How Could the Villainous Young Master Be a Saintess?

“Your little friends didn’t come with you?” Vinny asked while taking out Margaret’s stamped club application form. He did not see those loyal adherents around Margaret.

“I told them to go back to class. Otherwise, they would be late,” Margaret said.

“So you do know you’re going to be late?” Vinny laughed, his laugh carrying a faint, helpless amusement.

“Student Vinny, no matter what, you’re a second-year senior. Don’t bully someone younger just because you’re older. Picking on a lower-year junior girl isn’t much of an achievement, and if word gets out, it’ll damage your image too, won’t it?” However, that smile caused the onlookers beside them to misunderstand. A student from Vinny’s year came up as though he was worried, two companions following at his side.

“If there really is some difficulty that makes you absolutely have to trouble Junior Margaret, there happen to be a lot of people here. Why not say it out loud and let everyone hear? If you’re in the right, everyone will definitely stand up for you.” This male student’s words sounded very objective and neutral, but anyone who was not deaf could hear that he was taking sides.

The unspoken meaning was, “You can say why you’re troubling her. If it’s legitimate, everyone will support you, but it had better not be something like ‘she stole your niche’ or ‘the fake is accusing the real one instead.’”

This student was clearly treating the surrounding gossip-hungry spectators as his backing. Vinny was not easy to provoke, but under so many watching eyes, Vinny could not easily make trouble for anyone either.

“And you are?” Vinny immediately looked at this male student, who had inserted himself and tried to act like a little messenger of justice, with a very strange gaze. “Student, did anyone call your name here? I don’t think so, right? The two of us are talking. What does it have to do with you??”

“And everyone here, hurry back to class. There’s no egg-giveaway line here. Go back wherever you’re supposed to go. My classroom is right here, so I’m not afraid of being late. Is your classroom here too??” Vinny called out toward the students gathered around to watch the show.

“Student Vinny, the school rules clearly state that bullying is absolutely not allowed on campus. Once discovered, serious cases will result in expulsion and accountability. Ah, I don’t mean anything else. I only wanted to remind you,” the male student said, brushing Vinny’s words aside with a smile.

“Oh, so you know that?” Vinny tilted his head and looked at the male student. “Since you know that, then you should also know that so-called bullying only stands when the person being bullied admits they’re being bullied, right? The victim in your eyes hasn’t even said anything, yet you, a spectator standing off to the side who knows nothing about the actual situation, are getting pretty enthusiastic?”

“What, do you want to be a flower guardian? Are you trying to use this chance to climb onto the Church’s high branch? That’s a little funny, friend. Usually, when her followers and adherents are called, they come in huge numbers, and every one of them is top-quality, all big shots from the Church. Who are you? You think that if you step forward at a time like this and pretend to say a few fair words, she’ll remember you?”

“Brother, you’d better genuinely be trying to maintain order. Don’t let that be what you’re thinking, or that would be way too funny. It’d be like you hired a circus.” Vinny glanced at the male student and stopped looking at him.

“Student Vinny, those words are rather biased.” The male student’s face instantly turned livid.

It could only be said that lies did not hurt people. Truth was the sharp knife. Anyone whose inner thoughts were exposed would find it extremely embarrassing.

More importantly, Vinny had said that where Margaret could hear it, instantly leaving him unable to save face.

He was talented, and his family background was enough to give him a seat at the table. Many people at Carillian Academy tried to curry favor with him, and no one was willing to make an enemy of him. Yet he had run into Vinny, a hard case who could not be provoked, could not be beaten, and could not be moved by either soft or hard tactics. That made this male student feel like he was so angry he wanted to squeeze an egg until it burst, only to discover that what lay in his palm was a pebble.

“Student, you’ve misunderstood. Senior Vinny hasn’t gotten into an argument with me,” Margaret also heard the male student’s words and hurriedly stepped forward to explain.

However...

Many people still could not understand human speech. Vinny knew that better than anyone, especially when the difference between the two sides’ reputations was so large. Even if the person involved stepped out to explain, there would probably still be a small portion of self-important idiots who felt he had bullied her and she did not dare tell the truth.

“You people, why are you still standing there? Class is about to start. Aren’t you going?” Vinny rolled his eyes at the surrounding spectators.

The spectators also realized that class was about to begin. Although they were still very curious and wanted to keep watching, they could only scatter like startled birds and beasts.

“All right. If there’s nothing else, hurry back to class.” Vinny returned the application form to Margaret.

“I’m sorry. Did I cause trouble for you, Senior Vinny?”

“You did.” Vinny did not avoid saying it at all. “Junior Margaret, how many times have I told you? Don’t do things that make people misunderstand. You came alone and ran to the front of my class to look for me. How many times have I told you? This young master is the Academy’s heartthrob and king of popularity. Do you understand? The girls chasing this young master can line up from Carillian Academy all the way to the Tyrel Empire. Do you understand?”

“Uh, um, I remember that last time, you seemed to say it was to Camella Kingdom, Senior Vinny,” Margaret corrected hesitantly.

“I don’t get it. Is there a difference between reaching Camella Kingdom and reaching the Tyrel Empire??” Vinny had not expected the place she corrected to be so strange.

“Of course. The distance is completely different, Senior Vinny. According to geography books and map records, the distance from Carillian Academy to the Tyrel Empire, if calculated by landmark buildings, is roughly twice the distance to Camella Royal Capital...”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Vinny’s head spun from listening, and he interrupted her in time. “I don’t want to know whether it’s two times or three times. This young master hates listening to geography class more than anything. This is just an exaggerated metaphor, all right? A metaphor. Can’t you hear that??”

Oh no. He could no longer tell whether the person in front of him was playing dumb or doing something else.

If she was pretending, then this person’s depth was probably above his.

“Ah, ah, forget it. This young master’s time is very valuable. Junior Margaret, hurry back to class. This young master needs to go back to class too.” Vinny waved his hand. Before leaving, he did not forget to play dumb and say one gross-loser line.

“In any case, don’t do this sort of thing that makes other people misunderstand again. What if other junior girls see it? Ah, ah, enrollment season really is a problem. Every few days, a junior girl comes running to our class to look for me. What if the other students in our class see that? Wouldn’t that damage my reputation? They might think I’m some kind of player.”

Wasn’t it just playing dumb? Who couldn’t do that??

In any case, his image in the public eye had always been like this. Whether it was open or hidden monitoring, he would not lose out by pulling this move.

“Oh~ Then did I come too late, Senior Vinny? Is it still in time to give you a love letter now? Do I need to take a number?”

The moment Vinny turned back toward the classroom, he heard a familiar voice filled with teasing and some inexplicable emotion.

His body stiffened, and his gaze abruptly landed on the silver-haired girl who had appeared behind him at some unknown point. She stood there with her hands behind her back, smiling as she watched him.

Oh no. This was bad! He had forgotten about this!

He should have thought of it earlier. When he entered the classroom just now and saw a certain nut was not there, he should have thought of it!

It had simply happened too suddenly. He had not expected Margaret to come looking for him at a time like this.

“Eh?” When Margaret noticed Aesphyra behind Vinny, her eyes moved.

“You—when did you get here? How long have you been eavesdropping??” Vinny subconsciously took a step back.

“When did I get here? Mm, probably around the time a certain number one school heartthrob senior was troubled by having too many little admirers running over here all day.” Aesphyra tilted her head and smiled sweetly at Vinny. “Also, this doesn’t count as eavesdropping. How could admiration toward the great school heartthrob senior count as eavesdropping~?”

“Senior, my ass!” For some reason, when those words came out of Aesphyra’s mouth, Vinny felt inexplicably embarrassed and awkward. “What season is it already? You’ve started pretending to be younger too? Don’t think that just because you’re about the size of a junior girl, you really are one. And admiration? You admire me? Why didn’t I know that??”

“What’s wrong with that~? Starting today, I’ll be one of school heartthrob senior’s little admirers. Is that not allowed?” Aesphyra tilted her head in confusion.

“Ugh. Can you stop pretending already? You’re making me want to throw up.”

“What? Didn’t Senior Vinny say he has plenty of little admirers? I’m guest-starring as one of your little admirers so you won’t be embarrassed. Is that not allowed?”

“Thanks, but this young master doesn’t need a little admirer like you who pisses him off every day.” Vinny rolled his eyes at Aesphyra.

“All right, stop talking here. Don’t you have class? Hurry into the classroom.” As Vinny spoke, he walked into the classroom, yet he did not see Aesphyra follow him.

“? No, what else are you doing?” Vinny turned back and looked at Aesphyra with surprise.

He saw that her gaze was not directed at him, but had landed on the cherry-pink-haired girl who was also looking at her with curiosity at this very moment.

Oh, damn it. This person wouldn’t be thinking of...??

Vinny immediately thought of something.

Bad. Too much time had passed, and he had been spun around by this white-haired nut ball’s honeyed words again, to the point that he had almost forgotten this person’s character setting!

“You’re the currently much-discussed Miss Margaret Facilis, aren’t you? Hello. I’ve long heard your name.” Aesphyra had a bright smile on her lips as she walked up to Margaret and greeted her.

“And you are??” Margaret studied the stunning silver-haired girl in front of her in great surprise.

If Margaret had to describe the silver-haired girl before her in one sentence, she was an artwork so astonishing it took one’s breath away, a beauty beyond any masterpiece Margaret had seen from childhood to adulthood.

And this beauty was actually a concrete, living person.

Margaret immediately developed great curiosity toward this silver-haired girl, who was so beautiful that she seemed somewhat unreal.

Aside from that, judging from Vinny’s earlier conversation with her, the two seemed to know each other. She had even called Vinny “senior,” so she should be Margaret’s peer and in the same year.

But.

Margaret had absolutely no impression of her. If there were someone like this among the students of her year, Margaret should have had a very deep impression.

“May I ask, are you my classmate or my senior?” Margaret asked somewhat nervously.

“A pleasure. This is our first meeting. My name is Aesphyra Galathus.” Aesphyra touched one hand to her neck and performed a perfect, elegant noble bow, a moderate and modest smile hanging at her lips.

This bastard.

If it were only a bow, there would be nothing wrong with it. It was just courtesy.

The issue was this bow. How could Vinny not recognize it? This was clearly the bow a noble gentleman gave to a lady.

You’re a girl. Why are you giving another girl that kind of bow??

Vinny watched from the side until he nearly laughed from anger. For a moment, he even forgot that class was about to make him late. He leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, and watched Aesphyra perform.

This rotten player queen really never changed, did she? She had set her sights on new prey again, hadn’t she??

Earlier she had talked about sincerity, and that day under the moon, she had almost...

Sure enough, it had all been playing along for the occasion. It was all a lie, wasn’t it?! That had only been one more part of her teasing him? He had almost stupidly fallen for it, almost believed it??

Now that she had found a new target, the moment she saw a beauty, she flew straight over. No one could stop her.

But wasn’t that exactly what she was like??

Right. Hadn’t he known that long ago?

But why?

Just like last time, when he misunderstood that Aesphyra was confessing to another girl, his heart turned so sour he could hardly bear it. It squeezed painfully in his chest.

This fickle, rotten player queen.

Vinny felt that he was only looking down on Aesphyra, but in reality, his mouth was already almost pouting enough to hang an iron hook from it. He simply had not noticed.

“Galathus?” Margaret repeated the surname once, realization appearing on her face. “You’re the young lady of House Galathus?”

“Miss Margaret has heard of me? That truly is my honor.” Aesphyra smiled.

Oh, so it really was your honor.

“No, Senior, it’s your excellence that is well known far and wide,” Margaret murmured.

Ah, it really was well known far and wide.

RING, RING, RING!

“Oh my, how unfortunate. I had wanted to chat a few more words with you about other topics, Miss Margaret, but it seems time doesn’t allow it.” Aesphyra smiled. “As you can see, I’m in the same class as this school heartthrob senior of yours. Then, see you next time~?”

There was going to be a next time??

“Tsk!” Vinny looked as if he had just bitten into a lemon. Unable to keep watching, he turned around, smacked his lips, and entered the classroom.

Ahhh! No, no.

That flirtatious nuthead was not worth getting angry over!

But why?

Ahhh, still...

Clearly, there was nothing between them. Why was his mood fluctuating??

Nothing between them, huh?

“All right. I need to hurry back to class too.” Margaret was also very curious about Aesphyra and wanted to continue chatting with her.

This was where Aesphyra’s charm as the great heroine lay. In the original work, other than Vinny, no one could bring themselves to dislike her.

Margaret had originally wanted to say goodbye to Vinny before leaving, but for some reason, when she raised her head, she discovered that Vinny was no longer where he had been.

Maybe he had rushed into the classroom.

Margaret thought that.

“Speaking of which, Senior Galathus, may I call you that? Are you and Senior Vinny very close?” Margaret asked curiously.

“Eh? Didn’t I say so just now?” Aesphyra, who was turning to leave, smiled and paused. “I’m his little admirer~?”