Rose Flotly woke up in a haze.
The cold wind drilling in through the gaps in the bedding made her shiver slightly.
Subconsciously, she hugged her [Catnip] and nuzzled it. The comfortable tactile sensation suddenly reminded her of something.
Then, she jerked awake.
"Diana!"
Rose hurriedly threw off the covers. The cold, which even her rabbit pajamas couldn't block, made her sneeze reflexively.
She reached behind her neck and pulled up her hood, letting the two rabbit ears droop down.
Before leaving the room, she grabbed a thick coat to drape over herself. A glance at the wall clock revealed it was already five-thirty!
"Woo woo, I overslept."
Wearing pink little rabbit slippers, Rose trotted out the door. Her first instinct was to glance toward the direction of Dark's dormitory.
But Dark's dormitory was at the end of the floor, and the corridor was curved, so she couldn't see that far at all.
She closed her door properly and immediately arrived at the door of Diana's dormitory.
Hesitating for a split second, she knocked anyway.
Thump, thump, thump.
Thump, thump, thump.
"Diana?"
"Diana?"
She called out softly for a long time, but there was not the slightest reaction from inside.
"That little dummy didn't actually go to block his door, did she?"
Rose couldn't help but pull her rabbit ears down forcefully.
Then, she trotted toward the end of the corridor.
She wasn't worried about anything happening to Diana; it was just that doing so gave people a feeling of being silly.
Books said that a girl chasing a boy was separated only by a layer of thin gauze—one poke and it breaks.
But not all boys would appreciate it.
If a girl behaved too aggressively, she would appear reserved enough, which might give people a bad impression of her in certain aspects.
Once a boy felt that you were too frivolous, then even if you were together for a moment, there was a high probability that you wouldn't reach the finish line.
Because what is obtained too easily...
Is not cherished.
This is the inherent root of human nature.
Rose certainly didn't think Dark was the kind of person who would abandon someone after toying with them, but that copy of Her Youth Romantic Comedy Is Indeed Wrong said so!
Leaving Diana aside for now.
Rose was actually quite easily influenced by things like books...
Pat, pat, pat.
Before long, Rose arrived near Dark's dormitory.
Immediately, she discovered the two gift boxes at the door.
"This is?"
She couldn't help but lower her head to look.
The gift box placed perfectly at the door was square and very large—of course it was large; after all, Diana had stuffed an entire chocolate bear inside!
That chocolate bear, large enough to be a volleyball, was made with Rose's help. One of the bear's eyes used a button style, mimicking the Christmas gift Dark had given Diana.
The bear was in a sitting posture, holding a heart cast from orange-red syrup with both hands.
It could be said to be extremely exquisite.
In order to make this chocolate bear, Rose didn't even have time to make her own chocolate, eventually only molding a tiny little chocolate bunny.
On the front of the gift box, there was a card with little bear ears exposed, with Diana's name written on it in flowery script.
As for other things, such as words of confession, there were none.
Although Diana had thought about writing them, she was stopped by Rose.
Because she knew very well that they were only first-year students. They were too young and should focus more on their studies rather than these budding romances.
Dark Demon surely thought the same way.
If Diana confessed now, even if she wasn't rejected on the spot, she would probably be fobbed off.
Although Diana could certainly cheer up quickly, it would still be somewhat different.
She needed to be a bit older.
Wait until Diana grew into a big girl who couldn't be refused; then there would definitely be a different result.
Moreover, according to her observations, Dark's preferences seemed to lean toward older ones.
Thinking of this, her heart twitched slightly.
...
Rose turned her gaze to the other gift box.
It was pink, with outer packaging dotted with various stars.
The size of the gift box was about enough to be held with two hands, and it was tied with a large heart ribbon.
But there was no card on the outside, so she couldn't know whose it was.
"Someone else came too?"
"Who is she?"
"Where is Diana?"
Rose was bewildered for a moment.
She had thought there shouldn't be anyone as innocent as Diana...
But reality slapped her hard in the face.
"Did they have a dispute, or what happened?"
Rose, who loved to fantasize, couldn't help but start brainstorming.
Then she covered her mouth and muttered, "They didn't go find a place to duel, did they? Those stories are always written like that—two boys dueling to fight for a girl, and whoever wins gains the right to pursue the girl! Woo, why do I always feel it's so romantic?"
Click!
Just as Rose was intoxicated by the faint illusion, the sound of a mechanism being twisted suddenly came from the door in front of her.
Then, the door opened, and a blond youth with a trace of weariness on his face suddenly came into view.
Rose couldn't help but widen her eyes.
She looked down at the gift boxes on the ground and her own little rabbit slippers.
Her fair and tender cheeks instantly turned bright red.
...
"Mang-mang?"
The [Magic Beast (Ditto)], which had transformed into the appearance of a sleeping cap and was coiled atop Dark's head, swayed in the wind.
Dark looked at Rose at the door, unable to help feeling puzzled.
He hadn't expected to go out so early, but the heavy snow that had started falling at some unknown time had indeed attracted his attention.
It rarely snowed within the kingdom, and the snowy scenery of the ancient castle had a unique charm.
He had thought to temporarily set aside his morning run today and simply go out for a stroll, walking randomly around the castle, or perhaps drawing one or two snowy landscapes to add a couple of pages to his collection of scenic views.
The idea was good, and very poetic.
But before he could even step out, he was blocked at the door by Rose.
...
"Uh..."
Dark was also somewhat stunned for a moment.
If it were anyone else blocking the door here, like Diana or Eudora or someone, he could understand.
But why would Rose be waiting here alone?
"Did something happen?"
As the thought turned in his mind, Dark smiled and said, "Good morning, are you looking for..."
Just as he wanted to say "looking for me for something," he suddenly glimpsed the two gift boxes by his feet.
In an instant, the cause and effect became clear.
Dark: "I see."
Rose's face reddened, and she hurriedly said, "It's not me..."
Dark smiled. "This card with the little bear belongs to Diana, right? Where is she?"
Rose breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I don't know. I'm looking for her too."
Dark's mind moved.
So this pink box isn't Rose's?
He had originally thought these two gift boxes were one for Diana and one for Rose; was that not the case?
But if so, whose gift box was the pink one?
With a trace of doubt, Dark asked Rose, "Then whose box is this other one?"
Rose still shook her head. "I don't know either. I just arrived and only saw these two gift boxes."
"Is that so?"
Dark thought for a moment, then bent down, placed the pink gift box on top of Diana's large box, and picked them up together.
"Come inside first."
According to normal logic, since these two gift boxes were placed outside the door, they should be gifts for him.
Although the givers were gone now...
But he couldn't very well leave the gift boxes outside.
After carrying the two gift boxes into the room, Dark pulled the [Magic Beast (Ditto)] cap off his head and picked up the pink gift box.
Theoretically, there shouldn't be much danger in the Noble House tower.
But better safe than sorry.
Diana had likely left with the owner of that pink gift box.
And if he wanted to know who the owner of that pink gift box was, he would probably know after opening the box and taking a look.
...
While Dark was opening the box, Rose stepped cautiously into the room and closed the door behind her.
She turned her head slightly to observe her surroundings, feeling somewhat surprised in her heart.
Every time she entered Dark's dormitory, there seemed to be new discoveries.
This time, there were especially many.
The super-sized cat climbing frame and the four three-tiered small beds placed against the wall were unusually attention-grabbing.
The [Magic Guide Spirits] sprawling all over the small beds and the large bed were so cute that they made one want to pounce on them and hug them tight.
If the timing weren't wrong, she really wanted to stay here and snuggle them fiercely!
Dark's dormitory was truly her dreamland!
"Woo."
She tried hard to look away, turning to the gift box.
...
In this brief moment, Dark had already opened the pink box.
The scent of alcohol flowing from the opening of the box made him frown involuntarily.
But he soon discovered that what was placed inside the box was not the wine he had imagined, but heart-shaped chocolates wrapped in transparent candy wrappers.
"Liqueur chocolates?"
Dark couldn't help but pick up one of the chocolates, unwrap the paper, and sniff it.
Then he carefully took a bite.
The bitter-sweet taste of chocolate melted in his mouth, and the rich aroma of alcohol seeped into his heart.
He looked down and saw the liquor slightly rippling inside the chocolate through the bitten opening.
In this world.
This was the first time he had seen the concept of "liqueur chocolate."
Therefore, he was even more surprised.
But unlike the liqueur chocolates he had frequently eaten in his past life, the liquor contained inside this chocolate seemed to have a high alcohol content?
Dark extended his tongue to lick it, and a spicy aura exploded.
He couldn't help but tilt his head back.
"What kind of operation is putting hard liquor inside liqueur chocolate?"
Rose asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
Dark shook his head. "Nothing."
Then he placed the bitten chocolate on the table and pulled out a pink letter folded into a heart shape from the bottom of the gift box.
At this moment, he actually already had a candidate in his heart.
When he opened the letter and looked.
Sure enough.
"It's Eudora."
Dark quickly scanned the contents of the letter.
The letter this time was less than a hundred words, and the content expressed was surprisingly not extreme.
It was just a very ordinary expression that she had been working hard recently and would continue to work hard in the future.
In addition, she mentioned her path as an astrologer slightly.
It looked just like a letter written to a pen pal.
Starting with emotion, stopping at propriety.
But the more it was like this, the more there was a thrilling undercurrent.
Dark folded the letter and temporarily put it in the drawer.
"Since it's Eudora, there shouldn't be a big problem."
He breathed a sigh of relief and said to Rose, "Let's go look for them?"
"Mhm," Rose hummed softly.
But when she stepped out of the dormitory again and walked side by side with Dark in the corridor, she seemed to suddenly remember something, and a red cloud suddenly rose on her face.
To conceal her abnormality, Rose grabbed her rabbit ears tightly and used the hood to sandwich her cheeks.
...
Cold wind scraped past.
The footsteps in the corridor revealed urgency.
Dark first went to Eudora's dormitory, then went to Diana's dormitory.
He knocked on the doors respectively, but naturally, he received no response both times.
"Since they came to deliver gifts, we can basically rule out the possibility of them sleeping soundly indoors."
Dark pondered for a while, suddenly noticing that Rose was still wearing rabbit pajamas, and asked, "Why don't you change your clothes?"
Rose shook her head hurriedly. "Let's keep looking, I'm a bit worried."
Dark frowned slightly.
Of course, he wanted to keep looking too.
But in the current situation, apart from knowing that the other person was Eudora, there were absolutely no other clues.
Even Sherlock Holmes couldn't solve a case out of thin air.
At this time, it seemed he could only use the "exhaustive search method."
"Two possibilities: one is searching upwards, inside the tower; the other is searching downwards, outside the tower."
Dark's gaze shifted, and he thought of a possibility.
"If they left the tower, perhaps there is someone who can provide some information."
Subsequently, he immediately took Rose down to the common room, pushed the door open, and arrived in front of that [Feathered Serpent Golem].
As the guardian golem of the [Noble House], this "Feathered Serpent," although not a real living creature, always gave people a very peculiar feeling.
It remained coiled at the entrance, unmoving through wind and rain, no matter how much time passed.
The colorful wings draped over its body spread out, and the eyes it occasionally opened were deep and wise.
Also known as the "Speaker of Truth," the Feathered Serpent was legendary for being able to see through falsehoods, peek into reality, and never tell a lie.
Dark looked at the [Feathered Serpent Golem] with its eyes closed and asked seriously, "Feathered Serpent, did anyone else leave the dormitory this morning?"
Under Rose's astonished gaze, the [Feathered Serpent Golem] slowly opened its eyes, then actually flicked its snake tongue and really nodded!
Dark immediately followed up, "Was it Diana and Eudora?"
However, at this moment, the [Feathered Serpent Golem] closed its eyes again, resembling a stone carving.
Dark took a deep breath. "It should be them. Let's go, let's see if there are any clues on the other side of the bridge."
Saying that, he stepped onto the snow-piled bridge, facing the snowflakes.
Rose hurriedly followed.
The footprints Diana had made earlier had been buried by new snow.
But after she stepped off the bridge, some traces remained inside the castle at that end.
They were not clear footprints like those that often appear in various detective novels, but merely a few spots of water that hadn't dried yet.
Dark couldn't distinguish whether they were the footprints of one person or two people from them.
It was even less possible to infer a person's posture from these traces.
Even these water spots disappeared completely a little further on.
In the real world, where were there so many traces that could be traced?
It wasn't until this moment that Dark suddenly remembered to ask, "By the way, why did Diana want to come so early to deliver chocolate? There shouldn't be any emphasis on time for Valentine's Day gifts, right?"
Rose's face turned red with a whoosh.
She averted her gaze and whispered, "It is said that delivering it earlier brings a good omen."
Dark: "Earlier... how early?"
Rose: "As early as possible."
Dark opened his mouth. Connecting the cause and effect, a thread of logic suddenly appeared in his brain.
He couldn't help but cover his forehead. "I can probably guess it."
He dodged the tropes of detective novels.
But he couldn't dodge the tropes of romance novels.
The tropes of life are truly one link after another.
...
...
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