Chapter 1
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“Oh, is that so? It seems Winnie has earned Mirexia’s trust,” Aesphyra said with a smile, looking at Winnie.
Winnie felt that this smile was a bit unsettling, making his neck tingle and his back feel cold.
“Aesphyra, you’ve got it the wrong way. It’s precisely because your work and professional abilities are so strong that Mirexia has no need to guide or correct you. On the other hand, I’m different. I’m naturally dull and can’t do anything right, so of course, I need Mirexia to guide me more,” Winnie explained with a smile.
“Right?”
“Winnie, you’re being too modest. You’re the hero who thwarted the conspiracy of the Bronze Blood. Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that spreading this news would cause panic among the students, the academy would probably give you a big award,” Aesphyra said, her lips curling.
“I don’t deserve it. I didn’t do much. It’s all thanks to Mirexia’s exceptional abilities.”
“But you still played a crucial role, didn’t you?” Aesphyra said meaningfully, staring at Winnie.
“No, no. I didn’t play a crucial role. I was just filling in the gaps,” Winnie waved his hand, but he felt something was off.
Aesphyra’s words seemed deliberately spoken, as if she was teasing or mocking him.
Could it be that she still suspected him of colluding with the Demon Pillar cultists and was subtly probing him?
Well, let her suspect. He couldn’t force an explanation, could he? She hadn’t said anything outright. If he brought it up and she innocently asked, “What are you talking about?” wouldn’t that be a disaster?
Wouldn’t that be admitting guilt without being accused?
But then again, if he were in Aesphyra’s shoes, he would probably also suspect a former villain with a history of dark magic. So her suspicion was reasonable.
And even if she suspected, she couldn’t do anything about it. Moreover, maybe he was just being overly sensitive. Perhaps Aesphyra was just feeling jealous because Mirexia often sought him out and spent time alone with him, and she was here to make a few sarcastic remarks.
Yes, based on Winnie’s understanding of Aesphyra, the latter was more likely. This petite girl was known for her pettiness and narrow-mindedness.
After all, protagonists often had a vengeful streak. In other novels, the moment someone entered the protagonist’s harem, they were already marked for death.
“Well, I won’t disturb you two anymore. See you later, Mirexia, and Winnie,” Aesphyra said after handing the documents to Mirexia. She then left the student council room, closing the door behind her.
“By the way, Winnie, here’s a file on a student named Zoe,” Mirexia said after hearing the footsteps fade away. She pulled out a pre-prepared student file from the desk.
“Let me see,” Winnie took the file, which contained the life story of a student named Zoi.
“Parents unknown, no family, born a commoner, raised in an orphanage under the Church of Radiance… She’s an orphan adopted by the church?” Winnie frowned, a wild guess flashing through his mind.
But the idea was too far-fetched, even for someone as critical of the church as Winnie, so he dismissed it.
The Demon Pillar could infiltrate anyone, regardless of their background. History was full of cases where nobles and even members of the royal guard were corrupted by the Demon Pillar. It wasn’t surprising.
Winnie indeed disliked the church, but the Church of Radiance was almost synonymous with human civilization.
The birth of the Church of Radiance marked the birth of human civilization. For thousands of years, without the Church of Radiance guiding humanity and stepping forward in times of crisis, humans might have gone astray many times.
So even Winnie wouldn’t blame the church for this.
No matter how corrupt it was, it was still the church, humanity’s church.
“Yes, the Church of Radiance provided her with the opportunity to read and write. Later, the church discovered her exceptional magical talent and didn’t want it to go to waste, so they funded her magical education and gave her the chance to take the entrance exam for Carillian. She worked hard and didn’t disappoint the church, successfully entering Carillian. In theory, her life and destiny were about to change,” Mirexia’s tone carried a hint of regret.
“I hope I’m not being too cynical,” Winnie pondered.
“By the way, is she the one cleaning the student council president’s office the day after tomorrow?” Winnie looked at the duty roster on the wall and had an idea.
“Mirexia, I have an idea that might expose her.”
“What is it? You’re not expecting her to poison my cup again, are you? I think they won’t try that again in the short term, fearing exposure and alerting us,” Mirexia thought.
“No, not poisoning. Poisoning is risky, but activating existing residual toxins isn’t. She could easily pretend nothing happened and leave,” Winnie smiled.
“What do you mean?”
“Princess, what do you think the Bronze Blood is thinking right now?”
“They clearly targeted you this time. If the poison was indeed administered by their agent in Carillian, then the Bronze Blood, who are well-versed in Erunes’ alchemical poison, would think that perhaps something unexpected happened, and the poison they gave you wasn’t completely neutralized,” Winnie explained.
“After all, apart from the two of us, all the witnesses are dead. In their eyes, the Saintness’ family is already a dead end, and Erunes’ undetectable alchemical poison can only be neutralized by the Saintness’ holy light. Once poisoned, without an antidote, it’s a lifelong burden.”
“So no matter what, they will definitely send someone to check if the poison in you has been neutralized.”
“That makes sense. What do you think we should do? Should we inform the academy?”
“No, not informing them would have the opposite effect. We need to lure her in first.” Then, Winnie leaned in and whispered into Mirexia’s ear. “The day after tomorrow, you do this.”
“…I understand.”
Mirexia nodded.
—
“Thud.”
“What are you doing? Can’t you watch where you’re going? What are your eyes for?” Three female students walking together glared at the short-haired girl who had bumped into them on the path.
“I’m sorry, really sorry,” the short-haired girl kept apologizing.
“Tch, who is it? Oh, it’s just an uncivilized commoner. How unlucky!” The three girls glanced at the gloomy-looking short-haired girl, snorted, and left.
Seeing them leave, the short-haired girl didn’t say much, just clenched her fist and left.
When it got dark, she left her dorm, wearing a cloak that blended into the night, and walked along the dimly lit paths, avoiding the main roads and heading towards the deserted grassy areas, getting more and more secluded.
Arriving at a deserted park within the campus, she looked around to make sure no one was following her, then went to a large tree, crouched down, and grabbed a stone. She reached into an inconspicuous hole in the tree and fished around.
Soon, she pulled out a piece of old parchment, unfolded it, and found it blank, like a piece of trash someone had casually discarded there.
After making sure no one was watching, she clutched the piece of parchment and sneaked back to her dorm, closing the door before letting out a sigh of relief.
She opened the parchment, took out a bottle of sparkling liquid glowing under the moonlight from under her bed, and dripped a few drops onto the parchment.
Under the light, faint marks appeared on the blank parchment. These marks were abstract, incomprehensible, not in any known language, like the scribbles of a three-year-old, making the parchment seem utterly worthless.
But the short-haired girl could understand what was written on it.
After deciphering the text, she frowned, her breathing quickened, and her fingers clenched before finally relaxing.
After a while, she took out a hidden box from a secret compartment under her bed.
—
“Winnie…”
“Hmm? What is it?” Winnie, lying on the couch reading a book in the dorm, responded absentmindedly.
“…Nothing.” Shikondell, wearing an apron and her hair tied in a high ponytail, opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing.
The midterm exams were over, and she had returned from Reiswyn. Fortunately, everything had gone smoothly, though she didn’t know why Winnie had returned early.
When she arrived at the dorm and found Winnie had returned before her, she immediately put on her slippers and went to find Winnie to let him know she was back. Half a semester had passed, and Shikondell had already come to see the dorm as her little home.
But she found Winnie wasn’t in the dorm at the time, so she decided to clean up.
Since enrolling, Shikondell had been the one to clean the dorm. As a former elven princess who had never lifted a finger, Shikondell had initially been unfamiliar with such chores.
But there was no helping it. Living with someone as lazy as Winnie, she had to learn to do these things to feel she wasn’t just freeloading.
But that day, while cleaning the bathroom, she discovered something shocking.
In the bathroom, there was a faint scent that didn’t belong to her or Winnie.
Though it was almost imperceptible, she was an elf, with senses far superior to humans. Even such a faint scent, she could still detect it.
She was certain that the scent wasn’t hers, nor could it be Winnie’s. Winnie’s scent was either a faint herbal smell when he didn’t wear perfume or the pungent smell of cheap perfume. There was no other scent.
And she was sure it was a girl’s scent, not a boy’s.
Only she and Winnie had the keys to this dorm, and only the two of them lived here. But there was a third person’s scent in the room. Why?
It was obvious.
Winnie had brought another girl back to the dorm while she was away. Why else would a girl come to someone else’s dorm instead of her own?
And she had even taken a shower in the bathroom of their dorm.
In the bathroom where she and Winnie lived.
What did that mean? It was clear. It couldn’t be that the girl’s dorm bathroom was broken, and she came here to shower, could it?
And after showering, they couldn’t have just gone their separate ways, could they?
Shikondell couldn’t even deceive herself about this.
Perhaps, perhaps!
The two of them had… and then returned to the room together!
At this thought, Shikondell stared blankly at the dishes on the plate, her eyes empty.
She wanted to ask Winnie about this, but after thinking it over, she dismissed the idea.
What right did she have to ask Winnie about this?
Who was she to Winnie? What right did she have to question who he brought back to the dorm?
Even her tuition was funded by Winnie. Without him, she wouldn’t even be able to attend school.
What right did she have to ask him about such things?
In essence, she was just Winnie’s roommate. Even on the surface, they were both boys, and Winnie only saw her as an effeminate elf boy who was easily bullied.
What right did she have to ask Winnie about this?
Yes, perhaps living together for so long had given her the illusion that their relationship was special.
In reality, their relationship was just ordinary. It was she who had deluded herself into thinking it was special.
Winnie was a normal boy, and at this age, everyone was curious about the opposite sex. It was normal for him to have a girlfriend, right?
Yes, it was normal…
Normal, right?
Maybe, but…
The thought of an unknown girl coming to her dorm while she was away, taking her place, and using the bathroom she usually used…
At this thought, Shikondell felt as if her heart was being squeezed, very uncomfortable.
“Dell? Is something burning?”
“Ah, ah!” Winnie’s voice floated in from the living room, snapping Shikondell out of her daze. She quickly turned off the stove, looking at the charred dish in the pan, and could only let out a series of “uh” sounds.
She was useless, couldn’t even cook properly, and when faced with problems, all she could do was internalize them. She couldn’t do anything else.
No wonder she had ended up like this.
For a moment, Shikondell’s self-doubt and self-loathing reached their peak. She stood in the kitchen, head down, lips pursed, silent.
“Dell, are you okay?” Winnie came into the kitchen and saw the despondent Shikondell, frowning.
What was wrong? It was just a failed dish. Was it worth being so upset?
Winnie couldn’t understand.
