Little Cat - Chapter 3

I failed in the end.

Ming Xia won first place.

I was rushed to a treatment room after the huge amount of calming serum I’d injected nearly killed my spirit form.

I’d been so close.

The thought made me sad.

And Lu Peiran, who should have come to give me psychic guidance, never showed up.

He was busy having his compatibility with Ming Xia tested.

Apparently, her spirit form had gone berserk during the competition.

She’d caused that enormous explosion, too.

Her partner hadn’t been able to suppress her spirit form.

Lu Peiran had arrived just in time and successfully soothed her.

The people who’d never liked me gloated.

“Judging by what happened, Lu Peiran and Ming Xia might have an even higher compatibility rate!”

I ignored them.

Instead, that made them think I was heartbroken.

Before long, Lu Peiran called.

He accused me angrily, “What rubbish have you been telling people?”

“…What?”

“Forget it.”

Before I could react, he backed down of his own accord.

He still sounded irritated. “I was in the wrong this time. I didn’t know—anyway, nothing serious happened to you, did it? You got out after one day in treatment. How could your life have been in danger? Those people are making such a fuss.”

The last sentence was much quieter.

He muttered it, sounding faintly guilty.

To Lu Peiran, a spirit form disintegrating or even dying from too much calming serum wasn’t anything serious.

I didn’t explain further. I simply murmured an acknowledgment.

His voice immediately relaxed. Then he complained, still a little dissatisfied, “I told you to withdraw early. Why wouldn’t you listen? And I left you high-grade calming serum. Why didn’t you use that, either?”

“Sorry. I didn’t notice.”

“You—”

That left him at a loss.

But he’d never been someone who could soften his manner and humble himself before me.

After a silence, he spoke awkwardly again. “I’ll transfer the money to your account. If you need any other compensation, I’ll do what I can.”

It sounded like charity bestowed from on high.

But I knew this was his way of offering to make peace.

He’d always been like that.

I thought for a moment. “You can keep the money. Could you trade me the energy crystal from first prize? If you’re reluctant to trade, I could buy it. Its attribute doesn’t match Ming Xia’s, so it shouldn’t be any use to her.”

I understood Lu Peiran.

So I softened my voice and stressed, “But A-Ran, I might die without that energy crystal. I don’t want anything else. Just that.”

“Energy crystal?”

It seemed to take him a moment to remember that first prize had indeed included one.

“Just an energy crystal?”

“Yes.”

For some reason, he seemed relieved.

“All right. Got it,” he agreed casually.