Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - Chapter 287

Chapter 287

At first, Beili had only planned to pretend to sleep and get through this slightly tricky crisis.

But she hadn’t expected that after using Beast Transformation and ending up lying in Cassius’s hand, breathing in the faint herbal scent from his palm and feeling his slightly cool body temperature…

Before she knew it, she had actually fallen asleep.

But she did not dream.

Because the Dream Cage was so vast, so richly detailed, and because the people and objects inside were so real, it had not only consumed a great deal of her Mana, but also occupied her dreams.

So once she fell asleep, she would not dream.

It had been a very, very long time since she had dreamed.

Because their emotions were connected, the Morpho Butterflies had once suggested to her when they left the dream: she could act in reality during the day, then go into the dream at night when she slept to take a look at that person.

That person.

But Beili did not dare. Deep down, she was actually a little afraid, and conflicted.

She did not want to see what Ashera would look like after receiving the heart and forgetting her.

Even less did she want to see what he would look like if he still remembered her.

So after Beili left the dream, she never returned to the dream to see him again.

Just as she was thinking about this, she vaguely heard voices.

“Miss Bartholomew, how is she?”

Beili listened carefully for a moment before realizing it was Clarence’s voice.

She slowly opened her eyes.

Her thoughts cleared from their haze.

She discovered that she was already lying on a bed in the infirmary of Holy Island Academy’s medical building.

White sheets, the gentle glow of the Fluorite Lamp-everything seemed quiet.

This was her second time coming here.

The physician outside the door seemed to answer Clarence, but the voice was too soft for Beili to hear the details.

She only heard Clarence’s reply:

“…All right. Then I’ll come again tomorrow.”

Her red eyes stilled slightly.

Beili opened her mouth, about to say something, but her voice was hoarse and her throat felt dry and itchy. A moment later, she couldn’t help coughing.

Clarence must have heard her movement. He knocked lightly from outside the door and asked with some concern in his voice,

“Miss Bartholomew, are you awake? May I come in?”

Beili cleared her throat and replied,

“Come in.”

After her words fell, two seconds passed before the infirmary door slowly opened.

A boy with short, curly chestnut hair and blue eyes walked in, looking somewhat nervous.

Oh, and he was carrying a bag.

The bag was wrapped around something, revealing the outline of a box.

Beili had originally been considering how to get information out of Clarence.

She wanted to ask him what had happened at the welcome ball last night.

But the moment the boy walked in, Beili’s gaze was first drawn to the thing in his hand.

“Clarence, you… didn’t make something to eat and bring it over, did you?”

Beili asked, her tone uncertain.

Clarence’s face turned red at once, as if a layer of red wine had been brushed over it, the color spreading in a faint flush.

“One of my dorm roommates fractured a bone in his hand during training, so he stayed in the infirmary for a while.”

“He said the meals in the infirmary don’t taste good.”

“I thought that, judging by Miss Bartholomew’s personality… if the food doesn’t taste good, you might simply not eat it.”

Clarence veered away from the topic, then circled back again.

In a slightly awkward voice, he said,

“But that wouldn’t help your body recover, so I made some myself… and brought it over.”

“Where did you make it?”

Beili’s red eyes brightened slightly, and her brows lifted at once.

“Did you borrow the cafeteria kitchen?”

She asked in surprise.

“No, not that.”

Clarence’s shoulders froze for a moment, and he hurriedly explained,

“My dorm has a kitchen. Since I usually do a lot of physical training, my daily training volume is fairly high, and I eat quite a lot. Holy Island’s cafeteria basically can’t meet my needs…”

-The Wolf Family, as a Knight family of Sainthos, had a strict training schedule for every child as future Knights of Sainthos. Even after coming to Holy Island to study, slacking off was not allowed.

“So I usually go back to my dorm and cook for myself.”

It was hard to imagine. Beili really found it hard to imagine that such a tall Noble young man would actually return to his dorm every day and cook his own meals.

She tried picturing it in her mind and felt the contrast was rather striking.

As he spoke, Clarence had already walked to the low table beside the bed. He set down the food container in his hand and opened it.

At first, Beili had been thinking about how to tactfully refuse. After all, she still wasn’t ready to accept someone else’s kindness.

But after Clarence lifted the lid of the lunch box…

The aroma of the food seemed to come alive, instantly spreading out and filling the entire room.
Beili’s stomach growled, entirely against her will.

Damn it…!

The rumble sounded a little too clear in the quiet room, and embarrassment immediately washed over her.

Clarence, however, didn’t seem to mind. He took a bowl and spoon from the lunchbox, then ladled out a bowl of fish soup from the food container.

Beili didn’t stand on ceremony anymore. She quietly took the spoon, blew on it lightly, and had a sip.

It tasted sweet and tangy.

Perhaps because a large amount of tomato had been added, the broth was so rich it seemed to wrap itself around her taste buds.

Beili was instantly drawn in by the flavor, and before she knew it, she had eaten quite a lot.

Clarence pulled over the chair beside him and sat down, his head slightly lowered, not even daring to lift his eyes to look at her.

He simply waited there in silence while she ate.

“Thank you. It was delicious.”

After Beili had eaten her fill, she looked at the brown-haired youth and asked,

“This is my first time having fish soup like this. Did you come up with the recipe yourself?”

At her praise, Clarence’s face flushed faintly again. In a low voice, he said,

“I did try making it myself, but this sort of flavor isn’t actually anything new…”

“You’re so modest.”

Beili gave him a faint smile and praised him sincerely.

“Your cooking is wonderful, Mr. Clarence. It tastes exactly like something made by the chefs at Santos Palace.”

Clarence’s face turned even redder in an instant, like thick tomato sauce simmering on the stove.

His head dipped lower, his gaze nearly falling to the floor, and his voice grew nervous.

“Miss Bartholomew, please don’t tease me. How could I possibly…”

“I’m not teasing you. It’s the truth.”

Beili blinked her red eyes lightly. Only after she finished praising him did she ask,

“By the way, Mr. Clarence, can you tell me what happened at the welcome ball last night?”

Hearing her question, Clarence hesitated for a moment before saying,

“Actually, the welcome ball was the night before last.”

“Oh…” Beili was a little surprised. “I actually slept that long?”

“Magus Cassius said you hadn’t had a proper rest in too long, so he cast some sleep-aid magic on you to let you get a good night’s sleep.”

Clarence nodded and explained,

“As for the welcome ball, what happened afterward was rather chaotic, Miss Bartholomew.”

“You and Miss Renee suddenly got into a conflict. Miss Renee pushed you, and then you seemed to lose control a little. A lot of butterflies appeared around you, and you almost hurt Miss Renee and Prince Lance.”

“After that, the students were all driven back to their dormitories by the people from Holy Church Academy. I was among them.”

In truth, Clarence had been so worried he hadn’t slept the entire night.

Beili coughed lightly.

As she tried hard to recall, she asked, “I have some impression of what you just said, but what about before that?”

What she actually wanted to know was what had happened before she opened her eyes and found herself with someone in each arm.

Because she wanted to know whether she had done anything… well… inappropriate to him or Lance.

Beili sighed.

“I remember a few fragments, but many of the details are still a little blurry.”

Clarence seemed to think of something. The blush that had only just faded from his face suddenly returned, spreading all the way down to his neck.

But he did not say it aloud. Instead, he comforted her.

“Miss Bartholomew, don’t worry, and don’t overthink it. Maybe you’ve just been too tired lately.”

“As long as you follow Tutor Cassius’s instructions and receive proper treatment, I’m sure you’ll be back to normal very soon.”

…

At the same time.

Renee arrived downstairs at the male students’ dormitory building.

The dorm supervisor would not drive away a female student like Renee who was waiting downstairs outside the boys’ dormitory.

After simply asking whom she was looking for, the supervisor returned to the office and used a communication orb to connect to a certain room.

A little while later, Lance came out of the dormitory building.

The moment Renee saw Lance, she immediately walked up to him.

“Brother-”

Her voice was somewhat urgent.

The look Lance gave Renee still held reproach. In a rather heavy voice, he asked,

“You’ve already decided to come with me to apologize to Luoluo, haven’t you?”

“Oh-apologize?”

Renee’s fake golden eyes widened, her brows knitting together as she shouted stubbornly,

“Absolutely not! I will never apologize to her!”

“She provoked me!”

Her tone was forceful.

Lance’s expression darkened. His narrow, upturned fox-like eyes, usually smiling, now held no trace of amusement as he said coldly,

“Then I have nothing more to say to you, Renee. I’m going back.”

After throwing down those words, Lance turned to leave. But before he had taken more than a few steps, he heard Renee’s incredulous cry.
“Brother!”

Lance ignored her and continued toward the dormitory building.

Then he heard a girl sobbing behind him.

Just like when they were children, there was an obvious performative quality to the crying, but this was actually Renee’s way of showing weakness.

Lance stopped again, turned back, and said with a trace of helplessness in his voice, “What is it?”

“Brother-”

Renee sniffled and said, “Brother, you have to help me. Everyone else’s eyes are just for decoration. Only yours are useful. Only you can help me, Brother Lance.”

…

About ten minutes later.

Renee returned to the girls’ dormitory room with a red-furred fox in her arms.

She opened the door. The red-furred fox leaped from her arms to the floor and, in the blink of an eye, transformed into a red-haired, black-eyed young man.

The young man looked at the room that had been turned upside down and frowned.

He immediately said in a reproachful tone, “Renee, are you the one who made Luoluo’s room this messy?”

“Oh… of course not!”

Renee denied it on instinct, but the moment the words left her mouth, Lance shot her a stern look.

She had no choice but to lower her head, admit what she had done, and offer an excuse. “I just heard Brother say he wanted to find the Memory Jar Bartholomew brought back from Tilisha, so I helped look for it.”

“Brother, I know I was wrong.”

Tears still clung to her artificial eyes, glimmering faintly under the Fluorite Lamp.

Sniffling, she said, “But you have to help me now, because the clues about the second prince must be in this room.”

As soon as the words were out, Renee realized she had misspoken. Her tongue tripped over itself, and she quickly corrected, “Oh no, I mean the clues about the Memory Jar must be in this room!”

Lance sighed helplessly when he heard that.

He truly could not understand why Renee was so fixated on Sainthos’s second prince.

Thinking back to Cyril’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony, he had greeted that second prince on Renee’s behalf, but afterward, Cyril had warned him-

That person was a monster. It was best not to get too involved with him. If Lance did not want trouble, he should stay away.

He had to admit that although Cyril had refused to compromise on the matter of Luoluo, Cyril was still trustworthy in other respects.

“Renee, I will not help you search for clues about that second prince.”

Lance’s tone allowed no refusal.

“Once I find the Memory Jar containing the memories of the Tilisha disaster, I’ll leave.”

Lance was certain Bartholomew had started acting strangely after obtaining the Tilisha Disaster Memory Can, so he needed to find that can.

“Brother-!”

After hearing her brother’s words, Renee called out behind him in disbelief.

…

The sea breeze, damp with moisture, brushed softly past. The sunlight on Holy Island was warm.

Beili had taken another nap in the infirmary of the medical building.

Doctor Cassius said that once she woke up, she could return to her dormitory and continue her unfinished magic coursework.

Oh, though she had only come here to experience life, she still had to complete her magic coursework.

Doctor Cassius said he would come pick her up after she woke.

Beili had originally refused, but then he said he would take her to the Academy cafeteria for some faculty meals that students normally could not get.

Beili hesitated for two seconds, then spinelessly agreed.

She changed out of the hospital gown and into the Academy uniform in a pale linen shade, then combed her hair again and again.

She sat on the sickbed and waited for a long while, but not even a corner of Doctor Cassius’s clothes appeared.

It was somewhat noisy outside the infirmary.

Many female students were chattering about something in the hallway.

It made Beili feel as if she had returned to the time right after the closing Hunt Banquet ended.

Back then, Lance had broken half his leg and was lying in the infirmary diagonally across from hers for treatment.

The hallway had also been packed with female students who had heard the news.

Beili blinked her red eyes and remembered what she had been thinking at the time.

Back then, she had thought how nice it would be if there were a spell to make them quiet down.

Then Cyril had spoken.

“Either be quiet, or get lost.”

The same words, as if he were chewing on shards of ice, played out once again.

Beili suddenly found it amusing. The corner of her mouth tugged up, and she gave a soft laugh.

The next second, the door to her infirmary room opened.

“Bartholomew-”

Cyril called her name in a cold voice.

Beili lifted her red eyes and saw the black-haired, purple-eyed young man. There was a little more urgency between his brows than usual.

Before she could ask anything, Cyril said to her, “Something happened to Lance and his sister.”