Chapter 40: Awkward Situation

“Snap—”

The crisp sound echoed through the empty space.

It turned out that the two girls, while playing around, accidentally tugged on the curtain hanging from the hook, inadvertently breaking the rod that secured the curtain above.

What made it worse was that the fitting rooms in this row all shared the same rod.

Since the rod on the opposite side was broken, naturally the one on Li Xian’s side couldn’t hold the curtain either.

In the next moment, the curtains on both sides fell one after another.

Li Xian, who had turned around at the sound, saw a pale, flawless back.

Following the slender arm forward was a voluptuous figure held in hand…

In an instant, the atmosphere plunged into complete silence, filled with indescribable awkwardness and shock.

The two girls’ eyes widened as they stared at the male back in front of them, uncovered by any clothing.

“Ahem—” Finally, Li Xian cleared his throat and said, “Well, this was unavoidable…”

“Yaaah—!!!” However, as if his voice had broken the silence, his words were cut off by a sharp scream.

Ellie blushed deeply, caught in a moment where she didn’t know whether to pull her hand back or not.

Karinya was even more embarrassed.

The strange sensation in her chest continued to rise.

Coupled with the weird gaze from the unfamiliar man in front of her, her face was already bright red.

She looked helpless and a bit flustered, seemingly wanting to explain something.

The scream was torturing Li Xian’s eardrums.

He rolled his eyes helplessly, wanting to say that his back had also been exposed and that this whole mess wasn’t his fault.

But with situations like this, girls never reasoned, so he just let it be.

After all, he wasn’t the one at a loss~

“You… pervert, lecher… shameless scoundrel!” Ellie had never encountered such a scene before, and her mind went blank.

The string of harsh words that spilled out were only to cover her own embarrassment and panic.

This shop didn’t have many customers to begin with.

They had purposely chosen a rather secluded corner fitting room, yet someone else had also chosen the same spot.

They never imagined something like this would happen.

Facing Ellie’s string of insults, Li Xian twitched the corner of his mouth and rolled his eyes again.

Although he was a little displeased, he didn’t bother arguing with a young girl and decided to pretend he hadn’t heard anything.

“So, as I said, this was clearly unavoidable.” He waved his hand.

“Anyway, sorry to bother you. Please continue…”

After speaking, he put on his new clothes and turned to leave.

In her embarrassment and anger, Ellie was too flustered to notice that the man’s back looked strikingly familiar.

Meanwhile, Karinya blushed even deeper when she heard the words “please continue.”

She glanced at the princess in front of her, then at the departing figure, feeling her ears burning.

“Master…” After Li Xian stepped out of the fitting room, he was met with Sara’s strange gaze.

Clearly, from such close proximity, the screams from the other side were crystal clear.

Even the shop staff looked at him oddly.

“Ahem ahem—” Li Xian coughed twice.

If he didn’t explain properly, his reputation would be ruined forever.

He wouldn’t be able to hold his head high in front of Sara again.

“Don’t misunderstand, it’s like this…”

He briefly explained the situation, selectively omitting some details he shouldn’t mention.

After he finished, the staff’s expression immediately relaxed.

Such an unexpected incident was manageable.

If anything worse had happened in their store, it would have been troublesome—especially since those two ladies were still in the fitting room.

Then, the staff suddenly paused.

‘Wait a minute… The two young ladies the boy mentioned—could they be those distinguished ladies?’

In an instant, the staff looked at Li Xian with some pity.

Even if it wasn’t his fault, if such an incident happened to those ladies, he certainly wouldn’t have a good outcome.

Li Xian didn’t pay attention to the staff’s gaze but looked at Sara, who had already changed into new clothes.

Just as he had expected, the pink and white dress looked very suitable on Sara, fitting her perfectly.

However, it still couldn’t cover the slightly dazed expression she always wore.

Although that expression was quite cute.

“Hmm… please help me pick out a few more outfits,” Li Xian said to the staff.

Afterward, based on the staff’s recommendations, Li Xian chose several more outfits for both Sara and himself, then proceeded to check out.

They each bought three or four sets, which would be more than enough for a while.

The total cost was less than two hundred Gold Coins, well within Li Xian’s budget.

Afterwards, they strolled around the streets a bit more.

Li Xian bought some snacks for Sara along the way.

The girl seemed to especially like sweets, particularly the rough-looking malt sugar.

She guarded it like a treasure, nibbling at it bit by bit, unwilling to finish it quickly.

After purchasing some daily necessities, it was already late afternoon.

Li Xian led Sara back, passing by the Magic Academy’s gates, taking a careful glance.

The scene was still as crowded as ever, no different from the morning.

There was no choice but to take a detour.

Seeing the endless line at the entrance, Li Xian secretly felt relieved he hadn’t stood there foolishly waiting in the morning.

Otherwise, the whole day would have been wasted.

This situation was actually understandable.

After all, the Imperial Magic Academy was truly prestigious, naturally attracting crowds.

The enrollment requirements were not strict: anyone under twenty-five with Dou Qi or Mana could apply.

Though it was rare for people to master Dou Qi or Mana, given the vast territories and numerous cities of the Empire, such a crowd was to be expected.

Most were just trying their luck; after all, failure wouldn’t cost much, but success would be a huge gain.

Li Xian wasn’t in a hurry.

After all, there were three full days.

No need to rush now…

Taking a small path to bypass the Academy, the two headed straight back to their inn.

With so many things in hand, it wasn’t convenient to run around anymore.

Since it was getting late, it was better to head back directly.