Please, I'm Trying to Study, Your Highness! - chapter 37

The door of the rented apartment clicked shut behind me.

The world where I always have to wear a mask was shut out on the other side.

I tossed the key casually onto the table, where it landed with a crisp metallic clatter.

Every muscle in my body felt as if it had completed a long trek, clamoring with fatigue.

Tonight’s dinner was a ready meal bought from the convenience store downstairs.

It didn’t taste great, but it was cheap.

After eating, I went to the bathroom for a quick wash.

A dozen minutes later, white steam drifted out as I pushed open the bathroom door.

I grabbed a towel from the rack and roughly dried my damp hair as I walked into the bedroom.

My phone on the desk blinked on and off, signaling the arrival of unread messages.

I picked it up and unlocked the screen. Several new chat windows from Feixin popped up one by one.

The message list was almost entirely occupied by a cartoon rabbit avatar.

[Qiao Nian: Brother Huihui, are you home yet?]

[Qiao Nian: The weather was really nice this evening.]

[Picture.jpg] (a photo of the evening sky and sunset)

[Qiao Nian: There’s so much homework today. I got stuck on a physics problem for ages.]

[Qiao Nian: By the way, Brother Huihui, you’re good at physics too, right?]

…..

Ever since that little incident last weekend,

the girl has been messaging me far more frequently than before.

The content has shifted from simple greetings to much more casual, everyday conversation.

I can’t figure out the reason for this change.

Logically speaking, she should be playing out a pure and innocent romance routine with her childhood crush.

So what does it mean for her to be bothering me now?

My logic module can’t make sense of it.

As a rule, after I get home, I basically ignore these pointless extra social interactions.

But at the moment, the rules are in her hands.

There’s no way around it.

I can only start tapping out a reply-something lukewarm, not too distant.

[Home now. The sunset is beautiful. Hang in there. I’m okay.]

Message sent.

Then I flip my phone over, screen down, and leave it on the nightstand.

It’s a ritualistic gesture, signaling a temporary disconnection from all unnecessary ties to the outside world.

Now, this time is my own.

…

The desk lamp cast a gentle white glow, lighting up a small area as bright as day.

I sat down at the desk and opened up the exercise book I was halfway through.

Throwing myself wholeheartedly into the ocean of study built from numbers, symbols, and logic.

Time slipped by unnoticed.

Each step of every solution was listed on the scrap paper beside me.

After tackling the final big problem, I put down my pen and drank most of the cool water on the table.

The chilled liquid slid down my throat, taking away the heat generated by long hours of intense thinking.

My gaze passed through the beads of condensation on the glass.

The scene at the school gate this afternoon replayed itself like a video tape, frame by frame.

Zhou Ziang’s appearance had been a surprise.

But this surprise could also be a catalyst to speed up the script.

With my hands crossed under my chin, I started to review every detail, weighing the gains and losses of each step.

The result was… perfect.

A flawless closing performance.

When facing Zhou Ziang’s slander,

I chose to respond with logic rather than emotion.

Step by step, I broke him down with what seemed like objective analysis.

More importantly, at the same time, I showed Xia Shiyu the “true face” of Lin Hui as she imagined it.

A boy who appears cold but is pure of heart, who bursts out with amazing energy when his goddess is insulted, and who later, out of “understanding” and “sympathy,” blurts out some awkward but sincere words.

This image is three-dimensional and full.

It also leaves her with a sense of his “tameability”-a hint that he can be conquered-which triggers her hunting instinct.

At the time, she must have been laughing to herself about how easily I took the bait.

Hmph, you didn’t expect it, did you? Everything was part of my plan!

For now, I’ve firmly established myself in the transition from [resistance] to [wavering].
In Xia Shiyu’s eyes, I had already changed from a clam that needed its shell pried open into a hedgehog that could still prick, but was slowly willing to reveal its soft belly to her.

So, what comes next is the road toward [Descent] and [Complete Submission].

I need to let Xia Shiyu “see” how her presence is changing me, little by little.

Even more, I need her twisted desire for conquest to be thoroughly satisfied through a carefully designed, accelerated process.

Only when she’s certain she has completely conquered me, her “one-of-a-kind toy,” and tasted the fruits of victory, will she toss me aside without a hint of reluctance, like discarding old clothes she’s tired of wearing.

As for those harsh words Zhou Ziang spat out at the end?

Sorry, in my information processing system, those are simply classified as “worthless loser noise.”

Promiscuous? Incapable of genuine feelings?

Please, this is a modern harem urban fantasy!

A world built on a fundamental logic of “lust” and “desire.”

What bizarre, monstrous situations haven’t I foreseen?

What worldview-shattering absurdities haven’t flashed by in the system’s background notes?

To fuss over whether a woman’s body is “pure” is, in itself, extremely foolish.

Besides, someone like Xia Shiyu – a natural beauty perched at the very top of the pyramid –

if she truly had not the slightest desire or interest in men…

now that would be a real problem!

According to the vast database I accumulated as a veteran reader of cliché novels in my previous life,

the so-called “Saintess” type characters, pure as jade, often hide the deepest and most twisted psychological issues.

Their “purity” doesn’t come from morality or self-discipline,

but from extreme narcissism or rejection of the outside world after psychological trauma.

The longer the repression, once the gate called “true love” is opened by a particular man, the obsession, possessiveness, and desire for sex that erupts can be tsunami-level.

A truly terrifying existence that could devour a person completely, leaving not even a scrap of bone behind.

To be targeted by that kind of woman would end a person ten thousand times more miserably than being toyed with by Xia Shiyu.

Fortunately, she doesn’t belong to that category.

There are three reasons.

First,

she may enjoy ruining relationships and playing with people’s hearts, fitting the Green Tea Persona,

but her behavioral patterns still follow this world’s fundamental laws of “desire.”

Second,

Xia Shiyu’s previous actions perfectly fit the Green Tea Persona’s typical way of satisfying her need for conquest on a spiritual level.

Third,

what Zhou Ziang said and Xia Shiyu’s reaction at the time are key pieces of evidence.

She’s most likely not a virgin.

The rest of the reasoning is straightforward.

Because this proves she isn’t the kind of psychologically twisted “Saintess” who rejects all contact with men.

At most, she’s just a slightly higher-end “ordinary girl” with normal physiological desires, who’ll sleep with guys she both finds attractive and who meet some need of hers.

Her behavior is traceable.

Her desires have boundaries.

She can be calculated, she can be guided.

An enemy whose actions are predictable and logical is far safer than a “black box” full of the unknown and uncertain.

Analysis complete.

I stretched, feeling instantly lighter, and let out a big yawn.

As long as I play my part in her script, I can retire with my mission accomplished.

I can return to that focused path toward becoming “top scorer in the province.”

It’s settled, it’s settled!

Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at the scarlet numbers on the electronic clock,

silently displaying 02:59.

A wave of fatigue seeped from every cell in my body.

The mental exhaustion brought on by the Gift of the Grind King grew heavier in the dead of night.

I switched off the desk lamp, walked to the bed, and sank into the softness of the mattress, the comfort of the pillow, the sense of security curling up under the covers…

Truly wonderful.

At last, I can sleep.