Penelope and Marietta, who had been sitting nearby without interrupting and not knowing what to say, shared a knowing look with her.
Clearly, the three of them shared the same thought at that moment.
After dinner, Lynn, Hermione, Maranhao, and Marietta returned to the Dormitory together, and Penelope naturally followed them inside.
As soon as they entered the Dormitory, Lynn went to the desk to "review" the content for the next class, while the other three seniors surrounded Hermione with serious expressions.
"Hermione, what was that lie Lynn was talking about just now?" Marietta spoke first, pulling Hermione to sit on her bed.
Maranhao and Penelope sat on their left and right sides, respectively.
Glancing cautiously at Lynn, Hermione pursed her lips and explained in a low voice.
She didn't want to mention the lie in front of Lynn at all, in any form.
It would only deepen the faint feeling of discomfort and pain in Lynn's heart.
So she had made an exception this once, explaining things to the three seniors without asking for Lynn's opinion.
She hoped Merlin would forgive her rudeness, considering the special circumstances.
"To put it simply... it's actually not that complicated."
Hermione sighed, her voice turning somber.
"You seniors already know about the situation in Lynn's original world."
"Mhm." The three seniors nodded in unison.
"In her initial account, her world adopted those practices because of a lack of resources."
Hermione clasped her hands and twisted them slowly. Even speaking of that lie filled her heart with a sense of unease and intense suffocation, yet Lynn had lived through that lie for over a decade.
"But after Lynn left that world, met us, and gradually returned to normal, she quickly discovered something was wrong based on her own calculations."
"Something wrong?" Penelope's eyebrows twitched violently; for some reason, she had a bad premonition.
"Yes," Hermione nodded dejectedly. "According to the technological progress and talent cultivation rate of her original world, the energy and resource issues should have been solved long ago, so the shortage shouldn't have existed at all."
"But... until she came here—I mean, to our world—wasn't her original world still like that?"
Maranhao asked in confusion. Lynn was disposed of and came here because she failed an exam after being drugged by her parents.
If the resource problem in her original world was truly solved as Hermione said, why hadn't that practice been abolished?
That practice was wrong even under the absolute pressure of resource issues, let alone when there were no life-or-death problems. It was... it was just utterly absurd!
"Yes," Hermione gave a bitter smile. "So that's where Lynn's calculations led to a contradiction: why did everyone in the world think the resource problem was unsolved when it clearly was? Why did they maintain that practice despite the problem being resolved?"
By this point, the faces of the three seniors had turned completely grim. They were all top students in their respective years; none of them were fools.
They each had their own understanding of the human heart and nature.
"Heh..." Penelope sneered. "I'm afraid someone benefited from this and developed a taste for it."
"A greedy snake trying to swallow an elephant." Maranhao also spoke a familiar proverb from her hometown with an angry expression.
"I think those who concealed the truth and deceived everyone are the ones who truly deserve to be disposed of."
Marietta crossed her arms and closed her eyes, her usually soft voice now chillingly cold.
"There's nothing we can do... after all, it's a matter of another world; we can't interfere at all."
Hermione shook her head helplessly. If she could, she would certainly want to lend a hand to that world; after all, who knew how many people there were like Lynn.
"Indeed," Marietta sighed. "They are far away in another world. No matter what, it's not our place to interfere."
Despite saying that, an unquenchable fire flickered in the eyes of the four girls.
Before long, Penelope returned to her own Dormitory. It was the day before Christmas, and everyone needed to sleep early.
After all, the Halloween banquet tomorrow would surely last a long time, and they would have to stay up late.
At midnight, Lynn finished her shower and went to bed on time, waking up at exactly six o'clock the next morning.
Sitting up in bed and opening her eyes, she saw a small pile of gifts on the floor in various wrappings. Among them was a blue gift box with a bow that looked familiar to her.
It was undoubtedly tied by Hermione herself. Sitting by the bed, she reached down to pick up Hermione's gift first. Lynn carefully untied the bow and even more carefully opened the box.
Although she didn't quite know why, she instinctively didn't want any part of this gift, including the ribbon and the box, to be damaged in the slightest.
Inside the gift box, a cute, chubby little blue cup sat securely.
On top of the cup was a letter. Lynn took it out and read it carefully; it was filled with Hermione's blessings, her gratitude for Lynn's company over the past year, and her hope for the year to come.
A smile played on her lips as Lynn placed the letter very gently on the bed beside her.
Then she slowly took the little cup out of the box. Inside the cup lay a small slip of paper.
Lynn reached into the cup, took out the note, and unfolded it. It had a few words written on it: "Fill with hot water."
Putting the note and the letter safely together, Lynn walked to the desk with a smile and carefully set down the little cup.
Then she drew her wand, pointed it at the cup, and recited a spell. Warm water gushed from the tip of her wand, eagerly flowing into the little cup.
As the warm water filled it, Lynn could see the blue walls of the cup slowly changing; it seemed that some images were gradually appearing on them.
She continued to fill the cup with warm water until it was nearly full, at which point the blue on this side of the cup had completely transformed.
It turned into an image—one that made Lynn's heart skip a beat with joy, and one that made her eyes crinkle into a smile.
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