Firefly Journey

"Did you come alone?" Lin Yuanran asked, as he didn't see Fengling with any waiters.

"I've told you before, I like quiet."

The girl was expressionless, her tone was cold, and her blue eyes flashed with a "keep away" attitude.

"Thank you," Lin Yuanran said sincerely. If Feng Ling hadn't suddenly appeared, he would have had to squat outside and wait for Hillary to come out to find out what was going on.

“I need someone to help me lift my skirt,” the girl continued.

Lin Yuanran looked around and then noticed that Fengling was wearing an extremely wide black dress today, with the hem trailing on the ground, yet it was spotless.

"It's probably made of special materials," Lin Yuanran thought.

After the waiter confirmed their identities, he did not dare to delay and pointed out the way for the two.

After walking a few steps and getting a little further away from the waiter, the two spoke almost simultaneously.

"Why are you here?"

The first to answer was Wind Chime: "It's a gathering of aristocratic young masters and ladies organized by the class monitor, I can't refuse."

Class monitor? Upon hearing this, Lin Yuanran asked, "You were the class monitor at school?"

“Yes,” Wind Chime explained, “Sabrina Broan, our class monitor, I always have to give her some face.”

During his stay in Ibiza, Lin Yuanran brushed up on his knowledge, learning about the seven major political forces in the duchy, one of which was the Broan family.

The fact that she was called class monitor by Fengling means that she is Cassius's student, and by extension, Lin Yuanran's class monitor, and his future class monitor.

It feels like the Dragon King Temple was washed away by a flood?

"It wouldn't be appropriate for me to meet her beforehand, especially since I haven't even gone to St. Louis yet..."

Fengling rolled her eyes at him: "Okay, then your role today is my servant, is that alright?"

Besides, what are you trying to do, lurking around the door like that?

Lin Yuanran recounted in detail how he stockpiled rabbit fur in Casvia and joined the Japanese guild.

After listening, Fengling was silent for about a second: "Actually, you can ask me for a loan. For Cassius's sake, you don't have to pay interest."

Lin Yuanran shook his head: "This is my own business."

He had considered asking Fengling for help, but he dismissed the idea as soon as it crossed his mind.

Firstly, the relationship between the two parties is not that good, so it would be inconvenient and troublesome.

Secondly, Lin Yuanran wanted to test his abilities. If he couldn't even pay his own tuition, then even if he got into St. Louis with the help of others, he would become dependent and develop a comfort zone. How could he find a way back home then?

"up to you."

As the two were talking, they unknowingly walked into the castle. By then, it was completely dark, and the castle walls were adorned with beautiful lamps, all powered by magic, illuminating the interior as bright as day.

The Xu family is one of the seven major powers that control the duchy. As the eldest daughter of the Xu family, she is naturally known to everyone. Whether they have a relationship with her or not, they all want to come up and say hello.

Feng Ling responded politely to each of them, her impatience written all over her face, but the group of people didn't care at all, as if they had achieved their goal by simply talking to her.

“I thought you weren’t coming,” said a blond man with golden eyes at the front of the banquet, swirling the wine glass in his hand.

What a flamboyant person, definitely a nobleman… Lin Yuanran wondered to himself, who could he be? His greeting to the wind chimes was so natural and casual, showing no sign of inferiority. Could it be…

“If you were the one who started this banquet, of course I wouldn’t be here.” Feng Ling’s expression remained unchanged, but her blue eyes held a hint of disgust and weariness, which only Lin Yuanran noticed.

"Unfortunately, the one who initiated this is my class monitor, so I can't refuse to give her face."

The blond man didn't seem embarrassed at all. Instead, he smiled calmly and said to the hostess in the white tuxedo, "It seems that in her heart, I'm not as important as you."

Sabrina Broan smiled gently, walked over and took Fengling's arm: "Isn't that obvious?"

Upon seeing Lin Yuanran, he couldn't help but ask, "Who is he?"

Fengling has always been a loner, and even her fiancé doesn't seem to care much about her. So it's a bit puzzling that she brought a boy who doesn't look like a servant to this banquet.

Similarly, Morgan Demos, the nominal fiancé of the Xu family's daughter, didn't look too good as he awaited Fengling's reply.

“Ario Morris.” After Fengling succinctly uttered Lin Yuanran’s name, Sabrina immediately felt relieved. The teacher’s new student in Torreg, her junior brother.

"Good evening, junior." Sabrina smiled kindly at Lin Yuanran.

"Hello..." Lin Yuanran was confused.

Immediately, Sabrina introduced herself, and Lin Yuanran suddenly realized that she would be his classmate in the future. Well, that's fine then.

Morgan listened attentively throughout, and after getting a general understanding of the situation, his discomfort subsided considerably.

Fengling never gets close to men, including herself, but the students in Class 29 are an exception. Only in front of them does she act like a girl her age.

Morgan couldn't understand why, despite being childhood sweethearts and not being estranged from each other, Fengling seemed like a completely different person after they grew up, showing no affection whatsoever.

This greatly annoyed Morgan, who had liked the little girl for a long time. He wondered what went wrong that made Wind Chime so resistant to him.

Even after hearing about the wedding, she tried every possible way to postpone it, refusing to actually hold the ceremony.

“Her classmate is my classmate. If you need anything in Ibiza, I think I can help,” Morgan said.

Before Lin Yuanran could refuse, Feng Ling said coldly, "What the Dimos family gives, my Xu family can also give. Why do you think he's going to skip me?"

“Wind Chime, have I done something wrong lately to upset you? After all, we are engaged. If you have personality issues now, it will be a big problem in the future,” Morgan reminded her.

"Oh?" Feng Ling's eyes grew even colder. Lin Yuanran had never seen her like this before. Sabrina was used to it, as similar situations had occurred many times throughout her life, and she was used to it. Especially as she grew up, Feng Ling developed a strong aversion to this childhood playmate, presumably because she disliked the arranged marriage.

"Wasn't I clear enough? I will decide for myself what kind of person I want to marry in the future."

Morgan shrugged and said helplessly, "Grand Duke Xu won't allow you to be willful."

“My grandfather really can’t interfere in my affairs.”

Lin Yuanran had always felt that Fengling was not a cold person. A while ago in Torreg, she was chatting and laughing with him and her classmates. It was hard to imagine that she had any grudge against her fiancé that would cause her to be so rude.

"Um..." Lin Yuanran said awkwardly, her voice weak, "Can I interrupt you for a moment?"

"Please go ahead." Morgan's frown turned into a willingness to serve in less than half a second.

The wind chimes remained silent.

"I appreciate your kindness, but I want to try to solve many things on my own first. If I really can't, I will ask you for help."

That's just polite talk. Even if I were to ask someone, I'd ask Cassius first. If it's a small favor, like when I couldn't get in at the door, I'd ask Fengling. At least we have some friendship from being classmates. As for Morgan, whom I just met, we're really not close enough for me to ask him for a favor.

To put it bluntly, even the class monitor, Sabrina, is closer to him in terms of relationship.

Fengling seemed to want to stop arguing and said something to Sabrina. Then, the tall class monitor called Lin Yuanran, and they went in another direction together.

Bitterness returned to Morgan's face, and he fell silent. If only his mentor had chosen Cassius back then, at least they could have taken classes together, and their relationship wouldn't have deteriorated to this point.

He completely ignored the question of whether Cassius was willing to teach.

……

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P.S.: Thanks to user and author cwg9q5 for their generous contribution.