Join my p@treon for more chapters
[email protected]/Tempest_29
Even knowing there was no grand prize remaining in the box, Jacob could only grit his teeth and accept the situation reluctantly.
There wasn't much he could do about it. He couldn't very well demand that people open the entire box on the spot and scratch off every lottery ticket one by one, could he?
Jacob had no choice but to settle for what he could get - taking the second prize - while silently cursing the dishonest merchant several more times under his breath.
"Sir, congratulations on winning the second prize!" After scratching off the metallic coating, the promotional hostess was visibly stunned. She clearly hadn't expected someone to claim the second prize so quickly, and she kept praising him enthusiastically. "Your luck is absolutely incredible! You're the very first person to win the second prize in this entire promotional event."
Looking at the reward Jacob had won, Nina's eyes sparkled with delight, and the joy in her expression was impossible to hide. "Jacob, you actually won the second prize? That's fantastic! I told you your luck would definitely be better than mine."
"I should have let you use the first lottery ticket as well, if I had known this would happen," Nina couldn't help but add with a hint of regret.
"Well, it's just for entertainment anyway. Having fun is what matters most," Jacob replied, not displaying excessive excitement on his face. "Come on, let's go pick out a Pokémon egg."
Jacob and Nina began browsing through the available Pokémon eggs. Perhaps because he was still somewhat irritated by the earlier deception, Jacob didn't hesitate to select the Pokémon egg with the highest potential from the standard prize section.
Although it was considered to have the best potential available, it actually only possessed Quasi-Heavenly King level potential. Jacob no longer felt particularly enthusiastic about Pokémon with this level of capability. Even though he still had an unused bottle of Panacea in his possession, he would only consider using it if he encountered a truly suitable Pokémon candidate.
Carrying the carefully packaged Pokémon egg, Jacob and Nina walked out of the Battle Frontier facility. Eleanor, who had been discreetly following them throughout their visit, quickly hurried after them as they departed.
After observing them for an extended period, Eleanor had already confirmed Nina's identity beyond any doubt.
"Nina!" Eleanor's voice suddenly called out, causing Nina's entire body to tense up immediately. The hand she had been holding with Jacob also nervously slipped away from his grasp.
She turned her head briefly, recognized Eleanor among the crowd, and then quickly looked away as if she hadn't heard anything at all, picking up her pace considerably.
"Someone's calling you, Teacher Nina," Jacob mentioned casually.
"Hurry, don't look back," Nina urged at that moment. She could only pretend not to understand what was happening, quickly grabbing Jacob's arm and speeding up their walking pace, desperately hoping to lose Eleanor in the crowd.
Jacob turned his head to glance in the direction of the voice, having a vague feeling that the person looked somewhat familiar, but before he could get a clearer look, he was pulled along by Nina, who had suddenly accelerated their movement.
Watching Nina quickly retreating from the scene, Eleanor became even more certain that she hadn't mistaken the person's identity, and her anger intensified accordingly.
So that's how it is, Nina. For the sake of some questionable man, you're pretending not to recognize me at all.
Eleanor immediately gave chase. Hearing the approaching footsteps rapidly gaining ground behind them, Nina felt her anxiety spike dramatically. The Capital was such an enormous city - why did she have to encounter Eleanor in this particular location of all places?
To make the situation even worse, Eleanor had witnessed her and Jacob holding hands while shopping together.
Nina's nervousness increased exponentially as she desperately tried to shake off Eleanor's pursuit. Unfortunately, she was wearing high heels and an elegant long dress that day. How could she possibly outrun Eleanor under these circumstances? As expected, Eleanor caught up to them after only a few hurried steps.
"Nina," Eleanor said after successfully catching up. She grabbed Nina's arm with a triumphant expression clearly visible on her face. "I knew it was you! For the past several months, every single time I've tried to contact you, you've claimed you were too busy to meet. Aren't you going to introduce me to this handsome gentleman standing beside you?"
Although she felt slightly annoyed that Nina had apparently found a boyfriend without telling her, Eleanor was genuinely concerned about Nina's wellbeing. Given Nina's somewhat naive and trusting personality, she could easily be taken advantage of by someone with bad intentions.
"Eleanor..." Upon hearing Eleanor's direct words, Nina gently glanced up at Jacob, seemingly contemplating how she should properly introduce their current relationship status.
"You're really overthinking this entire situation. We're honestly just friends, nothing more."
"Who exactly are you trying to fool here? I just witnessed you two holding hands!" Eleanor pointed out matter-of-factly.
Realizing that she couldn't successfully deceive Eleanor, Nina could only continue her explanations more desperately. "We really are just..."
"Miss Eleanor, hello there. I'm Nina's student. It's truly a pleasure to meet you."
"Eleanor, this really isn't an appropriate place for having this conversation. Let's find somewhere more private where we can sit down and talk properly."
Nina and Eleanor, two strikingly beautiful women standing together with Jacob, naturally attracted considerable attention from curious passersby. Noticing that more and more people were beginning to gather and stare at them, the three quickly decided to leave the area.
"There's a coffee shop located nearby. Let's go there instead."
"That sounds perfect."
After a brief discussion, the trio headed to a nearby coffee shop to find a quiet place to sit and talk.
While walking along the street, the two long-separated best friends chatted continuously about recent events and developments in their lives, while Jacob followed several steps behind them, feeling somewhat like an attendant accompanying two important guests.
"Nina, how exactly did you two meet each other? What's his full name?" Eleanor kept asking questions throughout their walk, displaying the curiosity of an excited child discovering something new.
"Let's discuss this later when we have more privacy. There are far too many people around right now," Nina whispered quietly in response.
"How mysterious and secretive. Did you perhaps start secretly dating some famous celebrity? Like one of those underground romances you read about?" Eleanor joked with an amused smile, then turned around to look directly at Jacob and continued her teasing. "You're not actually a celebrity of some kind, are you?"
"No, definitely not," Jacob replied, shaking his head firmly to deny the suggestion.
"Stop teasing him, Eleanor. Tell me instead - how have you been doing lately? What brought you to this particular area today? Isn't school keeping you incredibly busy these days?" Nina quickly changed the subject and redirected the conversation.
"Don't even get me started on that topic - I've been absolutely swamped with work lately," Eleanor began complaining as soon as the subject turned to her own situation. "Although there isn't particularly much happening at the university itself, didn't I mention to you before? I've been helping this student named Jacob write his research thesis recently."
"Let me tell you something - don't let his appearance fool you. He might look like just a regular kid, but his academic standards and demands are incredibly strict! Every single day he asks our research team to revise this section and that section, forcing us to work overtime and stay up late into the night revising different parts of the thesis." Eleanor became increasingly animated as she continued speaking. "It's so frustrating and exhausting! I've actually developed dark circles under my eyes from all the sleep deprivation."
"I've never been this utterly exhausted, not even when I was writing my own graduation thesis. Even a donkey working on a production team wouldn't be pushed this hard day after day."
"Ahem."
Jacob, who had been walking quietly behind the two women, couldn't help but blush with embarrassment and awkwardly rubbed his nose to hide his discomfort at being discussed so openly.
Nina also turned around to smile mischievously at Jacob, her face displaying pure amusement at the ironic situation unfolding before them.