Chapter 213: The Boss Seems a Bit Off

“Boss… Boss—”

A soft call brushed past his ear.

“Huh… Huh? What…”

In his daze, Wendy seemed to hear someone calling him.

He slowly opened his slightly hazy peach-blossom eyes.

The scene before him gradually focused from blurry double images into a clear classroom.

From last night until the last ten minutes before class this morning, the Prince had been tormented by two “witches.”

Especially after putting on the “Embrace of the Sea Witch,” his reason and dignity, along with his stamina, were completely crushed, drained, and then reshaped into the shape the witches liked.

So, as soon as Instructor Tracey stepped into the classroom, he directly flopped onto the table, trying to use sleep to repair his nearly collapsed nerves and his sore, limp body that felt no longer his own.

Wendy finally came to his senses.

What came into view was a beautiful face full of exotic charm and concern.

“Boss Wendy, are… are you okay?”

“Athena…”

Wendy responded weakly, trying to prop up his upper body, but a sharp soreness in his waist made him gasp and freeze mid-motion.

“What could be wrong with me?”

The Prince put on a brave front, but his voice carried a weak, breathy tone.

Hearing this, Athena frowned slightly, then leaned down and lowered her voice, guessing cautiously.

“Boss, your… your complexion is awful, your lips are white, like you haven’t eaten for three days.”

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but glance at Wendy’s neck.

“And… this smell on you…”

“Smell?”

Wendy’s heart skipped a beat.

Last night’s absurd “partition” ceremony had him sandwiched between them.

Princess Astreia’s body scent, as clear as a snow-covered pine forest, and Laxana’s sweet fragrance, like violets mixed with toffee, had already marinated him inside and out like pickled vegetables.

Not to mention those two hooligans had left plenty of “love marks” on his body.

“Ahem!”

Wendy quickly tugged at his collar and explained seriously.

“Maybe I just didn’t rest well last night and had a nightmare.”

However, this pale explanation obviously couldn’t convince his number one fangirl in front of him.

“A nightmare?”

Athena stared at him suspiciously.

“Boss, are you hiding from us and secretly conducting some high-intensity secret training?”

The more she spoke, the brighter her eyes became, as if she had uncovered a huge secret.

“I’ve heard that some ancient families, to train their heir’s willpower, make them meditate without sleep for seven days and seven nights, or sit under a waterfall to withstand currents strong enough to break boulders!”

Wendy’s eyelids twitched as he listened.

‘What the hell is sitting under a waterfall?! I was being used as a waterfall by two female demon kings in bed!’

Just then, a few other students in the class gathered around.

A noble’s second son from the Makari Empire in the Northern Region, with an “I know” expression, winked and whispered.

“Boss, did you go do some high-end ‘socializing’ last night?”

He lowered his voice, and his handsome, boyish face grinned lecherously.

“Let me tell you, those nuns from Holy Studies Branch look ascetic on the surface, but privately they really know how to have fun! It’s just a bit tough on the waist… Looking at you now, all drained, last night’s battle must have been intense, right?”

“Nonsense!”

Athena glared wide-eyed and shoved the noble’s second son away.

“What kind of person is our boss! How could he be so degenerate! He must be undergoing some unimaginable training for the future of our ‘organization’!”

‘This girl really has a top-notch imagination.’

Wendy watched the group chattering and lamented inwardly.

Right now, he just wanted to quietly be a salted fish; any extra movement would aggravate the soreness in his waist and abdomen.

“You’re all… wrong.”

The Prince could only put on a profound and mysterious posture, sighed softly, and swept his gaze over the group with a complex expression mixing fatigue and relief.

He turned his gaze out the window, beyond the academy walls, toward the wider world, his eyes becoming distant and deep.

“Last night, I really didn’t rest.”

“It was a game, a… difficult game concerning the future of all of us.”

“A game?”

The group exchanged glances.

Wendy didn’t give them a chance to ask questions and continued on his own, showing just the right amount of melancholy and helplessness on his face.

“You also know that I am closely related to Her Highness Princess Astreia and Miss Laxana. But the forces behind them are equally intricate and complex.”

“How difficult it is to gain support in the cracks between these behemoths and make a name for ourselves?”

“Last night, the two of them and I had a long night of in-depth communication and candid conversation.”

When Wendy said “in-depth communication” and “candid conversation,” he deliberately emphasized them, and a suspicious blush appeared on his face.

However, in the eyes of Athena and the others, this blush was automatically interpreted as the boss having a fierce argument with the two Highnesses for their sake, even risking burnt bridges, to get them valuable room for development!

For a moment, everyone’s gaze toward Wendy changed.

Filled with emotion, admiration, and heartfelt reverence!

“Boss!”

Athena’s face flushed with excitement, her voice trembling.

“So you… you sacrificed so much for us!”

The noble son from Makari beside her hung his head in shame, wishing he could crawl into a hole.

‘How could I speculate about the boss with such dirty thoughts? I’m not even human!’

Wendy smirked inwardly, but still kept that exhausted look of “dedicating himself to the organization.”

“It’s nothing. It’s what I should do.”

He rubbed his temples, then casually supported his lower back, his movements perfectly natural.

“After all, I’m your boss.”

These words moved everyone to tears, and they wished they could kneel and pledge loyalty on the spot.

Athena eagerly brought a chair and took out a soft cushion from her backpack, placing it on the chair.

“Boss, you’ve worked hard! Sit down and rest!”

Wendy didn’t stand on ceremony and sat down.

The moment his tormented lower back and hips touched the soft cushion, he almost moaned in comfort.

Seeing the satisfied expression on the Prince’s face, Athena was even more convinced of her guess: the boss must have been fighting all night to be this exhausted!

She rolled her eyes, then suddenly approached behind Wendy, placing her warm little hands gently on his shoulders.

“Boss, I learned a secret court massage technique in the Kingdom of Paria; it’s the best for relieving fatigue. Let me massage you?”

Before Wendy could refuse, those nimble little hands began kneading through his clothes with just the right pressure.

‘Not bad, actually quite comfortable.’

Wendy enjoyed this unexpected bonus, squinting in comfort, feeling his nearly disintegrated bones come back to life.

However, Athena’s next sentence instantly made his hair stand on end.

“Huh? Boss…”

“That mark on your neck, it looks like a bluish-purple bruise?”

“It looks… a bit like a bite mark?”