From Villain to Virtual Sweetheart: The Fake Heir's Grand Scheme(BL)
Chapter 165: Frostbitten Reputation

Chapter 165: Frostbitten Reputation

Archie stood silently, his hands tucked into his jacket pockets, watching Micah with a surprisingly patient look on his face. He waited for Micah’s panic to settle, giving him the space without saying anything too quickly.

When Micah’s shoulders finally relaxed a little, Archie spoke in a calm voice. "I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want to. But just so you know, your reputation in the game is not actually that bad."

Micah’s forehead wrinkled. What was this? Was this manipulative jerk trying to console him or something?!

Archie kept going, his voice light. "But if you really feel uncomfortable, I’ve got a side account you can use for the tournament. I don’t really recommend it though." he shrugged. "Your FrostbiteAshe account has a lot of fans in the LOJ game. They already knew you were a freshman here, and even what colour your hair is! That’s how I found you so quickly, you know?"

Micah stared at him. His mouth had gone completely dry. He swallowed hard, feeling the muscles in his throat twitch. He wanted to scream. He knew it! Cora! It should be her fault! That cousin of his had run her mouth in front of her friends probably! Ugh!

He took a deep breath and forced the irritation down. The damage was done. He couldn’t erase it now. Instead, he should at least make the most of it. "That’s alright," Micah said finally. "I’ll just use my own account. It’s only silver rank, though. That okay?"

Archie waved a hand. "No, it’s perfect. This tournament is meant to attract people to the Esports scene. Beginners and all. Actually, using your silver account might help the gossip die faster. People will focus on the game and forget about the other stuff."

"Okay." Micah nodded impatiently.

They reached the campus gate just as the morning sun began to turn warm. Micah turned to leave when Archie reached out and tugged at his bag. "Wechat!" he reminded with a grin.

"Oh..." Micah reluctantly took out his phone and exchanged contact info.

As soon as it was done, he turned and walked off in a hurry, pretending not to hear Archie’s cheerful "See you!" behind him.

He needed to think carefully about how to use this opportunity.

His FrostBiteAshe account was practically doomed now. If he showed up with SilverBlade Legion in public, especially with Archie, their captain, wouldn’t other teams assume DarkVyne had also joined the SilverBlade?

This way maybe they would leave Darcy alone.

And if Archie asked about it, he would just say he didn’t know who was Darkvyne in reality. Just an online friend.

He should give Darcy a heads-up about it.

But what if Darcy wanted to join for real? What if Darcy thought it was a good chance to play beside him? Micah stopped in his tracks, his eyebrows furrowed. He couldn’t exactly forbid Darcy, could he?

Micah stood in the middle of the walkway and groaned, dragging both hands through his hair, and tugging at them in frustration.

"Hey! Hey!" Russell’s voice rang out behind him. "Do you wanna go bald or something?!"

Micah turned slowly, shooting him a look full of resentment.

"What?" Russel raised both palms defensively. "What did I do to deserve that glare?"

Micah puffed his cheeks out and blew the air through his nose before muttering. "Nothing."

If he didn’t know Russell, maybe his encounter with Archie would be much later... but he didn’t want Russell to go through that traumatizing event either.

Micah sighed. He resumed his walking toward his class.

Russell caught up beside him and handed him a few folded papers. "Here, these are the pamphlets from earlier about the esports tournament."

Micah grabbed them without a word, shoved them into his bag without looking, and kept walking.

After class, Micah was stuffing his notebook into his bag when a girl approached him. She had shoulder-length hair and wore a striped blouse. "Classmate," she said politely. "you missed last week’s class. We were assigned to go to a textile factory for our project."

Russell smacked his own forehead with the palm of his hand. "Right. I forgot to tell you. We got lucky! You know, Sorkh fabric? The one under La Riviere? We are going there tomorrow!"

Micah rubbed his temple, not sure whether to be happy or annoyed. Why was everything nowadays related to La Riviere?! The new drug for Flora. Then this project. And Clyde himself...

It felt like the Du Pont family was tied to him with invisible strings lately. Everything circled back to them.

If he didn’t know Clyde personally, he would be jumping around in excitement right now. But knowing Clyde, he didn’t need to search for Dean Du Pont using a subside factory.

Right. He needed to disguise himself as a girl to ask Clyde about Dean. Crap! First, he had to contact Clyde’s assistant for the terms of the fake girlfriend contract. Wait! What if he asked for an ID card?! He didn’t have any!

Micah groaned again and leaned forward, resting his head on the edge of his desk.

Headache. Dealing with Archie had drained him. And now thinking about finding Dean and dragging him to meet Aria, making them fall in love, and somehow forcing him to help using the Du Pont family’s power....

All while hiding his crossdressing...

He felt his head would explode at any second! He just wanted to go back to Clyde’s home and hide there. Quiet room. Comfy bed. Good night sleep and good food! No drama!

"Hey, are you alright? Is it your stomach again?" Russell asked seeing Micah’s pale face.

Micah sat up and waved a hand weakly. "Nah. I am alright."

Then he looked at the girl. "What time we are going there?"

The girl, named Melissa, smiled. "We are supposed to be there by 10 am. Should we catch a taxi..."

"No," Micah said, standing up. "I’ll bring my car. It’s probably a long drive, right? Better we leave early."

Melissa beamed. "That’s even better. Thanks."

Micah nodded.

"I’ll add you to the group," Russell said, pulling out his phone.

Micah waved a hand. "Sure. Go ahead. I have got another class to catch."

Micah didn’t even glance back as he walked out of the building. He went straight to the lake. The quiet path by the water was nearly empty this time of day.

Micah slowed his steps, staring at the rippling water as guilt and confusion swirled in his chest.

He was scared by his own thought. Why would he run to Clyde’s house? Why there of all places? Was it the comfort? The silence? Or just the man himself? Whatever it was, it felt like a trap. A warm dangerous trap.

Yeah, that was totally wrong! Micah kicked a stone in a huff.

He needed to pull himself together. The thought of running away from problems was not an option for him. All his loved ones’ futures weighed on his shoulders. They were counting on him, even if they didn’t know it.

He clenched his jaw and balled his fists at his sides.

He had to be strong.

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