...
It was class time, so the stairwells and corridors were empty. The entire teaching building was immersed in a solemn silence.
Lucian casually scrolled through his phone while slowly descending the stairs, his footsteps echoing unusually clearly.
However, when he reached the landing, a familiar figure suddenly entered his field of vision—Empress Air Groove.
They stared at each other in silence, gazes drifting, the air freezing for a split second.
The path was clearly wide enough, yet Lucian edged closer and closer to the wall, as if the two were meeting on a narrow passage.
He had a feeling Air Groove looked displeased, her eyes flashing with menace.
What did it have to do with him? He hadn't told any of those temple-throbbing cold jokes in front of her lately—especially not in front of Symboli Rudolf.
And the originator of those cold jokes was Symboli Rudolf anyway—how could the blame possibly fall on him?
Lucian finished his reasoning and prepared to pass by as if nothing had happened.
As they brushed shoulders, Lucian was about to say hello when Air Groove suddenly turned around.
With a sharp "pa"—a long, beautifully lined yet powerfully muscular leg wrapped in black thigh-high stockings slammed into the wall beside him like a battering ram, completely sealing off his escape route.
Lucian pressed his back against the wall, hands braced behind him, trembling slightly. "... Hello?"
"Finally caught you, Trainer Lucian." Air Groove's forehead seemed shrouded in dark clouds, her face full of gloom as she ground her teeth.
"Air Groove..." Lucian slightly tilted his head away from that leg. "Do you have some misunderstanding about me?"
"Trainer Lucian, did you tell the Chairwoman a 'joke' yesterday?" Air Groove's gaze still looked ready to devour someone.
Though Lucian had the height advantage and was technically looking down, he was deeply afraid she'd use some "folding" technique on him.
"Yeah... Is there a problem?" Lucian swallowed, answering very cautiously.
"Do you dare repeat it, Trainer Lucian?"
"Just..... asking 'How do you distinguish types of leopards?' Answer: 'Reach out your hand—if it lets you touch its head, it's a cheetah; if your hand disappears, it's a jaguar; if the person disappears, it's a puma; if there's an extra cigarette, it's a snow leopard.'"
Lucian said it word for word, observing Air Groove's expression the whole time.
No sign of relief at all... What the heck? This was clearly a joke—did she take it as a cold joke too?! She really had no sense of humor!
Lucian inwardly condemned Air Groove fiercely while suddenly missing the sense of security Silence Suzuka gave him.
"Hahaha... Isn't this joke funny?"
Air Groove was silent for one or two seconds. Though she didn't get the last part, hearing it from Lucian's mouth actually made it kind of funny.
Could it be that spending too much time with the Chairwoman had automatically put tinted glasses on her? But ultimately, it was still Trainer Lucian's fault—when had the Chairwoman shared jokes this frequently before?!
"Pa-ta—"
The crisp sound broke the silence again.
Air Groove lifted her long leg once more, retracting it after another resounding slam, closing the distance to Lucian's head.
Lucian instinctively reached out, using his hand like a partition between his face and her foot, answering for her: "Not funny!"
"Hmph, at least Trainer Lucian knows it himself." The gloom dissipated, and Air Groove's dark expression eased considerably.
"I'm sorry... please spare me." Lucian pressed his hands together in apology. "Air Groove, can you let me go first? Today's campus open day—I still need to pick up a guest."
"No way. Unless Trainer Lucian promises not to share so many jokes with the Chairwoman from now on."
"But that's a happy exchange of interests between us... Otherwise, I can talk to Rudolf and ask her not to share jokes with you anymore?"
"No!" Air Groove frowned.
Though Lucian's words seemed logically sound and the solution reasonable... wouldn't that just distance her from the Chairwoman?
"That doesn't work either?"
If he really stopped sharing, she'd be unhappy again.
"No no... Let me think again." Air Groove pondered for one or two seconds, her slender fingers unconsciously tapping her lower lip. "How about this—Trainer Lucian, if you have any jokes to share with the Chairwoman in the future, send them to me first... for review."
The more she spoke, the more feasible her idea seemed.
She had to admit—though she complained verbally, some of those weird jokes from Lucian's mouth had made her lips curve uncontrollably in private once or twice.
And the Chairwoman was basically a joke refrigerator... unchangeable.
So Air Groove spoke with more conviction: "Would that work? Will Trainer Lucian agree?"
Lucian nodded. "I think that's fine."
"Hmph, then it's settled." Air Groove withdrew her leg, her aggressive momentum softening. Her voice became much gentler than before. "Sorry, I might have been a bit impulsive."
"It's okay—I understand." Lucian let out a light breath of relief.
He'd been too caught up in the shock and panic of the leg pin earlier to notice anything else, even at such close range.
Now that the crisis was over, he finally had the leisure to look.
Air Groove had a classic oval face with soft lines. The strands of hair hanging by her left cheek just covered the eye adorned like blue lapis lazuli.
Only her right eye was visible—its outer corner slightly upturned, the subtle red eyeshadow perfectly accentuating it: not flashy, yet adding a lazy, distant allure to her cool demeanor.
"Trainer Lucian, what are you looking at?" Air Groove's softened eye was fixed on him, the mysterious one peeking through faintly.
"Nothing—just still recovering from being scared by you earlier."
"I..." Air Groove pursed her lips, aware she'd been impulsive, but apologizing now was impossible. "As long as Trainer Lucian keeps what I said earlier, I won't get angry again."
Her tone carried a slightly awkward firmness.
"Trainer Lucian still needs to pick up the visitor, right? Go ahead." Air Groove stepped aside.
"Mm mm, see you." Lucian descended a few steps, then suddenly turned back with a retaliatory jab: "Air Groove, I can't guarantee the jokes I tell won't be cold ones."
The farce that should have ended got extended because of his words.
Watching Lucian's fleeing back, Air Groove still held back from chasing after him. "No wonder Taiki and Grass Wonder say he's childish like a kid sometimes..."
...