Elf: Is the bear apprentice the weakest? I'll shatter the sky with my fists.

She slammed her phone down on the table, the impact nearly splashing curry sauce onto Li Chen's sleeve.

"These photos are angled wrong...wait, how did that one from yesterday get leaked?!"

Li Chen stroked his chin and frowned.

Then...

Wen Yulan silently picked up the campus forum page, where the pinned post was titled "Shocking! Our school's honorary alumnus is suspected of having a harem," posted by ID: Secretary An, who loves gossip the most.

Li Chen: ......

An Yu, you son of a bitch!

"Well...you know, I'm the kind of person..."

Li Chen's temples throbbed, and the suspended laurel wreath cracked open with a "crack".

He stared at that familiar ID, his back teeth grinding together.

An Yu definitely caused trouble on purpose after interrogating those thugs!

"Know what?"

Xin Yong squinted her eyes.

"Haha."

Li Chen chuckled dryly as he touched the Poké Ball, pondering the possibility of getting Latias to hack the school network.

The laurel wreath fragments fell into the curry, much like the shattered state of the vessel at that moment.

These kinds of things are two different things: you tell them yourself and you get caught...

dong dong dong...

Xin Yong's fingertips tapped out a dangerous rhythm on the table. Just then, a noisy bird flew in from outside the window, landed on Li Chen's shoulder, and loudly mimicked him, "She si! She si!"

Wen Yulan was trembling from trying not to laugh when a new post by An Yuxin popped up on her phone screen: "A Legal Analysis of a Certain Heavenly King's Suspected Bigamy."

quiet......

An eerie silence suddenly fell over the classroom; even the noisy birds perched on the window frames.

Xin Yong slowly put down her chopsticks, a cold glint flashing in her eyes: "Li Chen."

"Then let me ask you—"

Her voice suddenly rose: "Of these girls! Which one do you like the most!"

Li Chen, however, seemed oblivious, slowly swiping through his phone's photo album.

A close-up of Eileen's sleeping face instantly filled the screen, the morning light giving her blonde hair a honey-like glow, and her elf ears pressed into an adorable curve on the pillow.

"To be honest, the one that best fits our aesthetic..."

His fingertips lingered on the upturned ahoge (cowlick) on the screen, his voice so gentle it could melt water, "Blonde hair, blue eyes, elf ears, and little fangs that bite when angry..."

As he spoke, Li Chen suddenly looked up at Xin Yong and said, "You know, she's practically modeled after my XP."

*Smack*...

Xin Yong's chopsticks broke in her palm, and curry sauce dripped down the edge of the table onto Li Chen's pants.

The classroom suddenly became eerily quiet; even the noisy birds wisely shut up.

Li Chen seemed oblivious and picked out his favorite photo.

The elf's ears glowed pink under the light as she nestled in his arms and fell into a deep sleep.

"Look at the curve of this ear tip, doesn't it make you want to take a bite?"

Upon closer inspection, you can even see the bite marks on Eileen's earlobe.

Wen Yulan suddenly held up the cake box in front of Xin Yong: "Calm down! This is a classroom!"

Unfortunately, it was too late. Xin Yong's textbook had already flown towards someone's smug smiling face with a whooshing sound.

Without looking up, Li Chen raised his hand and caught the textbook that was flying towards him.

The gold-embossed title of "Theory of Pokémon Battles" on the cover left a red mark on his palm.

"You're living a very comfortable life..."

Xin Yong's fists clenched white under the table.

Chapter 536 Am I... really that bad?

"You two have been married for many years, why don't you have some cake first...?"

Wen Yulan pushed the cake box between the two of them as a barrier, and the strawberries on the cream formed a perfect boundary between them.

"Li Chen...you...huff...I need some peace and quiet."

Xin Yong's chest heaved violently, and her eyes were slightly red.

She opened her mouth, but only managed to utter a few broken breaths, her fingers unconsciously clutching the hem of her uniform.

Li Chen suddenly stopped joking, and the floating laurel wreath snapped back to its original state.

He reached out to brush aside the stray hairs falling across Xin Yong's forehead, but his hand was slapped away mid-air.

"you..."

Xin Yong abruptly turned her face away, and a sycamore leaf that had appeared outside the window fell right into her trembling palm.

"You...bastard..."

The last two words almost blended into the lingering echo of the lunch break bell, startling Bobo, who was peeking out from the windowsill.

Wen Yulan suddenly shoved the whole box of cake into Li Chen's arms and mouthed, "Quickly, coax him!"

The strawberries on the cream had been shaped into hearts at some point, and were pitifully dripping juice.

Li Chen winked at Wen Yulan, who responded with a raised eyebrow that seemed to say, "You owe me a favor."

"Hey."

He carefully scooped up the most intact piece of strawberry cake and gently placed the spoon against Xin Yong's tightly pursed lips.

Strawberry jam on the cake slid down the rim of the spoon, splashing a few tiny red splatters on her uniform collar. "Your favorite strawberry..."

A floating laurel wreath drifted between the two of them without them noticing, and starlight fell like icing sugar.

Xin Yong stared at the slightly trembling spoon of cake, then suddenly opened her mouth and bit down hard on the spoon, the metal colliding with her pearly teeth making a crisp sound.

Seeing that Xin Yong was willing to eat the strawberry, Li Chen's shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly.

But before he could even manage a smile, he met two sharp, piercing gazes...

Xin Yong stared wide-eyed like a cat with its fur standing on end, even the tips of her ears turning a faint red.

Her canine teeth, held in the silver spoon, gleamed coldly, as if she might pounce and bite someone at any moment.

The suspended laurel wreath wisely stepped back, and starlight formed a string of small, beckoning stars at the tips of her hair.

"Cough cough~"

Wen Yulan suddenly cleared her throat and pushed the remaining cake half an inch between the two of them.

The strawberry jam on the cream happened to form a smiley face, but unfortunately, no one was in the mood to appreciate it at the moment.

"Let's talk outside."

Xin Yong suddenly stood up, her uniform skirt sweeping away a few starlight particles.

The force with which she gripped Li Chen's clothes was astonishing, the fabric crumpling into a messy cloud pattern at her fingertips.

Wen Yulan hesitated, then raised half a cake, only to see the flickering light and shadows through the back door of the classroom...

The familiar tree-lined path, the bushes swaying in the wind.

Xin Yong suddenly turned around.

She had her hands behind her back, her fingertips twisted until they turned white, and the tips of her shoes ground up the fallen petals on the ground.

"You've really changed so much in the past six months..."

A petal landed on Li Chen's shoulder. Xin Yong reached out to brush it away, but stopped in mid-air: "You are someone I can no longer reach."

Another wisp of rain fell into the gap between the two, like a gradually widening Milky Way.

Xin Yong's fingertips hovered three inches above Li Chen's shoulder. The petal was blown by the wind and swirled before finally landing on the tip of her own shoe.

"People who were sharing oden with me at roadside stalls just six months ago..."

She suddenly chuckled softly, her school uniform bow tie swaying gently in the wind. "Now I'm a star to look up to."

Xin Yong suddenly looked up, and another petal landed right on her trembling eyelashes.

"Are those girls... really that good? Will they make you coffee until the early hours of the morning... or will they accompany you to fight in gyms, whether it's going to heaven or hell?"

Xin Yong lowered her eyes and gently traced the old carvings on the tree trunk with her fingertips.

Three years ago, that was a mark they left together when they first entered Shuidu High School.

She understands, yes, of course she understands.

Understanding that legendary divine messengers are always surrounded by stars, and understanding that the world of Elite Four level trainers is no longer what it used to be...

But understanding is not the same as acceptance.

Just as she understands that cherry blossoms will eventually wither, she still stubbornly stands under the tree every spring to wait.

Li Chen's hand stopped in Xin Yong's hair.

The girl lowered her head and leaned against Li Chen's chest.

Am I... really that bad?

She looked up, tears still clinging to her eyelashes. "Why can anyone... why can anyone just get close to you without a second thought..."

A petal drifted into her trembling lips, only to be dispersed by her breath.

The distant roar of battle from the training grounds could be faintly heard, making the question seem even more fragmented.

"I'm sorry, I was too greedy..."

Li Chen's voice was so low it was almost inaudible, yet a warm tremor emanated from his palm...

"It's okay... I understand..."

Xin Yong's fist suddenly slammed into Li Chen's chest, but the force was as light as a whining cat.

She wiped her face haphazardly and forced a nasal laugh.

"Me..."

Xin Yong suddenly grabbed Li Chen's tie, forcing him to lower his head. Her breath, scented with cherry blossoms, was right next to his: "If you're going to do something, be the Empress."

Sunlight pierced through her tear-streaked face, gilding the declaration with a golden edge.

Li Chen's fingertips brushed against the illusory crown-like light and shadow in her hair, and the starlight flowed into golden threads the moment they touched.

As he lowered his head, fragments of the suspended laurel wreath fluttered down onto the intertwined shadows of the two men.

"it is good."

In the distance, the Phoenix King's tail feathers swept across the clouds.

A perfectly placed beam of rainbow light casts a rainbow glaze over Xin Yong's moist eyelashes.

......

......

The matter was over, and I returned home.

Li Chen collapsed onto the living room carpet with a thud, his floating laurel wreath scattering like stardust.

Latias fanned him with his wings, but instead blew the snack bags on the coffee table all over the room.

"The Empress and such..."

He muttered a soft complaint, raising his hand to shield his eyes, his sleeve still stained with Xin Yong's tears and the scent of flowers.

The chandelier on the ceiling suddenly appeared as three overlapping images, and I realized that I hadn't eaten lunch yet.