How Could the Villainous Young Master Be a Saintess?

When everyone else flinched and backed away in fear, the silver-haired figure who calmly stepped forward immediately captured everyone’s attention—including the tutor inside the carriage.

It’s coming. It’s about to begin.

Vinny, watching like a theatergoer enjoying the show, admired Aesphyra’s poise and outfit.

It was in moments like these, under the full gaze of an audience, that the protagonist was meant to shine.

The agitated unicorn raised its forelegs and thrashed about violently, rejecting all who tried to approach.

Just as the carriage it was pulling looked ready to overturn, the silver-haired, violet-eyed girl gently pulled on the reins and reached out to stroke the unicorn’s face.

The furious unicorn immediately calmed.

Its red eyes cleared. Its wild movements stopped—all because of the sudden appearance of the silver-haired girl before it.

“Does it hurt?” Aesphyra asked softly, brushing her hand through its mane. “Can you trust me?”

The unicorn stared at the girl in silence.

Its clear eyes mirrored the breathtaking beauty of the girl before it. The answer was obvious.

The sight of the pure, ethereal girl and the pristine, snow-white unicorn together was captivating—like something out of a dream.

“Good,” Aesphyra smiled gently. “Lift it up.”

“?”

Everyone blinked in confusion.

Lift what?

The unicorn, however, understood. It raised its right front hoof.

Only then did the crowd see something stuck to the underside—something like a small, jagged shard.

They instantly understood what was going on, and many stared at Aesphyra in disbelief.

She noticed that earlier? When?!

Aesphyra reached toward the shard lodged in the unicorn’s hoof.

Magic surged through her fingertips, and a soft flame flickered to life. With perfect control, she incinerated the shard without burning the unicorn.

The tutors inside the carriage exchanged glances of admiration.

Not only was this girl perceptive, she also demonstrated exquisite magical control.

A truly rare talent.

“Hold on. I’ll bandage it for you,” Aesphyra said, pulling a red potion and a bandage from her bag.

She soaked the cloth in potion and gently wrapped the unicorn’s hoof.

Ideally, someone with the Holy Emissary Soul Armament would handle the healing. But with the unicorn’s overwhelming aura, no one else dared to get close.

The unicorn’s eyes rippled with emotion, but as it looked at the girl before it—calm and serious—it remained still.

Aesphyra, however, wasn’t especially skilled at bandaging wounds.

Her clumsy tying technique made Vinny frown instinctively.

Before he realized it, he had stepped forward.

“Miss Aesphyra, go easy. That’s no way to treat the injured.”

“Don’t tie the bandage like that. Raise your right hand two centimeters. Lower your left hand one and a half... There. Like that.”

Aesphyra felt the unicorn tremble slightly and realized her grip had been a bit too rough.

Without thinking, she followed the voice’s instructions.

To her surprise, it worked—the bandage tied into a clean, neat medical knot.

Only then did she realize who had spoken.

She turned and smiled at him with a teasing glint in her eyes.

“Uh-oh...” Vinny blinked, realizing too late what he’d done.

Shit. I messed up. I stole the protagonist’s spotlight.

Why had he jumped in? It wasn’t calculated—it was instinct.

“Thank you, Mr. Vinny~” Aesphyra said, her beautiful eyes curving into crescent moons as she beamed at him.

“No, no, it’s my fault for overstepping,” Vinny said, quickly looking away. “You could’ve handled it on your own, Miss Aesphyra.”

“Mr. Vinny seems awfully knowledgeable about first aid?”

“It’s nothing. A friend taught me,” Vinny replied, shrinking under the growing number of eyes on him.

He awkwardly stepped back, retreating into the crowd again.

“A friend, huh...” Aesphyra tilted her head, recalling the mysterious “beautiful sister” Vinny had mentioned a few days ago, and the way Pete had smiled at the time.

She was well aware—Vinny, in her previous life, had never known things like this.

Could it be that all the changes in this boy’s life were connected to that “friend”?

“Student, what is your name?” a voice called out.

The tutor from Cariliman Academy, the one sent to collect the candidates, stepped down from the carriage.

He wore the standard pale-colored academy robes, embroidered with a crest—a griffin encircled by a ring.

The proud banner of the ancient Cariliman Empire, preserved to this day by the academy it had once founded.

The tutor addressed Aesphyra with a kind smile. And notably, he used the word “student”, not “candidate”—a clear sign he already considered her a confirmed Cariliman student.

“My name is Aesphyra Galactus, sir.”

“Galactus, huh...” the tutor murmured, rubbing his beard thoughtfully.

Leaning on his cane, he studied the girl with a look of quiet awe.

The silver hair and violet eyes... they bore a striking resemblance to the long-lost royal bloodline of the Ancient Cariliman Empire—the Cariliman family, the very founders of the academy.

According to imperial records, the Cariliman bloodline was marked by just such features.

But it had to be a coincidence.

The ancient empire had fallen long ago. The Cariliman family had vanished into history, leaving no known heirs.

Perhaps a few distant branches survived, but they were irrelevant now. Nobodies. Shadows of what once was.

The last emperor’s throne had passed to a son-in-law, officially ending the Cariliman line.

Their legacy was dead. Just like the Varelis family.

He recalled how powerful the Varelis family had once been.

Though the Radiance Saintess had nominally sworn allegiance to the emperor, she had once stood equal to him—wielding authority over the faith of all mankind as a direct descendant of the goddess.

Now, the Cariliman family was gone. The Varelis family had been cast out of the Church of Radiance, with only a sliver of their bloodline remaining.

Extinction was just a matter of time.

This year’s entrance exam would proceed with neither of those once-mighty families present.

Power, no matter how great, never lasts forever.

Even the grandest houses would eventually be eroded by time and reduced to ash.

“My apologies, candidates from the Camella Kingdom,” the old tutor said, snapping back to the present.

“There were some unexpected delays, but everything has been resolved.”

He quickly composed himself, trying not to show favoritism as he addressed the crowd.

“Thank you for your patience, everyone. I am Volyn, a senior tutor from Cariliman Academy, in charge of escorting you to the examination grounds. Please present your letters of recommendation and board the carriage one at a time.”