Chapter 156: The Iron Tree Blooms
"Hmm, I think I get it." Himeko set her porcelain coffee cup onto its saucer with a soft clink. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand as she studied Fu Hua. "Your... 'friend' has been feeling a bit restless lately whenever they see a certain someone. Whether they are training or doing mundane chores, they find themselves absent-minded and easily distracted. Is that right?"
Himeko briefly summarized the rather transparent dilemma the class monitor had just presented.
"Yes." Fu Hua nodded, her expression entirely serious behind her red-framed glasses. "Is there a specific physiological or psychological reason why this is happening with such frequency?"
"It is nothing serious." Himeko shook her head, a faint, knowing smile playing on her lips.
Hearing the older woman's reassurance, Fu Hua's rigid shoulders relaxed a fraction. She let out a quiet breath of relief and lifted her own cup, taking a small, measured sip of the dark brew.
"Your 'friend' is simply in love," Himeko dropped the bomb with absolute nonchalance. "That is exactly what is going on."
"Pfft—Cough! Cough, cough, cough!"
Fu Hua choked. The hot coffee nearly sprayed across the table. She hurriedly grabbed a napkin, covering her mouth as a violent fit of coughing seized her lungs. Her usually stoic composure shattered into a million pieces.
"What is wrong?" Himeko leaned back, her amber eyes dancing with unconcealed amusement. "You seem quite thrilled for your... friend."
Beneath her teasing exterior, Himeko actually felt a wave of genuine astonishment. Rovel was truly a terrifyingly capable man. To think he had actually managed to make an ancient, unyielding iron tree like Fu Hua finally bloom.
Not too long ago, Himeko had confidently declared to Raiden Mei that Fu Hua was the absolute last person in all of St. Freya Academy who would ever fall in love. The class monitor operated with a strict, ascetic discipline. She seemed entirely devoid of whatever biological wiring governed romantic attraction, rendering her completely immune to matters of the heart.
She lived a life of few desires, detached from the trivial dramas of youth. Even on the rare occasions when starry-eyed junior girls confessed their admiration to her, Fu Hua had remained perfectly unruffled, declining them with polite, emotionless efficiency.
Yet here they were. Barely any time had passed, and reality had delivered a swift, merciless slap to Himeko's assumptions. Honestly, she half-wanted to drag Rovel into a bar, buy him a drink, and interrogate him on exactly what kind of black magic he used to melt this glacier.
"Th-That should be impossible." Fu Hua finally managed to catch her breath. She wiped the stray drops of coffee from the corner of her mouth. A highly uncharacteristic, brilliant crimson blush crept up her neck and settled on her cheeks. Her blue eyes were wide, swimming with absolute disbelief.
"M-My friend has absolutely never entertained such frivolous thoughts. How could it suddenly..." Fu Hua stammered, desperately trying to maintain the crumbling facade of her 'friend'.
"Everyone has emotions and desires, Fu Hua. It is perfectly normal." Himeko's tone softened, losing its teasing edge. "The feeling of love rarely announces itself. It sneaks up on you. During your day-to-day life, you might not realize a thing. You convince yourself the other person is just an ordinary companion, a reliable ally."
Himeko swirled the dregs of her coffee, her gaze turning nostalgic. "But then, you go through a life-or-death crisis together. The dust settles, and you suddenly realize that the person standing beside you forced their way into the deepest parts of your life a long time ago. All those little, insignificant interactions you brushed off? They were actually fragments of affection, quietly building a foundation until they completely merged into your world."
Fu Hua sat frozen. Himeko's words echoed in her mind, unlocking a floodgate of memories. She stared blankly at the wooden grain of the table, her thoughts drifting entirely to Rovel.
Her initial impression of him had not been exactly stellar. She had always felt there was something inherently improper about his casual, rule-breaking demeanor. When their paths first crossed, she felt a mild curiosity toward him, but nothing more. She had been genuinely surprised to see a young man master Dead Force at such a tender age, wielding a power that required immense discipline.
Then came their spar. The moment they exchanged blows, the shock had nearly broken her stance. He knew the Cun Xin Fist Style. Her style.
In those early days, he had nearly fooled her completely. He would intentionally put on a deep, mysterious act, shamelessly claiming that she was his wife from a past life and that she had simply forgotten their vows. His acting had been so flawless, so filled with faux-sorrow, that she had actually started to doubt her own fractured memory. When he finally broke character and admitted it was all a joke, a rare spark of genuine anger had flared in her chest.
Yet, after that terrible joke, Rovel never hid anything from her again.
He knew things about her past that even she had lost to the ravages of time. When he recounted the true origins of the Cun Xin Fist Style, a hollow, aching emptiness had clawed at her heart. The massive, dark gaps in her memory left her feeling entirely unmoored, adrift in a world she no longer recognized.
But Rovel had noticed. He possessed an almost frighteningly keen intuition for her shifting moods. Before the suffocating loneliness could pull her under, his voice was there, grounding her, offering quiet comfort.
She was an immortal who had long ago accepted the burden of walking her endless path alone. Solitude was her armor. Yet, Rovel had taken one look at that armor and completely ignored it. He stubbornly, forcefully broke into her isolated world, matching her pace step for step, refusing to let her walk in the shadows by herself.
His relentless intrusion was undeniably shameless. But sitting here now, Fu Hua realized she had never actually disliked it. In fact... his presence had slowly cultivated a foreign, fragile emotion within her chest. A deep sense of peace.
In the months that followed, he constantly found ridiculous excuses to drag her out of her solitary training and into their chaotic little circle. Whether it was forcing her to help tutor the hopelessly dense Kiana Kaslana, or dragging her into the training room for group combat practice, he never gave her the chance to isolate herself.
Whenever the shadows of her forgotten past threatened to swallow her again, he would suddenly appear. He would flash that easy, confident smile and drop a casual, 'You are looking as cool and cute as ever today, Monitor.' Those simple, teasing words acted like a lifeline, instantly pulling her back from the edge of depression.
When she spiraled into self-doubt, questioning her purpose and her fractured identity, he would deliberately spout absolute nonsense. He would agitate her, annoy her, and stir up her emotions until the sheer irritation made her completely forget the heavy burdens weighing on her soul.
As long as Rovel stood by her side, the phantom pain of her missing centuries simply ceased to exist.
And then came the crisis. When the massive Honkai beast, Chiyou, threatened to breach the borders of Shenzhou, it was Rovel who stepped forward. He had placed himself directly between her and annihilation.
It was a sight that defied everything she knew about her existence. For millennia, there had never been a single soul standing in front of her. She was the protector. She was the shield of Shenzhou. She always faced the darkness first, because she always walked alone.
Watching his back against the apocalyptic backdrop of Chiyou, the realization finally crashed over her. Rovel had not just entered her world; he had conquered it. His actions spoke louder than any vow. He was telling her that even the great immortal of Shenzhou was allowed to be tired. Even she was allowed to have a shoulder to lean on.
You no longer need to bear the weight of the world alone. I am here. I will stand by your side and face the end of all things with you.
In that desperate battle, he was not merely protecting the lands of Shenzhou. He was fiercely guarding every single mundane, precious memory they had built together. Because Rovel knew the terrible price of activating the Fenghuang Down. He knew it would burn away her memories. So, without a second of hesitation, he usurped her role, taking the burden upon himself to become the blazing, unyielding sun that shattered the darkness.
Meanwhile, back at the dorms...
"Rovel, you are finally back."
Raiden Mei stood in the entryway. A picture-perfect, gentle smile graced her beautiful features. However, her right hand was gripping a heavy steel kitchen knife, and a terrifying, almost visible dark aura was currently bleeding out from her silhouette, dropping the ambient temperature of the room by several degrees.
"Mmph! Mmph mmph! Mmph mmph mmph mmph mmph!"
On the living room floor, Kiana Kaslana was currently trussed up in thick ropes, bound as tightly as a holiday zongzi. A massive steamed bun was jammed unceremoniously into her mouth, reducing her furious screaming to muffled, slurred grunts.
She glared up at the newly arrived Rovel, her blue eyes swimming with deep grief and righteous indignation, looking like a maiden who had suffered the greatest injustice in human history. Her muffled grunts clearly translated to: Rovel! You traitorous dog! Why do you always act like a dog?!
A few feet away, Bronya Zaychik sat cross-legged on the sofa, her thumbs flying across her game controller in a blur of motion. The silver-haired girl did not even blink, completely and expertly ignoring the hostage situation unfolding in her living room.
Rovel froze in the doorway, his eyes darting from the bound Kiana to the knife-wielding Mei. He cleared his throat, adjusting his posture to look as dignified as possible.
"Uh... I only stepped out because I had extremely urgent business to attend to," Rovel stated with absolute seriousness, desperately trying to construct a bulletproof excuse on the fly.
"Oh?" Mei tilted her head. The smile never left her face, but her eyes were entirely devoid of light. "What sort of urgent business could possibly compel you to completely ignore your own safety and sneak out of the dorms all by yourself?"
She took a slow, deliberate step forward. The kitchen knife caught the overhead light with a sinister gleam. The oppressive dark aura surged across the room, wrapping around Rovel like a suffocating blanket.
Staring down a yandere-mode Raiden Mei—whose current intimidation factor vastly surpassed that of a planetary-class Honkai beast like Chiyou—Rovel wisely chose the path of self-preservation. He silently lowered his head in utter defeat. He knew from painful experience that when Mei reached this state, logic and excuses were entirely useless.
Ten minutes later, Rovel was happily enjoying the exact same VIP treatment as Kiana.
"Mmph! Mmph mmph!"
Kiana wiggled like a giant caterpillar, bumping her shoulder against his and glaring fiercely. She had trusted him! She only took her eyes off him for five minutes to grab a snack, and the bastard had immediately taken advantage of the opening to sneak off on a solo mission. This was all his fault!
Rovel leaned over, his face inches from Kiana's. With a swift, practiced motion, he bit down on the edge of the steamed bun jammed in her mouth and pulled it free.
"Forgive me, Kiana," Rovel mumbled, his jaw working as he chewed the stolen food. "I swear, this is the absolute last time."
Freed from her makeshift gag, Kiana gasped for air. She blinked, suddenly realizing Rovel's arms were completely loose. "Wait, how did you untie yourself?!" she hissed in disbelief.
"I just cut the ropes with a micro Water Blade," Rovel replied calmly, holding the half-eaten bun in his now-free hand and taking another massive bite.
Kiana's brain finally processed what she was looking at. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, and her face flushed a violent shade of red. "You... what the hell are you doing?!!" she shrieked, bristling like a startled cat as she watched him unhesitatingly devour the exact same bun that had just been inside her mouth.
"Eating a bun," Rovel answered matter-of-factly. He tossed the last piece into his mouth, swallowing it in a few quick bites. He had to admit, the 'imported' flavor profile added a surprisingly sweet touch.
Kiana stared at his chewing jaw, her brain short-circuiting from the sheer shamelessness of the indirect kiss. Taking a deep breath, she threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"MEI! GET BACK HERE! ROVEL IS TRYING TO ESCAPE!"
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