You are all bad women! Don't come over!

Shen Mochen was rendered speechless, a blush of embarrassment flooding his face. Upon reflection, Catherine did have a point. At his most desperate moment, it was Cai Yuncui who had taken him into her arms.

If it hadn't been for that, his feelings for Cai Yuncui might not be what they were now. Cai Yuncui knew most of his secrets and was the person Shen Mochen trusted the most, aside from Yin Caiyu.

Catherine's "accusations" made sense. If Shen Mochen had not beaten up Gao Le, and if Catherine hadn't helped him resolve the trouble, then the one by Shen Mochen's side wouldn't have just been Cai Yuncui. Maybe then, Shen Mochen might have developed different feelings for Catherine.

The result was, Catherine had done Shen Mochen a great favor, yet she hadn't received enough "compensation." With her intelligence, she must have known this would be the outcome when she was helping Shen Mochen deal with the Gao Le incident. But she knew that some things Cai Yuncui could do, and some things only she could do.

Shen Mochen could understand Catherine's indignation, but he didn't entirely agree with her perspective. The problems with Cai Yuncui and her issues seemed similar but were fundamentally different concepts.

A bunch of country folks were easy to deal with, to be molded at will. But Catherine's family was unapproachable.

Catherine's father was a man whom even the Governor of Gaotang State would respect greatly, with a power so immense it was hard to imagine. How could he possibly contend with that?

Even if Shen Mochen were tilting at windmills, what could possibly come of it?

After enduring fifteen years of being called a bastard, a beast, a mongrel, a failure, couldn't he now live like a human being?

For an ignoble bastard, this was the life he had once dreamt of! He was now the venerated Buque, the future household name as a political star! All the future, the glory, the unimaginable dreams awaited him!

Where did he have the time to mess around with a young lady and risk his entire future as the price!

"Actually, it's not the same..." Shen Mochen said, looking down, his skin glowing a deep red in the fading sunset.

"Ha ha ha, of course, it's not the same." Catherine laughed again, grinning as she patted Shen Mochen on the shoulder, "I'm just kidding with you, don't take it to heart!"

"Sigh..." Stretching languidly, Catherine said offhandedly, "They say that after I get married and have children, I can live just like them."

Shen Mochen was momentarily stunned before he understood what Catherine meant. Could it be that she meant... A small delight stirred in Shen Mochen's heart.

"Even though I haven't thought about having children, I don't want to become parents like them," Catherine continued, "So how could I become as detestable as they are?"

Shen Mochen fell into silence once again. True to form, Catherine was straightforward and honest.

The melodious sound of the school bell rang, jolting Shen Mochen as if awakening from a dream.

"School's over," Catherine stood up. "Oh, no, it's vacation."

Why did the bell ring so early, was it always this early before?

"Aren't you curious about why I make desserts?" Catherine leaned against the desk, staring intently at Shen Mochen.

"Weren't you reluctant to tell me?"

"There's nothing that can't be said. It started with a fairy tale I read as a child," Catherine said calmly, "The story was about a little girl who was very good at making desserts. Her parents were always arguing, and all of her family was gloomy and without smiles. Then she heard that in the distant East there was a magical magic that could bring happiness to everyone."

Shen Mochen couldn't help but ask further, "So did she learn this magic?"

"Yes, she went through countless hardships and finally went to the East to learn this magic. Then she returned home and added the magic to the desserts she made."

"Did she succeed?"

"Of course, it was a fairy tale intended for children. She certainly succeeded, her family became incredibly happy after eating her pastries, and they loved each other ever after. Later, the girl opened a dessert shop, and everyone who had her pastries also became very happy. The name of the fairy tale is 'The Pastry Girl,' and it's quite famous in our Roman."

"That sounds wonderful, tasty pastries really can bring happiness!" Shen Mochen added.

A mysterious smile appeared on Catherine's lips, "You're all grown up, how can you still believe in fairy tales?"

Shen Mochen scratched his face somewhat awkwardly.

"After all these years, no one has become happy because of my pastries," Catherine said, tilting her head up slightly with a wistful self-mockery in her eyes, "Now, I make pastries simply as a hobby, with no special reason. I certainly don't believe in any Happiness Magic."

"I'll give this book to you. It's not from the library, so you can take it home." Catherine handed over the book she had been reading before Shen Mochen arrived.

Shen Mochen received it; it was a collection of Roman fairy tales.

He casually flipped to a page that told the story of a princess trapped in a castle who was rescued by a brave prince on an adventure outside.

How coincidental, it was also the source of the play that Catherine had starred in at the previous school anniversary.

But Shen Mochen remembered that the original story seemed to end with the princess and the prince revealing the wicked queen's conspiracy and then getting married in the castle, whereas here the ending was that the prince and the princess left the castle and went on an adventure far away together.

"Let's go," Catherine picked up her backpack.

Shen Mochen silently followed.

"Remember to hand the keys to Teacher Xun. I won't be coming back next semester."

Leaving the library, Catherine casually tossed her library key to Shen Mochen.

"Oh… okay."

"Don't come the day after tomorrow. Consider the invitation as if you never received it. The event is full of Roman people; you'd definitely feel out of place if you came," Catherine added.

Shen Mochen silently didn't make a sound.

"This is it, I'm off!" Catherine and Shen Mochen walked side by side to the school gates, where Fuzi was standing by the car, watching them from a distance.

Shen Mochen stared blankly at Catherine's retreating figure and suddenly felt as if something very important was about to leave him.

He reached out to grab at the air, caught nothing, and couldn't help but blurt out, "Hey, wait a minute!"

Catherine glanced back, her eyes smiling: "What is it?"

Shen Mochen was at a loss for words for quite some time, and finally, he organized his thoughts, scratching the back of his head: "Actually, I, I quite like you… it's just that, you deserve someone better…"

"Of course." Catherine stood tall with a smile, then suddenly pointed at Shen Mochen's chest and exclaimed loudly, "Zhen Dan!"

"What did you say?" Shen Mochen was stunned.

"The Spell of Happiness Magic," Catherine said with a slight smile, turned around, waved her hand, and said softly, "Goodbye."

Shen Mochen silently watched Catherine disappear into the sunset, like a string of bubbles vanishing into the deepest part of the ocean.