How Could the Villainous Young Master Be a Saintess?

A few streaks of rosy red slowly climbed onto Mirexia’s frost-snow cold and proud face.

[Virtue +150.]

[Current Virtue: 8219.]

“Mirexia, you’ve been overworking yourself lately. You need to rest properly. Didn’t I tell you before? Balancing work and rest is the most efficient way to work.”

Vinny studied Mirexia’s hand carefully as he spoke.

And seeing Vinny holding her palm and examining it so intently, Mirexia felt an inexplicable wave of shyness and embarrassment.

[Virtue +100.]

[Current Virtue: 8319.]

“You can tell just from my hand?” Mirexia asked curiously.

“Yep. I know palm reading.”

“Palm reading??”

It was Mirexia’s first time hearing that unfamiliar term. She had no idea what it meant.

“Yeah. Palm reading is actually a pretty fascinating thing. To put it simply, it means deliberately judging a person’s general career line and love line through the lines on their palm.”

As he spoke, Vinny’s finger traced across one of the lines in Mirexia’s palm.

“For example, this one is your career line. And this one is your life line. Hm... Mirexia, both your career line and your life line are long, and there isn’t any break in the middle. Looks like smooth sailing.”

“It’s really that magical?” Mirexia asked, puzzled. “You’re saying the lines in a person’s palm sketch out that person’s general life?”

“Basically, yes. Though that’s just one way of putting it. It doesn’t mean things are really one hundred percent like that. It’s more for good luck than anything.”

“Vinny, where did you learn such an obscure theory? Why have I never heard of it before?”

“Well...” Naturally, Vinny couldn’t exactly say that this was a theory from the world of his previous life, so he could only answer, “I saw it in a damaged old book. That old text didn’t even state its era or place of origin, so yeah, it really is obscure to an extreme degree. But I thought it was pretty interesting as one of those strange fringe theories, so I remembered it.”

“Mirexia, your life line and your career line are both excellent,” Vinny praised. “They’re complete, and nothing cuts through them.”

“Then... besides those two, are there other lines?”

“Of course. There’s also the love line and the wisdom line.” Vinny continued examining Mirexia’s palm as he answered.

“The love line...?”

At those words, Mirexia looked at Vinny and fell silent for a moment.

“Yep. Hm, your wisdom line is pretty good too. It’s very complete. No breaks.”

“Then... mine...” Mirexia quietly averted her eyes. “My... love line?”

“The love line would be this one.”

Vinny traced lightly across her pale palm.

“Let me see... hmm...”

Mirexia’s palm tingled, and it felt as if her heart had tingled along with it.

“Mhm... hm?”

The longer he looked, the tighter Vinny’s brows drew together.

“What is it?”

For some reason, seeing that reaction made Mirexia’s heart tighten.

“Mm... it’s nothing, really. It’s just, Mirexia... compared to your career line and your life line, your love line is... not quite as ideal.”

Vinny pointed at one of the lines in her palm.

“Not... ideal?”

Mirexia froze.

“How is it not ideal?”

“Look.”

Vinny pointed to one section of the line.

“Your love line starts out fine, but then it suddenly breaks in the middle.”

“After that it does reconnect, but it’s still broken and uneven, and at the end it gets cut off by several other unknown lines.”

Vinny hadn’t wanted to put it that way, but honestly, compared to Mirexia’s other lines, her love line really was unusually rough, and its outline was also very unclear.

“...”

Mirexia looked silently at the place Vinny was indicating.

[Virtue +200.]

[Current Virtue: 8519.]

“But don’t think too much about it.” Seeing from the Virtue changes that Mirexia’s emotions were fluctuating this violently, Vinny hurried to explain. “This is just a very obscure theory. You can treat it as something amusing to look at. Just assume I’m joking around.”

“It really is true that this line is very unclear.”

Mirexia looked at the line in her own palm that Vinny had pointed out and pressed her lips together slightly.

“Why did it have to be this one?”

“Mirexia?”

Vinny tried calling her.

“Don’t dwell on it too much. Palm lines are like that. Everyone has some that are clear and complete, and some that are vague like this. It’s like how no one’s life can possibly be perfect in every single way. Other people have unsatisfactory parts too. Compared to that, yours is just a slightly winding love line. That’s already much better.”

“After all, no one can force everything to be flawless.”

Mirexia stared silently at the lines on her palm and said nothing.

“Then... how should I improve this?”

“Huh? Improve what?”

“Improve...” Mirexia pointed at the line in her palm. “This line that isn’t perfect.”

“Well, uh...” Vinny scratched his cheek mentally. “I don’t know either. But Mirexia, really, don’t take it too seriously. It’s a fringe theory to begin with. Whether it’s even credible is highly questionable.”

“Then what about you, Vinny?” Mirexia requested. “Can I see your lines?”

“Mine?”

Vinny froze for a moment.

To be honest, he had never looked at his own palm before. He didn’t believe in any of this. He had just happened to think of it earlier as a way to ease the atmosphere with Mirexia.

“Mirexia, I told you already. Just treat this theory as after-meal entertainment. Don’t take it seriously. The future is full of far too many complicated variables. How could anyone possibly understand it all just by reading a palm?”

Vinny had no idea why Mirexia had suddenly dug her heels in like this, and he felt a bit helpless.

“But I want to see it.”

Mirexia insisted again.

“Vinny, can you let me see the lines on your palm?”

“All right.”

Vinny could only spread open his own palm and start looking for his love line.

“My love line... hmm. It starts out pretty rough too. Broken and uneven. Look—even the shape isn’t clear. If you don’t look carefully, you might not even notice that the line is there at all. There’s even an obvious break.”

Vinny thought Mirexia was getting stubborn because she felt bad about her own palm reading, so he immediately started showing her his, trying to prove that everyone was the same and that his was even worse.

At the root of it, he simply didn’t believe in any of this.

“But after that?”

Following the palm line downward, Mirexia’s expression gradually turned puzzled.

“It doesn’t really get much better after that. Afterward... hmm? It gets clearer in the middle? And the back half... uh...”

The moment Vinny saw the latter half of his own love line, his face darkened.

“What about the back half? What does this palm reading mean?” Mirexia asked.

“Well, uh... it’s a little... not very clear.”

“But the later lines look pretty clear to me.”

“They are pretty clear. What I mean is that they’re not very... straightforward.” Vinny broke into an awkward sweat.

Although the latter part of his love line had become clearer, there were all kinds of random little lines cutting into it, a complete mess, like some giant hodgepodge.

Vinny found it a little hard to say exactly what kind of meaning his love line was supposed to have.

If he said it out loud, what was Mirexia even supposed to think he was?

It wasn’t like he was some serial flirt or heartbreaker, so why had so many extra line-branches suddenly appeared for no reason?

Sure enough, this kind of thing really wasn’t trustworthy. It was fine to look at for fun, and that was it.

Still, Vinny had the feeling that even if he didn’t spell it out, Mirexia already understood what sort of implication it carried.

“Ahem. I already told you—this is just something to look at for fun. Definitely don’t believe it. If you take it seriously, you lose.”

Vinny was getting embarrassed now. He had been the one to bring up the topic in the first place, and now that the situation had turned bad, he was the first one insisting it wasn’t credible.

“Is that so?”

Mirexia looked at her own palm, then at Vinny’s, and remained silent, with no telling what she was thinking.

“Of course it is, haha. Look, this young master’s love line is a complete— I mean, just look at how wrecked my love line is. If this were actually real, then I’d probably be doomed for life. Twisted, bizarre romance, huh? Right?”

As he said that, Vinny suddenly remembered the kind of life he had once dreamed about—finding some ordinary underclassman or upperclassman NPC girl just like him.

Now that dream looked impossibly far away.

To this day, there wasn’t even the shadow of some close, ordinary underclassman or upperclassman girl anywhere around him. Not even a hint of one.

And besides...

For some reason, the moment he thought about that, the image of a certain white-haired nutball flashed through his mind.

Yeah. No gentle underclassman or upperclassman in sight.

The only one he saw every day was that trashy little nutball, which was why she was the first person he thought of instead.

“All right, let’s drop the subject. I was just saying it for fun.”

Vinny changed the topic.

After that, Vinny and Mirexia continued chatting in the café and spent the rest of that idle stretch of time together.

*****

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Early the next morning, before Vinny had even gotten out of bed, someone knocked on the door.

“Coming, coming. Please wait just a moment.”

Wearing an apron, Shicodale trotted over to the door.

“Hello? May I ask who it is? And who you’re looking for?”

“I’m here to see Vinny.”

A strange female voice came from outside. Clearly, it was someone Shicodale had never heard before.

Looking for Vinny?

Shicodale felt puzzled.

The practical duels had already been underway for several days, and quite a few students had already finished their exams and gone home. There were very few students still left at the Academy now, so why was someone still coming to see Vinny?

And on top of that, Shicodale clearly didn’t recognize the voice outside. She had always felt that Vinny’s social circle and her own overlapped heavily. Basically everyone Vinny knew, she also knew. So how had an unfamiliar girl appeared out of nowhere?

Puzzled, Shicodale opened the door and found a beautiful Golden Elf girl standing outside, her hair tied in a side ponytail.

“...Who are you?” Shicodale froze.

“Hello, esteemed classmate. I’m here to see Vinny.”

The moment the Golden Elf girl saw that the one answering the door was Shicodale, she gave a deeply respectful bow, her tone and attitude impeccably polite.

“You...??”

Shicodale’s face filled with shock.

Of course she recognized it.

The salute this Golden Elf girl had just given her was the one used in formal audience with royalty.

For a moment, Shicodale was stunned inwardly.

This Golden Elf young lady obviously knew who she was.

She just hadn’t said it outright.

But why did she know?

The Golden Elf girl in front of her looked completely unfamiliar. Shicodale was certain she had never met her before.

The Golden Elf girl, meanwhile, did not continue speaking with Shicodale and simply waited silently outside the door.

“What’s wrong, Dale? Who came?”

The noise had also caught the attention of Vinny, who had only just gotten dressed and come out of his room. He walked over, saw the Golden Elf standing outside, and his eyes widened slightly.

“Isn’t this Ronilei? What brings you here so suddenly today?”

“I apologize for disturbing you, Vinny. I believe I owe you an apology for my rude words and behavior a few days ago.”

Ronilei gave Vinny a respectful bow.

“It’s nothing. Want to come inside and talk?”

Vinny moved to let Ronilei enter.

“No need. It’s enough to make things clear here.”

Ronilei unconsciously glanced at the apron tied around Shicodale’s waist. When she realized it was just an apron worn while cooking to keep oil stains from splashing onto clothes, her brows curved faintly for an instant, though her face returned to normal very quickly.

“Vinny, a few days ago I did not understand the full situation and made certain rude and irrational remarks. I hope you won’t take them to heart.”

Ronilei spoke with obvious apology.

“The elf race thanks you for bringing our princess’s Soul-Heart out and returning it to us.”

“No. I should be thanking Milian,” Vinny said, shaking his head.

“I have already discussed the matter with the Golden Elf elders. By unanimous decision, the elders have agreed to permit you to visit Eternity Forest. Since Her Highness Milian’s Soul-Heart cannot be separated from you for special reasons, the only option is to trouble you to make the journey personally and return Her Highness’s Soul-Heart to Eternity Forest.”

As she spoke, Ronilei lowered her head to Vinny in thanks.

“The entire elf race thanks you for everything you have done for the elves.”

“You’re being too serious.”

Vinny had initially thought this matter would be difficult to settle, but unexpectedly, it had gone so smoothly.

People always said the Golden Elves were the most tradition-bound and rigid of all elves, but looking at it now, they weren’t nearly as hard to deal with as he had imagined. They were actually quite reasonable.

“This is the token for visiting Eternity Forest. Please keep it safe. To prevent it from being lost and used by people with ill intent, please form a link with it under my witness.”

As she spoke, Ronilei took a gleaming leaf out from her hair.

Under Ronilei’s guidance, the leaf floated into Vinny’s hand.

“This is...?”

Looking at the unusual leaf, with flowing gold shimmering through its veins, Vinny couldn’t help feeling impressed.

“This is a Golden Leaf. You should have heard of it. It is a leaf fallen from our elf sacred tree.”

Ronilei explained patiently.

“It is the token for entering Eternity Forest.”

So it was basically something like a pass.

“How am I supposed to use it to enter Eternity Forest?”

Vinny turned the rare and unusual leaf over in his hand.

“When you reach the place, you will naturally know,” Ronilei said calmly.

“Thank you for your understanding.” Vinny carefully put away the Golden Leaf. “Then when do we leave?”