Temptation

That night, at six in the evening, Collins knocked on Victoria’s door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Collins.”

From inside came a sound like a world war, a series of crackles and bangs that went on without end.

Collins frowned and waited, wondering how on earth a girl could make such strange noises.

Even in his own lab, casting dozens of spells might not make such a racket.

Soon, Victoria stopped on the other side of the door.

The young lady hesitated a few times, but in the end, she couldn’t resist sliding open the cover on the peephole.

Through the peephole, she saw Collins standing outside the door in casual clothes, his face very serious.

For a moment, Victoria wanted to open the door and go out.

But when she thought about what had happened that afternoon, she instinctively shrank back.

Victoria didn’t even open the door and instead said through it to Collins outside, “It’s… it’s already late. I’m going to sleep.”

That was already a tactful way of refusing.

Collins glanced at the sunset outside the hallway.

The sun still hung high in the western sky, staining the horizon a deep crimson.

After hesitating for a moment, Collins reminded her:

“It’s only five o’clock.”

Victoria froze, then replied in a tone of embarrassed anger:

“You… you boys don’t understand. Staying up late is very damaging to the skin. Lack of sleep makes the skin dull, causes dark spots, hormonal imbalances, and the worst thing is—you get little red pimples.”

“Do you know how terrifying that is for a girl?”

Collins curled his lips.

“Senior, you’re not deliberately avoiding me, are you?”

Victoria let out a short laugh.

“What are you talking about? How could I possibly avoid you? I… I just want to sleep, yes, that’s right. I’m very sleepy right now, so don’t bother me, okay?”

“But… if I’m not mistaken, Senior, you haven’t had dinner yet, right? Going to bed without eating dinner—is that really okay?”

Victoria froze and put her hand on her stomach.

A strange feeling spread through her whole body.

Indeed, she hadn’t eaten since noon.

Until now, she’d been too busy with all kinds of things, and the feeling of hunger had been suppressed.

But after Collins reminded her, Victoria suddenly realized she actually was a little hungry.

“I… I’ve been dieting lately.”

“Eh? With a figure like yours, you still need to diet?”

Victoria swore that the happy smile appearing on her face was absolutely not because of Collins’ unintentional compliment.

Collins took a breath and said slowly:

“Well, I’ve heard some people skip dinner for health reasons, but actually the most recommended health practice nowadays is to eat less at night, not to skip it completely. If you don’t eat dinner, it can really harm your stomach. If you get a gastric ulcer in the future, you’ll realize it’s not worth it.”

Inside the room, Victoria shook her head.

She was a wealthy young lady, used to a very regular diet, and had never gone without dinner before.

In her entire life, she had never truly experienced hunger.

If Collins hadn’t reminded her, she might have been fine, but now that he had, Victoria clearly felt her stomach start to churn.

Victoria secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Collins knocked on the door again.

“Senior, I haven’t had dinner either. How about I accompany you? Since it’s your first time at my school, you must not be familiar with the layout. Honestly, it’s something to be proud of—our school is huge. Most people get lost the first time they come. After we eat, I can show you around and explain our landmark buildings and intersections.”

“Um… I… I… better not. I… I have a map. And… and I have snacks…”

Leaning against the door, Victoria held her stomach, her face full of conflicted distress.

Even that won’t make her give in?

She’s dead set on not seeing me, huh.

If she doesn’t come out, then in the future, if we have to do experiments together, things might get very awkward.

She might even become an unstable factor.

Collins rubbed his chin, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke.

“Our school has ice cream.”

Victoria, sitting inside, trembled.

“Mhm, besides ice cream, there’s also chocolate chips, hand-brewed coffee, sweet fruit drinks, and a special fruit platter.”

Collins took out his phone, opened his school cafeteria’s website, and tapped on the desserts section.

“Oh, there are also three new popular desserts: Snow Doll, Black Forest Fresh Fruit Cake, and Sweet Veggie Mini Cups.”

Collins opened the Snow Doll page.