If her guess was correct, Kiana had less than two years before she would be forced back to Schicksal HQ. There, she'd spend a year in a laboratory, her body adjusted to be perfectly compatible for union with Anna. Anna would likely do the same, retiring early from her Valkyrie squad to spend a year conditioning her physical state.
In two years at most, Kiana would return to the Kaslana family to become a caged bird, virtually cut off from ordinary people like them.
That was why, during this window, Kiana tried her best to enjoy her youth in low-profile obscurity.
Once you made a request of the family, you had to pay the price—and that price was inevitably a reduction in your free time.
Whatever resources you took from the family, the family would eventually make you spit back out.
Freedom and youth were, for every Kaslana, far more precious than money. They avoided asking the family for help whenever possible.
Raiden Mei calculated silently.
This information was a crucial key for her to create opportunities for Li Wu—to drag this beloved, respected study representative down from her holy, untouchable altar.
Just as Mei was thinking this, Kiana stood up. She stood with her back to the sunlight streaming through the window, her clear azure eyes turning dark and shadowed. Her gaze was no longer as soft as snow, but as biting as frost.
"Raiden Mei, I have no interest in whatever is going on between you and Li Wu. If you're doing all this just to make him feel better, you can rest easy. I haven't taken that matter to heart. So... stop disturbing my school life, and don't interfere with my studies. You know I don't like throwing my weight around, but that doesn't mean I can't."
Kiana's rebuttal was firm and grounded.
However, Raiden Mei merely tilted her head, a glimmer of feigned confusion in her eyes. "I never said this was about Li Wu?"
"...Is playing word games fun for you?"
"Mm-hmm, just teasing. I'm just worried about our study representative. If you read books all day, you might turn into a bookworm. Is caring for a classmate grounds for being suppressed by your power? I guess I'll just have to silently endure this injustice..."
Mei's nonchalant attitude made Kiana's blood boil, but she had nowhere to vent it.
Very few people knew about the rooftop incident; she couldn't let the matter escalate. The "caring for a classmate" excuse was flimsy but technically reasonable. Even if she had the power, she couldn't abuse it just for a personal grudge.
"I'll say it one last time. I don't want to get involved in your business. It ends here." Kiana could only swallow the bitter pill, sitting back down to immerse herself fully in her reading.
Seeing Kiana retreat again, Raiden Mei cleverly took a step back as well. Pushing her advantage now would only be counterproductive; the seeds of emotion had to be buried one by one, slowly...
This seemingly indestructible iceberg actually had a soft side, and one day, that seed of emotion would sprout a tiny, insignificant flame within her.
Whether it was the Kaslana family or Schicksal itself.
As long as it was something Li Wu wanted, she would find a way to get it for him.
So what if she's the eldest daughter of the Kaslanas? Raiden Mei thought to herself.
Even if her body returns to Schicksal, her heart is staying right here with Li Wu!
Having completed the first step of her plan, Raiden Mei returned to her seat with a smile.
The first step of her plan achieved two things.
First: shed her former persona as a weak, masochistic victim. She didn't want Li Wu to suffer cold looks and contempt because of her anymore. As her boy, he shouldn't be looked down upon by anyone!
Second—and the primary reason for the plan:
To ensure a definitive connection was established between Kiana Kaslana and Li Wu.
It could be love, or it could be hate.
Raiden Mei knew very well that people drifted apart not because of mutual resentment or hostility, but because of a total lack of emotion...
Not loving, not hating, not caring, not being concerned... that was the direct cause of people completely vanishing from each other's lives.
Even if they were bound by hatred, as long as that hate was clear and visible, it would at least force them to recall the other's voice and traits from time to time.
Wait until the day the misunderstanding was cleared, or a more special event occurred, and the deeper the hate, the deeper the love and affection it would transform into.
That was why Li Wu's thinking was flawed. He thought that a simple apology would restore things to how they were and allow him to slowly build favor.
That wouldn't work. You had to use any means necessary to stir the other person's heart before you could even buy a ticket to get inside.
If you just spent your time working hard to save up, by the time you had enough money, the tickets would be long gone. Even if you could buy one, it would be a scalped, second-hand ticket. Her heart would already be filled with other people and other things; by the time it was your turn, she wouldn't care at all.
The classroom was pin-drop silent.
The students who witnessed the whole exchange were completely stunned. One by one, they stared with wide eyes, unable to believe that this was the same Raiden Mei who used to endure bullying without a word, always weak and submissive.
In a single night, she had become a completely different person.
She didn't look like someone who had just been rejected in a confession; instead, she had the smug look of someone whose plan had succeeded.
Most of the students weren't stupid. If Raiden Mei could stand up to Kiana like that, she had clearly caught some dirt on her or found a new benefactor.
Either way, it definitely wasn't that commoner, Li Wu.
Noble instincts taught them all to judge the situation. Even though they still gossiped behind her back, they started to become cautious.
Because...
No one knew if the person in front of them would go and repeat their insults about Raiden Mei directly to her face.
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the class shifted from rowdy to cold. No one spoke loudly; everyone sat quietly at their desks fiddling with their phones, seemingly chatting in secret through their screens.
No one noticed Li Wu limping painfully toward the classroom door. Those stairs were absolute monsters!
Actually, stairs aren't living things, so they couldn't be monsters, but damn.
"Ah... my legs are so sore. Huh? Why is the class so quiet?" Li Wu leaned against the wall, confused.
Seeing Li Wu arrive, Raiden Mei quickly walked over and supported his body. "You must be tired. Sit down and rest. There are still ten minutes until school's out. I've already finished the homework, so you can just copy mine. Don't worry, I won't have many mistakes!"
Raiden Mei's sudden warmth left Li Wu stunned. He suddenly realized something, and his head turned like a rusted gear toward the seat in the second-to-last row by the window.
As expected.
Li Wu met a familiar, cold gaze.
A breeze wafted in, adding a touch of lethality to Kiana's frost-like stare.
Not only that, but the way his classmates looked at him had changed. It was no longer that look of high-and-mighty scrutiny; the former arrogance and contempt had vanished.
In its place was confusion and guilt, as if they were afraid he might swallow them whole.
Seriously, what the hell happened in class while I was finishing that run?!