Chapter 55

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Volume 2 + Chapter 55: It’s Getting Better

People like this seem to be born for the spotlight and the stage, always the center of attention wherever they go, completely in a different world compared to ordinary people like Winnie.

If it weren’t for Aesphyra, the cheater, this year she would have been the one to take the crown, the well-deserved top of the class.

However, she doesn’t feel jealous, this is the composure of a true powerhouse.

Any guy would develop unnecessary fantasies if a high-status, stunning beauty deliberately sat at his table and initiated a conversation, and Winnie was no exception.

But his thoughts lasted less than a second before he understood the meaning behind Isatia’s actions.

In fact, this kind of question can be easily figured out with a bit of empathy.

Since childhood, she was born with a silver spoon, lacking nothing in family background, talent, looks, status, or wealth. 

As a princess who has been showered with countless affections and expectations, would she ever treat anyone specially?

Who would be worthy of her special treatment?

The reason she chose to sit next to him, first, was because the library seats were full, and second…

This one was a bit harder to put into words.

Winnie could already feel the resentful gazes from behind. As a guy, he was very sensitive to the envious stares from other males, or rather, he had somewhat gotten used to this kind of situation.

This princess was a pragmatist. Someone who was confident to the core wouldn’t deliberately care about others’ opinions in every move, as it was unnecessary and would only delay her from doing what mattered.

For example, right now, others might worry about their reputation being affected by sitting next to the notorious Winnie, fearing gossip, but she wasn’t afraid. Instead, she found such behavior redundant and pretentious.

In her view, strength was everything. Fake strong people are influenced by their environment, while true strong people change the environment.

Take Isatia, for example. She wasn’t concerned about who she got close to or who she interacted with, affecting her reputation because many of her actions were already the focus of attention and imitation.

It wasn’t the environment that changed her; she changed the environment.

Therefore, even though Winnie had the title of her “fiancé,” which she avoided, and his reputation was terrible, she wouldn’t pay too much attention to it.

She wouldn’t actively seek out Winnie, but she also wouldn’t deliberately avoid contact with him.

Besides, sitting next to someone who was universally disliked had another benefit.

That is, it avoided unnecessary advances and followers.

So, after she sat down, Winnie immediately noticed the “special attention” from those meaningful gazes.

After figuring it out, Winnie’s expression changed instantly.

This princess was an extremely popular figure both within the Tyrell Empire and at the Carillian Academy. How popular was she? 

She led the trends and fashion of the noble class in many human nations. 

Whether it was the empire’s great nobles or those from other countries, they all imitated her style and demeanor, taking pride in wearing the same jewelry as the empire’s most dazzling gem.

It was easy to imagine how many suitors she had. They could probably line up from the empire to the kingdom, and it was likely that there wasn’t a single young noble in the empire who didn’t admire this princess.

So, coming to the library with a group of “bodyguards” and “flower protectors,” huh?

And sitting next to him? Well, although it wasn’t her fault, the library seats were meant for everyone, but this way, didn’t he just get caught up in unnecessary trouble?

No way, wasn’t he at a huge disadvantage here?

Even if it was unintentional to use him as a shield, he couldn’t just let it slide, right?

From others’ perspectives, being able to sit alone at a library table with the noble Princess Isatia was a great honor and luck. 

Besides, why would the princess choose you as a shield and not someone else? Didn’t that prove the princess had a special fondness for you?!

Rounding it off, wasn’t this basically a date with the princess?!

Win! A huge win!

As a result, those male students who pretended to be preparing for the upcoming finals, coincidentally coming to the library to study, glared at Winnie’s back with red eyes. 

Seeing this hateful blue-haired guy sitting with Isatia was like seeing a wife-stealing enemy, making them seethe with jealousy, their teeth nearly grinding to dust.

It was so unfair. They say the one closest to the water gets the moon first, so why wasn’t it them, the empire’s students, who made progress first? 

What did this blue-haired guy, who had nothing going for him except for being slightly good-looking, have that they didn’t?

‘What are you afraid of? Just sit down with me, everyone shares the same table, and chairs are meant for sitting, right? It’s not like she would stop you from sitting down, would she?’

Winnie didn’t know what these guys were hesitating about. If you want to pursue someone, don’t be so secretive, and don’t blame others.

But let’s put these things aside for now. This was an inevitable part of interacting with the heroines, and he had already gotten used to it. 

This wasn’t the main point. The main point was that he was at a disadvantage, so who was going to make up for this loss?

After sitting down, Isatia quietly read her book without any communication with him, as if he didn’t exist.

Winnie also had no intention of initiating a conversation with Isatia.

But…

Winnie looked at the open problem set with a troubled expression, deep in thought. If it were any other male student, being with Isatia at this moment would have made them too nervous to focus on studying.

Winnie was the same. He didn’t even have the mood to look at the problems, but this was because he was frustrated and couldn’t solve them anyway. Glancing around, he noticed that the library had no empty seats left, except for this table.

With nothing else to do, he could only stare at the problem, scratching his head, and felt stuck.

“You need to change your approach to this type of problem. The problem is fixed, but people are flexible, and so is thinking,” a cold, spring-like voice suddenly came from beside him.

“Huh?” Winnie looked up, surprised, at the black-haired girl who didn’t even lift her head, meticulously reading the book on the table. 

If he hadn’t clearly heard her voice, he would have doubted if it was just his imagination.

Isatia, who was sharing the table with him, actually initiated a conversation with him??

“Uh, sorry? Was that directed at me, Isatia?” Winnie couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m not sure, but I think only you heard it,” the black-haired girl replied without changing her expression.

Uh-huh.

This sounded a bit teasing, with a hint of “obviously.”

“Change my approach? How should I change it? What kind of thinking should I use to understand it?” However, Winnie didn’t mind. From her tone, it seemed like she was willing to guide him, so he humbly asked.

He hoped she wasn’t just casually mentioning it on a whim.

“Don’t rigidly apply formulas. Try reversing your thinking,” the black-haired girl’s gaze remained on her book, not even glancing his way, yet it seemed like she had read the problem in his hands several times.

Really??

Was she just giving random advice??

But since she had brought it up, Winnie decided to give it a try.

To his surprise, it was exactly as Isatia had said. By reversing his thinking, it was like discovering a new world. The previously dull and obscure problem suddenly became much easier to understand.

Winnie was amazed.

When did she look at the problem? Why hadn’t he noticed?

Was it because she had just casually touched over, so he hadn’t realized it??

This was terrifying. With just a glance at the problem, while others might not have even finished reading it, she already knew the steps and the answer.

Goddess above, were these heroines even human? Were they the same species as him??

Impressive.

Winnie looked at Isatia, his eyes filled with various emotions.

What surprised him the most was that Isatia, this cold beauty, would actually take the initiative to teach him how to solve problems.

Logically speaking, having found a seat without disturbance and a shield, she only needed to focus on her own tasks. 

As for the nervous opposite gender with rich inner thoughts, she didn’t need to pay any attention.

Especially since he had a status that she needed to avoid.

“In the Dungeon, you warned me. Also, it’s quite peaceful around you,” as if she knew what Winnie was thinking, Isatia suddenly spoke.

Winnie was stunned for a moment before he understood what she meant.

Isatia was indicating that she didn’t want to owe him anything. In the dungeon, he had somewhat helped her. 

Additionally, the “peaceful around you” referred to her knowing that she had used Winnie’s “reputation shield” as a barrier to block out those noisy flies trying to create coincidental encounters.

Well, he thought she hadn’t deliberately used him as a shield, but it turned out she had?

Among the heroines he had encountered so far, aside from Shikondel and Mirexia, few weren’t a bit cunning, especially a certain flat chested bun, specifically named, who was simply bad to the core.

But what made Winnie curious was that Isatia had actually said it out loud? Couldn’t she have been a bit more subtle?

“I never avoid these things. I say what I think. If I’ve offended you, I apologize,” Isatia added with her cold eyes.

Winnie touched his face, wondering if what he was thinking was so clearly written on it.

“Additionally, you possess a quality that others lack,” Isatia said calmly.

Winnie tilted his head.

If this had been said by another girl, it might have meant that she thought you were special, but Winnie knew that Isatia’s words definitely didn’t carry that meaning.

“Let me guess, that quality is ‘quietness,’ right?” Winnie responded.

In other words, he had self-awareness, wouldn’t disturb her, and wouldn’t think he was being specially treated just because she initiated a conversation, trying to open up a dialogue with her.

“Smart,” Isatia replied without hesitation. It should have been a compliment, but her tone was indifferent, with no hint of praise.

“So, Isatia, do you think this quality is valuable?” Winnie suddenly had an idea.

He couldn’t just let himself be at a disadvantage, so he started digging a trap.

“In most cases and for most people, I think it’s quite valuable,” Isatia answered.

“So it’s valuable, right? Isatia, you don’t like to hide your likes and dislikes, and neither do I. I believe that everything has a price. Since my quality is so valuable and it’s so peaceful around me, shouldn’t you pay something for this valuable spirit?” Winnie teased.

“…” Isatia, for the first time, shifted her gaze from the book to Winnie.

‘Virtue + 20.’

‘Current Virtue: 6324.’

Hmm, he had even got virtue from this princess. He did well.

“What do you want?” Those purple eyes, strikingly similar to Aesphyra’s yet with a different charm, looked at Winnie without a trace of emotion.

“Well, I don’t want much. We’re classmates, and both of us are scholars. Talking about other things would be too vulgar. How about this: when I’m stuck on a problem, you give me a few hints to help me find a clear approach, okay?” Winnie suggested.

“That’s all you want?” Isatia raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, just that. It’s like tutoring me. In return, you can enjoy the peaceful atmosphere around me. How about it?”

“Fine,” Isatia’s reply was concise, and her gaze returned to the book.

“Great, thanks for the deal. Let’s have a good partnership,” Winnie smiled upon her agreement.

Now it has settled. If she wanted to use him as a shield, so be it. As long as he got something out of it, it was fine.

Isatia was different from Shikondel, who could solve problems but couldn’t explain them. Her problem-solving approach was very clear, even able to analyze the problem creator’s thinking.

Great, he had finally found a qualified tutor that he had been desperately searching for.

For Winnie, not only did he have a professional to tutor him, but he also occasionally gained some virtue. Wasn’t this a win-win?

The reason he was willing to interact with Isatia was also because she wasn’t what he had imagined.

She wasn’t the type who would fly into a rage and kill him as a sacrifice the moment he came due to his “ex-fiance” status.

In this regard, Winnie had also adapted flexibly, shifting from “absolutely not getting close to these jinxes” to “virtue is really tempting.”

Now he has a better understanding of this princess’s nature.

Isatia indeed strongly opposes others deciding her marriage and life, but it was important to understand that she was an absolute powerhouse, a descendant of the imperial family, the Lanteville, with an inherent pride that was etched into her bones.

Too many people in this world thought they had the right to sit at the table, but in reality, they were just dishes on the menu.

And Isatia, without a doubt, was the diner overlooking the dishes on the table.

Not to mention a mere fallen Saintess family’s brat, she didn’t believe anyone could dictate her life and choices. 

Therefore, she didn’t need to avoid the nearly forgotten engagement with Winnie.

Not to mention that the imperial family was already trying to renege on this losing deal, making everyone forget.

True powerhouses never feared anyone dictating their lives because they couldn’t.