Chapter 09
Deer Herd
After finishing his paper and revising his mistakes, Lin Yan estimated when Professor Lucius’s class would end.
Only after the class was over did he unhurriedly pry open the wooden door of the side hall.
When the bright light hit his retinas, Lin Yan’s pupils lost focus for a brief moment. He unconsciously lowered his eyelids, and only after adjusting to the light in the corridor did he start walking away.
He had barely taken two steps when he stopped.
He looked indifferently at a boy not far away—wearing a short jacket, a key hanging around his neck, his face filled with shock.
Lin Yan glanced at the key on the boy’s neck and said calmly, “Thank you.”
As if drawn by a magnet, the guard felt as though the key around his neck had been grasped in the hand of the person before him and tugged forward. It felt like being choked, yet also like a reward brushed across by cold fingertips.
Salen, the son of the Federal Commander-in-Chief and a staunch royalist, shuddered all over and stepped back instinctively. Suddenly recalling His Highness Shen Nie’s instructions, he stiffly said:
“If you want to thank someone, you should thank His Highness.”
Lin Yan said nothing, looking at him politely as he waited for him to continue. But Salen’s voice grew smaller and smaller, until he muttered, “…It was… His Highness’s order.”
A fragment of the original owner’s memory suddenly surged through Lin Yan’s mind.
After the red card was issued, even lambs who had never enjoyed power could initiate casual bullying—it became a carnival for all of Aurora. The protagonist shou had many people to save and many assignments to complete, and could not always extend a helping hand when the original owner was in danger.
Although Lin Yan had transmigrated here, the plot of the original novel was still proceeding meticulously. In the story, the original owner had also suffered bullying—being locked in a sealed room inside the church.
Terrified and panicked, desperate and uneasy, he had desperately tried to call the protagonist shou, but the call never went through. Just as he fell into despair, a guard opened the door with a key and left behind the words: “His Highness’s order.”
The original owner had been very grateful, but his greatest thought at the time was to find the protagonist shou. After wandering around, he eventually found him in the school restroom, where he was comforting other low-ranking nobles.
The original novel used a long passage to describe the original owner’s feelings, and finally summarized them as:
【After all the hatred, jealousy, and panic—it turns out I resent you for not loving me enough.】
The focus of the original novel was the entanglement between the protagonist shou and the F4.
Such a description was naturally not for developing a side romance, but to pave the way for the plot where the protagonist shou would be forcibly loved by F2. At that point, the original owner would abandon selfishness and cowardice, help the protagonist shou escape from the dark room, and ultimately be shot dead—dying in the arms of the protagonist shou, the very person who first saved him—thus completing a perfect, fated exit.
Lin Yan’s temples throbbed.
The overload of information made his face pale; even his previously rosy lips turned faintly pink.
Salen subconsciously wanted to ask something.
Lin Yan lightly pressed his brow, his voice calm as he stepped forward:
“Then please thank your Highness for me.”
Salen could only watch as Lin Yan left.
Only after that cold aura completely disappeared did he come back to his senses, unable to understand why he hadn’t asked—just how that beautiful student had opened the door.
Lin Yan had calculated the timing perfectly.
He caught up just as Professor Lucius’s class ended, outwardly blending in at the tail of the group as if nothing had happened.
A nearby student had been looking down at his phone, but seemed to catch a scent. His nose twitched, and he said with curiosity and surprise, “Did you change your perfume? Why does it smell like his—”
As he spoke, the boy lifted his head from his phone and met Lin Yan’s lowered gaze. He froze, standing upright, staring blankly at Lin Yan.
Lin Yan said politely, “I don’t wear perfume.”
After speaking, he followed the group out of the church.
The student behind him unconsciously dropped his phone, shattering the screen. Someone seemed to curse, and a faint disturbance spread through the group like ripples, while gazes—subtle or direct—fixed on the slender figure ahead.
Outside the church, the crisp chill in the fresh air slipped into Lin Yan’s collar with the cold wind. The oppressive nausea brought by the novel’s plot gradually dissipated. A hint of warmth returned to his expression as he appreciatively looked at the flock of pigeons in the sky.
Crimson hues spread across the clouds at the horizon, warm light blanketing all of Aurora. Small animals that had hidden away due to the dreadful weather now crawled out of their burrows in groups, exposing their soft bellies to enjoy nature’s gift.
A former principal of Aurora once said: “Roll once in Aurora’s bushes, and you’ll harvest an entire ecosystem.”
Though exaggerated, it was not untrue—the noble families continuously donated maintenance funds to Aurora. Not only was the greenery impeccable, even the cafeteria’s eight floors of meals used the freshest ingredients transported by helicopter.
Without realizing it, Lin Yan lost track of the group.
Fortunately, he had already left the church. Taking a shortcut to the cafeteria, he encountered a lost brown-eyed fawn in the bushes.
The fawn stared at the creature so different from itself.
After a while, it cautiously circled around Lin Yan. Once it sensed he was harmless, it began to circle him repeatedly.
Lin Yan silently took out his phone.
He remembered that the original novel mentioned Aurora’s anonymous forum. There were all kinds of guides there—there should also be one on how to return a lost fawn to its herd.
【Thread: The deer herd by Nabana Lake seems to have become sentient】
【1L: Little deer little deer little deer】
【2L: Students entering Sen’er Girls’ Academy all get a lamb—why don’t I get assigned a deer】
【3L: Give the person above an owl instead (doge face for protection)】
【4L: Deer are herd animals. If a fawn gets lost, its mother will be very sad】
…
【15L: On the magical continent, you can attend a snake symphony, encounter frogs holding meetings, and trade with goblins. Now it’s just a deer becoming sentient—what’s so strange?】
【16L: The person above must be reading fairy tales. Adding quietly—I have a two-year-old nephew who doesn’t even read fairy tales anymore】
…
【24L: OP’s question is well-founded. Deer are wild and easily startled, so they don’t circle people for no reason. But the deer by Nabana Lake are very gentle, and circling people is how they show affection. How is this not being sentient? (shrug)】
【25L: Don’t care. Cute.】
…
For the first time, Lin Yan realized Aurora had such interesting students. He lowered his eyes slightly, a faint smile curving his brows. After memorizing the location of Nabana Lake, he looked up—only to run into a small cluster of blue-and-white flowers.
He blinked in disbelief.
When he opened his eyes again, the fawn was still there, holding the blue-and-white flowers in its mouth, tilting its head at him. Lin Yan, a beat too slow, accepted the flowers, his mind spinning as he thought about the forum post.
Could it be that he hadn’t transmigrated into a story about noble young masters and a poor white-lotus protagonist—but into some magical continent?
Click.
A faint sound, like a photo being taken, rang out.
Lin Yan scanned his surroundings warily.
But the bushes were too tall—he could only see some sneaky figures.
The fawn continued circling him. Before Lin Yan got dizzy, the fawn itself became dizzy, wobbling as it tried to bump into him. Lin Yan stopped it and softly asked, “Do you want to go home?”
He led the lost fawn back to Nabana Lake.
The deer herd seemed to cheer, circling the fawn with light steps, making chattering sounds. Then they collectively began circling Lin Yan as well—until they grew dizzy and softly tried to throw themselves into his arms.
Lin Yan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. His expression softened; his porcelain-white face seemed glazed with warmth, a clear smile glimmering in his eyes.
Soon, the deer herd trotted away.
Lin Yan stood up and had barely taken two steps when he sensed increasingly obvious gazes on him. In an instant, he raised his head alertly and looked over.
It was still that grand church.
Nabana Lake lay to the west of the church. Passing through the lush bushes led to the back of the building.
The light was blocked; shadows concealed everything.
A projected musical was playing—Rapunzel. The long-haired princess lived in a tower; the melancholic melody slowly spread through the side hall. Running, spinning, moving toward freedom—the golden hair grew brighter and more dazzling with the song.
【Step out of your comfort zone and go on an adventure—you will find that everything is worth it.】
Shen Nie leaned against the sofa, his fingers tapping the railing in rhythm. He looked toward the faint deer herd and human figure by Nabana Lake. With his limited view, he couldn’t see clearly, so he lazily opened the surveillance feed.
An image a hundred times clearer filled his vision completely—the cheering deer, the clear lake water, the porcelain-white face like drifting clouds, the gentle smile.
Red-tinged eyelids were lifted, revealing pitch-black, glass-like clear pupils, looking straight toward the direction of the camera.
The surveillance had captured it perfectly.
As if crossing the tower, the snow, time, and the screen—
He spared a moment to look back at him coldly.
Shen Nie’s fingers, which had brushed past those black pupils, tingled slightly. Unconsciously, he wanted to zoom in on that porcelain-white face.
As his fingers moved, the feed skipped past the figure and showed only the cheering deer herd. Only then did he realize this surveillance had no zoom function.
Shen Nie lowered the screen and unconsciously looked up again, sweeping his gaze toward the vague, indistinct figure. Just as he stood up, bored, he sensed that alert gaze.
He paused, an unintentional gentle smile appearing on his face. Lowering his head slightly, he looked down from above the rose-covered railing at the distant figure.
The figure was still indistinct.
But the chill struck his face first.
It had begun to snow in Aurora.
The distance was too great—he couldn’t see clearly at all.
Lin Yan calmly withdrew his gaze. Only then did he notice the snowfall. After standing in the cold wind too long, his head felt heavy. He tucked in his hands, avoided looking around, and walked straight past the bushes toward the dormitory.
