Chapter 400: There Is Obviously A Hidden Agenda

“Don’t worry. With you by my side, I’m not afraid of exhaustion.”

A warm sensation filled his heart as Sebastian put his arm around her back, gently comforting her.

The following day, even after arriving at school, Madelyn still appeared constantly fatigued. Overworking herself, she felt perpetually under-rested no matter how much she slept. Even during class, she could hardly keep her eyes open, nearly falling asleep several times. Seeing this, the professor, with a hint of displeasure, singled her out to answer a question.

“Madelyn,” he asked, “what’s the correct answer to this problem?”

Madelyn, hearing her name in a daze, immediately stood. “It should be the fifth principle of Fuld’s theory,” she said. “Finance isn’t about breaking the law, but about making sensible investments.”

The professor paled, seemingly taken aback that Madelyn, who appeared half-asleep, answered correctly. Grudgingly, he said, “Alright, sit down. Stop dozing off in my class. Graduation is just around the corner. If you keep this up, you’ll fail.”

“Understood.” Madelyn sat down, feeling embarrassed. To stave off drowsiness, she slapped her face forcefully, then rubbed her eyes to muster energy. She repeated to herself three times, “I can do this.” Then, with a serious demeanor, she sat up straight and continued with the lesson.

However, after a while, her body succumbed once again to sleep. Seeing Madelyn’s eyes fluttering and her head nearly hitting the table several times, Jillian worried.

So, after class, she approached Madelyn and asked, “Madelyn, have you not been sleeping well lately? Your dark circles are quite noticeable, and you seem to lack energy during class. Is something bothering you?”

Upon hearing this, Madelyn shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“You’re anything but fine!”

Suddenly, a resonant voice echoed. Josiah, approaching with Tristan, teased Madelyn, “Tell me, what mischief were you up to last night? Why can’t you ever behave yourself?”

After huffing, Tristan chuckled mischievously.

“Screw you!”

Almost in unison, Madelyn and Josiah cursed.

Tristan burst into laughter. “Well, well, well, look at the two of you,” he teased. “Your coordination is impressively high. You’re telling me there’s nothing going on between you two? I find that hard to believe, Jillian, do you believe it?”

Tristan tossed the question to Jillian.

“I… I… I don’t know…” Jillian stammered.

Josiah’s face turned pink. Madelyn was speechless. Following that, she glared at Tristan. “That’s enough, you rascal. Stop spouting nonsense. Recently, I’ve been incredibly busy. It’s something you wouldn’t understand. That’s why I feel like no matter how much I sleep, it’s never enough.”

Madelyn impatiently ruffled her hair. “If you guys have nothing better to do, stop bothering me. I’m going to sleep.”

She collapsed onto the table, eyes shut, appearing ready to sleep for an eternity.

“What… What’s going on?”

Seeing her slumber, Tristan was baffled. Jillian helplessly shook her head, equally puzzled. Madelyn, always full of energy, now seemed drained. Josiah frowned.

What on earth has she been up to? How did she end up looking so exhausted? Could it be because of something related to her company?

Upon thinking of this, Josiah felt a subtle pang of heartache. She had shouldered too much; it must have been tough for her.

However, Josiah chuckled and playfully grabbed Madelyn, saying, “Sleep, sleep, sleep, all you care about is sleep! School is almost over, and you’re still sleeping. When it’s time to lock up, we won’t even bother waking you. We’ll just let you sleep here all by yourself until the next day.”

“Ah, is school almost over?”

Chapter 400: There Is Obviously A Hidden Agenda

“Sigh…”

Seeing this, Josiah sighed. He grasped Madelyn’s hand. “Don’t worry, I was just messing with you.”

“What?”

Once Madelyn recovered, she swung a punch at him. “Josiah, are you out of your mind? Scaring me like that. I’m going to beat you up for this!”

Josiah dodged the punch. Then, grinning, he said, “Alright, enough fooling around. Don’t go to sleep just yet; I have something important to discuss with you.”

Madelyn was speechless. She tucked her hair behind her ear and said, “If you’ve got something to say, spit it out.”

Josiah explained, “In a few weeks, the school term will be over. After that, I’ll be officially joining the military, becoming a full-fledged soldier.”

“Well, isn’t that quite nice?”

Madelyn nodded nonchalantly.

Unexpectedly, this indifference struck a nerve in Josiah. Seeing her impassive reaction, he felt annoyed. Does she really not care about me at all? She was the one who had encouraged me to join the military!

“Hey, aren’t you going to say something?” Josiah asked, exasperated.

Madelyn didn’t notice his frustration, remaining nonchalant.

“What can I say? You joining the military is indeed a wonderful thing. I wish you a smooth journey in your army life and a bright future ahead. May you bring honor to your family too.”

“You–” Josiah almost burst a blood vessel. “Once I join the army, we won’t be able to gather like this anymore. It might be a long while before we see each other again. Don’t you feel even a bit… just a bit…”

As the conversation went on, Josiah found himself at a loss for words. He had wanted to ask if she felt reluctant to see him go, but couldn’t bring himself to voice his feelings.

Swallowing back his words, Josiah regained his composure. “It’s all right now. You should get some sleep.”