“Teacher, what should we do next?” Kaila asked, closing her notebook to seek further guidance.
Wait.
Isn't the seniority between us completely messed up now?
“Hold on a second.”
Miaoyue raised a hand, signaling for Kaila to be patient.
She glanced at Sophie, appearing quite satisfied with the results of her teaching. Still munching on a crescent pastry, she pulled Sophie a few steps away.
“My Saintess, come here for a moment.”
“What is it?” Sophie asked warily.
Miaoyue stood on her tiptoes and whispered into Sophie’s ear.
“You don’t have to be too sad. Although your talent is a bit lacking, your combat experience is sparse, and you’re a bit of a dummy, you make up for it by being very thick-skinned. You’re still worth training.”
Sophie: “?”
Who are you calling a dummy?
“As long as you’re willing to take me as your master, I can give you private lessons,” Miaoyue said with a straight face. “I guarantee that within three months, I’ll have you speaking normally after holding hands.”
Sophie: “...”
She swore she had never been so speechless in her life.
Wretched disciple!
A master-defying, rebellious disciple!
This was complete insubordination!
Fine, fine, fine. Since you want to be cold-hearted first...
Sophie took a deep breath.
In an instant, Angel Sophie set down her coffee.
Demon Sophie stopped her cold sneer.
In the empty seat, Primal Sophie, who had already attained immortality, opened her eyes within the void.
All the Sophies looked at each other across the spiritual world.
Without needing words, they reached an unprecedented consensus.
Don't look down on me, Little Yue.
“Goddess,”
Sophie said, enunciating every word, “I don’t know where you picked up those crooked tricks.”
“But let me give you a piece of advice: don't get too ahead of yourself, youngster.”
Sophie confidently straightened her collar.
She radiated the poise of a solitary, masterful performer.
At this moment, it wasn't just her who was being insulted.
It was also the creators of all those fanfics from her past life, the developers of those Galgames...
And a veteran Captain who absolutely refused to have her professional field questioned!
Her grayish-blue short cloak fluttered despite the lack of wind.
“Thirteen thousand, seven hundred and twenty-two romance novels.”
Sophie held up one finger.
“Four thousand, six hundred and thirteen romantic stage plays.”
A second finger.
“Eight hundred and seventy-five bardic poems and knightly biographies, three hundred and twenty-six volumes of noble courtship etiquette, and seventy-four precious, unique copies that are so scandalous they are locked in the deepest parts of the royal capital’s forbidden archives.”
“Among them, they cover twenty-one thousand, four hundred and seventy-six types of encounters; forty-six thousand and ninety-two types of confessions; eighty-two thousand, three hundred and seventy-one emotional crises; one hundred and seventy thousand typical female personalities; and as many as three hundred and ten thousand ways for couples to end up together that would leave an audience in tears.”
Sophie’s voice grew louder and more high-pitched.
“Whether it’s childhood friends reuniting after a long separation, or a noble lady meeting someone in the rain; whether it’s the forbidden love between a Saintess and a Knight, or a Witch repenting after imprisoning her beloved; whether it’s mutual secret crushes, contract marriages, mistaken identities, or the bloodbath caused by seven women falling for one man at the same time...”
“I have dabbled in them all!”
Sophie raised her chin proudly.
“A mere date is nothing more than the most basic introductory course.”
“I’m afraid it’s not the Goddess’s place to give me pointers, is it?”
The air went silent.
Kaila, who had been pretending not to listen after being excluded, silently opened her notebook again.
【Sophie has read at least 13,722 romance novels.】
【Theoretical experience is vast.】
【Practical performance is questionable.】
Completely unaware, Sophie stood tall and proud.
At this moment, there was no Goddess and Saintess, no teacher and student.
This was a duel for the dignity of a romance master.
Her gaze clashed violently with Miaoyue’s in mid-air, nearly creating sparks.
Sophie—
She would protect everything she stood for as a Captain.
“Oh?”
Faced with such a terrifying record, Miaoyue’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
She merely gave a contemptuous laugh.
“However, My Saintess.”
Miaoyue slowly looked up.
The afternoon sunlight fell into those purple eyes, yet it seemed to transform into the cold moonlight that had spanned across countless years.
“People meet, they get to know each other, they like each other, they accompany each other, and one day, they hold each other's hands.”
“And in Solitude, there are no lonely people.”
Miaoyue’s long black hair also fluttered without wind.
A crimson new moon seemed to be rising slowly behind her.
“Therefore, standing before you is—”
She announced, one word at a time.
“The New Moon Goddess who has been shipping people for over four hundred years!!!”
Sophie: “!!!!!”
Inner world.
Angel Sophie’s face turned pale, and the wings on her back trembled slightly.
“Impossible...”
She stumbled back half a step, and the Galgame Strategy Compendium she had just found hit the floor with a thud.
“From the moon, you can see all of Solitude.”
“The entirety of Solitude!”
Demon Sophie still tried to maintain her composure, but the various manga books she was holding began to drop one by one.
“What’s the panic?” she sneered. “It’s only five hundred years. She’s ultimately just a bystander; she’s never actually been in a relationship.”
As she spoke, Demon Sophie’s voice suddenly cut off.
Wait.
We haven’t actually been in a relationship either.
“Oh no, we’re just little maidens.”
She slowly looked up, her pupils vibrating violently.
“And she... is a veteran maiden!”
Angel Sophie gasped.
“Retreat!”
“How can a veteran maiden, who hasn't even tasted her own teacher, have such a high level of shipping proficiency?!”
“She hasn't eaten the pork, but she’s seen countless pigs run! It’s the curse’s fault!!!”
The Sophies clutched their heads, their belongings scattering everywhere as they began running in circles around the round table.
“We can’t win.”
“As fellow theoretical players... Little Yue surpasses us by far!!!”
“I! AM! NOT! RECONCILED!” Primal Sophie roared toward the sky. “We spent our lives studying Galgames, only to be defeated by a veteran who sat on the moon watching livestreams for five hundred years!”
As her voice fell, Primal Sophie actually ascended, dispersing into nothingness.
Defeated.
Defeated, defeated, defeated, defeated, defeated.
All the Sophies in the inner world were drowning in the frustration of failure.
In reality.
Sophie stumbled back half a step.
She had lost.
She had lost completely and utterly.
“So, My Saintess.” Miaoyue pressed her advantage, reaching a hand out to Sophie. “Will you take me as your master?”
Her face wore a loving and forgiving smile.
“If you join now, I can give you private lessons.”
“How to maintain normal speech after holding hands—I'll teach you for free.”
“How to deal with a princess carry—that’ll be an advanced course.”
“As for how to make Kaila confess on her own...”
Miaoyue lowered her voice slightly.
“That is a secret technique that can only be taught to a personal disciple.”
Sophie grit her teeth.
She... she.
“And the secret to handling a Shura Field~” Miaoyue added. “That is this Goddess’s greatest treasure.”
“Then... then let me think about it,” Sophie said humiliatingly.
“Good disciple,” Miaoyue nodded with satisfaction.
“I haven't joined yet!”
Kaila looked down at her notes.
She thought for a moment and solemnly added two more lines.
【Teacher Miaoyue: Extremely experienced in romance.】
【When dealing with Sophie, prioritize her advice.】
“Teacher, so my next step...” Kaila had just started to ask when she saw Miaoyue, cookie in mouth, casually walk past Sophie, the loser.
“Just go ahead and grab her hand. She won't be able to handle it.”
“Understood.”
Kaila once again took the hand of the dazed Sophie and walked out.
“We are continuing our date.”
Sophie didn't even have the strength to hiss anymore; she just followed Kaila, swaying as they walked away.
Miaoyue watched their retreating figures, a look of satisfaction on her face.
“That’s the way.”
She took a bite of her cookie and said through a mouthful.
“Now that you’ve caught her, don’t ever let go.”
Rate on N.U.
