Heartache

“This flyer is here just by coincidence, senior, don’t misunderstand.”

Facing Victoria’s silence, Collins became even more confused, and he could only tentatively ask her.

It was this question that pulled Victoria back from her memories to reality.

“I, I, actually, I…”

Collins gave a bitter smile. He stood up, took a deep breath, and said: “If senior is interested in this bonfire party, then I…”

According to Collins’ thinking, if Victoria didn’t hate the bonfire party, then the only other possibility was that she liked it. If she liked it, then it meant she wanted to participate.

If she wanted to go, Collins thought recommending a handsome senior to accompany her would be very easy. As for himself, staying in the lab would still be the better option.

However, Victoria, still lost in her memories, didn’t see it that way. She made an inexplicable sound from her throat and then stared straight at Collins, her eyes full of complicated and hard-to-read emotions.

“No, no, no… no, no, no.”

Biting her lip, her breathing gradually slowed as Victoria struggled with conflicting emotions inside. When those feelings grew stronger and stronger, Victoria squatted down on the floor.

Curious, Collins walked over. Perhaps because their distance was too close, Victoria took several steps back and, without giving Collins time to react, bolted straight out the door.

Collins stared blankly as Victoria ran out.

“What on earth… Are girls’ thoughts really this hard to understand?”

Returning to his desk, Collins shook his head and began analyzing the experimental data piled on the table again. He couldn’t help but sigh—compared to the incomprehensible thoughts of girls, magical experiment data was definitely much easier to analyze.

==========

With light steps, feeling her fluttering skirt swaying above her thighs, her hair had grown longer thanks to magic, golden locks falling down to cover half her face. Carefully styled lashes and brows made her eyes seem bigger, and with her already excellent skin, just a layer of watery foundation made her complexion look dewy and radiant—so tender it seemed water would drip from it.

Combined with her gothic lolita outfit, her delicate features, and the mix of dark danger with sweet innocence, a forbidden temptation radiated from her. This outfit undoubtedly showcased all her charm, and along the way, her rate of turning heads was practically one hundred percent.

Pushing open the door to Collins’ lab, Collins lifted his head, his eyes wandering hesitantly over the gothic lolita standing there.

“Uh… senior, did you take the wrong turn?”

Sphinx tilted his head up.

“You’re the senior! Your whole family are seniors!”

Collins put down the pen in his hand and looked Sphinx up and down.

“Sphinx… senior?”

Sphinx patted his chest proudly and said: “The one and only, no imitations.”

Collins walked out and circled around Sphinx.

“Eh? No way, your bone structure…”

“I’m not human, so why would you assume I’d have a human body structure? I’ll tell you this—fairies’ anatomy is subtly different from humans. Just by looking at the skeleton, you can’t tell anything, so don’t try judging gender by bone structure. It’s useless.”

Collins made a fist-to-palm gesture and let out an enlightened sigh of admiration.

“I couldn’t even tell when you were in male clothes before… Never thought you’d look this stunning in female attire.”

Collins could swear that Sphinx’s current appearance could even rival that of his wicked little sister, Moyue. In ordinary perception, this was second-tier top beauty level, and with the gothic lolita boost, even first-tier beauties couldn’t compare.

“Hmph, of course! Among us fairies, whether male or female, our beauty is beyond anything humans can reach. So, with someone as cute as me going with you to the bonfire party, you’re not going to refuse anymore, right?”

“Eh?”

Collins’ smile froze.

Sphinx stepped forward proudly, chest puffed out.

“I’m saying—someone as cute as me will go with you to the bonfire party, let you show off in front of those loser single dogs, and even help you find a girlfriend. How about it?”

Collins pointed at himself, then at Sphinx, and shook his head firmly.

Sphinx grew anxious.

“Why? Am I not cute enough?”

Collins answered coldly.

“This isn’t about being cute or not. Just thinking about the fact that the woman standing next to me actually has a stick underneath makes me feel sick.”

“Then just don’t think about it.”

“Is that the kind of thing you can just ‘not think about’? Fine, even if I somehow don’t think about it, what if someone else finds out you’ve got a stick down there, and that I was the one who brought you to the bonfire party? The next day, I’ll be branded as gay for life! Do you know what that means? That label will ruin my entire future!”

Sphinx put a finger to his lips.

“You don’t have to worry about that—it won’t be discovered.”