You Finally Realize You're a Fool

Lily Evans walked away, leaving Princess Mira to collapse onto the ground, clutching the mask and staring at it with haunted intensity.

Those brows, those cheeks, those lips—every feature struck Princess Mira with a piercing sense of familiarity.

This was the face she’d dreamed of a thousand times, the lover she’d yearned for in countless dreams—Professor Jade Evans’s face!

And now, the skin of that face lay cold and mocking in her palm, sneering at her foolishness.

“So it was her... It was her all along...” Princess Mira suddenly threw back her head and laughed bitterly, her smile tinged with despair. "How could I be so stupid, so utterly foolish!"

"You just now realize you’re an idiot? Tch! You could’ve been Princess Ling, living the good life, but you had to chase after some wild man and end up in the Cold Palace. Clearly, there’s something wrong with your head!" The two palace maids rolled up their sleeves and dragged Princess Mira back toward the Cold Palace. "Hurry up! If you keep wandering around, you’ll get yourself killed!"

But Princess Mira seemed completely shattered, clutching the mask with lifeless eyes, mumbling the same words over and over: "So it was her... It was her..."

Lily Evans and Lola walked all the way to the palace gates, where Alexander Hayes, now changed into his own clothes, stood waiting by the carriage.

The moment Alexander Hayes saw Lily Evans, his gaze burned so hot it was as if he wanted to set her ablaze.

"Darling! You dazzled everyone at the Teacher Appreciation Banquet!" Alexander Hayes grabbed Lily Evans’s hand, barely restraining the urge to sweep her off her feet right then and there.

Lily Evans blushed. "I’m dressed as a man right now. If you keep pulling me around like this, what will people think if they see us?"

Alexander Hayes swallowed hard and quickly pulled Lily Evans up into the carriage.

As soon as the carriage rolled out of the palace gates, Alexander Hayes couldn’t keep his hands to himself. Lily Evans’s ears turned bright red as she struggled to escape his playful grasp.

"You—how can you do this in broad daylight, in the carriage..." Lily Evans stammered, her face burning, just as the carriage suddenly came to a halt.

Outside, Lola’s icy voice rang out: "Please move aside. Don’t block the road."

Seizing the chance, Lily Evans slipped out of Alexander Hayes’s arms and straightened her clothes, cheeks still flushed.

A flash of irritation crossed Alexander Hayes’s eyes as he lifted the curtain, only to see four elderly scholars—Phoenix Academy’s senior administrators—blocking the carriage.

"Princess of Qin, we’ve all heard about what happened at the Teacher Appreciation Banquet today." The eldest scholar stepped forward, huffing, "You’re a woman, so you have no right to be Dean of Phoenix Academy. Hand over your title and the academy seal immediately!"

Lily Evans rubbed her forehead. She’d just dealt with a crowd at the banquet—now here came another batch!

Lily Evans fixed them with a cold stare. "Since you already know what happened at the banquet, I won’t repeat myself. Yes, I’m a woman. But I’m the Dean, and I’m the teacher, and I’m not going anywhere! If you think my gender means I should step aside, forget it!"