Back to the present.
Xuan Xi was already lying in bed, the Communication Stone Tablet dark on the nightstand.
The room was dim; it was already time to sleep.
Xuan Xi had been lying in bed for a long while, but she still felt no drowsiness.
She tossed and turned in bed, hoping that if she wore herself out, sleep would come.
The Communication Stone flashed.
She jerked upright, and in one swift motion, snatched the Stone Tablet from the nightstand, flustered, nearly knocking it to the floor. On the screen was the name she had been thinking about day and night, SigrdrÃfa, followed by a message: “I’m back.” Xuan Xi stared at those words, scrolling up through the messages, then down, and finally confirmed there was only this one. The breath she had been holding finally eased out.
Then she typed: “Where did you go these past few days? You didn’t reply to messages, and you were nowhere to be seen. (I missed you so much…)”
After sending it, she gripped the Communication Stone in her hand, staring intently at the screen. The other side didn’t reply immediately. SigrdrÃfa’s response was longer than usual, probably the longest string of words she was capable of typing: “The Council of Elders approved my breakthrough ceremony, but I couldn’t bring the Communication Stone there. It might have gotten burned out. The moment I came out and saw the messages, I replied to you right away.”
Xuan Xi read those lines twice, confirming that it wasn’t that SigrdrÃfa disliked her. “So did you break through to SS-rank now?”
The other side replied with just one word: “Mm.” SigrdrÃfa was back to her aloof self.
The corner of her mouth curved up as she typed: “Congratulations, SigrdrÃfa!” And she added: “Are you coming back tomorrow? When you’re back, I’ll treat you to a meal.” SigrdrÃfa replied with one word: “Mm.”
Xuan Xi stared at that “Mm” for a long time. She could imagine the joy SigrdrÃfa must have felt at her breakthrough. Only after the screen dimmed by itself did she put down the Communication Stone and turn over, a smile still lingering at the corners of her mouth. She fell asleep quickly.
The next evening, when the cafeteria started serving, Xuan Xi carried her tray and found a seat by the window, resting her chopsticks on the rim of her bowl. A few dishes were laid out on the table, the usual fare the cafeteria made. She took a few bites, then looked up and glanced toward the cafeteria entrance.
SigrdrÃfa still hadn’t appeared. She lowered her head, stabbed a piece of meat with her fork, put it in her mouth, swallowed, and then took a sip of soup. The cafeteria was noisy, with the clatter of utensils, the scraping of chairs, and the buzz of conversations all mixed together. Elsa still sat in the seat across from Xuan Xi, fork in hand, tackling a piece of meat. Reggie sat beside Elsa, and Veralis sat at the very edge, holding a book in her hands, managing to eat and read without missing a beat.
“You’re in a pretty good mood today,” Elsa said, swallowing her meat and glancing at Xuan Xi. “Did SigrdrÃfa reply to you?”
“Mm, she broke through.” Xuan Xi tried to keep her tone as flat as possible.
“She broke through?” Elsa’s fork paused. “She went back for nine days and already broke through? Last time she told me she’d been stuck at the bottleneck between S-rank and SS-rank for years.”
“Mm, she used some family secret method to break through the bottleneck.”
“Then go back early tonight. Don’t dawdle around with us.” Elsa said it casually, as if it had just slipped out. Reggie didn’t say anything from the side, just lowered his head and drank his soup, but the corner of his mouth twitched. Xuan Xi couldn’t tell if he was laughing at her.
She nodded without replying, and Elsa didn’t press further. The sounds of eating returned to the table. She hadn’t even swallowed the food in her mouth yet when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone walk into the cafeteria entrance.
Silvery-white long hair was especially conspicuous under the cafeteria lights. SigrdrÃfa stood at the entrance, her gaze sweeping across the crowd, not lingering for long before she walked straight toward the seats by the window.
She wore a light gray long coat, and her silvery-white hair was tied in a ponytail. The same-colored plum blossom hairpin on her temple caught the light, sparkling as she moved.
Quite a few people in the cafeteria were drawn to her, but after sensing the cold, aloof aura radiating from her, they lowered their heads and continued eating. Xuan Xi stopped eating, watching as SigrdrÃfa walked straight toward her and came to a stop right in front of her. Xuan Xi looked up, still holding her fork in her hand, the bread in her mouth barely swallowed, not yet having a chance to speak.
SigrdrÃfa looked down at her, expressionless. Then she reached out, and her fingertip traced across the corner of Xuan Xi’s mouth, brushing away some breadcrumbs. The pad of her finger grazed against her skin, tickling Xuan Xi slightly. Before Xuan Xi could even react, the breadcrumb had already been withdrawn by SigrdrÃfa and popped into her mouth. Everyone at the table saw it.
Elsa, sitting across from her, let out a short “pfft,” then quickly lowered her head, pretending she hadn’t seen anything, her fork stirring around in the dish without any purpose. Reggie raised his soup bowl, its rim covering half of his face, hiding whatever expression he had. Veralis turned a page in her book, but from the look in her eyes, it was clear she hadn’t taken in a word. All her attention was on SigrdrÃfa and Xuan Xi.
SigrdrÃfa’s expression didn’t change at all. She sat down next to Xuan Xi, adjusted her coat collar, her long hair falling over her shoulder, brushing against Xuan Xi’s arm. “Is there still enough food in the cafeteria?” Her voice came from beside her, calm and measured.
“Enough. Did you come right at dinner time?”
“Mm, after I got back to the dormitory, I didn’t have time to change clothes before coming over.” She turned her head to look at Xuan Xi. “What, you wouldn’t even wait for me to eat? Xuan Xi, you’re breaking my heart.”
“You never told me when you’d arrive. Besides, when I went looking for you, you never even replied to my messages.” Xuan Xi picked up a bite of food with her chopsticks. “You didn’t even say anything after your breakthrough. You had me worried for so long.”
“Mm, it’s my fault.” Although SigrdrÃfa said this, there wasn’t a trace of remorse in her tone.
Elsa had already finished eating. She stood up and began clearing her tray, carrying it to the return station. Reggie got up as well and, in passing, grabbed the things Elsa had left on the table. Veralis also closed her book and stood. The three of them shuffled slowly toward the tray return area.
Before she left, Elsa looked back at Xuan Xi and gave her a quick wink, shooting her a look that said “I know exactly what’s going on,” then swiftly turned back around. Even her footsteps sounded lighter than usual.
The table was mostly empty now, leaving only Xuan Xi and SigrdrÃfa. Xuan Xi lowered her head and scraped up the last few bites, resting her spoon on the rim of the bowl. She didn’t rush to stand up. The cafeteria crowd was gradually thinning out, and the clatter of cutlery had become sparser.
“Mm, after all, it was a gift from you.” SigrdrÃfa didn’t explain about the hairpin.
Xuan Xi said, “You’re still wearing it.”
SigrdrÃfa reached up and brushed aside the hair by her ear. “It’s pretty nice.”
The last few lights in the cafeteria were still on, illuminating the two figures sitting almost pressed together.