Let's start over, Your Majesty.

Chapter 71 And so, the princess lowered her arrogant head.

After Xia ran away, the crowd dispersed sheepishly, and a few of Xia's close friends chased after her.

"Impressive! Caesar! You've dealt that arrogant fellow another blow! I thought you were just a bit reckless, but I didn't expect you to play chess so well! I'm starting to look at you in a new light!"

Tiss approached Caesar, her eyes shining as she spoke.

“Yeah, an old man next door taught me when I was little, but I was really crushed at first, and my comeback was just good luck,” Caesar said.

"Oh, is this what they call receiving unexpected guidance from a reclusive master? It's like something out of a novel!" Leon exclaimed.

"Hmph, anyway, it's so satisfying to see that guy's defeated expression again. This time, it'll definitely put her arrogance to a good rest!" Tess said with a snort.

Caesar smiled in agreement, but the current situation seemed far removed from his expectations.

Originally, I just wanted to win a small game to correct her attitude, but I didn't expect that after losing just one game, Xia ran away.

It's a little different from what he expected. Are girls' minds really that hard to understand?
Looking at the stares of those around him, he sighed helplessly.

Now it seems the attempt to explain has only made things worse.
Soon the school bell rang, and the classmates who had gone to chase after Xia also ran back.

“Sia, we can’t find her anywhere,” they said anxiously to Taylor.

"We've been to so many places, but we just can't find her."

Taylor nodded with a stern face: "You all go to class first. I'll go and notify the security department to have them search the entire school."

Xia's identity is special, and there can be no security issues for her.

The classroom was still buzzing with noise; everyone was still discussing the matter.

Caesar stared at the empty seat in Sia's room, his gaze darkening.

The Library of San yaro, in a dark corner.

Sia huddled to one side of a high, tiered bookshelf aisle. The cramped space offered her a sense of comfort. She hugged her knees and buried her face in her arms.

Just then, she heard footsteps approaching from afar, climbing the steps, and standing in front of her.

Looking up, in the dim light, she saw the face she least wanted to see at that moment.

“You skipped class,” Caesar said to her.

"What exactly do you want?"

Just as she was about to cry out, Caesar put a finger to his lips, gesturing for silence:

"This is a library, keep your voice down. When I came in, the librarian lady looked very fierce."

Xia gritted her teeth, glared at him fiercely, but couldn't help asking, "How did you know I was here?"

“Because if it were me, I would also choose this place, a corner of the library, indoors, where I feel safe and unlikely to be noticed,” Caesar said. “It seems we think alike.”

In reality, he found her through the resonance between the crown and the imperial seal, coupled with his overall strategic vision.

Choosing this location was actually unexpected for him.

Xia glared at Caesar for three or four seconds, then bit her lower lip, lowered her head, and remained silent.

“Hey, losing a game of chess doesn’t have to be like this. Why do you feel humiliated?” Caesar said.

"I said everything in front of so many people, but now I've lost. I wanted to regain my dignity and punish you, but I'm the one who lost!"

Xia bit her lip, her nose stung, and her eyes gradually blurred.

"You've won. No matter who sent you or what your purpose was, you've won. Don't bother me again!"

Hearing that voice, full of resentment and tinged with tears, Caesar sighed helplessly.

“I think there’s some misunderstanding between us. I never meant any harm, but it seems you’ve been misunderstanding something.”

"What misunderstanding?" Xia asked in a low, hoarse voice.

"Aren't you just like those other people, only approaching me because of my identity? Who would sincerely want to be friends with someone like me?"

"You actually know that?"

Caesar almost blurted that out.

“Since you understand all this, why not change it?” he asked. Sia turned her head away, lowering her eyes.
"You don't understand anything, so stop asking."

As expected, it was the Marshall family's fault.

Caesar could more or less imagine how oppressive the atmosphere would be in the families of such extreme politicians, and that Sia, as an important strategic and propaganda tool, would certainly be molded into the kind of person they needed.

The thought that he, as a descendant of Emperor Rean the Great, had been taught to behave this way by those people ignited a fire within Caesar.

"So don't even think about getting close to me again, or trying to climb the social ladder by finding someone else. My identity, the family behind me, are not something you can get close to," Xia said softly.

“I’m not interested in the family behind you,” Caesar said calmly. “I’m interested in you.”

"Huh?" Xia frowned and looked at him.

"What are you talking about?"

Caesar squatted down and slowly said to her, "To tell you the truth, I decided to come find you the moment I first saw you in the newspaper when I was five years old."

"You—" Sia's eyes widened slightly, "You're interested in photos of me when I was five?"

"No, what are you thinking?" Caesar covered his face.

“When I first saw your photo back then, I had a special feeling, how should I put it, like some kind of resonance,” he said earnestly. “That feeling still came over me when I first saw you yesterday. Can you feel it?”

Caesar was trying to imply something to her with this statement.

Sia seemed to recall that when she first met Caesar yesterday, she did feel a strange flutter in her heart, as if she knew him very well, yet couldn't quite remember him.

Xia opened her mouth, then turned her head away again.

"What nonsense, all this talk about resonance and feelings, what could we possibly have to do with each other?"

"At least we're accomplices now," Caesar said calmly. "I've skipped class too, so we'll probably have to write self-criticisms together later."

Xia glanced at him and snorted, but her eyes unconsciously darkened.

Deep down, she still hoped that there would be someone who could truly enter her heart and treat her as a true friend.

After all, once she obtained this so-called identity, her heart was forever sealed off.
“It’s not something a princess should do to be so discouraged by just one game of chess. Defeat is a rare thing. At least you know now that there is still a lot of room for improvement in your chess skills, right?” Caesar said.

Xia frowned and glanced at him, feeling that this guy had the air of an old father lecturing.

She snorted.

“I’m not so fragile that I need your comforting words,” she patted her knees, trying to stand up.

"I want to go back."

She tried to stand up, but found that her legs were numb from squatting and she couldn't muster any strength. As soon as she stood up, she stumbled and fell down the steps.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her hand, put their arm around her waist, and pulled her back.

The two suddenly closed the distance between them.

“Be careful,” Caesar whispered.

Looking at the pure and extremely handsome young man's face, and the undisguised concern in his eyes, Xia's heart skipped a beat.

Only then did she understand.

This guy doesn't seem to be interested in his own identity.

It's your own body.

"You, get away from me!"

Sia shouted this, pushed him away, took several steps back, and stared at him with wide eyes.

"What's wrong with you now?" Caesar asked uncertainly, looking at her as if she had been thrown into a rage again.

Xia pursed her lips, then turned and ran away without looking back.

Caesar was left standing there alone.

"No, what kind of attitude is this?"

This mindset is harder to understand than any military treatise.
(End of this chapter)