Restricted Fantasy I Chapter 114: Chocolate with a Hint of History or History wit

"??"

Yan Huan blinked, seriously wondering if he had misheard.

It was like an English listening exam—one mont, a group of people were happily planning where to go tomorrow, and the next, soone had pulled out a cane to whack another’s backside.

He wanted to ask the demon to repeat the second sentence just to confirm its exact aning, but just like a listening test that played only once, it ended without a replay.

Because the third sentence arrived right on its heels:

"The seaside view is beautiful tonight~"

And then—nothing. Only the sound of waves remained, as if the entire sequence of events had been an illusion.

The demon’s three inner thoughts had been spoken.

Yet, those three sentences nearly fried Yan Huan’s CPU.

He had never believed in things like a "sixth sense," but at this mont, he deeply regretted not trusting his own intuition just seconds ago, instead choosing to use mind-reading on Sakura Palace.

Everything had been going so well. Sakura Palace had already said those words, yet he had to double-check out of sheer stubbornness.

And now?

Now he was drenched in cold sweat, his entire body tensed up.

Taking a deep breath, his brain began running at full speed.

First, he needed to analyze the situation.

The rules of the demon’s three-sentence mind-reading ability were simple: two sentences were definitely true, while one could be true or false.

But the thing he feared most had happened—there was no guarantee that the false sentence was always the third one. Any of the three could be a trap.

Of the three, the first two were the most brain-lting, so he decided to start with the third:

"The seaside view is beautiful tonight~"

Yan Huan glanced at Sakura Palace, who was looking at him. After speaking, she had turned her gaze back to the ocean with a gentle smile.

Her eyes reflected the waves and the faint moonlight shimring on the water. She tilted her head slightly, as if savoring the mont.

This sentence... seed true?

If he assud the third sentence was true, then he had three possible scenarios to consider:

The first sentence was true, and the second was false.

aning, the second sentence was just the demon playing a prank.

In that case, Sakura Palace genuinely liked him—and not just "liked," but "liked a lot."

That dignified, graceful, and adorable Sakura Palace actually liked him?

Just thinking about it made Yan Huan’s heart skip a beat.

But the problem was... this was exactly what he had used mind-reading to confirm in the first place!

If the result was a 100% confirmation, he would be celebrating right now.

But now...

There was still a larger possibility hanging over him.

The first sentence was false, and the second was true.

This was the scariest possibility.

aning, not only did Sakura Palace not like him, but she might also be a voyeuristic pervert?!

At that thought, Yan Huan's focus instinctively landed on the first part—if Sakura Palace didn’t like him, then what had that conversation just now been about?

He couldn't help but wonder.

Suddenly, the image of Sakura Palace before him seed to shift slightly.

"Oh my, President, this is just the basic courtesy of a noble lady from Sakura Country. What are you even thinking?"

"Giving a lady of my stature such a cheap gift—it's already a sign of my refinent that I’m even pretending to appreciate it."

In the darkness of his imagination, Sakura Palace’s face contorted into a mocking smirk. She leaned toward him, her breath tickling his ear.

"Surely, President, you didn’t actually think that just because of a little basic courtesy, I’d like you? How incredibly ordinary yet confident of you..."

"...!"

Yan Huan swallowed hard, feeling as if, in so unseen dinsion, Sakura Palace was covering her lips to hide a sneering laugh.

Her cool, indifferent eyes locked onto him as she teased:

"A boy with zero experience in love sure has a vivid imagination. How cute~"

"! ! "

Yan Huan's face paled.

The more soone cared about another's opinion, the greater the impact of their words.

If a complete stranger had said that to him, he would have laughed it off, dismissing it as "just so rando being ridiculous."

But if Sakura Palace, soone he had spent so much ti with and had grown fond of, actually said that...

It would probably drag out every last bit of self-doubt from his past life.

"...There... there’s still a third possibility..."

Yan Huan clutched his head, forcibly pulling himself out of his daze and back into rational analysis.

Both the first and second sentences were true.

Good news: Sakura Palace liked him.

Bad news: Sakura Palace was a voyeuristic pervert.

Yan Huan's brain short-circuited again.

"President?"

"Ah?"

Sakura Palace’s voice pulled him back to reality.

He quickly turned his head and t her gaze. She was staring at him, puzzled.

"President, is the seawater too cold? Are you feeling unwell? Maybe we should get out..."

"...No, I was just... thinking about sothing."

"Could it be that my invitation to visit your ideal seaside location is such a difficult decision?"

"Not really..."

"Then..."

Sakura Palace leaned in slightly, her smile deepening.

"Your answer, President?"

"...!"

Right!

He had been so caught up in analyzing the demon’s mind-reading ability that he had completely forgotten to respond to Sakura Palace’s invitation.

Yan Huan froze for a mont, staring at the stunning girl right in front of him.

For so reason, he suddenly recalled the early days of the Student Council.

"I have things to do. I’ll take these files ho to finish them."

The setting sun bathed the Student Council office in golden hues, dragging his mories back in ti.

Yan Huan opened the office door, walked over to the bookshelf, and grabbed a couple of docunt folders.

Without so much as glancing at the girl seated on the couch in her elegant Sakura Country attire, he turned to leave.

"Yan Huan."

The girl’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

He paused briefly, then turned around and asked, "What is it, Vice President?"

She set down her teacup and spoke plainly:

"Since the Student Council was established, you’ve never actually worked here. This office has practically beco my personal tea room."

Yan Huan glanced at her and responded just as plainly,

"I have a part-ti job in the afternoons, and I need to rest at noon. I don’t have much ti to co here. Besides, isn’t this arrangent working fine?"

Sakura Palace, however, looked at him directly and got straight to the point.

"Are you avoiding

because I took the Vice President position from Yaqiao Mu?"

Yan Huan t her gaze and replied coldly,

"Isn’t that the truth, Sakura Palace?"

The atmosphere between them grew tense.

"A person who did nothing from election start to finish, who won solely because of family background—what right do they have to expect kindness from others?"

Sakura Palace didn't respond. Instead, she stood up and walked toward him.

Though she was much shorter than him and had to tilt her head back to et his eyes, her presence was commanding.

"...Yan Huan, in the history of Yuanyue’s Student Council, there have been a few cases of outer institute students becoming President. But never in any term has the entire leadership team been made up of outer institute students."

Yan Huan blinked in surprise.

The moonlight bathed Sakura Palace’s face, her delicate features softened by a gentle smile.

Yan Huan exhaled.

"Alright. Let’s go to that beautiful seaside together soday."

"Then it’s a promise."

"Yeah. Deal."

He smiled at her.

After all—what if?

What if Sakura Palace really did like him, and there was no hidden catch?

Besides, statistically speaking, there was a two-thirds chance she did.

The odds were in his favor!

Yan Huan was officially starting to deceive himself.

“Ah, it’s so cold…”

“Oh right, I forgot. Your health isn’t great, and yet you’re still following

into the water. Get out, don’t stay in there.”

“Okay~”

Sakura Palace smiled softly and stood up.

The mont the sea breeze hit, she imdiately shivered, hugging herself for warmth.

Her complexion paled slightly, and with a trembling grip on the gift box, she hurried toward the villa.

“President, it’s freezing. Let’s go back and warm our feet with hot water.”

“No problem.”

Yan Huan grabbed his backpack and stood up, his peripheral vision catching sight of the shoes and socks still lying on the sand.

He turned to look at Sakura Palace ahead of him, her small fra wrapped tightly in her arms, shivering. With a sigh, he bent down, picked up her delicate shoes and socks, and followed after her.

“President! Sakura! Get back here! The wind’s too strong at night!”

“Hurry up!”

“President, what were you two doing over there? And why did you take off the Vice President’s shoes?”

“I didn’t take them off, okay?!”

And just like that, Sakura Ryou’s birthday ca to an end.

"I can’t sleep at all, ow-chan…"

Late at night, in his rental apartnt in the South District, Yan Huan lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling with unfocused eyes.

Beside him, ow-chan tucked its little paws in, tilted its head, and looked at him.

“ow?”

Then, it stood up, padded over to the nightstand, and tapped the charging phone with its paw.

When the screen lit up and displayed the ti, ow-chan sighed and turned back to Yan Huan.

“It’s almost two in the morning, ow. You have school tomorrow.”

“I know, but…”

Yan Huan covered his face, his voice muffled.

Humans always had a tendency to overanalyze things after the fact.

Like when soone insults you, and at the mont, you don’t have a coback. But later at ho, the more you think about it, the angrier you get, wishing you had snapped back at them.

This was exactly what was happening to Yan Huan right now—not that he regretted his actions, but the more he thought about it, the wilder his thoughts beca.

“ow-chan, I never should have used mind-reading. I basically tortured myself with it.”

“ow…”

ow-chan gracefully jumped back onto his chest and sat down properly, staring at him.

It already knew what had happened, thanks to Nara filling it in after dropping Yan Huan off. So, it understood exactly what he was struggling with.

“So, it’s either Sakura doesn’t like , or she does like

but is a voyeuristic pervert… This is…”

“This is literally like choosing between ‘chocolate that tastes like sht’ and ‘sht that tastes like chocolate!’”

…Did he really just say that, ow?!

ow-chan was speechless. It smacked Yan Huan’s face lightly with its paw as if to comfort him.

“Didn’t you say there’s still the possibility that Sakura simply likes you, ow? You were fine just a second ago, why are you spiraling now?”

“…Even if I ignore the two worst-case scenarios, if Sakura really likes , doesn’t that just bring

back to the sa old problem?”

Yan Huan lifted a hand and rubbed ow-chan’s fluffy head.

“Her family background, her status, and now the whole issue with the Modifier… The chances are slim. Sakura doesn’t have a Modifier, which ans she’s probably constantly being targeted by those insane Hosts.”

“Then think about it this way, ow. What if Sakura’s also a pervert?”

Yan Huan blinked, staring at the cat who was trying to comfort him in the worst way possible.

Then, he laughed in exasperation, sat up, and scooped ow-chan into his arms, hugging the chubby furball tightly.

“Oh, so this is how you’re trying to cheer

up, huh? You must be starved for affection, ow-chan!”

“ow!!”

ow-chan struggled in his grasp, flailing.

“So what I’m saying is, overthinking about a few mind-read sentences—whether true or false—gets you nowhere, ow! Go confirm it! Confirm it!!”

Yan Huan froze for a mont.

ow-chan imdiately leapt out of his arms, started grooming its ruffled fur, and continued,

“If you suspect Sakura likes you, go find proof that she does—or doesn’t—ow.

“And if you suspect she’s got so kind of weird fetish, then go find proof that she’s watching you, ow!

“Once you get rid of your doubts, the truth will be clear. Then you won’t have all these pointless worries anymore, ow!”

Yan Huan sighed, lying back down and gazing at the ceiling.

“Of course, I know that… Finding the truth and facing it head-on is what anyone should do. But sotis… accepting the truth takes even more courage…”

“ow?”

ow-chan sat back on his chest, tilting its head.

Yan Huan placed his arm over his forehead, his expression conflicted.

“What if… Sakura really doesn’t like ?

“Or worse… what if she really is a voyeuristic pervert?”

ow-chan stared at him for a mont before calmly asking,

“Even if that’s the case, Yan Huan—do you still like her?”

At the sa ti, in Sakura Palace’s residence in Jinghe District—

“I CAN’T SLEEP, NARA!!”

In her spacious bed, Sakura Palace clutched her pillow tightly, her voice full of panic.

On the floor beside the bed, Nara, who was sleeping on a futon, wore an expression of sheer disbelief.

“I seriously don’t get it. He gave you a gift, and you even agreed to go see the ocean together. What’s the problem?”

“But… but…”

Sakura Palace’s face flushed red.

She clutched the pillow tighter, her long hair, finally free from its usual styled look, cascading loosely around her. It made her seem especially pure and delicate.

Her bright eyes shimred, brimming with shyness and unease. She pouted, hesitated, but ultimately couldn’t put her thoughts into words.

Nara rolled her eyes, turned over, and looked at the still very-much-awake Sakura Palace.

“Then just go confirm it! Confess to him and see if he accepts.”

Sakura Palace bit her lip, then buried her head completely under the blanket, mumbling in a muffled voice,

“But what if… what if he doesn’t like ? What if he rejects ?”

“Or worse… even if he says yes now, what if he later finds out who I really am?”

Nara propped her chin up, yawned lazily, and asked in return,

“Even if that happens, do you still like him, Ojou-sama?”