[Virtue +100.]

[Current Virtue: 10909.]

Vinny, thrown into chaos, did not notice his Virtue increasing at this moment. Right now, his eyes were about to turn into mosquito coils.

“Y-You, don’t randomly say incomprehensible, meaningless stuff like that!” Vinny had no moves left. He wanted to shake this girl off and could not, and she kept making him go red with frustration.

“Meaningless? But I think what I want to express is very clear and very precise~?” Aesphyra observed Vinny’s reaction, unable to keep the smile from blooming across her face.

“What’s precise about it? You just love teasing me like this. You always have. Do you think this is fun? You nut ball, why are you so bad??” Vinny turned half his face away, refusing to let Aesphyra see his complexion right now. Though there was no need to see it. Just from his voice, Aesphyra already knew what expression he must have at this moment.

“You say things like that to anyone, don’t you? You could say them to anyone, right? Including Margaret just now. Tch. Someone was practically dying to perform a hand-kissing ceremony earlier!”

“Oh? So what Student Vinny means is, you actually did take my words seriously before?” Aesphyra suddenly asked.

“Who said that? Not at all! Anyone who believes the mouth of a green-eyed rotten player queen full of lies like you is a complete idiot!” Vinny said, crossing his arms.

“You clearly don’t like boys, yet you use me for entertainment every day. Tch! You nut ball really are too awful! If you don’t love me, don’t hurt me, all right??”

“Then why would Student Vinny feel hurt after knowing I don’t like you~?” One could only say Aesphyra understood reading comprehension. She could always pick out a great deal of information revealed in Vinny’s words.

“Tch. Who said this young master was hurt??”

“Student Vinny said it yourself.”

“Which ear of yours heard that? That was only a metaphor. You really don’t understand, huh? Anyway, you’re an ironclad green-eye. Who in your family doesn’t know that?” Vinny said sourly.

“Mhm. So Student Vinny cares a lot about that?”

“Who cares about you? Who you like is your freedom, and what does whether you’re green-eyed or not have to do with me?? Narcissistic nut ball.” Vinny put on an expression that said he did not care at all, but he still refused to let Aesphyra see his face right now, as if this were his final stubborn stand.

“If you like her, then just openly say you like her. It’s not like I only learned your personality today. Everyone knows it in their hearts. What would happen if you just admitted it openly? For the sake of our friendship, I might even help you and give you some assists or something.” Vinny was silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

After all, Vinny knew very well that Aesphyra might have no resistance to someone like Margaret.

People liked a type, not one specific person. That was also why substitute-love literature always existed.

Aesphyra’s fondness for Vanessa had never been disguised. From the moment they first met, he could tell from the Virtue that had burst out. That absolutely could not be faked.

And the image Margaret displayed outwardly was moving closer to Vanessa, or rather, closer to the identity of the “Dawn Saintess,” whether she was doing so intentionally or not.

Was that not exactly the type Aesphyra liked?

Compared to Vanessa, whose identity was unclear, whereabouts mysterious, and attitude toward her uncertain, this ready-made Dawn Saintess was clearly more interested in and fond of her, and also offered far more certainty.

Anyone with eyes could tell that if Margaret was able to enter the Academy, then basically, she must have received identity recognition from the Church of the Dawn.

So what exactly was he unwilling to accept?

The person standing in front of him was Aesphyra, the original story’s main heroine. She basically had a person growing out of her schemes.

If everything Margaret did was deliberate, if it was a persona she had crafted, would Aesphyra’s intelligence really fail to see through it? ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) She could not fool Aesphyra.

If that was not the case, then what was there to say? That proved the other party truly was a good girl, someone completely being used by the Church of the Dawn or the Pope.

In other words, if Aesphyra truly liked her, if she truly wanted to run toward her own happiness, what right did he have to stop her??

As a friend, should he not be happy for her?

Fine, perhaps he could not really feel happy, but he would still sincerely help Aesphyra and sincerely bless the two of them. After all, this was Aesphyra’s choice.

Vinny hoped Aesphyra could obtain happiness that belonged to her. Not the cold Aesphyra from the original story, existing only as the spokesperson for the player’s will, but the Aesphyra of this life, this flesh-and-blood Aesphyra, the Aesphyra he knew.

“Ahem! Forget what I said just now. All right, stop pretending. This young master knows you like this type.” Vinny sorted out his emotions and put on an expression he thought looked completely indifferent in front of Aesphyra.

“For something like this, you should just admit it openly. What are you acting so timid for? That’s not like you. Ah, ah, although this young master is very disappointed right now, that is only the disappointment of the single-dog community toward a bastard like you who is about to get out of singlehood and betray the organization. Ah! I really didn’t expect it. The first one to find a partner and target would actually be you, and not me, Carillian Academy’s number one school heartthrob. I really can’t accept this!”

“Forget it! Since you like this type and you’ve found a target, then go for it. This young master will support you from behind. If there’s anything you need help with, just tell me. This young master is very good at being a wingman.” Vinny put on a completely indifferent look and swept a hand through his hair.

But the moment he said those words, he regretted them a little.

He did not want this.

He had selfish thoughts too. For example, right now, his selfish thought was—

Vinny fell silent.

In a certain sense, he really was a despicable person. He actually had thoughts of not wanting such a good friend of his to run toward happiness.

Although he usually quarreled and bickered with Aesphyra all the time, fooling around and fighting with her, perhaps he truly had, at some unknown moment, before even he himself noticed it—

fallen for her.

Yes.

If this was not called liking someone, then what was?

Although Vinny had once held fantasies in his heart, whenever he thought that Aesphyra was an ironclad green-eye, that if she found out Vanessa and Vinny were the same person, even if the relationship between the two of them was not affected, she would surely no longer feel that way toward Vanessa, right?

After all, he was not a genuine girl.

This was clearly deception. He was not Aesphyra’s type. He was not even a girl, yet he was using Vanessa’s identity to deceive her.

Was that really the kind of relationship he wanted??

No. It was not.

If he won love in that way, even he would look down on himself.

In contrast, Margaret was a genuine girl. As for whether her character was real or false, there was no way to tell yet. But if her behavior and performance were not fake, then if Aesphyra liked her, what could he use to stop it?

If she really knew nothing, then perhaps she was the type Aesphyra truly liked.

“All right, all right. Let’s not talk about this anymore. Class is about to start. We should head back.” As he spoke, Vinny turned around and walked toward the classroom.

[Virtue +100.]

[Current Virtue: 11009.]

However, no footsteps sounded behind him. Clearly, Aesphyra had not moved.

“? What is it? Don’t tell me you want me to stand here and discuss how to be your wingman? There’s no time. Hurry up and go back to class.” Vinny felt a little cold inside and did not want to stay here. As for what exactly the reason was, and whether it really was because class was starting, no one knew.

“No, why are you still not leaving? Are there coins on the floor over there?” Seeing Aesphyra still refuse to move, Vinny could only turn back impatiently.

“Student Vinny.” Aesphyra moved, but she only took one step. Just one step forward. Those beautiful purple eyes, filled with countless charms, gazed deeply at Vinny.

“I originally thought Student Vinny was a very courageous person. Today, however, you’ve made me change my view of you and form a new opinion.” Aesphyra spoke one word at a time.

Vinny pressed his lips together. He felt as though every word Aesphyra spoke was stabbing into his heart.

“What weird thing are you saying now?” Vinny froze for a moment, then forcefully held his expression together and spoke impatiently.

“Student Vinny, I am right here.” Aesphyra stopped. She stood where she was, the wind stirring the girl’s silver hair like willow catkins in a gentle breeze.

“Do you have the courage to come forward?” Aesphyra’s eyes looked straight into Vinny’s evasive ones.

Vinny stared blankly at the sight. He subconsciously opened his mouth, but it was as though a block of lead had lodged in his throat. No matter what, he could not speak.

Just now, he had subconsciously wanted to open his mouth and give an affirmative answer. Yet for some unknown reason, the words would not come out.

Was he overthinking too much? Or was he still worried about Aesphyra’s attitude toward him and her orientation??

Vinny felt it was neither.

Aesphyra’s words were always so piercingly accurate.

She had struck the key point.

On this issue, he truly lacked courage far too much.

Just that one question left him unable to answer.

“I.” Vinny did not dare look into Aesphyra’s eyes. He did not even have his usual passive, instinctive rebuttal anymore.

“What courage are you referring to?” Vinny asked, still uncertain.

“What do you think?” Aesphyra did not answer. Instead, she asked him back.

“......”

“When you run into a difficult question, you choose to avoid it?” Aesphyra’s voice was very light and very faint. “Are you really that lacking in courage?”

Vinny’s heart jolted.

He did not dare speak. There were too many reasons, including fear of being rejected, fear that he was overthinking things, fear that they would not even be able to stay friends in the future and that their relationship would turn completely cold. Because of that, in matters of feeling, he had never dared overstep the line, preferring instead to remain in his comfort zone and maintain the status quo.

In the end, there were too few people willing to be friends with him, and that had been true ever since he was young.

He cherished those people very much.

But was that the main point?

Those reasons certainly existed, but in truth, there was an even greater reason.

Even so.

He still wanted to have this impulse, the impulse to charge out of his protective shell for someone.

Vinny at this moment was like someone walking in the dark, as if one careless step would send him tumbling into an abyss. He looked at Aesphyra uncertainly, his voice filled with an uncertainty he had never shown before.

“Can... can I come forward?” His tone was humble, full of doubt and a lack of confidence.

This was already the greatest courage he had.

At this moment, where was his usual air of “Heaven comes first, I come second”??

Or rather, perhaps that kind of air had always been his protective shell, and Aesphyra had completely pierced through it.

Aesphyra had seen through this layer of disguise a very long time ago.

Vinny was actually a person with very little confidence in himself, someone who, because of the wounds he had suffered in childhood, had no choice but to package himself into a hedgehog to protect himself.

He always pretended to disdain everything, as if doing so would make him someone strong and unafraid of being hurt by others.

But in reality, he had always known that the place beneath his feet had always been that stretch of ruins.

Hearing this, Aesphyra did not speak. She merely smiled all of a sudden, giving no answer at all.

[Virtue +100.]

[Current Virtue: 11109.]

Only then did Vinny realize what he had said.

She had handed the choice to him, yet he had behaved so cowardly and tossed the choice back to her.

What was that supposed to be??

So why did he not dare state his feelings openly and honestly?

As expected, the greatest reason was still that sense of not being worthy.

A person’s character began being shaped from childhood.

Although he was already much better than his past self, it still existed. Even now, even after awakening his bloodline and gaining achievements, he still could not completely erase some weaknesses in his personality.

The trauma caused by old events had followed him for his entire life after all.

It was only at this moment that Vinny understood. He had always been that fragile Vinny. He had never changed.

Aesphyra remained silent.

Clearly, only a few seconds passed, yet Vinny suffered torment, feeling as though several cold knives had been stabbed into his chest.

She must be disappointed in him like this.

“I, I...”

Aesphyra said nothing and walked toward the classroom. From the look of it, it seemed that once they brushed past each other this time, the two of them would never have any further intersection again.

“I—wait! Don’t go. That’s not what I meant. I mean, I...”

Aesphyra did not stop. She kept walking toward the classroom, expressionless.

“...You are the young lady of the Galathus Family.” Since matters had already come to this, Vinny could not care about anything else and spoke the truth from his heart. “You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, the noble young lady of the Galathus Family, with family wealth that could rival a nation.”

And her hidden identity was also the only surviving descendant of the House of Carillian now.

“But I’m only a common person from a fallen family.” Fortunate people spent their lives being healed by childhood. Unfortunate people had to spend their lives healing from childhood.

Although he was a descendant of the Saintess family, the poverty he had experienced since childhood, the cold eyes, contempt, bullying, and all those rumors would not disappear. They could not change the fact that, at his root, he was a person without much confidence.

A person who could never receive recognition from others, who could only receive negative feedback from others, was inferior inside.

He had always been someone who settled for the status quo and did not dare overstep. It was just like his resolution to become the Dawn Saintess. If he had not been forced into a dead end with no room to survive, he really would only have wanted to be an ordinary top student at Carillian Academy.

Add in the fact that he had once been rejected in public after confessing, retreating like a clown, and all these wounds piled together into the massive stone crushing him at this moment.

Even the current him was unsure whether his future self could succeed. How could he dare make a decision like this?

“Aesphyra, you are a protagonist walking in the light, watched by everyone.” Vinny pressed his lips together.

Even if Aesphyra was disappointed in him, at least he had said these words.

“And I, no matter what I am today or what I become in the future, can’t change the fact that the person I once was grew up in a dark corner you can’t imagine.”

In truth, Vinny had discovered a problem a very long time ago.

Why did Vinny’s experiences make him, a transmigrator, empathize so deeply?

It was as though—

he really was the true Vinny.

“I think maybe it’s because you’re too dazzling.” All his helplessness became that dry laugh. “So dazzling that I can hardly open my eyes.”

“Maybe it’s too late for me to say this now, but I want to tell you that even so, I still want to touch that ray of light... You really are very, very attractive to me.”

“I really—!”

The words Vinny had finally gathered the courage to say could not come out anymore.

Because Aesphyra, who in his imagination should have been brushing past him, had not walked toward the classroom. Instead, she had stopped in front of him, so close that they were only inches apart. He could even see her white lashes, thin as cicada wings, as if stained with fallen frost.

“Finished?” Aesphyra crossed her arms and gazed into his eyes with a smile.

“Ah, ah.” Things were not as he had imagined, leaving Vinny unable to react for a moment. “You, you weren’t... going back to the classroom?”

“Who said that?” Aesphyra tilted her head, gazing at Vinny with amusement. “I hadn’t finished my next sentence yet, and Student Vinny started talking to himself for a long while.”

“You—but didn’t you walk toward...”

“Naturally, I had to walk over myself. What else?~” Aesphyra revealed a bright, foxlike smile. “Could I really count on Student Vinny to walk over?”

“Then, what was your next sentence before?”

“My next sentence was...” Aesphyra paused. “If Vinny doesn’t have the courage to walk over, then I’ll have to tire myself out a little and take a few more steps to walk over instead~”

“I...” Vinny’s eyes widened.

The words stuck in his throat. It was only at this moment that he noticed the change in his Virtue.

[Virtue +300.]

[Current Virtue: 11409.]

“Oh my~? I didn’t expect an unexpected gain too. Student Vinny, tell me?” Aesphyra smiled like a bewitching little fox. “Where exactly do I attract you?”

“Right, you’re not allowed to skip this part. You have to explain it in detail~”

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