Chapter 31 Ball Notification
Evelyn's POV
The cafeteria was buzzing with noise, the air filled with the aroma of roasted chicken and herb potatoes.
Not too far off, a crowd had gathered around the bulletin board. Since I knew Kane wasn't a fan of crowds, we found a quieter spot and sat down.
Kane sat across from me, but today he was eating his pasta noticeably faster than usual, his brow slightly furrowed, seemingly lost in thought.
I popped a piece of potato into my mouth and asked, "Kane, how come you're not eating the roasted chicken? They've only got a limited amount today."
Kane's gaze drifted toward the notice board as he responded absentmindedly, "Mm, I'm eating."
I followed his gaze and noticed the crowd around the bulletin board had thinned out a lot, though a few people were still there, pointing at something and talking.
"Let's go check it out now, there are fewer people." I wiped my mouth and pulled Kane up to stand.
Kane was clearly still resistant to the lingering crowd, but he obediently followed me over.
As we got closer, we could make out the notice on the board, with several eye-catching words written on it: [Thornwick Academy Annual Welcome Ball -------- Destined Partners]
"A ball?" I froze for a moment. People nearby were still excitedly discussing it.
"Did you hear? This ball uses magical clothing to pair people up! Everyone will receive a specially made outfit, and then based on the clues on the outfit, you can find your dance partner."
"Oh my god, doesn't this feel more like dating than choosing a dance partner!"
"But what if you get paired with someone you hate?"
"Look at it another way, you might get paired with someone you like!"
The murmuring went on. Once I'd read what was on the bulletin board, I tugged Kane back to our table so we could keep eating.
On the way back to the table, I noticed Kane's expression had darkened, his eyes full of rejection.
Kane suddenly said coldly, "I don't want to go."
I quickly said, "Come on, if you don't go, it'll be so boring if I go alone."
Kane stopped and turned to look at me, a hint of displeasure in his tone. "You want to go by yourself? Random assignment, even having to wear matching clothes, and possibly being assigned to dance with someone else."
His brows drew even tighter, like the whole thing was completely unacceptable in his eyes.
"I don't like this arrangement, and I don't want to be paired with anyone else."
I looked at him and asked, "What if I get assigned to someone else?"
Kane's body went rigid all of a sudden. He spun around and fixed his eyes on me. I saw a flicker of panic in them, and something else... a hint of possessiveness.
I didn't think I was seeing things wrong, that was definitely possessiveness.
Before I could think more about it, Kane immediately said, "No, you can't be paired with anyone else."
I kept walking forward, saying somewhat helplessly, "But there's nothing we can do about it, since it's random!"
Looking at me, I finally heard him say in compromise, "Fine, I'll go."
Back at our seats, Kane clearly ate even less. I didn't eat much of the roasted chicken I'd been looking forward to either. I was actually a bit worried—random assignment sounded like there were too many variables.
After dinner, Kane walked me back to my dorm. Neither of us spoke the whole way.
The night breeze was a bit cool. When we reached my room door, I looked at him and said softly, "Kane, don't worry too much. Maybe we'll be each other's dance partners."
Hearing me say this, Kane's expression slowly softened.
"Okay, get some rest."
Back in my room, I quickly washed up and lay in bed, but couldn't fall asleep no matter what.
My head was still stuck on what I'd read on the bulletin board about the ball. I sighed, picked up my phone, and started scrolling just to kill some time.
Suddenly, a familiar icon appeared on my phone screen, Nebula Chat.
I thought about it. Hadn't I uninstalled it before because I didn't want to see malicious comments? How did it automatically reinstall itself?
But maybe I could see if people were discussing any inside information about the ball. After opening it, the homepage recommendation made me freeze for a moment.
It was a secretly taken photo.
The background was the library's "Casual Reading Area." Under warm yellow lighting, a silver-haired boy sat on a sofa, holding a sleeping girl in his arms.
The boy looked down at the girl in his arms with a soft, focused gaze, gently running his fingers through her hair.
And that girl was curled up in his embrace, sleeping sweetly.
It was actually... me and Kane.
I didn't know who had secretly taken such a photo. My heartbeat quickened a bit, and I could feel my cheeks heating up noticeably.
My eyes inadvertently caught a comment in the comment section.
[These two are really shameless, in broad daylight...]
I didn't continue reading the comments. I silently saved the image, browsed around the plaza for other messages, and found no one discussing the ball.
So I closed my phone and lay back down on the bed.
I thought that rather than worrying about who my dance partner would be—since I couldn't get an answer anyway—I might as well not think about anything.
I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.
When I woke up the next day, my phone had automatically turned off the alarm again. I looked out the window—the sun was beautiful today, leaving mottled patterns of light and shadow on my carpet.
I was still a little nervous thinking about the ball today, but right then, my stomach was already letting me know it was time for breakfast.
I got out of bed, casually washed up, then changed into a cream-colored casual hoodie. The soft cotton felt comfortable against my skin. I paired it with loose cargo pants, pulled my hair casually into a low bun with a few strands hanging by my ears, looking lazy yet casual. The key point was this outfit was really comfortable.
Anyway, the academy was going to hand out formal wear for the ball, and this outfit would make it easy to change into a dress.
Seeing I still had time, I went out to Kane's door and knocked. A low, cool voice from inside said, "Come in."
Pushing open the door, I froze looking at Kane's room.
Last time, I was in too much of a rush to really take in Kane's room. This time, I could actually have a good look.
The entire color scheme of Kane's room was dark and cold. Large areas of dark gray and cool white dominated the whole room, giving off a sense of distance like being in a polar glacier—very much like the feeling he gave people.
There was no extra clutter anywhere. Everything was arranged so neat and spotless, you could almost call it obsessively orderly.
The desk, wardrobe, and bed all had extremely sharp lines without any unnecessary curves.
Only on the bottom shelf of the bookcase and in the shadows of the nightstand were several dark wooden boxes that looked quite old, with scratches from years of use on their surfaces. I didn't know if they held any unknown secrets inside, or perhaps a past he didn't want to show others.