Luo Ye remained as calm and carefree as ever, patiently waiting for Hissnai to vent her emotions.
Then, he calmly added another jab.
“Since you don’t believe me, why are you so eager to refute me? Are you anxious?”
The moment Luo Ye’s words fell, Hissnai’s breath froze.
Her anger and accusations seemed to be frozen by an invisible chill. Her icy blue pupils locked tightly onto Luo Ye’s face, her small hands clenched into fists on the table, and her pressed cherry lips revealed the turmoil inside her heart.
“Wait.”
Hissnai seemed to recall something, her voice trembling with forced restraint. “Teacher Luo Ye, you just said… you predicted the future? The Sage Lord’s forbidden technique?”
Luo Ye set down his coffee cup, the faint clink breaking the silence.
“You’re not wrong. Is there a problem?”
“Absurd… absolutely absurd…”
Hissnai repeated in a low voice, but this time her tone was resolute.
She leaned forward, half of her slender body crossing the tiny table. A rich floral fragrance mixed with a barely perceptible hint of panic swept over Luo Ye.
“Tell me, Teacher Luo Ye, when exactly does this future happen? You must tell me every detail. What exactly did you see?”
Luo Ye furrowed his brows and leaned back slightly, as if trying to put some distance between them.
In truth, he was concealing the unease in his heart.
No wonder she was the daughter of a duke. Her keen observation was beyond what an ordinary girl could possess.
If it were Anna, she would have already been fooled and switched to his side by now.
But Hissnai could keenly detect the loopholes in his words.
After all, if divination magic really worked that well… why would the Empire still rely on regents and intelligence officers working day and night?
“Hissnai, calm down.” Luo Ye’s tone returned to its initial calmness, with a faint trace of coldness barely perceptible. “Do you think the precise contents of a prophecy can be recited as easily as ordering dishes at a restaurant? Since it’s a forbidden technique, its cost and restrictions are far beyond what you can imagine. Revealing specific details would invite uncontrollable backlash, not only harming the predictor but also the predicted…”
“Don’t tell me this!”
Hissnai interrupted sharply, her voice suddenly rising several tones. Her silver hair trembled slightly with agitation, brushing across her cheek.
“Backlash? Cost? Teacher Luo Ye, are you stalling me? Aren’t you supposed to be all-powerful? Or…”
“This is just a fabricated lie you made up? To confuse me? To keep me away from Lady Ellie?”
Luo Ye stared straight into the obsessive fixation brimming in Hissnai’s eyes, feeling the pressure from her delicate cheeks and pure white chest. The pleasant scent surrounding her gradually filled his nostrils.
He answered slowly and clearly: “I refuse.”
Those words stabbed sharply at Hissnai’s tightly wound nerves.
She widened her eyes, never expecting Luo Ye to reject her interrogation even as she pressed him relentlessly, using her body, her innocence, and her presence as leverage.
Does this man have no interest in women at all?
“I said, I refuse to answer the details.” Luo Ye’s voice was soft but carried undeniable conviction. “I told you about the prophecy as a warning, out of goodwill. The specific contents? Sorry, that’s none of your business.”
“Hmph, goodwill?”
Hissnai snapped back to herself from her earlier shock, her voice twisted with extreme anger.
Or rather, she finally could no longer maintain that gentle, refined “noblewoman’s voice.” Instead, her true tone surfaced—youthful, full of petulance and insincerity.
“Teacher Luo Ye, do you think you can brush me off with just the words ‘forbidden technique’ and ‘goodwill’? You can’t even provide the basic triggers or timing. What’s the difference between your so-called prophecy and a roadside fortune teller’s scam?”
“You’re a liar! You’re clearly using my feelings for Lady Ellie! You’re jealous of my relationship with her! Yes, that’s it! So you want to use this poisonous lie to tear us apart!”
Hissnai stared down at Luo Ye, who was pinned against the chair by her, utterly convinced this was how things ended, her tone righteous and unwavering.
Luo Ye tilted his head back, finally seeing clearly the silver-haired girl who was deceiving herself right in front of him.
He felt no anger, only a gentle sigh.
But to Hissnai, that sigh was filled with… pity.
“Hissnai, listen to me.”
Luo Ye’s voice was nearly excessively calm as he said, “You can think I’m a liar, but ask yourself honestly: what truly fills your heart right now—is it anger toward me, the ‘liar,’ or… a deep, bone-chilling fear that the prophecy itself might come true?”
Those words made Hissnai lower her gaze.
Luo Ye paused, giving her ample time to let his words sink in.
“If you insist I’m lying and try to pressure me here with your Lorent family’s influence, or plan to leak something to ruin my reputation…”
“Then I won’t hesitate to leave this café right now and go directly to Alicia. I will truthfully tell her what you did to me, and… everything I have uncovered in the secret investigation about her becoming ‘unlike herself.’”
“Of course, I won’t just tell Alicia.”
Luo Ye deliberately slowed his speech and pronounced a name clearly: “Lilith.”
“I will tell her, too.”
“You—!” Hissnai’s face instantly drained of all color, shifting from the angry flush of a young girl to deathly pale.
Luo Ye had hit another vital nerve.
She had never told him that although Lilith was publicly Lady Ellie’s “shadow,” Hissnai had countless times fantasized how wonderful it would be if she were in that “shadow’s” position instead.
She had even imagined that Lilith wasn’t as harmless as she appeared, given she was an actress’s descendant. Who could guarantee that the adorable, charming expressions she wore were true reflections of her heart?
Of course, in the end, reason always prevailed, and Hissnai dismissed such dark thoughts.
But if Luo Ye told Lilith about her suspicion of Alicia…
Then the possibility of replacing Lilith and becoming Alicia’s “shadow” would be completely eliminated.
That was something Hissnai would never allow!
After all, she dreamed of outshining Lilith.
This was also the fundamental reason she had been willing to temporarily set aside her hostility and cooperate with Luo Ye.
Now, Luo Ye’s counterstrike against her desperate demand to know the prophecy’s details was a fatal blow.
Fear, humiliation at being seen through, frustration at receiving no answers, and terror at the thought of “leakage”—all these emotions flickered and twisted across Hissnai’s beautiful face, distorting it.
Her lips moved, as if wanting to argue further, to threaten, to scream, but finally, facing Luo Ye’s deep, calm black eyes that seemed to have foreseen all her reactions, an overwhelming sense of helplessness and icy dread flooded her.
Hissnai took a deep breath, her chest heaving violently.
“Teacher Luo Ye… you… you’re really something… I won’t forget you…”