Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

She had tackled most of these questions before!

Even though they weren't exactly the same as the originals, they were close enough-just a matter of different numbers. She could hardly contain her excitement as she began answering the questions.

After jotting down a few answers, she couldn't resist sneaking another glance at Flora. Seeing her still not writing, she smirked.

"Heh. Really? Let's see how long you can keep up that smug act."

She decided to ignore Flora and focused on her own paper. Everyone else in the exam hall was scribbling away, except for Flora, who was lounging back in her chair, looking completely at ease without a pen in hand. Even the proctor couldn't help but steal a few glances at Flora. They had never seen a contestant like this before-arriving and just sitting there without writing a thing.

Could she really not know a single answer? Then why even bother showing up?

Since most of the questions were familiar, Joy sped through them, almost twice as fast as the others.

"Attention everyone, there are only forty minutes left," announced the proctor.

As the announcement was made, Joy put down her pen. She had double-checked her work several times and felt confident. She glanced at Flora again.

Flora had her head down on the desk, asleep. Her answer sheet was pristine-no answers at all.

So, she had slept for an hour without answering a single question?! Joy was stunned; she had never seen such a move before. Could Flora really not know any answers, or were there just too many she didn't know, so she gave up? All the better for her, Joy thought with an inward grin. The lower Flora's score, the more her own brilliance would shine.

"There are thirty minutes left for the exam," the proctor reminded, giving another look at Flora, who was still napping on the desk.

The girl had started off simply staring into space and then dozed off. Not a single word written.

As the proctor finished speaking,

Flora finally stirred. She sat up, picked up her pen, and started writing without even looking at the questions. Multiple-choice answers, fill-in-the-blanks, short answers-she wrote them all straight down.

No hesitation whatsoever.

The proctor and Joy watched in disbelief. Was she just winging it?

Flora moved swiftly, finishing all her answers in just twenty minutes. Then she handed in her paper and walked out of the hall, her entire process smooth as silk.

In a competition this big, no one ever

القادة

handed in their paper early. Even Joy, who finished early, preferred to keep checking her answers rather than submit right away.

Flora was among the first to leave, ten minutes early. She was the only one from Austenberg to come out so soon.

Mr. Tanner spotted Flora and rushed over. "How did it go? Were the questions tough?"

"It was alright," Flora replied with a lazy shrug.

Mr. Tanner's heart was still racing. What did "alright" even mean? But he didn't press further, afraid of hurting Flora's pride if she hadn't done well.

Gradually, the other contestants trickled out-Selene, Joy, and Debra among them.

"That test was a bit tricky. Some of the questions were real traps. Joy, how do you think you did?" Debra asked.

"Eh... average, I guess." JoyBelongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

answered modestly, though she was

sure her score would be high. She

was downplaying it to make her

eventual success even more dazzling.

"Hey, Flora, how'd you do?"

Everyone was curious about Flora's performance, worried that a poor score from her might drag them down.

After Debra's question, all the Austenberg contestants turned to Flora, waiting for her answer.