How Could the Villainous Young Master Be a Saintess?

“Why did that old man suddenly lose his temper? The other guy didn’t say anything excessive, and he didn’t do anything either. Getting that angry is bad for the heart. Too much liver fire,” Vinny muttered to himself after being driven out of the mirror shop, looking at the storefront in front of him as the door shut with a click.

That said, this shop really did close casually.

It was completely based on mood. The old man said he was closing, so he closed. He did not even care about the mirrors displayed at the entrance. He simply shut the door, locked it, and that was that.

What was the rush?

He made it look like he had a guilty conscience. He had clearly been promoting that broken mirror shard earlier as if he were afraid no one knew about it, but now he was treating it like some precious treasure, terrified someone else would see it and form wicked intentions.

Vinny really could not understand what that old man was thinking.

He grumbled inwardly. Today, too, he had run into something strange and someone strange.

After being driven out of the mirror shop, he continued wandering the street. It was still early, but he had nowhere to go, and there were no other open shops on the commercial street. He did not even have anywhere to browse.

Maybe he simply wanted to clear his head. Maybe he was just too bored. Or maybe there were other reasons. After all, on ordinary days, he did not exactly like shopping.

As he wandered, he suddenly remembered something.

Had the free random item in his Virtue system’s shop refreshed yet?

The free random item in the Virtue Shop had saved his life twice in moments of crisis, but the last time, it had completely let him down and refreshed into a bottle of skin lotion.

Still, he could not demand too much.

For a free item to refresh at a critical moment into something capable of saving his life, the odds were just too low. Refreshing into something useless like that was the norm. He should be content.

However, it was not completely useless.

Vinny took out that brand-new bottle of skin lotion. Even through the bottle, it gave off a faint fruity fragrance. He did not know what brand of skin lotion it was, but even if it was useless, just by smelling it, Vinny could tell this bottle of skin lotion was definitely of very high quality.

It also seemed to be fruit-scented, and the bottle was orange.

Vinny thought of Mirexia.

Mirexia seemed especially fond of citrus scents, to the point that her shampoo and perfume were all citrus-scented.

This bottle of skin lotion suited Mirexia quite well. And Mirexia often stayed up late too. Although sage blood flowed inside her body, and with that sage blood nourishing her, her skin had always been excellent, giving it to her was still the most suitable choice. It was also a gesture from him.

Putting that bottle of skin lotion away, Vinny opened the Virtue Shop and checked whether the free item had refreshed.

Good news. This time, it had actually refreshed.

Bad news. It was still something that looked rather incomprehensible.

The item that had refreshed for free this time was a doll. At least, its outward appearance looked like a little teddy bear plush.

The plush’s eyes seemed to have been sewn on with buttons, and it had a necktie tied around its neck. The fabric used was very coarse, its surface peeling. In several places, it showed signs of being stitched together with needle and thread, exposing the cotton stuffing inside.

What was this?

Vinny did not understand. In the past, the free items had been things used in combat, and even that skin lotion had at least been a high-end bottle of skin lotion. It was not completely useless. But what use did this teddy bear plush have?

Surely he was not supposed to just put it at home as decoration?

But even as decoration, it was not good-looking. It was so ugly.

Vinny opened the teddy bear plush’s instructions.

“Guardian Bear: A little bear doll of very coarse workmanship and materials, yet it contains its owner’s clumsy but sincere love and effort. Although the years have passed and its original owner has long since died, that sincerity has been preserved, stitched into the doll. Even if one day you lose your way, may it bless your soul so that it never becomes lost. (Note: This doll’s effective period only has roughly one month remaining.)”

“What the hell??” Vinny reread the instructions several times, his face full of confusion.

What were these instructions even saying?

What did that mean?

No matter how he looked, he could not figure out what use this teddy bear doll had. But if it was only used for decoration, that did not seem quite right either. If it was just an ordinary decoration, why would there be an effective period?

But if it was an enchanted object, then what did this vague, ambiguous instruction mean? It felt completely useless, yet the description insisted on forcing in a bunch of incomprehensible words to pad out the instructions.

Although he was still completely confused, it was free. Since it had refreshed, there was no reason not to take it. Vinny still clicked exchange, and a teddy bear plush whose surface felt coarse to the touch fell into his hand.

An utterly baffling thing.

Vinny did not know what this little bear’s purpose was, or how it was supposed to be used. It just so happened that he had nowhere to go now anyway, so he simply went home and tossed the little bear onto the bedside cabinet in his room, then ignored it.

“Please authenticate identity.”

“Mm??”

Just as Vinny tossed the teddy bear plush onto the bedside cabinet and was about to turn and leave, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind. It carried no emotion, and its gender could not be distinguished, sounding similar to magical voice transmission.

“Who??” Vinny looked around, but sensed nothing wrong. Besides, this was Carillian Academy, and his own room at that. There could not possibly be anything abnormal here, much less an intruder.

Could it be?

Vinny set his gaze on the teddy bear plush lying quietly on his bedside cabinet.

Could that magical sound have come from this thing??

Vinny picked up the teddy bear plush and fiddled with it a few times. It was also at that moment that a small magic array appeared on the button on the little bear’s back. A symbol of a drop of red liquid emerged on it.

What did that mean?

Was it hinting that he had to drip a drop of his own blood onto it?

Vinny hesitated for a moment, then bit his finger and dripped a drop of blood onto the small magic array on the little bear’s back.

The magic array seemed like a rusty gear receiving the nourishment of lubricating oil. It began turning again, and then immediately disappeared.

That was it??

After waiting for a long time and seeing no new movement from the teddy bear plush, Vinny found it a little strange. He fiddled with the little bear up and down, but there was still no movement at all.

“What a baffling thing.” Vinny pursed his lips, threw the teddy bear back onto the bedside cabinet, and left the room.

What he did not notice was that after he left, a gleam of light flashed across the teddy bear plush’s button eyes.

The next day, Vinny repeatedly fiddled with the bottle of skin lotion he had obtained for free from the Virtue Shop in the dorm.

The bottle of skin lotion was of very good quality, and it had never been opened. But Vinny felt it would be inappropriate to just give it away like this.

Without realizing it, he was no longer as rough and careless as he used to be. Would he do something as blunt and clumsy as taking a bottle of skin lotion and giving it to a girl just like that? That would be too rough and too direct.

So Vinny went out and bought an orange gift box, then bought a pretty pink ribbon. After placing the skin lotion inside and fixing it in place, he closed the lid, tied it with the ribbon, and made a bow on top.

Perfect. This way, an exquisite gift had been prepared.

After preparing the gift, Vinny carried it and went out. Out of habit, he headed straight for the Student Council, only to react a moment later and change directions.

He had almost forgotten. Mirexia was not at the Student Council today.

Yes. Mirexia, rarely enough, was not at the Student Council today, but in her own dorm instead. For a workaholic who considered overtime the norm, this was an extremely rare thing.

Vinny soon arrived at the second-year dorm area, found Mirexia’s dorm, and knocked on the courtyard gate.

“Well now??”

A mentor happened to be passing by. Seeing Vinny knocking on Mirexia’s courtyard gate, and seeing the gift in Vinny’s hand, the mentor froze for a moment, then immediately reacted. With hands clasped behind the back, the mentor’s lips curved into a meaningful smile.

“Isn’t that one of the star students about to advance into second year, Vinny Facilis?”

“Interesting. So he’s interested in...?”

This mentor did not make a sound. Originally, the mentor had been about to walk out from the corner, but after seeing this scene, the mentor did not step out. Instead, the mentor remained behind the corner and watched with great interest, face shining with a longing for gossip.

“May I ask who it is?”

Soon, footsteps came from inside the courtyard, followed by Mirexia’s voice from within.

“It’s me, Mirexia,” Vinny said.

“Vinny?”

Hearing that the visitor was Vinny, Mirexia opened the courtyard gate. She subconsciously assumed he had come looking for her because he was in some difficulty, and her expression carried a hint of solemnity.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to give you a gift.” Vinny handed the wrapped gift in his hands to Mirexia.

Today, Mirexia was not wearing her school uniform, but a home-style pale-blue dress. Paired with her smooth golden twin tails and tall, perfect figure, she looked extremely pleasing to the eye.

When someone was good-looking, they were naturally made for clothes. Anything they wore looked good.

“A gift? For me?” A trace of surprise flashed through Mirexia’s eyes, and then, as though she had thought of something, her expression became somewhat strange.

“Yes, for you.” Vinny did not know what had suddenly happened to her either, so he simply nodded.

“Thank you.” Mirexia was silent for a moment before she spoke, as if the words were somewhat difficult to say. Her beautiful eyes seemed to both refuse and invite. “Would you like to... come in and sit?”

“No need. I only came to give you this gift.”

“Then wait a moment.”

“Mm??” Vinny frowned. “All right, no problem. But what are you going to do?”

“I’ll give you my gift too,” Mirexia said softly, as though she were worried someone would hear if her voice were any louder.

“Ah??” Vinny had not expected that. “You have a gift too?”

He was giving Mirexia a gift, and it just so happened that she also had a gift to give him?

No way. It had to be because she had accepted his gift and felt embarrassed, so she thought she needed to return the gesture, right?

“It’s fine, Mirexia. What are we to each other? We’ve known each other for so many years. You don’t need to give me anything in return.” Vinny waved it off carelessly, adopting the open and casual attitude one would use between brothers.

“No. It’s necessary. Wait for me here.”

After saying that, Mirexia carried Vinny’s gift and quickly returned to the courtyard. It seemed she had gone back to get a return gift.

If she did not have one, she really did not have to force herself to return a gift.

Vinny was a little puzzled.

It was only a gift symbolizing friendship. Was there really a need?

Before long, he heard Mirexia’s footsteps returning. They were slightly hurried, almost as though she were afraid he would run away.

How strange. What was going on?

Just as Vinny felt confused, Mirexia also handed over her own gift.

It was a gift packed in a large blue gift box and tied with a red ribbon.

Mm??

Vinny immediately felt that something was not quite right.

Why would Mirexia have such a large blue gift box and ribbon prepared at home?

Unless she had prepared them all along, waiting to give them away today.

Could it be that Mirexia had also prepared a gift, intending to give it to him??

He glanced at the color of the gift box, and it seemed to match.

That was uncanny.

The one he gave her was orange, while the gift Mirexia gave him came in a blue gift box.

If this was not a coincidence, then...?

“Well then, see you later?” Vinny did not know what he should say either, so he held the blue gift box and spoke.

“Mm. See you later.” Mirexia opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she still did not say it. She could only follow Vinny’s words.

Vinny left Mirexia’s dorm and walked toward his own.

“Well now, little student, not bad. Is this a relationship finally bearing fruit?” On his way home, the owner of a restaurant saw him pass by and called out teasingly.

“Bearing fruit?” Vinny looked over, found that it was the restaurant owner, and could not help rolling his eyes.

Because Vinny often ate at this old man’s restaurant, he had become very familiar with him.

“Old man, could you not talk nonsense? I haven’t even gotten started on that front. I don’t even have a partner. What, are you going to introduce someone to me?” Vinny teased.

“I’d love to introduce someone to you, but now that I look, you don’t need it anymore. Little student, if you’re dating, then you’re dating. Why hide it like that? As if you’re afraid other people will know. It’s not something shameful. If you aren’t dating, then what’s with that gift in your hands?” the restaurant owner said with a laugh.

“A friend gave it to me. What’s so strange about that?” Vinny did not find it odd.

“Kid, you might as well say you picked it up off the ground. That excuse would be more reliable than this one.” The old man looked at Vinny disdainfully. “What friend gives things like that? Wrapped so exquisitely, and deliberately choosing this time, too? Little student, do you not even draft your lies first?”

“What? What do you mean, this time? What’s wrong with this time?” Vinny frowned.

This old man was teasing him so seriously it almost seemed real.

“You truly don’t know?” The old man looked at Vinny with a strange expression.

“What do I know? Is today some very special holiday where people aren’t allowed to give gifts?”

“No. Today is the Candlelight Festival. You really don’t know?” The old man held a pipe in his mouth and looked at Vinny in disbelief.

“Candlelight Festival? So what? Isn’t that a Church holiday?” Vinny asked.