How Could the Villainous Young Master Be a Saintess?

After hearing Vera’s question, Vinny fell silent.

His first reaction was not even to deny it. If he had not forced himself to hold back, he might already have blurted out, What the hell? Since when have I ever had backing like that? If they really were my backers, that’d be great.

“Miss Vera, I don’t know what basis you have for saying that. And who I’m backed by—what exactly does that have to do with you?” Vinny took a deep breath. “Leaving aside the fact that I don’t have any backing at all, that’s still my personal business.”

“Miss Vera, and Ronilei too, should I say your elf race has too much free time? You went to all this trouble to bring me here just to pry into my private life? Is the privacy of a nobody like me really that valuable to you?”

“And also, you said you’re the elf queen?”

Vinny looked Vera up and down.

If she really was the elf queen, then everything made sense. No wonder his Virtue had fluctuated.

“That isn’t entirely accurate. I am, and I am not,” Vera said slowly.

Ronilei, beside her, looked like she wanted to speak but stopped herself. “Lady Vera... is this really all right?”

“It’s fine, Ronilei. Since Lord Vinny has already noticed something, I see no reason to hide this any longer. But I am not Selivlin. I am not the complete Selivlin,” Vera said lightly. “Lord Vinny, you are an honored guest of our elf race. That will not change. So I hope what stands between us is honesty and efficient communication. Perhaps you have your own difficulties as well. Why don’t we sit down and talk properly?”

“?” Vinny looked stunned. “No, wait. The way you’re saying that, it sounds like you’re trying to excuse someone who never did anything wrong in the first place. If that person didn’t do anything wrong, then forcing an excuse onto him is basically just smearing mud on him, isn’t it?”

“So tell me, then. What exactly have I done?”

“Lord Vinny, how did you enter Carillian Academy?”

“How did I enter Carillian Academy?” Vinny raised a brow. The question was so abrupt and out of left field that he did not even know how to answer.

“Lord Vinny, according to reliable intelligence, both before and after your enrollment, your aptitude assessments showed that your magical aptitude was only one-star.”

“And?”

“And according to reliable intelligence, you lost both parents when you were young, your household fell into decline, and you survived only by barely scraping by on the stipend granted by the king.” Vera recited Vinny’s background as if she knew it by heart, missing nothing.

“Oh, so you investigated me that thoroughly?” Vinny said flatly. “At first I thought your country was too isolated and too detached from the outside world. But apparently that isn’t true. You do pay attention to things beyond your borders. Thanks for the trouble. You’ve just focused on the wrong thing. Frankly, you’d rather spend effort keeping tabs on a nobody like me than on your own suffering kin, the Moon Elves. That really feels like putting the cart before the horse.”

“Of course. But I think we are discussing the same issue, Lord Vinny.”

“? The same issue?”

“Lord Vinny, to sum up: you received no magical education or training growing up. Even one month before entering the Academy, you had never absorbed a Spirit Soul. You knew nothing about Spirit Souls or magic. Objectively speaking, you possessed neither magical aptitude nor magical talent, and you had no family background to rely on.” Vera paused there and looked calmly at the silent Vinny, though she still did not state her conclusion outright.

“So how, exactly, did you get in?”

“You suspect I used irregular means to get into the Academy? Or that Carillian Academy opened a back door for me?”

“That is not what I mean. You misunderstand me, Lord Vinny. I’m only speaking from common sense. On the face of it, this is very difficult to understand.”

“...” Vinny really did not have a good answer for that.

Because while he had not technically cheated, he had indeed relied on a power he could not explain.

That was the Virtue System and his Blessing Angel bloodline. On top of that, his weapon at the time had been ridiculously overpowered, letting him eliminate several contestants who were stronger than him in raw terms. And Aesphyra had wanted to keep him close to watch whether he would repeat the path of his previous life, so she could deal with him in time if necessary.

So the reason he had entered Carillian Academy was a combination of luck, cheats, and sheer chance. None of the three could have been missing.

Without them, he might already have been bitten out of the competition by some rabid dog chasing after him.

From an ordinary person’s point of view, someone like him getting into Carillian Academy really was impossible.

But there was no way he could explain any of that. Every piece of it touched one of his deepest secrets.

“So that’s why you suspect I have some force behind me? And that it’s one side or another from the Camella Kingdom or the Tyrel Empire?”

“That is not it either. My wording earlier was flawed,” Vera said. “What I mean is this: if someone has promised you something, or asked you to help them accomplish something, then do not let yourself sink into the mire. Anything not obtained by your own strength is rootless duckweed. Whether you can keep it or not depends on others’ moods. Perhaps you won’t like hearing this, but anything that isn’t truly yours will never remain yours. One day it will be taken away, and when that day comes, the price you pay may be catastrophic.”

“No.” Vinny answered decisively. “Sorry, Miss Vera. I don’t know why you’ve imagined that some mysterious force is supporting me from the shadows, but I can tell you clearly that all of that exists only in your imagination. I don’t even know who that force is supposed to be.”

“To be honest, there have been plenty of nights when I wished some mysterious force would help me out. But unfortunately, reality is reality. If there isn’t one, there isn’t one. Better to rely on yourself than beg other people.”

“And I can also tell you this with complete certainty: in this world, no one is qualified to make me act as their white glove. That was true in the past, it’s true now, and it’ll still be true in the future.” Vinny lifted his chin and stood tall.

“I know. My apologies. What I said earlier was not precise or appropriate enough.” Vera lowered her eyes. “What I wanted to ask was this: during all of this, have you ever considered whether the people helping you truly wanted to help you?”

“So you’re just not listening to what I’m saying, Miss Vera?” Vinny said. “I’ll repeat it one more time. No mysterious force has ever supported me.”

“I see. So that includes the imperial princess of Tyrel and the mysterious Miss Aesphyra as well? They have not helped you either?”

“...” Vinny first looked at Vera with a strange expression, wondering how she knew the Academy’s affairs so well. Then, after glancing at Ronilei, he immediately understood everything.

I see.

Ronilei was Vera’s eyes. Since their time at the Academy, she had been watching him on Vera’s behalf the entire time.

“Lord Vinny, forgive me for speaking bluntly, but many of your claims do not hold up. As time goes on, more and more cracks will show. I am certain I am not the only one who has noticed.”

“? Cracks?”

“Do you really think it sounds reasonable?” Vera continued, her tone mild, as if she were just making small talk over tea. “Think about your family circumstances. Think about how crippled and barren your family’s network and resources were. And yet, from a young age, you were already able to establish contact with the princess of the Camella Kingdom.”

“After entering the Academy, you maintained an ambiguous relationship with that famous cold-faced imperial princess of Tyrel, spending time with her often.”

“Then, by some remarkable coincidence, you ended up living under the same roof as the exiled Moon Elf princess disguised as a man, and even pried open her defenses.”

“And finally, your relationship with that eldest young lady of House Galathus, with her mysterious origins and frightening background, is equally unclear.”

Vera laid out every one of Vinny’s major relationships since entering the Academy with perfect clarity.

“You entering the Academy could be called chance. But—”

“One or two coincidences may be called coincidence. When coincidence happens over and over again, however, it can no longer be called coincidence.”

“If all of this really is coincidence, then your life is certainly full of coincidences. Perhaps even Lord Vinny himself is a coincidence.” Vera tilted her head.

“And every single one of them is the sort of near-impossible coincidence that should occur only with microscopic odds. Yet all of them happened to you alone?”

“Do you believe that yourself? And even after all that, you still insist that you have no ties to any human power. That’s rather difficult to accept.”

Vinny looked at Vera, then at Ronilei. When he looked over, Ronilei silently turned her gaze away.

Honestly—

Vinny himself had never really thought about it that deeply. But after Vera laid it out like this, he had to admit that his life really did seem to be full of coincidences. Full of surprises at every turn.

It was true. A ruined young noble with absolutely no magical talent, no money, no connections, and a reputation so bad he was barely better than a rat in the street—starting from that, he had somehow entered the greatest academy on the Tyrelis Continent, a place even brilliant noble heirs fought desperately to get into. Not only that, he had become a genius among geniuses, and tangled himself deeply with all these princesses, imperial daughters, and heaven-favored young women.

If anyone else heard that story, they would only think it was the dying fantasy of some freezing, destitute nobleman—just dreaming up whatever came to mind before death.

Yes. That was exactly it.

And because it was exactly like that, it became even harder to explain.

“If I said that this whole chain of events really was coincidence, and that I myself only realized it after looking back, would you believe me?” Vinny asked after a long silence.

“It has some credibility,” Vera said, taking a calm sip of tea. “But I would say the probability is rather low.”

“See?” Vinny spread his hands. “I tell the truth, and you don’t believe me. There’s nothing I can do about that. And honestly, I still don’t understand what any of this has to do with you elves.”

“What does it have to do with us? Naturally it does. If your affairs had nothing to do with us, we would never have set our eyes on you in the first place.”

“So then, Lord Vinny, do you intend to attribute all of this to ‘the goddess’s blessing’?” Ronilei, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.

“Maybe,” Vinny replied carelessly. “Who knows?”

He meant it mostly as a joke, but the instant the words left his mouth, someone across from him could no longer remain composed.

Thunk.

Vera, who until now had spoken in a soft, almost gentle tone, suddenly set her teacup down on the table with enough force to make the tea inside slosh.

Vinny immediately sensed the change in her and looked at her strangely.

The shift in her attitude was obvious.

“Lord Vinny, can you truly say that with a straight face?”

“? Say what?”

“Lord Vinny, I consider you someone who understands more than you let on. You and I should both know that the goddess’s blessing could never fall upon you.”

“Why not?” Vinny’s expression turned strange.

“Do I really need to explain it? Lord Vinny, do you truly not understand, or are you pretending not to?”

Vinny could clearly feel the pressure in Vera’s voice, a chill heaviness pressing down on him.

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Lord Vinny, since you are one of the Facilis family, let me ask you this. What does the surname ‘Facilis’ mean to you?”

“Huh? Mean? What kind of question is that? What’s there to understand?” Vinny frowned. This was the first time in his life he had ever heard that merely bearing a surname required some kind of profound understanding of it.

He had carried that surname for years already, and he had managed just fine without understanding anything about it.

What had allowed him to survive and grow up had never been that surname alone.

“Of course you would not understand,” Vera said quietly. “To you, the name Facilis is unfamiliar, isn’t it? To you, it is only a label. A cold label. But do you know that to some people, it is everything?”

“It bears the glory and duty of a family. It signifies that they must continue the gospel of the goddess and the inheritance of the Saintess, carrying that burden forward with perseverance, no matter how many hardships and obstacles lie ahead.”

“To them, that name holds not only the supreme radiance of their ancestors, but also the heavy, burning will and responsibility passed down into their own generation.”

“If it were a true blood descendant of Facilis being asked this question, she would absolutely be able to give an answer filled with resolve. Because flowing through her veins would be the true blood of the Blessing Angel.” After saying that, Vera stared straight at Vinny. “But in your eyes, all I see is confusion and emptiness. Someone who is not of the Facilis family cannot understand what the name ‘Facilis’ truly represents.”

“???” After hearing that, Vinny sat there in silence for a long while, three giant question marks practically floating over his head.

“You mean that seriously?” Vinny could not help saying. “You’re actually serious?”

What parallel-universe version of Facilis was she even talking about? How did he not know any of this??

Damn it. She had actually managed to make him lose confidence and start wondering whether he was really a direct blood descendant of Facilis or not.

“Miss Vera,” Vinny said at last, “I get the feeling you understand Facilis better than I do.”