Henry stammered for so long that he never actually got a full sentence out. While the entire crowd stood there, stunned, Arthur and Ashley finally had their chance to speak. Looking at everyone's wide-eyed shock—especially Finley and Henry—Arthur and Ashley exchanged a knowing glance. A hint of amusement flickered in their eyes. Then, Arthur suddenly leaned in, tilting his face toward Ashley. "Give me a kiss." The words dropped like a bomb. The cafeteria erupted. What… what did he just say! Did he seriously just ask her to kiss him? Who did he think he was? It was already suspicious enough that this girl had willingly linked arms with him. Nobody knew what kind of tricks Arthur had pulled to get her to do that. But asking for a kiss? That wasn’t just casual flirting anymore—that was bold, outright insane. There was no way she’d actually— "Arthur, you can’t—" Finley blurted out, his voice slightly panicked. Before he could even finish his sentence— A crisp, light sound echoed through the cafeteria. "Muah." Ashley kissed Arthur’s cheek without hesitation. Silence. The entire cafeteria went dead silent. Hundreds of people were there, but not a single sound could be heard. It was so quiet that if a pin had dropped, everyone would’ve heard it.The shock on everyone’s faces was indescribable. Their brains simply could not process what their eyes were seeing. Finley’s raised hand froze midair, his eyes widening in disbelief. Even his breathing seemed to stop. And then, as if that wasn’t shocking enough— Arthur casually turned his head, offering his other cheek. "This side too." A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. But before anyone could react— "Muah." Ashley pressed an even louder kiss on his other cheek, this time with a mischievous smile. The entire cafeteria malfunctioned. Everyone stood there, utterly dumbfounded. Their understanding of reality crumbled. What was happening? Just moments ago, this girl had been trying to meet Mr. Tremo. Now she was kissing Arthur—without hesitation, in front of everyone. Arthur had just been publicly accused of being a cheating playboy. Shouldn’t he be avoiding suspicion? Shouldn’t he care about his reputation? And her—hadn’t she heard them say Arthur already had a fiancée? Yet here she was, kissing him so openly, right in front of an entire audience. The pieces of the puzzle weren’t fitting. Arthur bringing Ashley back to Governance University had been a quiet affair. Other than Mr. Hugo, barely anyone knew. Most people still assumed Ashley was at Skyward Academy. Skyward Academy was far from here, and it wasn’t the weekend or a holiday—why would she suddenly show up at Governance University? Nobody had even considered the possibility that she was Arthur’s fiancée.Not even Finley or Henry. Both of them stood there, completely stunned. Their brains refused to process what had just happened. Their entire script had been thrown out the window. This was not how things were supposed to go. They were so utterly lost that neither of them could form a coherent sentence. Arthur and Ashley, seeing their expressions, couldn’t hold back their laughter. "Pfft—" "Hahahahahahahahahaha!" The two of them burst into laughter, completely unbothered. For a moment, nothing else mattered. The huge cafeteria, filled with so many people, was overtaken by the clear, carefree sound of their laughter. Finley and Henry, on the other hand, felt like they had just suffered the most humiliating moment of their lives. Finley’s face turned red, then white, then red again. But with so many people watching, he had no choice but to force himself to stay calm. Then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed Henry—still standing there, looking just as stunned as he felt. Without hesitation, and out of pure frustration, Finley viciously pinched Henry’s arm. "Ah!" Henry yelped in pain. He immediately turned around, only to realize it was Finley who had done it. His face paled, and he quickly swallowed his scream. But it was too late. The moment Henry’s loud cry rang out, every single person in the cafeteria turned to look at him.