he’s pretty amazing, he’s the number one medical master in the Office of Special Affairs. I hear it’s because he couldn’t stop himself from chasing skirt before like a pervert. He kept ending up beaten black and blue, so he often had to heal himself. That’s why his healing skills became so great afterward.
"He also told me I needed a couple weeks before I could be discharged. I haven’t seen Ferguillo yet, but I heard he’s recovering better than me, so he should be able to leave before I do. Right now I can’t even condense particles, it’s too boring, so you have to write back to me.
"There’s another good news, I already passed through the critical stage of the second arcane gate. I’m a two-gate arcane master now. Also… you kissing me that day, was it really not a dream? If it’s not a dream, then can you kiss me again before the next match?… Also, Charlotte, you’re really very pretty."
Hiding alone in her room, reading Ayrin’s letter, Charlotte felt as though her heart was about to leap out of her throat when she saw Ayrin’s last two sentences.
"Bastard, idiot, moron!" she softly swore, while she started looking for blank paper with bright red cheeks.