A junior female student with twin ponytails patted her chest and said confidently, “It’s fine! I know Senior Anna best! She’s a typical case of a sharp tongue but a soft heart!”
‘I should leave now, before I annoy her.’ Charlotte lowered her head. She knew all too well how annoying her good-for-nothing identity was, let alone that entering the Demon Beast Forest was crucial to finding a way to restore her magic.
“Wait here.” The twin-tailed junior winked mysteriously at Charlotte, then cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted loudly in Anna’s direction, “Senior Anna! Can this Young Master stay in our camp to heal his wounds?”
“Whatever you want.”
A voice so indifferent it seemed devoid of any emotion drifted down from the large boulder.
The twin-tailed junior lifted her chin proudly at the others, as if to say: See! I told you Senior would agree!
Even though it was just a cold “whatever,” somehow, for some reason, a long-lost warmth flowed through Charlotte’s battered heart.
Night fell completely, and a faint glow from the defensive magic array illuminated the outskirts of the camp.
By the campfire, the Academy disciples sat together, excitedly discussing the day’s events. Naturally, the conversation revolved around Anna.
Charlotte sat in the deepest shadows, hugging her knees, stealing glances at Anna on the boulder.
They hadn’t seen each other since that childhood jest under the birch tree.
And now they were reunited in such a miserable state. Even though she was now a waste, Charlotte felt that being saved by Anna’s own hands made this trip to the Demon Beast Forest worthwhile.
Even if she hadn’t even recognized her.
Besides, from what these Academy disciples said, Anna’s true personality didn’t seem as arrogant, unreasonable, cold, and heartless as the rumors suggested.
She had saved a junior in a critical moment, and had stepped forward to protect Charlotte when she was being hunted.
The night wind blew, and the wound on her shoulder flared up again. Charlotte covered her mouth and coughed violently, black blood seeping through her fingers.
Suddenly, a delicate bottle flew in a precise arc and landed in her arms.
“Drink the medicine. Don’t die in my camp. It’d dirty it.”
Anna still had her back to Charlotte as she spoke coldly from her high position.
Those words, utterly devoid of emotion and even somewhat nasty, sounded more beautiful than any heavenly melody to Charlotte’s ears.
She could even detect the extremely awkward concern hidden beneath that icy tone.
A faint blush crept across Charlotte’s pale cheeks. She quickly sat up straight and bowed toward the figure: “Thank you… Thank you.”
Anna didn’t respond, as if it hadn’t been her who had thrown the bottle.
But only she knew that what she had just tossed was a priceless 8th-grade sacred item—the [Elf Healing Potion]!
This stuff sold for a fortune per drop at the Imperial Capital’s auction house, reputed to snatch someone back from the clutches of death as long as they were still breathing. To pretend it was casual, she even had to deliberately control her strength, afraid of hurting her delicate, weak wife.
Charlotte pulled the wooden stopper from the crystal bottle.
A wave of life mana so dense it almost turned solid hit her face.
Charlotte gasped.
She used to be a Great Mage, so she knew quality! This wasn’t ordinary healing medicine; it was a god-level potion! And Anna had just thrown something this precious to her?
The medicine entered her mouth, slightly sweet, and then an extremely gentle warmth surged through her limbs and bones.
Almost visibly, the wound on her shoulder began to heal.
“Hey, hey, Senior, you didn’t finish your story!”
By the campfire, a junior couldn’t contain her gossipy curiosity. “Right, right! Why is the engagement between Miss Anna and Young Master Charlotte essentially just a formality now?”
Seeing that Anna seemed to have entered meditation in the distance, a few disciples lowered their voices and asked.
The leading senior shook his head, glanced at Charlotte in the corner, and sighed. “Actually, this matter isn’t a secret anymore in our Academy’s high-level circles. Oh well, I’ll tell you.”
The senior spoke in a very low voice, but Charlotte, with her sharp senses, caught every word clearly.
“Our Senior Anna isn’t just the Duke’s daughter; she’s also a magic prodigy rarely seen in the Empire in a hundred years. She was betrothed to Young Master Charlotte when they were children.”
“Back then, Young Master Charlotte had broken through to Great Mage at 13, making them a perfectly matched celestial couple. But heaven has its storms. For some unknown reason, Young Master Charlotte lost all his magic overnight and became a good-for-nothing who couldn’t even meditate!”
As he recounted the fall of a once-great genius, the senior was quite emotional. “According to reliable insider information, after this expedition, Miss Anna will go to the Charlotte territory to completely end this engagement.”
Several juniors showed pained expressions.
“That… that’s too cruel to Young Master Charlotte!”
“Right! With parental orders and matchmaker’s words, maybe Young Master has secretly liked Senior all along, and now he’s going to be publicly dumped… This is straight out of a novel’s tragic ‘broken engagement’ protagonist script!”
“Wuwuwu, even though I can’t ship the dominating senior and her delicate wife anymore, I still feel so sorry for Young Master.”
The senior shook his head and dropped a bombshell: “Actually, this broken engagement probably isn’t Miss Anna’s own wish!”
“What?!” The juniors were stunned.
Charlotte, who had already prepared herself to accept the cruel reality, suddenly raised her head.
The senior glanced at the aloof figure and lowered his voice: “This broken engagement was a direct order from the highest authority in our Academy—Grand Archmage, Principal Sylvia. Miss Anna had no choice!”
“Principal Sylvia appointed Anna as the next heir of Sky College. As the heir, she can’t have any stains or burdens.”
“Most importantly, Charlotte is now an ordinary person, while Miss Anna is destined to reach the pinnacle of magic and become the god of the new world. With such disparity, forcing a union would only make her a laughingstock in the Imperial Noble Circle!”
Everyone fell silent.
The Dean’s orders were absolute, and the class gap was like an insurmountable chasm.
“Senior must be struggling and suffering inside too, right?” A junior wiped her eyes sympathetically.
The senior nodded emphatically: “You think being the Chief Student is easy? The internal factional struggles are beyond what you can imagine! Miss Anna has endured immense pressure to get where she is today.”
“Now that the Dean has given the order, if she doesn’t break the engagement, she’ll be stripped of her position as Chief Student, and even her inheritance rights to the Duke family will be affected. She… has no choice either!”
Everyone agreed deeply.
In the corner, Charlotte’s emotions were a tangled mess.
She had no idea about this inside story!
Half was relieved gratification, and half was deep helplessness and self-blame.
So… Anna wasn’t breaking the engagement of her own will, nor because she despised Charlotte.
Behind that coldness, Anna had been silently bearing the enormous pressure from the Academy’s Dean, the family factions, and the entire Imperial hierarchy!
And what about herself?
‘Anna… I’m sorry. If breaking the engagement lets you spread your wings and fly, then I’d rather endure public humiliation and never stand in your way…’ Charlotte thought despairingly.
Just when everyone was lamenting the fate of this “tragic couple” and the air was thick with sorrow…
“I told you, don’t go around making up stories about other people.”