Seeing Lynn's flushed cheeks with her own eyes and hearing her trembling words, Hermione understood everything.
This girl might not have realized it yet, but in her heart, she must feel the same as I do; we must like each other.
Squinting her eyes with pleasure, Hermione slowly pulled away from Lynn.
Lynn hadn't quite caught on yet, and teasing her too much wouldn't be good.
Feeling Hermione pull away, Lynn let out a sharp breath. The heat on her face seemed to be gradually fading, but in its place, an itchy sensation arose in her heart.
It was as if... she didn't want Hermione to move away like that.
But if she didn't want Hermione to pull away, what did she want Hermione to do?
Lean close to her ear and whisper like just now?
Or kiss her cheek gently like before?
Lynn's mind was in a mess. Having never thought about such things, she felt utterly at a loss.
Thinking, which usually came as naturally as instinct, failed her on this one question.
Fortunately, Hermione didn't do anything else to confuse her. They explored Hogsmeade together once more and returned to Hogwarts before dark.
Tomorrow was Christmas. The Great Hall was already being decorated here and there, and the setup would be finished tomorrow during the day.
Looking at the giant Christmas tree in the corner of the Great Hall and the small gifts hanging from its branches, Lynn looked away with a calm expression.
This was the third year she had seen a Christmas tree, and the third year she truly celebrated the holiday.
In her original world, although she knew about holidays, that knowledge was limited to textbooks.
When the actual holidays came, she never went out, even though they were still given a symbolic day off.
However, the school would also provide "thoughtful" supervision services for parents on that day.
As long as they signed the consent form, children could stay at school to study on the "holiday."
She remembered seeing a news report on television stating that children and parents worldwide had chosen the supervision service for fifteen consecutive years during holidays.
The news even praised everyone for making great contributions toward a better future and solving humanity's current predicaments.
But... was that really the truth?
After being away from her original world for three years, influenced by Hermione, her friends, and the Professors, Lynn had doubted the situation in her original world more than once.
Last time outside the Louvre Museum, she had explained her speculations about her original world to Hermione.
Thinking about it again, her speculation was indeed the most likely to match reality; the probability of it being the truth was as high as 98.6%.
It could only be said that in her original world, everyone had been deceived.
And they had been deceived for a long time; the lie in her original world was one that had lasted for decades.
"What are you thinking about? You're so serious that the sausage on your fork is about to fall off."
Sitting next to Lynn, Maranhao saw her staring blankly ahead as the sausage on her fork slipped. She tapped Lynn's shoulder with a slight chuckle.
"Mhm, thinking about a lie."
Lynn snapped back to reality, responded, and ate the sausage on her fork expressionlessly.
She was as calm as if that lie had never happened to her, as if it hadn't taken her life.
"What lie?" Maranhao put down her cutlery and looked at Lynn curiously.
Had someone lied to Lynn? In Hogwarts? It shouldn't be possible; after everything that had happened, no one should dare.
"A lie that has lasted for decades and deceived everyone."
"How is that possible?!"
Maranhao's eyes widened in surprise, her expression filled with deep disbelief.
"It's impossible for someone to deceive everyone, especially for so long."
"If it's a lie woven by the entire world in unison, there is more than enough power to deceive every ordinary person on Earth."
Lynn took a sip of pumpkin juice and stated the fact in a flat voice.
"But... why would they do that?"
Maranhao frowned. She couldn't understand what kind of situation would lead the entire world to unite and deceive its own citizens.
"I don't know."
Lynn shook her head indifferently; this was also something she couldn't figure out no matter what.
Fundamentally, it was an unnecessary deception.
Based on the technological development and talent cultivation rate of her original world, Infinite Energy should have been developed long ago—she had told Hermione this before.
Since it had been developed, why lie to everyone, claiming there was an energy shortage and implementing the Exam-Based Disposal System?
Wasn't Infinite Energy enough for the whole world? It could satisfy everyone's needs.
This lie shouldn't exist, and there was no need for it.
"Because that is human nature."
Hermione's gentle voice drifted over. She placed a small bowl of fish soup in front of Lynn. Having spent the whole day in Hogsmeade where it was so cold, she had specifically gone to the end of the Ravenclaw Table to get some soup to warm Lynn up.
Upon returning and hearing the conversation with Senior Maranhao, Hermione knew what they were talking about.
They were talking about the truth of Lynn's original world, which Lynn had mentioned to her before.
She had told Lynn back then that it was due to human nature, but Lynn couldn't understand it.
She hadn't expected Lynn to remember this for so long, keeping it in mind and even thinking about it until now.
Her obsession with this scam was deep, very deep.
But it made sense; this scam had cost so many students their lives. Many were dragged away and disposed of right in front of Lynn, and eventually, she had become one of them herself.
It was already impressive that Lynn could maintain her current state without having a mental breakdown because of this scam.
On the day she fully recovered, her reaction would likely be even more intense.
"Because of human nature..."
Maranhao murmured softly. She had a feeling the truth behind this wouldn't be something she wanted to hear.
However, since it concerned her junior, Lynn, as her senior, she had to understand it to some extent.
Watching Lynn lower her head to drink the fish soup, Maranhao wisely swallowed her words, deciding to ask Hermione for details when Lynn wasn't around.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"