Xiang Peng, Mei Gui, and I, along with the four new friends we made, soon arrived at the Violet Palace. It seemed to be an European-style restaurant, with elegant designs on the walls and name sign. On the way here, I had asked Mei Gui about what she experienced during the Gatekeeper test. Quite surprisingly, she told me no one tried to talk to her. I could tell she wasn't lying, as I could get a general grasp on what she was thinking. Regardless, this information came as a bit of a shock to me. I had been 100% certain Aluna would attempt to talk to Mei Gui as well, since that is what Sigil had done. Guess I was wrong.

Without further ado, we entered the restaurant.

The other girls seemed to already be there, as Qing Yue immediately spotted me. It looked like she had just returned from using the washroom, and happened to come across us. She ran over and fell into my arms, as a kind of signature greeting between the two of us.

"Mm...Big Brother Xuan Kai, who are these people?" she asked looking at the four new companions we had with us.

"Woah! She's so cute!" Ling Ling immediately exclaimed, clasping her own cheeks in excitement, "Oh my god, is that your little sister? She's adorable!"

"Well, we aren't blood-related, but yeah, she's my little sister," I explained. "As for these four...they're some friends I made today. They'll be eating with us."

Feng Mian walked over as well, out of a room further inside. "Luckily, I booked a private room...otherwise it wouldn't be able to fit all these people."

Shi Yan's jaw dropped when he saw Feng Mian, who was all kinds of gorgeous. I, on the other hand, being used to this, didn't even blink. Four-Eyes also stared at Feng Mian in a daze. I originally thought he was just a bookworm who didn't care about romance, but guess Feng Mian just had this type of affect on people, no matter who they were.

"Normally, I would reprimand you for wasting money and booking a big room, but..." I began.

"It works out this time, doesn't it?" Feng Mian shrugged, then smiled happily. "Besides, it's my own money."

"Yeah yeah..." I muttered, letting myself get dragged away by Qing Yue and Feng Mian, each tugging on one of my arms. The rest of the squad followed us. I felt Shi Yan's gaze boring into my back - it was one of mixed emotion, from envy to frustration.

This is going to spell problems further down the line, if we are to continue our friendship. Jealousy is a powerful emotion, after all.

The girls on their own already attracted enough attention, but now that we were such a big group, nearly every other customer in the restaurant was looking at us in interest. It was uncomfortable, to say to the least. Luckily, Feng Mian had booked a private room, so we were spared from the stares of everyone else.

There were the nine girls with me (Feng Mian, Qing Yue, Yu An Xue, Yu An Yan, Obsidia, Mei Gui, Xiang Peng, Lan Xiao Su, and Amane), the four new friends I made (Ling Ling, Cherry, Four-Eyes, and Shi Yan), and myself. That totaled up to a sum of fourteen people. By chance, the private room Feng Mian booked just happened to also have 14 seats. Truly a fortunate coincidence.

We each took our seats, with Feng Mian and Qing Yue sticking by my side, never once letting go, so that they could sit beside me. Shi Yan, upon seeing the rest of the girls, was left speechless. Frozen, in fact. He couldn't even move as he stared at each of the girls, completely charmed.

The girls, met with his stare, shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, and internally prayed that Shi Yan wouldn't sit beside them. Unfortunately, he had to sit somewhere, so in the end he sat beside Feng Mian, who was now stuck between two boys. She subconsciously moved closer to me, as if seeking protection.

Sighing, I discretely cast a spell.

Level Two Psychic Magic - Telepathy.

Linking with Feng Mian, I spoke inside my mind.

Relax, Feng Mian. He won't try anything...not with all of us around. There's no need to be so scared. Just be natural.

She wasn't guarded against me at all, so I was able to get through to her mind easily. Other people would have a more difficult time communicating with her telepathically.

Eh? But...I don't think I can be natural with him staring at my body like that... she responded.

Uh...try your best? I sent back.

I-It's fine. I...feel safe being close to you.

She averted her gaze from me, blushing slightly. People who didn't know what we were doing must've been confused, seeing her randomly blush out of the blue like that.

With that, I ended the telepathy.

Ling Ling, being the type to interact with everyone, quickly spoke up. "Hey, everyone! My real name isn't important, so you can just all call me Ling Ling! Nice to meet you all!"

"Might as well introduce ourselves then," Yu An Yan said. "I'm Yu An Yan. Beside me here is my sister, Yu An Xue. She's not really good with talking, so forgive her if she seems cold."

"..." As if on cue, Yu An Xue sent a sharp glare towards Shi Yan, who seemed a bit taken aback by the integrity behind it.

Ling Ling, on the other hand, didn't seem to be affected one bit, perhaps because the gaze wasn't directed at her.

"Nice to meet you both!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Going around the circle, next would be..."

"Um...hi. I-I'm Lan Xiao Su."

Hm...she's improving. Had it been before, I never would've expected her to introduce herself like that.

"Lan Xiao Su..." Shi Yan murmured in longing. The only thing he was missing was drool. Oh, wait, he started drooling.

"Hey, Shi Yan! You're drooling!" Cherry reprimanded in a hurry, frowning at her friend.

"H-Huh? Oh!" Shi Yan quickly wiped his mouth with a napkin, embarrassed.

The girls all turned away, unable to look at this scene play out. Things were getting awkward...

"I suppose that means I'm next..." Obsidia sighed, as if she really didn't want to do this. Still, she had to hide the fact that she was a dragon, so playing along here was the best choice to avoid suspicion. "My name is Obsidia. I would appreciate it if you...didn't stare at my breasts so much."

She glared at Shi Yan as she said this, with killing intent.

Woah there, Obsidia...calm down. That's even worse than Yu An Xue, holy shit...

Shi Yan, being on the receiving end of this, nearly fell out of his chair, but quickly averted his gaze, and rubbed his nose awkwardly.

"Nya, heya~" Amane waved cutely. "My nyame is Amane. I'm Xuwan Kwai's future wifey!"

"H-Huh?!" everyone present dropped their jaws after hearing this, myself included.

"H-Hey! Don't just go deciding that on your own-!" I said, narrowing my eyes.

But alas, it was too late. "Woah...Xuan Kai, you have such a pretty catgirl as your fiancée?!" Ling Ling exclaimed, eyes sparkling.

"Er...no, she's more of a self-proclaimed one, but-" I began.

"Hey, what about all these other beauties around you?" Shi Yan hurriedly asked. He had probably wanted to ask this for a long time now.

"Uh..." not sure how to answer, I thought about it for a moment, but before I could come up with a good answer, someone else interrupted.

"We're his fiancées as well!" Qing Yue blurted out, much to the surprise of the other girls.

"What?! All of them?!" Shi Yan cried. "C'mon, Xuan Kai...you're really monopolizing all these girls?!"

"Uh, no, listen-"

"Wow...hey, how did he manage to get all of you to fall in love with him?" Shi Yan continued, no longer listening to me.

"E-Eh? Um..." Feng Mian looked to me for help, but I couldn't provide any.

There was, however, something I could do.

"A-Ahem...look, there's a misunderstanding there. Currently, the girls and I still don't have that kind of relationship. But...can we save this topic for sometime else?" I asked. If I outright said 'let's not talk about this topic', that may have led to some misunderstandings, such as them thinking I charmed these girls with some sort of spell. "For now, let's order and eat, yeah?"

I said 'currently', because I didn't know what the future holds.

Everyone agreed, and we all flipped open our menus. After ordering and some more talking, our food came, and we all ate. While we did that, the girls who still have yet to introduce themselves, also known as Feng Mian and Qing Yue, did so. After eating, Shi Yan stood up.

"Xiang Peng, c-can I talk to you for a second?"

"Hm? Me? Why?" she asked, still chewing on a chicken drumstick. She ate a lot, but didn't seem to gain any fat, for whatever reason...

"I have a...proposal to make," he said. "Privately."

Ling Ling cheered from behind him. "Go, you can do it!"

Even Four-Eyes and Cherry seemed to know what he was going to do, and nodded firmly as support. I had a goo idea of what he was going to do as well...but didn't let it show on the surface.

Xiang Peng and the rest of the girls, however, still didn't seem to understand.

"Mkay, just let me finish this drumstick," she said. "And...done! Let's go."

Does food let her open up a bit more, or is it because she's around familiar people now?

With that, the two of them left the room.