Please, I'm Trying to Study, Your Highness! - chapter 6

As Li Yaowen slunk away, tail between his legs, full of shame and frustration, the tension in the classroom finally eased.

Everyone resumed their conversations, and the atmosphere returned to the noisy chaos of break time.

Only a faint trace of “battle smoke” lingered in the air, silently recounting what had just happened.

Xia Shiyu sat upright at her desk, resting her chin on one hand.

Her pair of peach blossom eyes withdrew their gaze, but lingered for half a second at a corner in the back row of the classroom.

The boy had sat down again, his loose blue-and-white school uniform hiding his figure.

Long bangs and black-rimmed glasses once more concealed him in the shadows.

He kept his head down, returning to his usual state-like he might fall asleep if he spoke even a few more words.

It was as if the person who had just driven off a burly guy with a few words wasn’t this utterly inconspicuous “Sleep God” at all.

Interesting.

Twining her fingers around a lock of hair, Xia Shiyu’s lips curled into a smile of intrigue.

Li Yaowen, that simple-minded dumb dog, was certainly an excellent tool for showing off her own charm.

After all, a little teasing was enough to control him easily, but playing with him too much would inevitably get boring.

But this one in front of her…

Someone who could use wit to counter brute strength, yet after resolving the crisis, didn’t show off, instead quietly withdrawing and keeping a low profile.

That was indeed quite interesting, wasn’t it?

Looks like there’s a toy in this class she’d never noticed before.

“Shishi, don’t space out! Next period is PE, hurry and change so we can get to the field,” the girl in front turned around to urge her.

The curiosity in Xia Shiyu’s eyes faded, replaced by a bright, sweet, innocent smile. “Ah, is it that time already?”

Her voice stretched out, coy and charming, enough to make anyone’s bones go soft.

The soft fullness on her chest swayed slightly as she stood up, drawing a few furtive glances.

“Coming, wait for me, Mengmeng~”

Laughing and chatting with the girls, she gracefully walked out of the classroom, as if that brief, predatory gaze had never existed.

—

PE class, on the sports field.

The southern sun was as passionate as ever in autumn.

The rubber track was baked by the sunlight, releasing its distinctive rubbery smell.

The PE teacher blew the whistle for assembly.

After the routine of jogging two laps with all the students, he finally called out the phrase everyone had been waiting for: “Free activity!”

The fairly neat lines scattered like birds and beasts.

The boys rushed eagerly to the basketball court, while the girls gathered in small groups under the shade, chatting about gossip and celebrities.

I felt completely out of place on this lively field.

Alone, I walked to the shaded area by the horizontal bar, took an English vocabulary booklet out of my pocket, and prepared to use this precious time to study.

But today, two figures stuck to me like glue.

“Brother Hui, Brother Hui! Wait for me!”

Wang Lei’s hefty body came running over, panting, his chubby face flushed red from the 800-meter run, sweat streaming down his greasy skin.

Monkey Zhang Yuan darted over from the other side, slinging his arm around my shoulder. “Damn, Xiao Huihui, you were so cool today! You should’ve seen Li Yaowen’s face-it was as green as a turtle’s!”

Wang Lei had originally been annoyed at Monkey for playing dead and bailing during the confrontation.

But Monkey argued righteously, “Come on, I wasn’t playing dead, okay? Ever heard of strategic concealment?”

“I figured if he really started something, I could grab a bench from behind and ambush him, give you a chance for a counterattack!”

“As the saying goes, war is all about deception.”

Wang Lei’s simple mind couldn’t process such “advanced” tactics, and he was left utterly bewildered.
With my unscathed resolution of the crisis, that little bit of awkwardness vanished into thin air.

The two reconciled and unanimously hailed me as the new “Brother Hui.”

“Brother Hui, let’s go to the convenience store, my treat! Take whatever you want to drink!” Wang Lei patted his chest, his fat jiggling, brimming with bravado.

“Get out of here, your pocket money isn’t even enough to fill the gap between my teeth. Let me handle it.”

Monkey, unwilling to be outdone, rushed to curry favor. “Xiao Huihui, I’ll help you finish the homework for the next class too, how about it?”

Sandwiched between them, I could smell the strong, sour sweat of my two “Goblin” companions after exercise.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth, responding lazily and without much energy, “Come on, my so-called skills are all just talk.”

I pulled down the arms draped over my shoulders, quietly freeing myself from their grip.

“If it really came down to a fight, we’d have to rely on Fatty’s bulk as a human shield, and Monkey, your skinny frame probably couldn’t even take one punch from Li Yaowen.”

With some banter and perfunctory remarks, I managed to settle things in the most energy-efficient way.

Since my refusal was reasonable, the two overly enthusiastic “Goblins” couldn’t pester me further and could only chuckle foolishly.

I patted the wrinkles on my school uniform that they’d left behind, ready to get back to studying.

Suddenly, a pleasant female voice rang out from nearby.

“Eh? Wang Lei, Zhang Yuan, are you resting here?”

The voice seemed to carry a kind of magic.

The two reacted as if struck by electricity, freezing in place, staring blankly at the approaching figure.

Good, I didn’t even need to look to know who it was.

In this school, the only person who could instantly devolve these two hormone-fueled guys from Goblins into paramecia…

Was “Saintess Your Highness.”

Xia Shiyu had changed into her gym clothes.

On top, she wore a pure white short-sleeved T-shirt, the hem casually tied in a knot at her stomach, revealing a small stretch of flat, toned waist.

Below, sky-blue athletic shorts fully displayed her dazzlingly fair, beautiful legs.

She simply walked over like that, and quite a few boys on the field instinctively bent over in greeting.

Some even ran straight to the restroom for who knows what.

Xia Shiyu was long used to Wang Lei and Monkey’s awkward reactions; her smile didn’t change in the slightest.

“You guys worked so hard running the 800 meters just now.”

Critical hit, a pure critical hit.

I glanced at their embarrassing display.

“N-no way,” Wang Lei stammered, his tongue tied, his chubby face redder than after running the 800 meters, not knowing what to do with his hands.

Monkey was no better. He instinctively straightened his skinny back, forcing a creepy smile that looked more like he was about to cry.

“Y-yeah, it’s n-nothing, Xia… Xia Shiyu…”

Just two simple sentences were enough to make these ordinary pilots dizzy, nearly fainting on the spot.

Under the sunlight, the girl’s tender skin glowed with an ivory sheen, full of youthful elasticity and healthy beauty.

All I can say is, the Saintess is still way too dominant in this version.

After feeding the two puppies a piece of candy, Xia Shiyu’s sparkling eyes finally turned toward me with clear intent.

Here we go.

A barely audible sigh of annoyance echoed deep within me.

Trouble, in the end, still came knocking…

She didn’t speak right away, just blinked and sized me up.

The curiosity in her gaze was undisguised, as if she’d found a novel toy.

“Lin Hui, you’re here too?”

Her voice was close, soft and gentle.

Each syllable in that suspended moment turned into a feather, lightly tickling my eardrums.