Time slipped by in anticipation. Two days later, the final examination results were announced on schedule.
The notice board was crowded with people. Mia stood on her toes nervously, searching for her name on the list.
When she saw her name followed by a stable mid-to-upper tier evaluation, and all subjects marked as passing, she let out a long sigh of relief and patted her chest.
“I passed! I passed!”
Kefi and Ellaria’s results were naturally more outstanding, ranking at the top.
Especially Ellaria—with high theory scores and excellent performance in practicals, her comprehensive evaluation reached an astonishing level of excellence, sparking quite a buzz.
With everything settled, the vacation officially began.
According to their previous agreement, Kefi cheerfully started buying tickets to go home and formally invited Mia.
Mia happily agreed and packed her small suitcase.
Although a bit embarrassed, Kefi mustered the courage to ask Princess Ellaria if she would like to join. Ellaria politely and gently declined, saying she already had other plans for the winter break.
Thus, the plan was set for Kefi and Mia to travel home together.
On the day of departure, the station of Oselanka City-State was bustling, filled with students and travelers leaving school to go home.
The air was thick with the mixed smell of steam and magic crystals, along with the noise of crowds.
Kefi and Mia carried their luggage, found the right platform, and chatted softly while waiting for the train to arrive.
But at that moment, they both seemed to sense something and unintentionally turned their gaze toward the other entrance of the platform.
Then, their movements and words froze at the same time.
At the entrance, a petite figure in blue was walking in carrying a lightweight suitcase. Her cream-colored coat and thick tights made her stand out adorably among the crowd—it was Teacher Sefina!
And half a step behind Teacher Sefina was another figure carrying a small suitcase. She wore a warm, appropriate winter dress, with her long golden hair flowing smoothly over her shoulders—
It was Princess Ellaria, who had just politely declined Kefi’s invitation!
Four people, eight eyes, met unexpectedly on this bustling platform, colliding perfectly.
Mia & Kefi: “…?”
Ellaria: “…!”
“How are you here?!”
Mia, Ellaria, and Kefi almost blurted out in unison, their voices filled with identical surprise and shock.
Only Sefina remained calm, her wine-red eyes sweeping over the three faces with different expressions, as if she wasn’t surprised by this encounter.
Kefi reacted first, instinctively explaining her own situation:
“Ah, well… Today is the day I go home. I invited Mia to stay at my place for a few days.”
She pointed at Mia beside her, then looked at Sefina and Ellaria, her face showing curiosity and a trace of lingering surprise.
“Teacher Sefina, Princess Ellaria, are you… also traveling together?”
Hearing this, Ellaria’s pretty face flushed instantly. A clear flash of embarrassment and panic crossed her emerald-green eyes.
Just yesterday, she had politely declined Kefi’s kind invitation by saying she already had plans. Now she was appearing at the station with Teacher Sefina, heading in what seemed like the same direction…
It was almost like being caught lying to someone’s face!
In truth, it wasn’t that she didn’t want to accept Kefi’s kindness at all. It was just…
She had barely mustered the courage to ask Teacher Sefina to let her stay for the entire winter break, and the teacher had agreed.
Yesterday, the teacher told her that before heading to the Western Continent, she needed to go to a small border town in the Eastern Continent to handle some personal matters and asked if she would like to come along.
Of course, she agreed without hesitation.
Under these circumstances, how could she possibly accept Kefi’s invitation and make Teacher Sefina wait for her to finish “playing”? That would be too rude.
“I… I…”
Ellaria stammered, her cheeks burning, fingers nervously gripping the handle of her suitcase. She didn’t know how to explain this somewhat complicated and awkward situation.
She didn’t want Kefi to misunderstand her as intentionally distancing herself, but she also couldn’t reveal Teacher Sefina’s travel plans in public.
Just as Ellaria was extremely embarrassed, Sefina’s cool, calm voice rang out, like a breeze dispersing the slightly stagnant atmosphere:
“Mm, Ellaria and I plan to go somewhere to handle some personal matters. I didn’t expect to run into you here.”
“Oh, oh, I see.”
Kefi nodded, expressing understanding, and the little doubt in her heart dissipated. She casually asked out of curiosity:
“So, Teacher Sefina, where are you going?”
Sefina named a small town located on the cold border of the northern Eastern Continent.
Hearing the name, Kefi’s gray eyes lit up instantly, and a look of pleasant surprise appeared on her face:
“Huh?! That… isn’t that the town my home is in?”
This coincidence made Kefi’s heart stir.
Since Teacher Sefina and Princess Ellaria were also going to the same place, then…
Could she invite them to visit her home while they were at it?
Once this thought arose, Kefi’s heart began to race, and her cheeks started to warm.
Inviting friends was one thing, but inviting a respected teacher and a noble princess…
Kefi opened her mouth, the words “Would you like to come to my home?” lingering on her tongue, but because of shyness and a bit of timidity, she couldn’t say them right away.
However, Kefi’s hesitation lasted less than two seconds.
“Wow! Then aren’t we going to the exact same destination?!”
Mia’s surprised voice rang out like a silver bell. She directly jumped in front of Kefi and loudly suggested to Sefina and Ellaria:
“Since we’re going the same way, why don’t you come to Kefi’s home too? That would be great! Teacher Sefina, Princess Ellaria, Kefi actually wanted to invite you all along. She’s just shy and too embarrassed to say it~~”
As she spoke, Mia shot Kefi a sly, teasing look and deliberately blinked, wearing a mischievous expression.
“Mia—!!!”
Kefi’s cheeks instantly turned bright red, like a ripe tomato. Steam almost seemed to rise from the top of her head.
She whipped her head around to glare at Mia, flustered and annoyed. All her previous hesitation and timidity were washed away by this sudden “exposure”.
This girl! How could she just say it out loud like that!
And so… so bluntly!
“Stop right there!”
Kefi, both embarrassed and angry, no longer cared about maintaining her image in front of the teacher and princess. She reached out to grab the “culprit” who was about to flee.
“Aah! Help! Teacher, help! Princess, help!”
Mia let out a strange yelp, giggling as she nimbly hid behind Sefina. She poked half her head out, continuing to play the “culprit” and didn’t forget to make a face at Kefi.