Chapter 719: Stay Single, Ladies
Chapter 719: Stay Single, Ladies
At that moment, there was a knock on the door, interrupting the couple in the room. Albert and Isabelle hastily adjusted their slightly disheveled appearances before opening the door.
"Yes?" Albert asked, opening the door and looking at Valeria in surprise.
It seemed that Valeria had come to chat with Isabelle, and the two had reconciled. They seemed to share a common interest in maintaining their youthful appearances. Valeria was intrigued by Isabelle's tips on health preservation and had no desire to end up like some witches, aging prematurely, losing their figures, and becoming old, ugly, and fat. That would be a nightmare.
"What are you doing here?" Valeria was surprised to see Albert in Isabelle's room, but she quickly recovered. "Oh, of course, you two are a couple. It's only natural for you to be here."
"Your declaration as the champion earlier was quite impressive," Valeria said, realizing she had said something odd and quickly changing the subject. With a mischievous smile, she continued, "Can I borrow your girlfriend for a bit? You two will have plenty of time together in the future, but this might be our last chance to have a proper chat."
And so, Albert found himself politely excused from the room by the girls who wanted to have a private chat.
"Don't blame me for interrupting your lovey-dovey moment, okay?" Valeria sat down across from Isabelle, putting on a pitiful expression as if to say, "Please don't hit me."
"You're just getting back at me for tricking you," Isabelle said, seeing right through Valeria's ploy.
"You have no idea how heartbroken I was when I found out the truth," Valeria said, her face filled with sorrow as if to imply, "After I trusted you so much, you deceived me."
"I'm a Legilimens. Lying to me is pointless," Isabelle reminded her.
"Then your boyfriend must have a hard time," Valeria teased. "Living with a woman who can tell if you're lying at a glance must be stressful."
"Don't worry about that. He knows Occlumency," Isabelle said, glancing at Valeria. "And I'm not a peeping Tom. I rarely pry into what others are thinking."
"Fine, I admit it, I'm a little... jealous. Out of the three of us, you're the only one with a boyfriend," Valeria mumbled, and it was unclear if she was being sincere or just teasing her pen pal.
"If you're envious, why don't you just find one yourself?" Isabelle asked.
"It's not that easy to find someone suitable, unlike you," Valeria grumbled. "Otherwise, do you think Katherine would still be single?"
"It's not about luck; it's about making the right choice," Isabelle said with a slight uplift of her lips.
"So, you confessed to him?" Valeria asked curiously. While it wasn't impossible, she found it hard to imagine Isabelle confessing to a boy younger than her.
"No, we've known each other for a long time, and we eventually became a couple," Isabelle explained.
"How long have you known each other?"
"Since not long after he started school," Isabelle replied.
"So, he was only eleven back then? You really went for it, didn't you?" Valeria gave Isabelle a strange look, as if she were some oddity.
"Twelve," Isabelle corrected her. "And stop saying such weird things. We only started dating a few years later."
"There aren't any quality boys like Anderson at Koldovstoretz School, otherwise, I'd want a younger boyfriend too," Valeria said sourly. "It's a shame you're a girl; otherwise, I might have considered you."
"Don't tell me no one has confessed to you before," Isabelle rolled her eyes. It seemed Valeria was being truthful; otherwise, she wouldn't have wanted to meet this "Mr. McDougal."
Isabelle felt helpless being pursued by such a beautiful girl.
"Of course, I've had plenty of confessions, but none of them were suitable," Valeria said, sounding unenthusiastic. "You have no idea; most of them are slobs who don't know how to take care of themselves. They have no sense of style, are rude, and indulge in smoking and drinking."
"I don't think your classmates are as terrible as you make them sound," Isabelle said, as her impression of the students of Koldovstoretz wasn't that bad.
"Yes, they are! They're just a bunch of bearded bears who wear ushankas, carry balalaikas, and enjoy banging their heads against birch trees," Valeria said in disgust. "Want to guess what they're doing right now?"
"Drinking?"
"No, they're getting drunk," Valeria said with a twist of her lips. "I've heard that British boys are very gentlemanly and romantic. Falling in love with an Englishman must be so romantic and passionate. That's why I was really looking forward to meeting you."
"You're thinking too much. Albert is just Albert," Isabelle said, suddenly understanding what Albert meant when he said that distance creates beauty.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, Albert doesn't represent all British boys. It's foolish to judge his fellow countrymen based on a single person," Isabelle explained. "In fact, Albert is quite unique and different from most British boys."
Valeria felt like she was drowning in a sea of sweetness, and her impression of Britons was largely influenced by her pen pal, Isabelle.
A fine gentleman indeed! "It's a shame you're not single. The three of us could have lived together," Valeria said, sounding a bit regretful. "Katherine seems to be quite wealthy. She invited me to help her in the US after graduation, apparently to open a potion shop. I'm still considering whether to accept. By the way, it seems like Katherine doesn't plan on finding a boyfriend and intends to stay single."
"Are the two of you close?" Isabelle asked.
"We've known each other for over four years and have been exchanging letters regularly. She even invited me to visit the US once, and we met in private," Valeria said. "Katherine seems to know Albert well too. Do you know what their relationship is?"
"It seems they're collaborators, but I'm not sure about the specifics," Isabelle replied.
"Aren't the two of you engaged?"
"Everyone has their secrets. Would you tell everyone all your secrets?" Isabelle asked.
"Fine!" Valeria seemed disappointed that she hadn't gotten any useful information.
"Don't you want to go to the US?"
"Yes, it's not an appealing place for witches. The environment there is too oppressive for me," Valeria said.
"Albert has said something similar. He doesn't seem to like the environment there either," Isabelle commented.
"How about the UK?"
"Albert mentioned that it might not be peaceful in a couple of years," Isabelle said, looking at Valeria with suspicion. "Why are you asking all these questions?"
"It's nothing," Valeria said dismissively.
"It seems like you don't want to stay in your own country," Isabelle observed.
"Ukraine isn't exactly a great place, especially in recent years," Valeria said self-deprecatingly. "I kind of regret not going to Durmstrang or Beauxbatons."
"Don't think I don't know about Durmstrang's reputation back then," Isabelle said.
"That's just one of the reasons," Valeria said, as if remembering something. "Koldovstoretz used to be a 'domestic school,' and the other schools were too far away, so my family prioritized it. But now it's no longer a 'domestic school,' and thankfully, I'll be graduating from there next year."
(End of Chapter)
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