“Hmm?” Vinny cocked an eyebrow. “What, you forgot everything this young master said before? Or do you think I was just blowing smoke??”

“Ah? Something you said? Which line, exactly, does classmate Vinny mean?” Aesphyra tilted her head; the ribbon tails of the black bow at the back of her head tilted with the motion.

“So, you really didn’t take my words to heart, huh? Do you actually think this young master is the kind who only talks big??” Vinny said, dissatisfied. He was genuinely put out—this hateful white-haired little nut, what did she take him for—was she making sport of him??

Tch. And after he’d poured out so much of his own blood, gambling his life to refine the Kiss of the Blessing Angel. Who’d have thought this fellow would be so ungrateful—actually treating it like he was just joking.

“Speaking of which, what exactly were you planning to do when you tried to climb my wall earlier, classmate Vinny? There’s no banana tree in my yard, and I don’t keep fish,” Aesphyra said, amused.

“I swear, you white-haired little nut really don’t know good from bad, huh?? You take this young master for a stray cat?” Vinny snorted. “If I didn’t come, you, little nut, would be getting turned into nut butter—or nut dregs—before long.”

“And after all that, you don’t thank this young master for braving all that trouble to save you—now you’re teasing me?? Wow, really not worth it. If I’d known, I’d have let you, you fun-size little bun, fend for yourself.”

“Oh, in that case, should I thank classmate Vinny for taking time out of his busy schedule to humor me?” Aesphyra folded her arms, the corner of her mouth lifting.

This white-haired shorty—no matter where or when—always had surplus confidence, as if nothing could stump her and she’d always have a way.

Even now. Her body was almost wrecked by backlash from [Saint’s Grace], yet she wore that same effortless poise, as if this were the smallest of problems.

“Tch. Drop the act. Your situation should be downright awful by now, right??” Vinny frowned. “You, little nut, you’ve basically gone into power-saving mode—why keep putting on this front? How are you not even a little rattled? Did you find a cure??”

“So by classmate Vinny’s logic, I should spend every day under a low-pressure cloud—constantly anxious, absent-minded, listless—for it to count as ‘normal’?” Aesphyra tipped her head, curious. “Happy or not, worried or not, despairing or not—the objective facts won’t change for my sake. Since that’s so, why spread negativity and drag others into my low pressure?”

“What’s decreed by fate won’t be dodged by running, will it? If there’s no path to break the game yet, then what I should do is stay calm and wait for a variable. Panic only lets chances slip by.” Aesphyra answered, steady as ever.

“Fine, fine—full-marks answer. Master. I have been enlightened!” Vinny clapped in mock deference, then huffed. “So—have you waited up a variable yet?”

“Well now—who can say? Maybe yes, maybe no,” Aesphyra said airily.

“Listening to you is like... listening to you,” Vinny deadpanned. “I thought you’d been staying in because something happened, but you’re calmer than I am—making me look like the clown. That can’t be right. Did our memories get swapped? I’m the one who’s sick, is that it??”

“Heh.” Aesphyra let out a soft laugh, who knew at what.

[Virtue +30.]

[Current Virtue: 9804.]

“Come in, classmate Vinny.” Aesphyra brushed a lock of hair back from her ear and stepped into the courtyard with elegant steps.

“Is that... wise? What if someone sees? It’s my first time here,” Vinny said, glancing around when she invited him into her dorm.

“First time, yet you could pinpoint my place without a miss—classmate Vinny, were you perhaps well-prepared in advance?” Aesphyra teased.

“Don’t slander me. What do you take me for?? This young master can’t be bothered with peeping and snooping. I’m the Capital’s infamous wastrel, sure, but I’ve still got my pride!” Vinny snorted. “I mean you’re not into guys, and you mind being seen letting a guy into your yard.”

“In that case, since classmate Vinny knows, then hurry up and come in. Standing at my gate—is the plan to let more people see you?” Aesphyra drawled.

“...Uh.” Vinny looked around again; after confirming no one was paying attention, he hopped into Aesphyra’s courtyard.

It wasn’t the first time someone had entered Aesphyra’s dorm—but it was Vinny’s first time, so he had to act like it was his first time here.

“Stop looking around, classmate Vinny. °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° The walls are high; no one else at the Academy besides you would have the nerve to climb my wall. No one saw. If there’s something to say, say it,” Aesphyra said when she saw him peering about.

“Tsk! Your attitude is as annoying as ever.” Vinny jutted his lip. “You think I came to chit-chat? I’m not that idle.”

“You ungrateful white-haired little nut, and you’re the one turning up your nose at me. If I hadn’t come this time, your little nut-life would really be over. You’d better thank this young master for saving your skin, you hear me??” With that, Vinny stopped keeping her in suspense and took from his belt pouch the bottle of Two-Wing Kiss of the Blessing Angel he’d refined.

At the sight of the potion’s quality, Aesphyra seemed to think of something; her beautiful eyes tightened a fraction.

[Virtue +100.]

[Current Virtue: 9904.]

Heh. Spooked the white-haired short-nut, did I?

“Don’t stare, and don’t guess—it’s exactly what you’re thinking. The real thing.” Vinny said smugly, giving the vial a little shake. The liquid frothed into fine, wing-like white foam—the simplest way to verify a Kiss of the Blessing Angel.

“It’s the same kind you gave me last time—though the grade probably isn’t as high as the one you fed me—but it should be enough to take care of what’s left of your illness,” Vinny said with absolute confidence.

“Where did you get this?” Aesphyra asked, eyes on the pale pink inside, her look meaningful as she regarded the blue-haired youth before her.

“None of your business. It’s bona fide ‘Kiss of the Blessing Angel,’ that’s what matters.” Vinny arched a brow. He’d refined it with his own blood; it had drained his vitality. Like he wouldn’t know?

“No matter how hard your injury is to treat, it won’t be so bad that even a ‘Kiss of the Blessing Angel’ can’t save you, right? It’s the legendary panacea with the authority of ‘Revival’ and ‘Healing,’” Vinny said.

“Classmate Vinny, you didn’t, say... pay a surprise visit to Church headquarters, did you?” Aesphyra quipped.

“What nonsense are you spouting? If I had the chops to break into the Dawn Church’s headquarters and steal things, why would I be attending this crappy school? I’d already be unstoppable!” Vinny grumbled.

“Then the Church didn’t gift it to you either, did they?” Aesphyra asked with a smile in her eyes.

“Gift me?? Tch. As if they’re that generous. Never mind whether they can even find a single ‘Kiss of the Blessing Angel’ in their vault—them not robbing me would already be a favor!” Vinny curled his lip.

“Indeed. Something this important must be kept very, very safe.” Aesphyra’s tone shifted—she seemed to drop any further fixation on the vial’s origin.

And just as Vinny exhaled, loosening up, thinking the conversation had ended, Aesphyra struck without warning.

“When you got the potion, did you say thank you to Miss Vanessa?”

“I go—” Vinny started, then realized the trap. No answer would be safe. He snapped his mouth shut at once—and saw the white-furred princess-cat before him smiling at him with crescent eyes. Damn it—almost let this white-haired short-nut bait him!

Feigning disinterest to lull him, then pouncing to snag a confession?

Hah, Aesphyra, you sly thing!

“Mm-hmm~ And what did you ‘get’?” Aesphyra leaned forward, beaming.

“I—I got nothing, okay?? Don’t ask about where this came from!” Vinny huffed.

“Oh~” Aesphyra nodded, expression layered with meaning, as if she now understood everything.

No—what exactly did she “get,” and what was with that act??

“So, classmate Vinny, did you take this from your household stash?” Aesphyra accepted the vial, eyeing it as she asked.

“Would it matter if I did or didn’t? I am, after all, the only surviving descendant of the Facilis line. Having a few ancestral elixirs tucked away at home is perfectly normal, right?” Vinny ran with her prompt.

Only—that prompt wasn’t meant for him to run with.

“I see. Then classmate Vinny—it must not have been easy for Miss Vanessa to refine this, was it?”

“Vanessa who? I told you, I don’t know any Vanessa. I pulled out a bottom-of-the-chest heirloom to save you, and you’re fabricating some ‘Miss Vanessa’ now??” Vinny put on a show of displeasure.

“Is that so?” Aesphyra’s lips curved. “Then your bottom-of-the-chest heirloom is quite unique—not an Ancient Empire-style vial, nor an early Tyrel Empire-style glass, but a general-purpose bottle of a distinctly modern make.”

“Did this potion travel through time?” Aesphyra teased.

“No.” Vinny gaped. “It’s just a glass bottle. How are you reading ‘style’ off it??”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Aesphyra arched a brow. “Anyone who knows even a little history should see it.”

Right—how much is “a little,” exactly??

[Virtue +300.]

[Current Virtue: 10204.]

What the—?

Vinny stared at the Virtue surge, eyes wide.

Everyone knew this white-haired short-nut wasn’t just stingy with size—she was equally stingy with Virtue bursts. She usually coughed up a few dozen points at a time, like she was afraid too much would let him profit.

But this time—three hundred in one go??

Vinny could hardly believe his eyes.

“Classmate Vinny—how is Miss Vanessa?” Aesphyra asked, gaze grave on the Kiss of the Blessing Angel in her hand. Vinny could see the micro-movements: through the disposable gloves on her hands, the knuckles pinching the vial had blanched slightly with pressure.

“To refine a Kiss of the Blessing Angel, the indispensable main ingredient is ‘Blessing Angel’s Essence.’ And as far as I know, the amount required is huge—the lower the cultivation, the more it takes. At Miss Vanessa’s current stage, to succeed she would have needed a great, great deal of Essence.” Aesphyra set aside her smile and looked seriously at Vinny.

“How is she now? Is she all right?”

Wait—she knows even that??

Vinny had no idea how Aesphyra knew these things. This was a Facilis-line proprietary elixir—how did she know it so clearly??

No way she read it in a book, right??

Now his gaze wavered. Aesphyra looked so earnest, so sincere—she was truly worried about Vanessa’s condition.

At a time like this, would doubling down and claiming he didn’t know Vanessa be... a bit much? Wouldn’t the white-haired short-nut just worry more??

But the instant that flicker of hesitation crossed his face, Aesphyra—who’d been waiting for it—caught it neatly. The corner of her mouth lifted in a triumphant smile.

“Classmate Vinny, you do know Miss Vanessa, after all.”

“Otherwise, why hesitate just now?~”

Oh, wow! You wicked nut!

Vinny nearly laughed from sheer exasperation.

Now he knew—he should never have credited this scheming, devious white-haired nut with being any kind of saint.

See? She wrung it out of him in one go.

“Tch—beat it, will you?? So much nonsense. Do you even want this potion or not?? Heartless thing! If you don’t, give it back and stop yapping at me!” Vinny snapped, lunging to snatch the vial—only for Aesphyra to slip aside with elegant ease.

Tch. When it came to the agility of a white-haired short-nut—

“With classmate Vinny acting exactly like always, I knew Miss Vanessa must be fine,” Aesphyra said, smiling like a flower. “Thank you for being honest with me~?”

“Honest, my foot, you oversized nut!” Vinny barked a laugh of fury. Right now he just wanted to hoist this hateful nut up a tree and give her a thrashing—except he couldn’t beat Aesphyra.

So she’d toyed with his feelings—putting on that show earlier was all for his benefit, just to bait out his reaction?

Vinny never imagined that even keeping his mouth shut, saying nothing extra, he’d still get his intel extracted by this cunning to the extreme, fun-size little bun.