Chapter 41: Chapter 39: Don’t Worry, Senpai, Everything Will Be Fine
Going out with Fufu is a different kind of experience.
After she parked her little bike, she tiptoed and sniffed Chloe’s collar.
Chloe’s heart skipped a beat.
Previously, Master Nini often played around with his neck, so a floral scent might have lingered.
"Chloe."
Fufu’s sweet voice chimed in.
"Yes, I’m here."
He replied with an unchanged expression.
"Did something happen to you? I noticed you were a few minutes late."
She seemed worried, but quickly pouted playfully, "I almost thought you didn’t want to come and stood me up."
Fufu is the kind of girl who looks forward to a sweet romance.
The Lantern Festival was initially an event for young men and women.
Chloe knew that she had mustered the courage to invite him, naturally hoping to spend some time just with him.
But he was afraid it might be difficult to achieve that.
"So, does my collar smell like a sneaky cat?"
"It’s the smell of Little Marbles!"
"Hmm, I was on a task with the masters today, and afterward, they ate some Little Marbles."
His explanation was calm, and without lying, he even said with a smile:
"If you accompany me now, you can still see them devouring snacks on the food street."
"No way!"
Senior Sister Fufu lowered her head.
She wasn’t really afraid of sneaky cats.
Since their relationship wasn’t confirmed yet, she felt it wasn’t right to use such terms for others.
She just wanted to sniff his comforting scent.
But this thought embarrassed her, and it blurted out turned into:
"I was just a little curious. Let’s go, I’m really hungry, let’s eat something first."
Chloe was about to agree.
He saw Fufu’s eyes turn towards the octopus Little Marbles stall.
A sense of foreboding rose in his heart.
...
Sure enough.
Senior Sister bought Little Marbles.
After pondering for a moment, he led her to a more secluded bench to sit.
"Eat first, then we’ll go."
"Okay!"
There were two skewers in the box.
She slowly picked one up to eat.
Her tongue was sensitive to heat, making eating Little Marbles a bit tough.
Yet she craved it intensely, so she kept retracting her tongue without putting the marble down.
Chloe picked up a skewer, pierced a marble, and took a bite.
The scalding heat spread in his mouth.
It was truly hot.
Yes.
Chloe also had a cat’s tongue.
Wood element weak fire.
Totally normal.
"Slow down."
The girl said crisply.
He blew on it a few times, and after confirming the marble’s temperature had dropped, he offered it to her, saying:
"Want to try it? It’s not hot now."
"That’s something only couples can do," emphasized Senior Sister.
But she ate the marble in one bite.
Chloe’s lips curved up.
Although he didn’t know why Senior Sister Fufu didn’t ask him if he wanted to woo her.
But one thing was certain, what couples could do, she didn’t mind.
Even if Chloe hadn’t admitted to this relationship yet.
"Did my invitation today disturb you?"
She cautiously probed.
If she remembered correctly, Chloe seemed interested in dating someone around this time in her dreams.
But she wasn’t sure who it should be.
If she hadn’t spoken up first, perhaps that dreamy scenario wouldn’t have any further developments.
Seeing that Chloe didn’t reply immediately.
She wisely changed her approach:
"After all, the Lantern Festival is originally a holiday for young couples."
"No, I told everyone that I had a date today. It’s just that I discovered traces of the Evil God’s Followers today, so I was delayed a bit."
What does it mean to confuse cause and effect?
This is it.
He clearly rushed to wipe out the followers, yet now it seemed the followers interrupted his meeting with a girl.
As expected.
Knowing the specifics, Senior Sister quickly worriedly said:
"You weren’t hurt, were you?"
"I was hurt, my heart was hurt when you hesitated to feed me the Little Marble."
With already thin skin, Fufu could hardly withstand his words and gently stepped on him:
"Who wants to eat your saliva!"
But soon she said softly, "I’m so afraid you’ll get hurt."
"I got hurt," Chloe sighed, "so for the last Little Marble, Senior Sister, you should feed me."
This time Fufu didn’t hesitate, blowing cool the marble, her beautiful eyes mischievously held it in her mouth, handing it to him.
Chloe ate it in one bite.
She then said with difficulty:
"Rewarding you for coming to find me despite the trouble."
"Let’s go, let’s buy a lantern."
The Lantern Festival is actually more of a religious event.
Chloe had heard it was a festival originating from the era of the King of Redemption.
It’s said that during the divine marriage of the King of Redemption, he asked the Love God for 999 flames of Passion Fire.
Those were seeds of fire unique to the Divine Kingdom of the Love God.
The stronger the love between the couple, the more intense the flames would be.
So on the day of the divine marriage, the lanterns holding the 999 flames burst with towering firelight, illuminating the ancient hall.
Many witnessed that scene firsthand.
Subsequently, that day became the Lantern Festival of the Love God.
Couples in love, holding lanterns together during the festival, strolling through the common streets and alleys, was once the most enchanting expression of affection among young couples.
The Ethereal Emblem’s cultural festival is the busiest of all.
Even schools give students a holiday.
Just like Fat Daniel said, the civil affairs office, which takes holidays on festivals, has to work overtime on this day.
When playing "Simulated Hero," Chloe had seen such bustling scenes.
Rephya, too, spent several festivals with her group of friends.
Now stepping into the scene himself, it feels a bit different.
The two held hands, the girl holding a lantern, the boy holding a candy skewer, occasionally letting her take a bite.
Fufu had specially worn a little white dress today.
Shed of the sharpness of the Shadow Stab, the unique youthful innocence of a girl her age spread, her legs under the dress straight and slender, she seemed to have put on a bit of no-makeup look.
This was rare.
Different professions have different requirements due to their characteristics.
The first lesson for a Shadow Stab beginner is to forbid using products with strange scents.
The embarrassment of an assassin being exposed due to cosmetics is something the mentors couldn’t bear.
Over time, it became the norm for Shadow Stabs not to wear makeup.
Perhaps eating slowly, the candy skewer started to melt, sticking to his hand.
He licked it, cleaning off the syrup.
For some reason, Fufu found that action quite suggestive.
Oh no.
The junior is more enticing than her, what to do?
As they wandered through the night, even though the Lantern Festival remained lively, there were fewer people.
It was deep into the night.
While walking, suddenly Senior Sister said:
"Wouldn’t it be too late if we keep strolling?"
Chloe was all caught up in the fun, responding casually:
"Don’t worry, I’ll walk you back."
Anyway, Fufu could use Shadow Escape, and the curfew couldn’t stop her.
Fufu pondered for a moment, then grabbed his hand and said:
"Chloe, do you want to sleep outside tonight?"
Chloe was momentarily taken aback.
He hadn’t thought that far yet; after all, today, borrowing the mood, Fufu’s little mouth had already given him little nibbles.
Could they take things further? He hadn’t seriously considered it.
But with Senior Sister’s suggestion, that tiny wicked seed began to sprout.
Yet Chloe didn’t state it outright.
He just cheerfully said:
"What’s there to fear, I’ll walk you back, and if the housekeeper yells, I’ll take the blame for you."
"You actually want to get scolded."
Afterwards when they went to enjoy more activities, Fufu no longer restrained them.
But near midnight, she softly reminded:
"My parents keep a tight rein; they will definitely contact me on a festival like this."
"Don’t worry, it will be fine."
After all, any mishap would only be a problem later.
Fufu’s eyes sparkled.
It’s unclear what she was thinking.
But her cheeky look seemed to suggest she wanted to cause some trouble too.
But they failed to notice that atop the city loft, a woman quietly observed them.
With a voluptuous figure that instantly made people think of a bed, a face so exquisite it didn’t seem human, carrying an inhuman allure.
Her lips curled into a cruel and insane smile.
"Found you, darling."
Illusory and twisted tree roots spread in the void, resembling dancing tendrils.