Isatia still sat beside him, reading her book, and Vinny did not take the initiative to interact with her. Only when he got stuck on a problem would he occasionally ask her about the solution method or problem-solving approach.

Isatia’s clear and cold violet eyes never let Vinny’s interruptions disturb her reading flow. A mere glance from her was enough to understand roughly what type of problem Vinny was working on and which kind of solution method it required.

Vinny was very curious—how many practice problems must one have done to cultivate such a terrifying level of proficiency?

But considering the talents of these destined heroines, they wouldn’t waste so much time drilling problem sets. Vinny guessed that if he asked Isatia how much time she spent practicing problems and memorizing them, she might casually look up without lifting her head and say something like, “For these kinds of problems, seeing them once is enough to remember, {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} isn’t it?”—one of those lowkey flexing remarks.

To protect his own fragile confidence, Vinny thought it better not to ask. That would only make himself unhappy.

This was just a simple transaction: Vinny had helped Isatia with a small favor, and Isatia did not want to be disturbed by others, so she borrowed Vinny’s “domain” and agreed to tutor him.

But from others’ perspectives, it was completely different—especially from the male students of the Empire.

Because Isatia’s popularity on campus was extremely high, her mere presence in the academy library attracted a lot of attention, including many female students.

See? This is the value of Isatia as the female student who received the most love letters.

For the Empire’s students, this scene was utterly unacceptable.

Their noble and excellent imperial princess was actively sitting and chatting with that notorious worthless bad boy from the Camella Kingdom, and even requested to sit next to him. Afterwards, the two occasionally exchanged a few words in an intimate manner.

Witnessing this, many students felt sour and numb.

Who else had such an honor to study at a single table with Isatia??

No, why the hell does this damn villain get it? Wasn’t he rumored to have been involved with Aesphyra recently?? Though that rumor was more like a wild legend, a baseless gossip no one believed.

But rumor or not, why did all the benefits go to this guy? Why would they rather spread rumors about Aesphyra and this villain than about themselves??

The students in the library were indignant.

They also wanted to sit at a table and review with the imperial princess!

However, what they didn’t know was that precisely because of them, Isatia and Vinny sat together—intentionally avoiding meaningless small talk and “chance encounters.”

It seemed Isatia had suffered many such annoying experiences before.

Under Isatia’s tutoring, Vinny made smooth progress. At least for the textbook-level problems, he could solve them with some time invested.

In just a short hour and a half, Vinny felt a visible improvement, and his thinking became noticeably more flexible—something quite rare.

He was somewhat surprised by Isatia’s tutoring ability. With just a few simple words to guide his thought process, he felt an enlightening breakthrough.

Compared to Shikondell’s vague, unclear, and confusing explanations, Isatia’s tutoring was on a completely different dimensional level—even though both were destined heroines.

But that was normal. Destined heroines fell into two categories: one with especially strong luck but only so-so abilities, with many weaknesses and even personality flaws—like Shikondell.

The other type had perfect luck and flawless abilities—like Aesphyra and Isatia.

Wasn’t this the tutor he had always dreamed of??

At that thought, Vinny wished he could “accidentally” meet Isatia at the library every day and use her as his shield.

Well, this sounded no different from those students trying to manufacture “chance encounters” with Isatia—but Vinny insisted it was for serious reasons.

For studying, does that count as the same thing??

Perhaps time passed quickly when spending it with a beautiful girl. After two hours of doing problems, Vinny felt mentally drained. He put down his pen and slumped ungracefully onto the bench, rubbing his temples.

He didn’t recline properly on the bench, paying no mind to whether the black-haired beauty beside him might give him strange looks.

To Vinny, since he had no romantic feelings developing toward the girl beside him, he naturally did not care about her opinion of him—just like Isatia didn’t care how Vinny viewed her.

As long as it didn’t disturb others, one could sit however was comfortable—even if it looked a little improper.

During this break, Vinny shifted his attention and took a deep breath. A faint, elegant orchid fragrance filled his nostrils—just like its owner, pure, cold, and luxurious, distant and unattainable, like an orchid blooming on a high peak.

Though it was an odd thought, smelling this scent relaxed Vinny’s previously tense nerves, involuntarily pulling him into a relaxed state.

This heart-soothing, subtle, noble fragrance—Vinny wasn’t sure if it was perfume or hair scent.

Those who could smell the imperial princess’s natural scent so closely in the academy were probably very few.

Vinny suddenly grew curious about what book Isatia was reading. Judging by her reading speed, she had already gone through a large portion of this thick book.

Was it a textbook or some extracurricular reading? Was she also in the library preparing for the final written exam?

Vinny couldn’t help but wonder.

Though given Isatia’s level, he didn’t think reading like this would improve her much.

Maybe she had no room left to improve, unlike him—who had vast, endless room to grow.

Until Vinny noticed the book’s title on the margin of the page: On the Connection Between the Radiant Sanctum and Many Ancient Legends.

What? So she wasn’t studying at all, just reading extracurricular materials?

Just as Vinny was about to look away, he heard the girl’s unemotional voice beside him.

“Interested in this book?”

“Hm?” Vinny turned his gaze, surprised that she was speaking to him.

During these two hours, except for when he asked questions, Isatia hadn’t spoken a single word—as if everything was just business.

She was initiating conversation now?

“Ah, it’s okay, I’m interested, but not very much.” Vinny felt it wouldn’t be appropriate to say he wasn’t interested at all in such a heavily argumentative book, so he gave a neutral answer.

“Have you read it?” Isatia asked without looking up.

“Yes, I have.” Vinny answered confidently.

“How much have you read?”

“I saw the title just now,” Vinny frowned and thought.

“………” Isatia said nothing more.

The atmosphere instantly chilled.

Huh? Why silent again?

Vinny was confused.

Could it be that he was too good at chatting, and she couldn’t keep up with him?

“This book is related to your family,” the girl’s clear and cold voice, like a cold spring, sounded again just as Vinny thought the silence was awkward.

“Oh, I see.” Vinny looked suddenly enlightened. “If you hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have realized it. It talks about the Church, right?”

“The Radiant Saintess was once of extraordinary status, even equal to the emperor of the ancient Tyrellis Empire.” Ignoring Vinny’s playful answer, Isatia’s eyes focused on the text.

“Back then, if they had cooperated sincerely, there wouldn’t have been the later downfall of the ancient Tyrellis Empire, nor what exists today.” Isatia glanced seriously at Vinny.

“The Withering End.”

It was obvious who the Withering End referred to.

“Is that so? I don’t think so.” Vinny dropped his previous playful expression.

“The ancient empire and the Church—these two great powers would inevitably develop a huge gap over time; it is destined.”

“Many chronic problems accumulate over time until they become irreparable. At the most tense moments, the ancient Tyrellis Empire and the Radiant Church probably couldn’t even sit at the same table for a peaceful talk, right?” As Vinny finished, a sharp knock knock sounded on the table.

Huh? What was that?

Vinny frowned. His first thought was: was some acquaintance here looking for him again?

Could it be someone looking for Isatia?

Probably not. Those ‘bodyguards’ didn’t even dare to sit at the table, how could they be so brazen?

“Who is it?” Vinny thought it was a card player coming to him, but before he could turn, he caught a familiar rose-like cold fragrance, then saw that captivating face.

“Ah? Vinny, is that really you?” The silver-haired girl smiled coquettishly, holding a book and tapping the table with its corner, tilting her head at Vinny.

No, what does “really you” mean??

And why does this persistent little sour-and-tart orange-looking girl from outside the monastery gate haunt him so much??

“No, who are you, sis? Do we know each other??” Vinny asked annoyed.

Seeing this face now always made him irritated.

“It’s only been a few days and you pretend not to know me? Just before you left last time, you told me to be careful and not get hurt,” Aesphyra looked hurt.

“I think you must have gone crazy after three days without insults, always coming back to chase this young master! Don’t have such thick skin, okay? Didn’t I tell you I don’t like your sour, tart little orange? And the key point is little!” Vinny lowered his voice in the library, restricting his output, and shot Aesphyra a glare.

This young master still remembers you chasing him down the other day, right? Fine, if we’re competing for the abstract ‘king of disdain,’ now it’s my turn to make you run with your head down!

Aesphyra cocked her head like a cute white cat. Maybe it was her imagination, but she felt Vinny’s anger at this meeting was much higher than she expected.

“No, I just arrived too, and it’s very strange why I could see someone who shouldn’t be in the library here, so I came to check—didn’t expect it to be you, Vinny,” Aesphyra said very surprised.

Damn it.

Hearing this, Vinny’s blood pressure immediately spiked. Maybe it was because he always got beaten in words by Aesphyra. His tolerance for her speech was getting very low, and he couldn’t help but bicker with her when she talked.

“Hmph! You little pocket-sized bread, no wonder you need to learn and see more! Your knowledge is too shallow; this young master usually doesn’t come to the library because he doesn’t need to. This young master’s knowledge fills five cartloads, enough to hold the entire world in one hand. Everyone owes me two buckets—don’t you get it??” Vinny pointed to himself with his thumb.

“So, your knowledge is as sour and tart as your malnourished little orange. Sigh, you’ll never make it in life.” Vinny shrugged with a guilty look, shaking his head.

“…….” Aesphyra smiled but said nothing.

‘Virtue +60.’

‘Current Virtue: 6,384.’

Haha, you hateful little white-haired bread, you finally cracked and increased my Virtue points, right??

You’re too inexperienced to fight with this young master!

Isatia silently watched their interaction. She, of course, recognized the silver-haired girl speaking to Vinny—her features were too distinct not to.

Aesphyra had crushed her in entrance exam scores, yet came from a minor noble family.

Isatia and Aesphyra didn’t interact much—more like they rarely had the chance, despite being in the same class.

For some reason, Isatia always felt a trace of familiarity in Aesphyra’s violet eyes.

Very similar to the Lanteville family’s eye color, which in turn originated from…

But it was probably just a coincidence. The ancient imperial family, the Carilliman clan, had long been wiped out. This was well known.

“Greetings, Isatia. Today you look as beautiful and charming as ever~ The moment I walked into the library, my eyes were irresistibly drawn to you,” Aesphyra teased half-jokingly.

Speaking to Isatia, Aesphyra immediately changed her demeanor—elegant, refined, raising her skirt slightly and speaking softly.

Oh ho??

Vinny suddenly understood.

So the drunken man’s intent was not on the wine? The true meaning was already showing??

Vinny thought, this white-haired princess-cat had no reason to seek him out unless she was aiming for the opportunity to be near Isatia, using him as a stepping stone??

“Greetings, Aesphyra.” Isatia responded coldly and plainly.

She did not reject Aesphyra, nor did she harbor jealousy for losing the top spot in their grade.

Honestly, she was quite curious about Aesphyra’s eyes.

At this moment, Vinny wanted to curse and expose Aesphyra’s intentions but did not expect her to smoothly pull over a chair and sit down.

“Hey, hey, you really are too presumptuous! Who invited you to sit??” Vinny complained.

“Well, isn’t the library seating open to everyone?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep