The Popular Darling Says She’s Pregnant with My Child - Chapter 21

After the ball concluded, the private drawing room of the Cavendish villa was brightly lit.

The four of them sat around the sofa, forming a subtle circle, staring at each other in silence. Wen Shiyu was even forced to hold all three of their flowers in her arms. Everyone seemed unable to accept this outcome, glancing at one another with confusion.

The atmosphere was inevitably a bit awkward.

Seraphina pressed a hand to her forehead, her ears flushing slightly. She was the first to speak up and explain.

“It’s because… I found the perfume wasn’t working. That’s why I suddenly chased after her.”

Noticing Wen Shiyu looking at her, Seraphina straightened her back slightly, her voice carrying a hint of forced righteousness.

“Cough, Wen Shiyu still has to be my servant.” She looked at Su Yan. “So you, you can’t give her the scholarship.”

Seraphina wasn’t lying. That perfume, which had carried so much hope, was indeed completely ineffective on her. What distressed her even more was that the scent the perfume tried to simulate was actually that irritating lingering scent attached to Wen Shiyu’s body.

Seraphina didn’t suspect there was anything wrong with Wen Shiyu’s pheromones themselves. Instead, she suspected that Wen Shiyu had intentionally applied something else when Su Yan was collecting her pheromones.

Did Wen Shiyu not want the perfume to work? Why?

She couldn’t help but look at Wen Shiyu again, trying to find an answer on her face.

Su Yan sighed, being the second to speak. “Fine. I didn’t know beforehand that the perfume’s effect would be so unsatisfactory.” Her gaze fell on Wen Shiyu once more. “I only gave the flower because… I felt Wen Shiyu has been quite hardworking lately.”

“I simply wanted to give her that scholarship so she wouldn’t have to worry about tuition and could focus on her studies. Otherwise, it would be a shame if she had to drop out.”

After she finished this sentence, Xia Te almost rolled her eyes. Everyone knew Wen Shiyu’s grades weren’t good; saying she was at the bottom was an understatement. What was so “pitying” about a student who didn’t study well dropping out?

Whenever Su Yan liked someone, she immediately wanted to give them everything. This excuse was truly poorly made.

Now, only Xia Te hadn’t stated her position. She shrugged her shoulders, still holding Wen Shiyu’s lily in her hand.

“I didn’t originally intend to exchange flowers with Wen Shiyu, of course.”

“It’s just, Seraphina, you were far too impulsive giving the flower to her!”

She knew deep down that Seraphina valued family promises above all else. Once that tulip was given away, it was practically an irreversible, heavy commitment. What if Wen Shiyu used it to make some outrageous demand—like, for example, marrying into a wealthy family?

Of course, Xia Te had also secretly fantasized that one day she might exchange flowers with Seraphina in front of everyone. Her desire to prevent their exchange also stemmed from this selfishness.

“So, I ‘kindly’ helped you swap the flowers,” Xia Te said nonchalantly, as if she had done something clever and considerate.

Her family’s motto had always been pragmatic and flexible; they didn’t follow that rigid dogma of “a promise worth a thousand gold.” When the time came for Wen Shiyu to make a request, she could decide whether to fulfill it or how to fulfill it based on the situation.

Xia Te felt no psychological burden regarding this, but of course, she wouldn’t say that out loud now. She simply turned to Wen Shiyu, flashing a seemingly pure and harmless smile.

“But since we’ve exchanged flowers now, the agreement stands. I can make a wish to you, and similarly, you can make a wish to me. I’m very stingy, you know—you absolutely cannot go back on what you promise me.”

Xia Te winked at her.

Indeed, while her family’s precepts were lenient toward themselves, they were strict toward others. What she wanted from others, she would get.

Wen Shiyu felt a bit helpless; this flower had clearly been snatched away by Xia Te. But since things had come to this, she preferred to avoid unnecessary trouble. She looked down at the other two even more “hot potatoes” in her arms, then at Xia Te, and finally nodded.

The suspense of the ball thus settled in a strange fashion. However, the storm of public opinion within the academy had only just begun.

The next day, on St. Windsor Academy’s anonymous forum, the aftershocks of the ball were still creating massive waves of discussion, fueled by a night of fermentation and imaginative filling-in of details.

One had to realize that this was a historic first for the academy: the wish-granting flowers of three top-tier families were all given away at the same ball—and the recipient was the same person!

It was that Wen Shiyu, who once had a notorious reputation and was viewed as a laughingstock.

“So does she have something going on with all three of them…?” “Impossible!! Our President has always kept herself pure…” “Cough.” [SuYan waiting downstairs at dorm photo.jpg] “Cough!” [Sitting in the same car photo.jpg] “Photoshopped!!!” “Upstairs, stop struggling.” “Can someone punch me? I must still be dreaming.” “Is it possible the three goddesses are just playing a joke on us? This is just a prank, ahhhh.”

While everyone was busy building threads on the gossip forum, a modest-looking post with a plain title appeared in the Academic Discussion and Mutual Aid section.

The poster claimed to be a specially recruited student who relied on top grades for a full scholarship and had been a long-time resident of the Honors Class.

[I have always firmly believed that the academic halls of St. Windsor are equal and just. Although everyone comes from different backgrounds, we can all compete fairly and let our strength speak. But today, my conviction has been shaken!]

The post didn’t attract much attention at first, until the original poster added the following paragraph:

[I did not get the qualification to apply for the highest scholarship this year. Because this semester, I failed to enter the top 5% of the class. I didn’t get an A+ grade. After my repeated inquiries, the teacher told me that the student in class who replaced me for that qualification was actually Wen Shiyu.]

This meant that Wen Shiyu’s final grade ranking for this semester was above theirs. This information caused the thread to explode instantly.

St. Windsor Academy had over three thousand students and a complex, diverse curriculum. However, its core required courses all implemented a brutal and transparent percentage-based grading system. Even if you scored a 99 in an exam, as long as more than 5% of the students scored a 100, you would not get an A+.

The Honors Class was already a gathering place for geniuses and monsters. For Wen Shiyu to get an A+ meant she had necessarily crushed 95% of the Honors Class elite, which also meant she had surpassed the vast majority of the school.

“This is absolutely impossible!!!”

That was the first reaction of everyone who saw the post. St. Windsor was by no means a place to slack off. Those specially recruited students who got in through terrifying IQ and startling perseverance were all “human aimbots” in the field of learning. To seize an A+ in any required course, one had to face and defeat these geniuses head-on. Many noble students with abundant resources and strict tutoring couldn’t even reach it. How could Wen Shiyu, who sat firmly in the last place last semester, have done it?

A tide of skepticism rushed in.

“Is the poster making up stories?” “The grades were definitely changed!” “Does her family have some terrifying background we don’t know about?” “Turns out if you’re good-looking enough, you don’t even have to look at books.” “Is the school so desperate to please certain families that they’ve lost their dignity?”

Just as public opinion was about to spiral out of control and turn into a questioning of the academy’s credibility, the academy’s official account issued a rare, sternly worded statement. It declared that all grade evaluation processes for this semester were standard, the data was authentic and valid, and there was no instance of fraud or tampering. Henceforth, if there were any further malicious slander or speculation without factual basis, the involved accounts would be permanently banned, and the right to pursue legal responsibility was reserved.

The official stance settled the matter once and for all. Everyone was forced to accept that absurd yet undeniable reality. Wen Shiyu had completed a shocking counterattack from the bottom of the grade to the top 5% of the entire academy in just one semester.

“Holy… crap…”

The direction of public opinion suddenly shifted completely. Wen Shiyu’s image in their minds suddenly grew tall; she wasn’t some “dodder flower” (weak parasite), but a hidden genius mogul. This kind of reversal forged by absolute strength was more impactful and persuasive than any defense.

At this point, the honors at the ball seemed to become reasonable.

“She’s so top-tier in looks and her brain is that good… who wouldn’t like her?” “Maybe the goddesses are all discerning enough to want to be friends with Wen Shiyu?” “To be honest, those final problems in the Honors Class look more San-draining than Cthulhu mythos. Both are incomprehensible to ordinary people, unspeakable, and make you go crazy if you study them deeply. But Cthulhu is fake, while the problems are real! I’m truly convinced by her ability to solve them.” “She looked really beautiful in that black dress on the night of the ball… I wanted to hand her a flower too back then.” “Upstairs is a brave soul, watch out for being assassinated by the fans of those three.” “I don’t care, from today on, Wen Shiyu is my new idol! A goddess of both beauty and wisdom!”

In almost a single day, Wen Shiyu’s reputation in the academy completed a counterattack from the bottom of the valley to the peak. Envy and contempt were replaced by awe and respect, and she even began to gain a group of sincere admirers.

However, Wen Shiyu, who was at the center of the storm, couldn’t smile at all right now.

Because Seraphina’s parents had contacted her again, their tone more solemn than ever before. They told her that according to Dr. Frank’s recent clinical analysis, Seraphina’s “condition” had not improved with time; instead, it showed signs of worsening.

Her pseudocyesis (false pregnancy) symptoms were becoming more realistic and intense, and her body was even starting to simulate physiological changes similar to actual pregnancy. Even the other consulting doctors were puzzled. Ordinarily, patients with pseudocyesis would intermittently feel resistance or doubt toward the “pregnancy” state, thereby gradually waking up. But Seraphina seemed completely immersed in it.

The Cavendish couple had to bluntly point out to Wen Shiyu: What she should be doing was making Seraphina feel annoyed, exhausted, and even desperate to escape the idea of “pregnancy,” rather than deepening her immersion. If the situation continued to deteriorate uncontrollably, they might not be able to fulfill their previous promise.

Wen Shiyu held the communicator, feeling her heart sink. They seemed quite certain this was her fault. Did they suspect she was using the situation to her advantage, actually wanting to control Seraphina?

That was impossible, of course. She 100% sincerely hoped Seraphina would get better. But she couldn’t convince the Cavendish family with just a few words.

Next year was Wen Shiyu’s final academic year. As long as she took a few more classes and earned more credits next semester, she could graduate early. But to graduate smoothly, she had to solve Seraphina’s illness first. Now, even more critical than scholarships and tuition was figuring out how exactly to make Seraphina hate being pregnant so she would wake up.

Perhaps she needed to make Seraphina hate her more? But she had thought… Seraphina already hated her quite a lot. Where exactly did the problem lie?

The next day, Xia Te was asked out by Wen Shiyu. She strolled slowly to the meeting point, her face carrying a hint of nonchalance.

“What, have you decided what you want to wish for so soon?”

Wen Shiyu didn’t answer directly, but said instead, “Actually, I’ve always had a question I wanted to ask.”

This question had existed even before she transmigrated into the book, back when she was reading the story.

“Since you guys like Seraphina, why have you never expressed your feelings to her?”

Xia Te was stunned for a moment. Then, perhaps realizing that Wen Shiyu was truly a very clever person, her expression became a bit awkward.

“Idiot! Something like that can’t just be blurted out thoughtlessly…”

“Seraphina is someone who takes emotions very seriously. Right now, she thinks everyone is just good friends, so we can naturally meet and spend time together every day. If I confess and get rejected, we won’t even be able to be friends anymore.”

She paused. “Isn’t there a saying? ‘A confession should be the flag of victory, not the bugle call to charge.’ Until I’m ninety percent sure she likes me too, I won’t confess recklessly.”

“So that’s how it is…” Wen Shiyu realized. It seemed she didn’t understand these things well.

Xia Te crossed her arms over her chest, trying to regain the initiative. “You called me out just to ask that?”

Wen Shiyu shook her head, her expression turning serious. “No. I have indeed thought of what I want to wish for.”

Wen Shiyu felt she still didn’t understand Seraphina well enough. But right now, there was someone right beside her who not only understood Seraphina extremely well but also harbored the same urgent desire for Seraphina to hate her and snap out of the false pregnancy.

That was Xia Te. It was time to seek help from an “ally.”

Before coming, Xia Te had already calculated in her heart. If Wen Shiyu made any excessive demands, she would immediately find a dozen reasons to stall. She absolutely couldn’t let this person take too much advantage of her.

However, to her complete surprise, the request Wen Shiyu made was one that caught her off guard and even seemed selfless.

“You want Seraphina to… hate you, and then wake up from the false pregnancy?” Xia Te’s eyes widened, repeating the words in disbelief.

Wen Shiyu nodded. She understood Xia Te’s personality; if she asked for anything else, the other girl would likely dodge and weave. But for this request, Xia Te would definitely help her with all her heart.

Xia Te was stunned for quite a while before clearing her throat with a complex tone.

“Cough… well, then you’ve certainly come to the right person.”

It was as if she had considered this problem long ago. She hurriedly leaned in toward Wen Shiyu’s ear and said, “The reason Seraphina hated you in the beginning—besides those trivial rumors—was because she felt that your marking her was an attempt to control and use her. But lately, you’ve been so obedient, never making any demands, and even distancing yourself from her. Naturally, she no longer finds you detestable.”

Wen Shiyu frowned. “You mean to say, I shouldn’t avoid her? Instead, I should actively seek her out and constantly make unreasonable demands… to make her feel like I’m like a piece of gum sticking to her, wanting to constantly pester and control her?”

“Exactly,” Xia Te affirmed, while carefully observing Wen Shiyu’s expression. “If you want, I can continuously provide you with suggestions until she hates you.”

“Alright, then I’ll leave it to you.”

Since Wen Shiyu’s reaction was so calm and decisive, Xia Te found it a bit unbelievable. She kept staring at Wen Shiyu, her mouth opening and closing several times, before finally asking:

“Are you sure that’s the wish? Nothing else?”

She wasn’t about to be merciful and say Wen Shiyu could make another request or anything. She was just that stingy—once the opportunity was gone, it was gone.

Wen Shiyu, however, nodded again with certainty. Those beautiful, clear black-and-white eyes looked back at Xia Te naturally and calmly, as clear as they had been that night in the dorm.

“Then what is your wish?”

Wen Shiyu had asked for almost nothing, and was even going to give her a wish in return. The “villain” (Xia Te) facing the “noble person” (Wen Shiyu) made Xia Te feel a strange sense of unease. Her face heated up slightly, and she uncomfortably looked away, raising a hand to scratch her cheek.

“Keep it for now. I… I’ll think about it later.”