Just as Allen's patience was wearing so thin he was almost ready to cast a petrification curse on each of his roommates, the two finally finished Allen's makeover plan.
With Shane confidently handing over a mirror, Allen took it and inspected himself carefully for a long moment—only to feel it was a total waste of time.
It's just a tiny bit of polish—what's the difference?
This comment made the corners of the remaining two roommates' mouths twitch uncontrollably—they had wasted half a day for that reaction? If they weren't powerless against Allen, they might have really lost their tempers right then…
Fortunately, reinforcements soon arrived. Allen's tent flap was pushed open.
Annie entered, carrying a basket with a mysteriously mischievous smile, only to notice there were more people than she expected.
"Ah—you're all here? What's going on today?" Annie tilted her head curiously. Without waiting for an answer, she opened her basket.
"Here, I was going to let big brother try first, but since you're all here, go ahead and try some too."
Inside the basket were freshly baked cakes—Allen immediately understood. No wonder Annie had been secretly mingling with the local witches lately and wouldn't say what she was up to. She'd been learning to bake.
Today was the big reveal—but the question remained whether it was safe.
After quickly checking his supply of antidotes and potions, Allen boldly picked up a piece. From years of research experience in Hufflepuff, the cake looked fine, smelled normal, and tasted good—so there was a very high chance it was safe.
He bit into the cake. Unexpectedly, it wasn't just edible—it was delicious, especially with a sweetness that perfectly suited his taste.
"Mm! Delicious!" Allen instinctively grabbed another piece, and with his other hand patted Annie's head—who would have thought she could bake something this good? Must encourage her!
"Of course! I've been learning for quite some time now. Our club specializes in desserts!" the little girl said, her eyes squinting with happiness, her voice slightly floating with delight.
Seeing Allen still enjoying the second piece with such satisfaction, the other two roommates believed he wasn't just flattering her. They each took a piece, and their expressions lit up. They tried to grab a second piece—but found none left.
"Sorry—this was made for me. Any objections?" Allen said, smiling brightly, almost daring anyone to challenge him.
The two instantly rolled their eyes. After all the effort we just put in helping you…
Watching this, Annie giggled and noticed something different, clearly a bit surprised.
"Ah—big brother, why are you dressed like this?"
"What? Is there something wrong?" Allen asked nervously—what if his scatterbrained teammates had secretly added some weird accessory? After all these years of mutual pranks, who didn't know whom?
"No, it's handsome! But usually you're too lazy to dress up—why are you all polished up now?" Annie's eyes were full of curiosity.
"Of course we did it! Allen's got a date today. We finally got him looking like this," Marshall stepped forward proudly.
"A date? Wait—when did you get a girlfriend?" Annie's expression changed. She was clearly startled. She came by every night to say hi or ask for snacks (since she once got a toothache from over-snacking, Allen still controlled the snack privileges). There had been no signs whatsoever—so how did Allen suddenly have a girlfriend?
"Haha, don't worry. There's no way to hide this from her anyway," Shane explained, poking holes in Marshall's lies. "Miss Kaoru has nothing to do with you anymore, and we're helping her too. Anyway, it's just a trick we're playing on the other students to clean up Marshall's mess."
"You remember Miss Kaoru from yesterday, right? Today, somehow, rumors about her and your brother spread. She got angry and challenged him to a duel—then he made her cry—so the rumors escalated. To fix it, we asked an expert for advice. The best solution? Have your brother pretend to date someone. Tonight, it happens."
Shane's explanation was concise and quickly clarified the whole situation.
"Ah, I see—this really seems like the best solution. But isn't it a bit unfair to the girl? Brother, are you tricking her?"
Before Allen or Shane could respond, Marshall stepped in to explain for him.
"No, he didn't trick her. Allen himself refused to deceive her at first. In the end, Hermione, who proposed the solution, took on the role. We owe her a lot this time. And remember—not a word to anyone. After tonight, they'll break up. If people find out now, we can't keep it a secret."
Clearly, although Marshall no longer had feelings for Miss Kaoru, he genuinely appreciated Hermione's help.
With this final clarification, everything suddenly made sense—the next step was Allen and his performance.
"So, where's Hermione now?"
"She's shy and hiding in her own camp—but she'll appear at dinner. That's already arranged."
"I see. I'll go check on her. See you at dinner!" Annie set down the basket and walked out in a few quick steps, leaving the three scrambling for cake.
"See, Allen—look how handsome you're all dressed up. So, another piece of cake?"
"Agreed—I put in a lot of effort too!"
Allen guarded the basket behind him and gave them the middle finger—what a joke, it's the first time here I've had a snack this good. Nobody's taking it!
—
It was another peaceful night—but slightly different for Allen.
Even though it was a fake relationship, this was his first date since crossing over. In front of so many people, his emotions were naturally a bit heightened.
Calm down, calm down… remain calm.
He repeated this to himself countless times, yet even Marshall noticed his nervousness. The poor guy had prepared to share all his dating experience, only to be mercilessly ignored by Allen.
Words were said, jokes were made—but the nerves remained. Allen had already been teased countless times.
As the group came up with new jokes, a sudden chorus of astonished voices echoed from the passing crowd…
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