Chapter 280: Shy Lily

For a few seconds, Lily didn’t respond to Vlad’s question as she was suddenly taken aback. Her eyes slowly widened, realising the blunder she had made in her anger.

Just the previous day, the Principal, Lirien, had asked Vlad if he had met all of his close friends, to which he had agreed in annoyance. Now Lily was accusing him for the exact same reason, with the exact same wording in the exact same behaviour as Lirien. The similarity between the two situations was uncanny.

’O-oh no. D-did he find out I’m the Principal?’ She gasped inwardly, her fingers trembling slightly at her sides. If he were to learn that she was the Principal, he would also realise that she was a Primordial Dragon. The title alone would scare him away. He would never meet her again out of sheer fear, or even if he did, things would never remain the same between them. She would lose the only friend she had. She must not let him know that she was the Principal at all costs.

Her lips parted as she was about to come up with an excuse when Vlad continued, "Your voice is different, but you two have a similar accent and tone. Even her plushie form that I saw yesterday resembled you."

His eyes narrowed as he connected all the dots, arriving at a conclusion that only a sharp mind such as his own could reach.

"Are you Miss Principal’s disciple?"

"..."

Although Vlad had a very sharp mind, it lacked one particular aspect: the ability to understand a lady’s heart. Or more accurately, he was still in the learning phase. He had learned a few things from Seraphina and Chloe, but he was still only in the early stages of development.

Lily released a sigh of relief. "Yes, I’m Miss Principal’s disciple," she lied with a straight face. Her tone turned sharp again as she continued, "But that is not important right now! You told the Principal that you had already met all of your friends and didn’t even include me in the list of those you would meet later."

Vlad released a sigh. Now he understood why Principal Lirien had been furious with him. He had basically told her that he didn’t remember her disciple.

"I said that because I’m not acquainted with the Principal well enough to tell her about my private relationships," Vlad explained with a sigh, facepalming. "And I was annoyed at her because she was deducting my credits for no reason. So I agreed to her accusation in the heat of the moment."

Lily’s tense figure softened ever so slightly. Her eyes fell upon his broad back, half hidden beneath the surface of the pond. "But still I was the last that you came to visit," she muttered, her tone softer now.

"I wanted to meet you sooner, but my family came the very next day after I returned," Vlad explained to her, scratching the back of his head. "When I came back from meeting them, I was summoned by the Principal. I spent the whole of yesterday preparing for Midterms without even realising that it was already the next day."

His voice turned softer as he continued, "Still, I’m sorry for not coming sooner."

No response came from behind Vlad. All he could hear, along with the singing of the insects, was the sound of shifting water, as if someone had entered the pond.

The sound of gentle ripples drew closer and closer.

"You may turn around," Lily’s calm voice came from just behind Vlad.

As he slowly turned, her ethereal face and flawless features, which seemed sculpted from smooth jade itself, were revealed. Her plump lips carried a small, gentle smile as she looked at Vlad with her gem-like silver eyes. The platinum hair, dry above and clinging to her body below her neck, only added to her charms.

One of her arms was placed above her chest on the water’s surface in a shy attempt to hide her cleavage from those deep crimson eyes.

"I shall forgive you just this time," she murmured, her eyes never leaving Vlad’s striking face. She raised a finger of her other hand at him as she hissed softly, "But there shall be no next time!"

Vlad raised his own hand in response. He locked his pinky finger with hers as he replied, "It’s a promise, then."

Lily’s breath hitched at his audacity in touching her without hesitation. No one in Argentum was daring enough to casually touch the Principal of Arcane Academy, after all. She didn’t mind his touch in the least. A smile simply formed on her face as he gently moved their hands back and forth, their pinky fingers still locked.

"Is this how friends shake hands in your village?" Lily asked, tilting her head. She had observed students grabbing each other’s whole palms when they greeted one another.

Vlad merely chuckled, shaking his head. "It’s a gesture for making promises," Vlad explained. "If I break the promise, I must cut off my finger and receive a thousand punches from you."

Lily’s brows rose. She had never seen such a way of making a promise. "But I don’t want you to cut off your finger," she replied, a hint of concern in her voice.

"Then I guess I need to make sure that such a situation never arises," Vlad replied, finally retracting his hand.

Lily hadn’t noticed it back in the office because she was too furious, but now that she looked at him up close, he looked even more handsome than he had before leaving the academy.

His skin seemed to carry a natural glow, and she couldn’t help but feel a sense of familiarity from him. Something about him had definitely changed, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, as if something inside him was keeping it hidden from her senses.

She decided not to dwell on it further. Realising that her friend hadn’t actually forgotten her made her too happy to think about anything complicated.

"So what do you say, Lily?"

"Okay," Lily nodded without even hearing what he had just asked.

"Alright then," Vlad said, grabbing her hand and swimming to the edge of the pool.

Her cheeks instantly turned red. His boldness truly knew no bounds. He had jumped straight from holding her pinky to grabbing her whole hand. How could he just take her first hand-holding without permission?

Once Vlad stopped upon reaching the edge, Lily finally managed to ask, shyly retracting her hand, "V-Vlad, wh-what are you doing?"

"Eh?" Vlad gave her a confused look. "Didn’t you just agree to have a swimming bet?"

Lily didn’t remember agreeing to any bet, her mind completely elsewhere. She had just given a nod because her friend was asking something, not even bothering to listen to the question.

Seeing the confusion on her face, Vlad explained again, "The one who reaches the other side first gets to make a wish, and the loser has to grant it."