Chapter 736: Begging for Moon Tickets – Dark Demon’s Facehugger
Diana was under immense pressure.
In terms of relationships, she and Rose had been the closest to Dark since they entered as first-year students.
Their closeness reached such an extent that rumors about Dark and them often circulated in the academy, some of which were quite indecent and embarrassing.
Though she had those embarrassing thoughts herself, she never acted on them.
Without acting, naturally, nothing happened.
Their plan all along had been to proceed slowly, hoping to gradually win Dark over through their daily efforts, ultimately reaping the fruits of their labor and getting married.
This gradual approach suited them well enough.
After all, they were still young, not yet adults, and both were very reserved, with traditional views on love.
If everything went smoothly, perhaps it would have worked out eventually.
However, in this world full of uncertainties, there are always variables.
Once a timeline is stretched to a certain point, variables inevitably arise.
For Diana and Rose, Eudora’s appearance was a small variable.
But Pandora Dragon’s arrival was an enormous, undeniable variable!
Dark’s interactions with Senior Pandora weren’t hidden.
Diana and Rose knew about her early on and even built a good friendship with her through Dark.
Before this, Dark’s attitude towards Senior Pandora wasn’t significantly different from how he treated them.
He had always been passive, showing signs of avoiding deeper connections.
For those he liked, he maintained an ambiguous stance, neither refusing nor initiating.
But recently, he seemed to be shifting from passive to active!
If the shift to active was directed at her, Diana would have her panda familiar rolling around on the bed with excitement, unable to sleep for days.
But it wasn’t.
…
Diana was terrified that her sudden confession might be rejected.
But if she didn’t act soon, she feared she wouldn’t even get the chance to express her feelings.
Thus, during this period, she carefully prepared Christmas gifts and crafted a dance invitation letter.
Each time she tried to send the letter, hesitation arose.
She realized that sending a regular dance invitation now had lost its meaning given her relationship with Dark.
This brought back memories of last year’s Christmas, when she invited Dark to the dance only to find that Pandora had already beat her to it.
However, Dark didn’t refuse her invitation but instead invited her to the second half of the dance after the facts were clear.
She accepted happily, knowing then that Dark liked her.
Now, however, she realized that wasn’t the kind of like she wanted.
If this year went like last year, sending a casual invitation would result in the same outcome with over 90% probability.
She disliked math because it was too complex, but she enjoyed the math he wrote, so she studied hard despite the difficulty.
Subconsciously, she used probabilities.
Over 90% was actually considered low.
If it wasn’t for the absolute nature of 100%, she would say 100%.
Dark certainly wouldn’t reject her.
But she no longer wanted to be a partner for the second half.
She wanted to be the first one to enter the dance floor with him in the first half.
…
Under Rose’s encouragement, Diana finally decided to use the “Protection Program” to publicly deliver the dance invitation.
Even though it was just an invitation, with Dark’s intelligence and kindness, he would surely understand its significance.
Diana wanted to make it clear that she was no longer naive.
She wanted Dark to acknowledge her feelings, not treat them as mere “kinship.”
Even if this caused a rift in their relationship… there was no other choice!
If she did nothing more…
This year’s Christmas dance was likely too late.
Dark wouldn’t let her replace Senior Pandora.
But she needed to prepare in advance, a whole year ahead, to set the stage for next year’s Christmas dance.
Starting now, no one could be earlier than her, right?
…
“Go quickly,” Rose’s voice came from behind, slightly trembling.
Diana clutched the dance invitation tightly, pressing her pink lips together.
Sending a doomed invitation in front of everyone wasn’t easy for a girl.
After much internal struggle, the invitation was finally delivered to Dark Demon.
Dark Demon lifted his hand, grabbed the corner of the invitation, and looked at Diana, who was trying to remain calm. His smile was no longer casual.
Since he started eating watermelon downstairs, the carefree Duke’s son had finally been caught off guard.
“I… I… you received it?” Diana’s voice was tiny, like a mosquito, revealing a bit of her shyness.
Dark pulled the invitation closer but couldn’t move it.
He paused for a moment and whispered, “I received it.”
Of course, he had received it long ago.
But Diana was still too young.
Although he watched the first and second-year students indulging in youth, he didn’t change his views.
At twelve or thirteen, they were too young.
Though adulthood was once set at fourteen, after peace arrived, it was changed to sixteen, and it might become eighteen in the future.
In the current world, anyone under sixteen was considered a minor.
Dark’s age limit for dating was also sixteen.
Of course, this was for the person he dated.
His own physical age didn’t count.
Teenagers in this world developed quickly, sometimes confusing people about their ages.
But this confusion didn’t apply to Diana.
Diana was naturally smaller than her peers, but her charm far exceeded her size, making her appear younger than thirteen.
Before she matured, Dark couldn’t give her a positive response.
By the way, Senior Pandora was already sixteen.
…
Sometimes, the truth is simple.
Dark’s active or passive behavior was influenced by his environment.
If he could roughly control the sudden growth of Bliss, he dared to be a bit more proactive.
Senior Pandora had already matured, surpassing his age limit.
Moreover, Dark clearly distinguished between what he liked and disliked.
With increasing control over Bliss, he became very sensitive to emotional changes around him.
Like Rose’s emotional changes, she hid it well, but in Dark’s eyes, it was as obvious as a marked好感度.
…
In any case, Dark accepted Diana’s invitation.
If it was like last year, this wouldn’t be noticeable.
But he changed his strategy, declining all other invitations except hers.
This made accepting her invitation stand out.
To the second-year students, Diana was probably already considered Dark’s person, so this slight surprise was merely “as expected” or “already known.”
However, among the first-year students, someone frowned and glared.
Due to their status, they couldn’t react publicly, so they could only watch helplessly.
Diana, who received a response from Dark, blushed and held back her embarrassment, running back to the group of second-year girls.
The girls in the second-year noble academy smiled indulgently at her, even those who were declined by Dark.
Rose hugged Diana, saying like a mother, “Good job, dear.”
Diana hid in her embrace.
…
“Hey.”
While most focused on Diana, Tudor approached Dark and whispered.
“What are you thinking?”
Tudor was sometimes quite perceptive.
Dark put the dance invitation into his mana card deck without opening it.
He didn’t answer Tudor.
At this point, anything he said would be wrong.
Fortunately, the upcoming drama between upperclassmen soon diverted attention.
Dark enthusiastically continued watching, pretending nothing happened.
…
This unconventional “Protection Program” lasted until 9:30 PM.
Since it was holiday, students had no intention of going to sleep. Even though the “Protection Program” was halfway done, they continued chattering in the common room, creating a lively atmosphere.
A few leaders suggested decorating the common room for the next two days, and students enthusiastically agreed, becoming increasingly excited about Christmas.
In this prolonged festive mood, Dark Demon quietly left the common room and returned to Room 301.
The Tiny Magnet on the experimental table, with a disdainful expression, glanced at him before continuing his work.
Dark couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly and walked toward the table, but he suddenly slapped his forehead and took out Diana’s invitation from his deck.
The cover of the invitation was black with stars scattered across it, and a galaxy whirlpool in the top right corner depicted Santa Claus driving a sleigh.
Compared to most invitations in red, Diana’s invitation was meticulously chosen.
Dark paused, opened the cover, and revealed its contents.
Since it was a dance invitation, it naturally included sentences inviting them and their names.
Dark’s gaze quickly fell on the cat and bear patterns beside their names.
Suddenly, a faint mana fluctuation emerged in the invitation.
Then, the little bear drawn on the paper burst out, growing rapidly to the size of a basketball, and “bam!” it hugged Dark’s face!
“What a facehugger!”
Dark expressionlessly removed the facehugger from his face, already imagining the scene in the common room.
His initial guilt towards Diana vanished.
…
“Eee!”
Upon returning to the dorm, Diana let out a startled cry upon seeing the dance invitation on her desk.
“What’s wrong, Anna?” Rose asked with a frown.
Diana trembled as she grabbed the invitation, stammering, “It’s over! It’s over! I gave him the wrong invitation! I gave him the one I made first!”
Rose understood immediately after a brief pause and covered her head, exclaiming, “Stupid!”
…
Dark continued crafting the golem of the Tiny Magnet.
Tiny Magnet was an electric Pokemon. Successfully crafting a Tiny Magnet golem with power generation capabilities laid the foundation for building a small power plant.
Though the mana technology in this world met most daily needs, Dark still missed electrical appliances.
If possible, he wouldn’t mind making some.
Crafting magical tools was part of alchemy.
After half an hour, Dark got into the flow, determined to finish crafting the Tiny Magnet that night.
But at 10:30 PM, knocking sounds came from the door again.
“Miu~”
The Mana Nightmare Demon floated slowly towards the entrance and opened the door.
The night wind blew through the gap, bringing a strong fragrance.
The golems, already sleepy in their tiny beds, instinctively widened their eyes.
Several little gluttons hopped off their beds.
After a month, Aurora Montiel Farley appeared again with midnight snacks at the door of Room 301.
Her bangs were neat, and she looked cute and obedient, with a faint blush on her fair cheeks, whether from heat or something else.
She pushed the door open, her little finger trembling slightly.
“Good evening, Dark. I made chicken soup.”
Surrounded by the little cuties, Aurora naturally entered the dormitory and placed the meal tray on the desk.
“Mm, I have something to discuss with you,” Dark put down his tools.
…
…
[Anna~ See you tomorrow morning~]
