The heavy curtains blocked out the sunlight. Although it was already bright outside, Belle's room remained dim behind their thick shield.
Belle couldn't quite understand what had caused her to change, to start subconsciously agonizing over these things.
It had all started with just wanting to maintain a good relationship with this incredibly powerful Proxy, but when had it gradually become a habit?
Belle sighed. If she couldn't figure it out, she might as well stop thinking about it. But the vexation in her heart was like a maggot clinging to bone, constantly gnawing at her.
Before Belle could move, a set of footsteps approached from a distance, quickly arriving at her door, followed by a knock.
She instinctively looked up. Comparing the time now to when she had stormed out, less than three minutes had passed.
Such speed... Belle knew Andrew must have sent Nicole on her way and rushed right over. And for some reason, that realization instantly lifted her spirits.
The annoyance in her heart vanished, the inner turmoil gone. She sprang from her bed with a whoosh and padded lightly to the door, pulling it open.
As the door opened, the sunlight from the hallway streamed past Andrew's tall frame and into the dim room. Like a gentle spring rain, it melted away the gloom.
Belle glanced at Nicole in the distance, who was gleefully counting her Dennies, then turned back with a mischievous grin.
"Andrew, are you done already? That was way too fast. Can you even perform?"
The speech Andrew had mentally prepared vanished without a trace. The explanation he was about to give got stuck in his throat, choked off by Belle's earth-shattering question.
For a moment, Andrew was so taken aback by this unexpected reaction that he was rendered speechless.
But when a man's performance is questioned, everything else instantly becomes irrelevant.
"What do you mean I can't perform? I can totally perform, okay? You wanna go a few rounds and find out for yourself?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Andrew realized this wasn't the point.
"Wait, you almost got me sidetracked. Don't go making things up! There's nothing going on between me and Nicole!"
Hearing this, Belle replied with a touch of disdain:
"Of course I know that. I'm not some clueless little girl. I was just afraid Nicole would come running to me to borrow money too!"
If Wise were here, he'd just quip:
"Sis, that's definitely not what you were thinking a moment ago..."
And then be instantly taken down by a 360-degree twist from Belle's hip.
But Andrew had no idea what Belle had been thinking about behind her closed door. Seeing that she didn't seem to have misunderstood anything, he breathed a sigh of relief and didn't press the issue.
And so, the minor-yet-not-so-minor incident was quietly glossed over. It felt like something had changed, and yet, nothing had.
Just then, Belle suddenly pulled out her phone, showed it to Andrew, and said:
"Andrew, the day before yesterday we were looking up intel on the Aegis Umbrella corporation on the Proxy-net, and the very next day their research institute got completely wrecked. Phaethon's legend has reached a whole new level!"
Belle waved her phone proudly, saying with satisfaction,
"Because of this, the legendary Proxy Phaethon's fame has skyrocketed again! And now, the number of people who recognize our title as legendary Proxies has also shot way up!"
Hearing this, Andrew couldn't help but feel happy for Belle.
After all, Belle had mentioned before that she became a Proxy to find clues about her teacher. Becoming a legendary Proxy would undoubtedly open doors to information she couldn't access before.
"Really? That's great! You must be one step closer to finding your teacher now."
"Well, before it was just on a small scale. Now the news has just spread a bit wider. To become a true legendary Proxy, we'd need at least one more incident on a similar level."
Belle said this casually, as if it didn't matter. Back when they first became Proxies, both she and Wise held onto the idea that becoming legendary would guarantee they'd find their teacher. But as they got closer to that goal, the conviction began to fade.
But hearing Andrew mention it, Belle remembered that she had only told him that she was looking for her teacher, not who that teacher was.
After a moment's hesitation, as if moved by some unseen force, Belle finally spoke up:
"Andrew, you remember how I told you my goal was to find my teacher?"
Andrew was a bit confused by the out-of-the-blue question, but he answered honestly:
"Yeah. Is something wrong?"
Belle took a shallow breath before continuing.
"What if... what if the teacher I'm looking for doesn't have a simple identity?"
Hearing this, Andrew stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Does that mean finding your teacher is a lot harder than finding a regular person?"
Belle had been prepared for Andrew to press her for details, but his straightforward response made her a bit flustered. She stopped hesitating and blurted out:
"I was a member of the Helios Academy, back during the Old Eridu era. And our teacher... is the person currently considered the main culprit behind the rapid expansion of Hollow Zero and the fall of the old capital—Kallos."
After saying it, Belle waited quietly for Andrew's reaction, as if awaiting a final judgment. But she subconsciously lowered her head, her toes curling tightly inside her shoes.
As the student of the person who caused the fall of the old capital, she had seen endless malice and curses directed at her teacher online. She had even grown numb to the harsh words she overheard from others on the street.
In New Eridu, no one would give her teacher even the slightest bit of courtesy.
That's why, until now, Belle had always maintained a strictly professional client relationship with everyone else.
It wasn't just that she didn't want to; she didn't dare.
Belle couldn't bear to imagine what her friends would think if they knew her hidden identity.
She could hear a thousand, even ten thousand, malicious comments from strangers and it wouldn't matter. But even a single harsh word from a friend would hurt her deeply.
But, as a friend, she didn't want to hide it from Andrew.
So, Belle steeled her resolve. She would lay everything bare right here, right now, so there would be no more barriers between them.
Time trickled by with the ticking of a clock. Belle kept her head down for a long time, but heard no reaction.
Confused, she looked up, only to see Andrew still frowning and stroking his chin.
"So, does this basically mean finding her is on Super Pro Max difficulty? Is being a legendary Proxy even enough? Is there an epic-tier promotion path after this?"
Belle, who thought she had prepared for every possible reaction, realized she had still underestimated him. She couldn't help but retort:
"Do you think this is a video game?! Legendary evolving into Epic? What's next, a Demigod tier?!"
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