"Merlin, open your mouth. This cake tastes so good!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Margaret pierced a piece of cake with her fork and held it up to Merlin’s lips.

"Merlin, try mine too. This one is much healthier—not too sweet, and it has a tangy aftertaste," Luna interjected, offering her own piece of cake.

"Brother, open your mouth. Aaa..."

Catrine refused to be left out and held her fork out as well.

Seeing the three girls so enthusiastic, Merlin let out a long sigh and ate the cakes one by one.

But with all the flavors mixed together, the taste turned strange.

"The cake... tastes good," Merlin said, forcing a smile.

The three girls rolled their eyes. They knew a cake mixed like that wouldn’t taste good. At the same time, they felt embarrassed for competing over something so trivial.

"By the way, the dance session is about to start. How about you begin with me?" Luna suggested eagerly.

Margaret’s and Catrine’s eyes immediately sharpened. Neither of them wanted to lose, and they quickly interrupted.

"No, it has to be with me!"

"What did you say!? Big Brother Merlin will choose me! Right, Brother?!"

Merlin: "..."

Can the three of you stop fighting?

His head felt like it was splitting. But he couldn’t do anything about it. After all, he had chosen the harem route.

He remembered that the heroines in the novel The Lost Hero were extremely jealous.

Even Abel had been overwhelmed whenever they fought—especially Luna, who had a strong yandere tendency.

Fortunately, that side of her hadn’t appeared yet. If it had, Merlin would definitely be in even more trouble.

"Alright, enough fighting," Merlin said quickly, trying to stop them.

The three of them calmed down, but the hostility in their eyes hadn’t faded. As long as the dance order hadn’t been decided, none of them could let their guard down.

"How about this?" Merlin raised his right hand and looked at them seriously, one by one. "The three of you play rock-paper-scissors. Whoever wins gets to dance with me first. That’s much fairer than me choosing directly. What do you think?"

A faint smile appeared on his face. He knew that if he chose directly, it would only leave the other two dissatisfied.

So rock-paper-scissors was the best way to ease the tension.

The three girls were surprised. They hadn’t expected Merlin to suggest something like that. But after a moment, they realized it was indeed the only reasonable solution.

But suddenly...

"Can I join?"

"I want to join too."

Two excited yet shy voices came from behind them.

The three girls froze and turned around at the same time.

Standing there were Liora and Monica.

The two girls approached with smiles on their faces.

"You two..." Luna’s expression stiffened. "Why are you here?"

Liora giggled and teased, "Is it wrong for us to talk to you?"

"No, it’s not like that." Luna shook her head. "I mean... why do you want to join the dance too?"

Her voice was filled with displeasure. Dealing with Margaret and Catrine was already exhausting, but now two more rivals had joined in. It was truly annoying.

Catrine and Margaret felt the same. They hadn’t expected Monica and Liora to join as well.

If they lost, wouldn’t they end up last in line?

"I want to dance too. But look at me..." Liora pursed her lips sadly. "Who would even want to dance with someone like me?"

Because of her unusual appearance, people often kept their distance from her.

It was true that her performance in the previous battle arena had changed many people’s opinions. But humans were visual creatures.

They were naturally uncomfortable with anything different from themselves.

So she had no choice but to turn to Merlin. After all, he was the only boy she knew who wouldn’t discriminate against her.

"Me too," Monica added shyly. "Since I’m an elf, not everyone likes me. So... I’m sure only Merlin would be willing to dance with me. Is that okay, Merlin?"

Her round, hopeful eyes trembled as she looked at him.

Luna, Catrine, and Margaret secretly wished Merlin would refuse their requests.

Not because they were cruel, but because they feared ending up last in line later.

Merlin understood their thoughts. Unfortunately, he couldn’t reject Monica’s and Liora’s requests.

It must be said that, aside from Rosaline and Nysera, Liora and Monica were his primary mission targets.

He hadn’t had the opportunity to do so because he’d been too busy with other matters.

Not to mention, there were rarely any opportunities for him to deepen his relationship with the two of them.

And now, that opportunity had appeared right in front of him. How could he possibly ignore it?

"Ahem!" Merlin cleared his throat. Ignoring the hopeful gazes of the three girls, he gave a slight nod. "Alright, I’ll dance with you. But since I can only dance with one person at a time, you’ll have to take turns with Margaret, Luna, and Catrine."

Margaret, Luna, and Catrine: "..."

They exchanged glances and sighed in unison, as if they had already expected that outcome.

In the end, they played rock-paper-scissors. Luna won first place, followed by Catrine, Liora, Monica, and Margaret.

"Argh! How could I be last!?" Margaret shouted, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

She never expected that out of all of them, she would end up last!

"Pfft!" Luna chuckled mockingly. "Looks like the goddess of luck knows who truly belongs with Merlin."

Her words pierced Margaret’s heart like a knife. Breathing heavily, she pulled a black card from her pocket and held it out to Luna.

"Take this. Switch places with me!"

Luna rolled her eyes. "Do you think I’m short on money? Your family may be richer, but I’m the daughter of the Tharot family. I don’t need your money."

"Ugh..." Margaret gritted her teeth and held the card out to Catrine. "Switch with me."

Catrine, who was usually quiet and indifferent, stuck out her tongue.

"I don’t need it."

"Then switch places with me!" Margaret shoved the card toward Liora.

"Sorry, but I’m not short on money either," Liora refused gently.

"Switch places with me!" Margaret turned to Monica and offered the card again.

Faced with Margaret’s desperate gaze, Monica panicked. She hurriedly stepped back and hid behind Merlin.

"I don’t want to. Sorry, Margaret."

Their repeated refusals shattered Margaret’s last bit of pride.

Her belief that everything could be solved with money finally crumbled.

Seeing how devastated she looked, Merlin had no choice but to step forward and gently pat her head.

"Alright, don’t be so sad. Each dance is only five minutes. You only have to wait twenty minutes. Don’t cry, okay?"

The moment she felt his touch, Margaret couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst into tears. She threw her arms around Merlin and buried her face in his chest.

"Waaaah! You’re the best, Merlin! I love you so much!"

She planted a kiss on his cheek, then hugged him even tighter.

The four girls froze on the spot.

Jealousy surged in their eyes—especially Luna and Catrine, who suddenly wanted to punch Margaret for taking advantage of the moment.

If they’d known that losing rock-paper-scissors would let them hug and kiss Merlin, they wouldn’t have hesitated to come in last.

"[Ding! Heroine Margaret’s affection has increased by 20 points! Since affection is maxed out, affection points will be converted into system points! 10,000 system points have been obtained!]"

Seeing the panel, Merlin was slightly surprised. Who would’ve thought that simply hugging Margaret could earn him that many system points?

It seemed he needed to make the heroines—especially Liora and Monica—fall for him even more. That way, he could gain even more system points in the future.

After he finally calmed Margaret down, the atmosphere returned to normal. The five girls began chatting casually again, laughing and joking together.

It was as if the earlier argument had never happened.

’Girls really are something else. They can change their mood so fast,’ Merlin muttered helplessly.

Ten minutes later, the dance session began. The boys and girls who had agreed to dance were instructed to gather on the right side of the hall.

Since the area wasn’t very large, only ten couples could participate.

To the relief of the five girls, the dance session would be divided into six rounds. That way, they could dance with Merlin without worrying about missing their turn.

Besides, since not all students had partners, the dance session didn’t disrupt the party already underway. Students who weren’t participating could either watch or simply ignore it.

However, since dance parties like this were so rare, most of them still chose to watch with curious expressions.

"Rosaline, would you like to dance with me?"

Geran asked with a smile he thought was handsome.

He extended his right hand toward her, his expression full of hope.

"Tsk! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Geran do something this bold. Is he looking for trouble?" Trigard chuckled softly.

Arta, standing beside him, remained silent and indifferent, as if he had no interest in what was happening around him.

Rosaline glanced at Geran’s outstretched hand and shook her head.

"Sorry, I’m not interested."

The smile on Geran’s face froze. Frustration and anger surged inside him, but there was nothing he could do.

Everyone in the second-year class knew just how cold and indifferent Rosaline was. Many had tried to ask her out, but in the end, she rejected every single one without hesitation.

"What about me?" Mey suddenly offered. "Even if I’m not as pretty as Rosaline, there’s no harm in it, right?"

Her round, adorable eyes blinked innocently.

Geran had no choice but to accept. Otherwise, the situation would only become awkward.

"Alright."