Upon seeing the ring, the little beaver was instantly stunned.
After a brief moment of her mind going completely blank, a profound wave of joy welled up in her heart. A rosy blush spread across Hermione's cheeks.
Although she was thrilled to receive a ring, wasn't it far too early to talk about marriage? The two of them were only fourteen years old and hadn't even come of age yet...
The little beaver stammered, "Um, Kyle... isn't it a bit too early to talk about this now?"
"What's too early?" Kyle's tone was filled with confusion, completely oblivious to the issue.
He only intended to give Hermione one of the dozen or so Akatsuki rings he had forged. What on earth was the little beaver talking about?
Just then, Alicia Spinnet, who was sitting on the other side of Hermione, caught sight of the ring in Hermione's hand.
"Wow!" Alicia let out a sharp gasp. "Are you two proposing?!"
"Grass!"
Kyle let out the sound of a plant!
A proposal! He had actually forgotten about that implication!
A young couple deeply in love—a boy giving a girl a ring, what else could it be but a proposal?
Because she was so shocked, Alicia's voice was several times louder than usual, causing the surrounding students to cast curious glances in their direction. Word spread like wildfire. The students whose attention hadn't been focused here and didn't hear what Alicia said quickly caught wind of what happened from those around them.
In an instant, the atmosphere in the Great Hall exploded with the sensational news of Kyle proposing to Hermione.
Out of nervousness, the little beaver tightly gripped the box in her hands, her knuckles turning slightly white from the force. The chaotic noise in the Great Hall gradually faded, eventually turning into a synchronized chant: "Say yes! Say yes!"
Kyle swept his eyes over the jeering students. He really wanted to cast a Fiendfyre and burn this entire crowd of drama-loving onlookers into fine gray ash. He originally wanted to pull out the other rings from his pocket and explain to Hermione that he really didn't mean to propose.
But looking at the little beaver's nervous yet slightly expectant expression, if he were to reveal the truth right here in public and say he wasn't trying to propose to her... He would definitely be killed by Hermione, wouldn't he?
Definitely... right?
Glancing toward the staff table, even more anime-style black lines appeared on Kyle's forehead. His old man was currently standing at the staff table, crane-necking and peering over in their direction, looking exactly like an old man watching an excavator at a construction site. Behind him was a whole bunch of professors who loved a good spectacle.
Even the Old Bat, who was usually indifferent to everything except Harli, enthusiastically joined the ranks of the onlookers.
Kyle suddenly felt a pang of regret. Why hadn't he asked Dumbledore or Grindelwald earlier to help him engrave the Hour-Reversal Charm into his eyes as a Dojutsu? That way, he could just pull out his wand and give himself an Avada Kedavra to commit suicide, triggering the Hour-Reversal Charm to go back five minutes in time and strangle that gossiping Alicia Spinnet to death. Or he could strangle his past self who gave the ring to the little beaver. At the very least, he wouldn't be as embarrassed as he was now.
In a situation like this, running away was the best option.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Kyle grabbed Hermione's hand and ran out of the Great Hall, pulling a completely dazed little beaver along with him. The cheers in the Great Hall reached a crescendo at that moment.
A few onlookers wanted to sneakily follow them to watch, but as Kyle dashed out of the Great Hall, he flicked his wand behind him, not only slamming the heavy doors shut but also instantly casting several spells to seal them. By the time the professors lifted the sealing spells on the doors, Kyle and Hermione had already vanished.
By the greenhouses behind the castle, the little beaver held a thick, heavy tome and furiously smacked Kyle with it a couple of times.
"Kyle, you idiot!"
Seeming to feel that wasn't enough to vent her anger, she thought about it and gave Kyle's foot a heavy stomp.
Five minutes prior, after Kyle had pulled Hermione out of the Great Hall and brought her over to the greenhouses, he had explained his true reason for giving her the ring under her expectant gaze. Of course, the Little Dark Lord wasn't suicidal enough to reveal that he had a dozen more identical rings.
He decided that as soon as he got back, he would melt down that batch of rings and forge them into other kinds of jewelry, like pendants or something. Even if he made them into rings, he absolutely couldn't use this exact same design anymore.
Too busy explaining, Kyle completely failed to notice the girl's increasingly icy expression. Being stomped on by leather boots was no ordinary pain; though not as bad as high heels, it still made Kyle grimace in agony.
However, taking a beating passively was not Kyle's style. Since he couldn't fight back, sealing her lips was the best option at that moment.
Grabbing the girl's hands and pinning them against the wall behind her, Kyle leaned right in.
Caught off guard by Kyle's sudden assault, Hermione's mind instantly went blank. Her body gradually softened from its rigid state, and the raging fire of anger in the little beaver's head was completely thrown into the back of her mind.
After a long moment, their lips parted.
Leaning against Kyle's chest and feeling the boy's heartbeat, Hermione spoke softly, "The ring you gave me this time doesn't count."
"Alright," Kyle agreed softly, stroking the little beaver's bushy hair.
By the time the lovey-dovey pair returned to the Great Hall, they had already missed lunchtime. Because of the massive news Alicia had stirred up in the Great Hall, neither of them had gotten a chance to eat. Although Hermione arrived at the Great Hall earlier than Kyle, she had only managed a few bites of warm food before being dragged away by him.
Kyle, who frequently missed meals due to his magic research, wasn't worried at all about going hungry for the afternoon.
Familiar with the way, he led Hermione through the door next to the grand staircase by the Great Hall's entrance, turned into the corridor where their Hufflepuff common room was located, and walked up to a portrait at the end of the hallway.
Kyle was a regular visitor to the kitchens; neither thunder, wind, nor rain could stop his footsteps toward it. Of course, the primary reason for this was that the kitchens were located in the castle's basement, entirely unaffected by the weather. Over the past two years, the number of times Kyle visited the kitchens easily outnumbered the times he attended classes.
Because of his frequent visits, Kyle had modified the kitchen door in a similar fashion to the Headmaster's office door. However, since the kitchens weren't exactly a high-security area, Kyle had only added a facial recognition feature to the portrait rather than multiple security locks.
The massive portrait swung outward with a slight wobble, revealing the kitchens behind it.
[T/N: "Grass" (草) is popular Chinese internet slang used as an expletive similar to "Fuck," which prompts the author's subsequent pun about Kyle making the sound of a plant.]
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