“And me, and me!” After Ferdi finished speaking, another card player followed up, and then came everyone else’s support.

“Brother Vinny, just say the word if there’s anything you need us to help with.”

“That’s right. This is The Bonds of Card Players. Don’t let those people underestimate the bonds between us! The bonds between us are unbreakable!”

“All right, stop making a scene. This really has nothing to do with you.” Vinny laughed despite himself. “Go back and play your cards. I’m only telling you this new member has a special identity so you’ll show some discretion, that’s all.”

“So what exactly is going on with this Facilis? Brother Vinny is from House of Facilis, and she is too??”

“One of the two has to be fake, right? Could that woman be a fake Facilis??”

“You people had better not say that to her face, all right?” Vinny pressed a hand to his forehead. “If the Church students spawning around her hear it, this is going to blow up. It’ll definitely turn into a complete mess.”

“In any case, Brother Vinny, just tell us directly if there’s anything you need help with. Right, does this Margaret know who you are?” Ferdi was clearly thinking further ahead than the other card players, and he continued asking.

“She’ll know sooner or later.” Vinny did not answer that question directly, because there was no point.

Vinny leaned toward the probability that she already knew. Even if the Church had not told her, had none of the Church students around her told her either?

All right, even if she really did not know, she would learn sooner or later at this Academy.

“Just treat her as a new member with a somewhat special identity. As for everything else, act like you know nothing. Don’t deliberately bring up my situation,” Vinny instructed.

“Fine. Everyone heard that, right?” Ferdi looked toward the card players. “All right, go do what you were doing. Anyone whose game isn’t over, go back and keep playing.”

At that, the card players all scattered.

“When is this Margaret coming?” Ferdi asked.

“Tomorrow,” Vinny answered. “She should come looking for me tomorrow.”

After all, if she wanted to monitor his every move, she would definitely show considerable enthusiasm about this matter.

If she wanted to insert herself at his side in a way that seemed logical, she needed an appropriate reason. “Being interested in him” was a crude excuse, but it was passable.

As for why she would use such a crude reason to approach him...

Vinny felt this was most likely connected to the Church of the Dawn’s current stereotype of him. Rumors spread and spread, and many of them had come to genuinely believe it themselves. They believed that he, Vinny, was an ignorant, good-for-nothing wastrel noble, the infamous Royal Capital’s notorious young master. Even if his reputation had improved somewhat now, that was only because he had lucked into a few opportunities. Besides, reputation in strength did not represent reputation in character.

But he could not say their judgment was completely wrong either.

Someone like him, who came from a fallen background and had suffered every kind of cold eye, only to suddenly rise to success at a certain stage and reach a position that made those who used to look down on him hesitate to approach, indeed could easily get carried away. He could easily decide that he was a fate-chosen son blessed by luck, and his personality could shift from his previous inferiority into extreme arrogance.

Under those circumstances, he would rationalize certain things that were not actually reasonable if he thought about them carefully.

A beautiful girl throwing herself at him? Wasn’t that only natural? For someone as outstanding and powerful as me, isn’t it completely normal for an excellent member of the opposite sex to throw herself at me? If anything, the abnormal ones are the opposite sex who look at me and feel nothing.

However, Vinny was not like that. Although he constantly said things like “this young master is Carillian Academy’s number one school heartthrob” and “the people chasing this young master line up from Carillian Academy all the way to Camella Royal Capital,” he knew very well in his heart that all of that was just empty bragging.

He understood perfectly. If he really was that handsome, why had no cute girl waited for him in the woods ahead of time at dusk after school, blushing furiously as she handed him a letter known as a “love letter,” then lowered her head, worked up her courage, and shouted, “Student Vinny, I really like you! Please seriously consider dating me!” before running away as fast as she could?

He could only imagine that kind of plot. It had never triggered once. The problem was obvious.

Vinny explained the situation to the card players, and that weekend ended uneventfully.

As for whether the card players spent their weekends playing cards because card players had no homework?

Of course not.

Homework? Who did that before the dead of night on the final day of the break??

The next morning, the Academy was very lively. Of course, the Academy was always popular during the school term, but today it felt especially crowded. Vinny did not know whether that was his imagination.

Perhaps it was because the first-year students had enrolled and officially begun classes. The fourth-year seniors from last term had finished their studies, graduated, and left the Academy. Fresh blood had entered, just like last year.

“Hey, isn’t that Vinny?”

“It’s him. What about it? It’s not like he’s only been at the school for a day or two. What are you so curious about?”

“You don’t know? There’s a first-year new student named Margaret Facilis.”

“Facilis?? What does she look like?”

“I haven’t seen her yet, but many people say she has the same cherry-pink hair and pink eyes as the previous Saintesses. They’re very obvious Facilis Family traits.”

“That can’t be, right??”

“Not only that, those newly enrolled Church students are circling around her all day long, like stars around the moon. They obey every word she says. It’s just like...”

At that point, the people talking could not help glancing at Vinny in the distance. Since they had already said that much, what they meant to express was very obvious.

“Student Vinny, is today... a little different from usual?” When they reached the area near the Teaching Hall, Shicodale finally could not help speaking. She could feel that there were far more gazes than usual on them along the way—or more precisely, on Vinny. Each person was also murmuring under their breath, as though discussing something.

There was no need to think. She could guess that the topic had something to do with Vinny.

Shicodale stared at Vinny in confusion, examining him carefully. No matter how she looked, Vinny seemed no different than usual. Was there anything special about him?

But the way they looked at him made it seem as if Vinny had gone out today wearing some strange outfit. Everyone was at least somewhat curious.

“Hm? Different from usual? What’s different from usual? I think everything’s normal.” Vinny returned her a strange look, his tone full of indifference.

“Oh, I understand. Student Dale, are you trying to say this young master has become even more handsome?” Vinny swept a hand through his hair, his face intoxicated. “Ah, ah, there’s nothing to be done. When a person is good-looking, life really is full of surprises everywhere.”

His usual gross-loser talk.

“Huh? Is... is that so?” Now Shicodale understood even less. Her big eyes were full of big question marks.

She clearly felt everyone’s gazes, so why did Student Vinny seem as though he felt nothing at all?

Had he chosen to ignore them, or did he truly not notice? Was she the one overthinking it??

Shicodale could not figure it out, yet for some reason, she was a little worried about Vinny.

“Good morning, Student Isatia.” Before Shicodale could think any further, Vinny greeted the black-haired, straight-haired, cold beauty they happened to run into.

“Good morning, Student Vinny.” When Isatia saw Vinny’s expression, there was not the slightest negative emotion on her face. She nodded.

It seemed he did not need any consolation.

Isatia had already guessed as much. In her eyes, Vinny was an extraordinary person. He had grown up under pressure since childhood, and his resistance toward rumors, slander, and adversity was extremely high.

A person who had fought uphill battles from childhood to adulthood would not be completely unprepared for accidents. This was also one of the things Isatia admired greatly about Vinny.

He did not have the delicacy and arrogance of those nobles. What he had was a courage that came from staking everything on one last stand.

Since she saw that Vinny was fine, she did not bring up that matter.

Vinny also knew Isatia could not possibly be unaware of it. With this imperial princess’s sensitivity toward intelligence, she definitely already knew. After all, even students on the roadside were discussing the matter. There was no way they would not know.

“Speaking of which, Student Isatia, it’s been a few months already. Shouldn’t it be time to change your ‘dressing’?” The “change your dressing” in Vinny’s sentence was obviously in quotation marks. Isatia understood what he meant.

“Yes.” Isatia walked beside Vinny and nodded calmly. “It is time to change it. After all, this is something only you, Vinny, can do.”

“Oh.” Vinny nodded. He could hear that Isatia’s words were indirectly declaring her stance.

Treating the wounds on her [Saint’s Favor] was something that only he, the genuine Dawn Saintess, could do.

“Then I’ll ‘change your dressing’ for you later,” Vinny said.

“Then I’ll trouble you, Student Vinny.” Isatia was silent for a moment. “Student Vinny has helped me greatly. If there is anything you need help with, just come to me.”

“Huh?” Shicodale listened from behind them, completely lost.

What did changing a dressing mean? Was Student Isatia injured somewhere?

And she kept feeling like there was something beneath their words??

“Eh? Is that Her Highness Isatia?” News spread quickly. Naturally, quite a few second-year students had also learned about Margaret. When they saw Vinny, their expressions were somewhat strange, but when they saw Isatia walking near Vinny, they did not dare discuss anything.

“Student Isatia, Student Dale, you two go into the classroom first. I want to use the bathroom.” Vinny glanced at the time. There was still plenty of time before class, so he said that.

“All right.”

“Mm.”

The two girls entered the classroom. Vinny went to the bathroom, and when he came out and headed toward the classroom, he suddenly saw many students who did not belong to his class deliberately slowing down in front of his classroom to watch. Each of their faces carried all kinds of expressions, but every one of them contained curiosity and surprise.

At first, Vinny was confused about what exactly was going on. Only after the upperclassman blocking his line of sight finally moved away slowly, allowing him to see that cherry-pink figure clearly, did he understand.

At one glance, he saw the extremely conspicuous figure behind the crowd, as dazzling as the blazing sun.

At that moment, she was standing properly in front of his class, her hands hanging naturally at her sides, graceful and poised.

However...

Vinny somehow felt there was a trace of unease in her eyes, as though there were too many people looking at her.

These upperclassmen were filled with curiosity toward her. Her outstanding looks alone were enough to draw countless gazes, not to mention that this girl was currently at the center of recent discussion.

There were even quite a few people who wanted to move closer and talk to her.

And when Vinny’s gaze landed on her, Margaret froze for a moment, then quickly noticed him as well and smiled gently at him.

“Huh?” After everyone noticed where Margaret was looking, they all turned toward the person her gaze had settled on. When they saw it was Vinny, their expressions became even more astonished.

But more people looked as if they were waiting to watch a good show.

Oh-ho, oh-ho, there was even a true-and-fake Facilis showdown to watch?

Now this was interesting.

It made quite a few people unwilling to leave. They all waited to see what would happen next.

What were these two going to do now?

Fall into an argument? No, no, it probably would not be that direct.

Then would they trade barbed comments?

Or perhaps skip straight to grabbing each other’s hair and fighting?

No, no. This Saintess looked so holy and pure. Presumably, she would not do anything so crude.

Wait, wait. Was this about to become a scene of the fake Facilis bullying the true Saintess? After all, this bastard Vinny was not weak, but his reputation was not very good, was it?

One was an infamous and highly controversial Royal Capital’s notorious young master. The other was a delicate, frail Saintess whose entire body exuded an otherworldly aura.

The spectators would all think the same thing. When those two stood together, who would bully whom was far too obvious.

Quite a few people present already wanted to step in and stop Vinny.

It was too obvious. Which one of those two was the real Facilis was far too obvious.

One had been highly controversial since childhood, had no Saintess qualities whatsoever, was even male, and had a terrible reputation. The other was a genuine girl, born looking like a portrait hanging in Saint Selena Cathedral.

Even a blind person could tell which one was real.

“Student Vinny, this is Carillian Academy, not Camella Royal Capital. You’d better take it easy.” As Vinny walked over, someone had already pretended to offer a casual reminder, talking to himself as though it were unintentional.

Vinny’s reaction was to ignore these people completely and walk straight toward Margaret.

“Why are you here?” Vinny asked as he stopped in front of Margaret.

“Senior Vinny, didn’t you tell me to come get the notice today?” Margaret asked softly.

“I told you to come today, but I didn’t tell you to come at this time. Don’t you have class? Won’t you be late for class in a while?” Vinny frowned.

“I... didn’t want to make you wait long, Senior Vinny,” Margaret said after hesitating for a moment.

“???” The students listening nearby very much wanted to move just a tiny bit closer and hear what the two of them were saying, but unfortunately, both of them had deliberately lowered their voices. No one heard them.

Seeing this, Vinny was somewhat speechless. He handed the stamped club application form to Margaret.

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