“So, you think the strong ought to shelter the weak, do you?” Vinny asked.
“If that strong one leads those weak ones, then that is the strong one’s obligation.” After a brief ponder, Isatia answered, enunciating each word. “However, the weak should not stand alongside the strong. They do not have that capability. Hiding properly beneath the strong one’s protection and not adding to the chaos is the wisest, optimal choice.”
“What do you think?” Isatia asked.
“? I already said it, Classmate Isatia—no, Your Highness Isatia—I’m just a little commoner. Where do I get off talking about any of this? My thinking is the classic little-people mindset: as long as everyone can eat their fill, keep warm, and live happily, then I think the ruler’s virtue matches the throne. That’s all.”
“‘Little commoner’?” At those words, Isatia fell silent for a beat. “Is that how you see yourself?”
“What else would it be?” Vinny let out a wry laugh. “Compared to you, Classmate Isatia, aren’t I just a simple, ordinary commoner? Even if we attend the sa school, no one would think we started from the sa place.”
“To be blunt about it, the things you worry about and the future you envision are nothing like mine. We’re people of two different worlds. If not for this coincidence, we wouldn’t have had any contact after this.” Vinny said.
“Maybe you don’t quite get it—if I hadn’t entered Carillian Academy, the paynt you gave for buying dicine earlier would have been my lifelong, unattainable pursuit.”
“Never mind ordinary folk—even the crumbs that slip through Your Highness Isatia’s fingers are the lifelong pursuit of an average student at Carillian Academy.”
“Haha, I’m getting off track,” Vinny reeled himself back.
“You are the only living bloodline of the Dawn Goddess, Facilis, inheriting the blood of successive Saintesses. Do you truly think you’re ordinary?” Isatia asked.
“That isn’t for to decide, is it?” Vinny smiled. “Doesn’t everyone call a fraud who deceives the world under a stolen na, a villainous young master rotten to the core and ignorant of study?”
“Isn’t that what you think of , Classmate Isatia?”
“You are far stronger than the spreaders of those rumors. I haven’t seen them pass Carillian Academy’s threshold, nor surpass you in rank. So why would I abandon established facts to believe a group of ignorant incompetents who have achieved nothing in any regard?” Isatia said, calm and unruffled.
“Unfortunately, fate is unjust like that. For an heir of the [Sage], the greatest value and characteristic is [Saint’s Favor]. If the bloodline dies out entirely—” Isatia left the rest unsaid.
“Still, who can say whether fortune or misfortune—this may not be a bad thing.”
“Mm?”
Sensing Vinny’s surprise, Isatia continued explaining. “I do not an to mock you. [Saint’s Favor] is tied to [Divine Authority]. When mortals wield the power of gods, even if they may reach the summit, they must pay a price.”
Vinny grasped the implication. As he had suspected, Isatia’s strange illness was caused by her [Saint’s Favor]. She was here seeking a way to cure it.
At first Vinny had guessed Isatia pinned her hopes on the Divine Authorities of [Continuance] and [Eternity], hoping for aid from god-power—but now he didn’t think so.
Throughout history, advanced forces and nations that tried to control and obtain Divine Authority were countless. Marsmo civilization was one example; the Old Tyrelis Empire was another. And in the end—what beca of them? What fate did they et??
Isatia was a clever person. She wouldn’t fail to understand this, and clearly her plan wasn’t so simple.
Vinny had another question: why did Isatia understand Marsmo civilization so thoroughly? Surpassing him—a barely-passing student of history—was normal, but even Aesphyra couldn’t match her. Then the issue was clearly not simple—Aesphyra was the heaven-ordained, proud main heroine.
“Classmate Isatia, are you saying that if my bloodline hadn’t died out, that might not have been a good thing either?” Vinny asked.
“Who can speak clearly about fate?”
“Hahaha, Classmate Isatia, I don’t think you should see it that way. Think about it—if my bloodline hadn’t died, wouldn’t the royal family and your imperial father have pinned you down, binding you to ?” Vinny joked.
“By then, you and I wouldn’t even have the most basic freedom to find soone we like and stay together for life. Would you want that?”
“Lucky for us my bloodline is /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ gone; otherwise what happened next wouldn’t be up to either of us.” Vinny said with an easy grin.
“If your bloodline had not died, then you would possess the qualification to stand at my side.” Isatia’s soft voice held no emotional fluctuation.
It sounded lofty and pragmatic, but Vinny understood what she ant.
She ant that only a descendant of the [Sage] had the qualification to stand before a descendant of the [Sage]. Anyone else would lack the necessary ability and strength, unfit to stand on the sa height and face the storms to co together.
“Emperors and kings ought to step forward when crisis descends and protect their people. That includes, but is not limited to, war against the demon race, war against worshipers of the Demon Pillars, war against any invader, and safeguarding a stable life for those under their rule.” Isatia seed to open her heart a little to Vinny, giving her view, then paused.
“If the other party cannot even et on the sa baseline in such fundantal matters, then they will only suffer, and drag down—drag my country down. What need is there for such a union??”
“One plus one should equal two—or at least be greater than one, not even less than one.” Isatia finished.
“I see. You’re absolutely right, Classmate Isatia.” Sudden clarity washed over Vinny.
He sowhat understood Isatia’s criteria for choosing a partner. To draw her attention, one had to demonstrate sufficient strength—perhaps even surpass Isatia.
What she said was very realistic: if you cannot even prove you can stand on the sa height as her, what use are you to her??
If she were not a princess, perhaps she could ignore such things. But she was the First Princess of the Tyrel Empire, the future Empress. Naturally, she needed soone reliable, who could stand at the sa height, whose views aligned closely with hers. Otherwise, how could she fulfill her obligations as Empress??
That alone eliminated ninety-nine percent of nobles within Carillian Academy and across the Tyrel Empire—especially those Tyrel nobles forever dreaming of marrying a princess to bring endless benefits to their families, beauty in their arms, and even a taste of being emperor.
How could Isatia ever favor such people??
Then what of the remaining one percent?
Stronger than Isatia, who ranked second in their year; extrely reliable; at ease in any situation; firmly aligned with the righteous, benevolent camp; and sharing most of Isatia’s worldview—who else could that be?
Ah, hard to guess.
It could only be a certain white-haired nut ball, right?!
Vinny finally understood why, in the original work, Isatia willingly joined Aesphyra’s crystal palace in the end. Given the two of them’s character settings, all they lacked was a single broken-bridge plot to heat up their feelings, no??
That was also why Isatia simply didn’t care about that paper betrothal, nor about others bringing it up in front of her. In her eyes, Vinny could not stand alongside her; they were not of the sa height, not of the sa world—utterly outside her scope of consideration.
So even in this deeply buried secret realm shaped by Divine Authority, even with her perceptions influenced, Isatia still had little emotional ripple regarding the betrothal—or even their physical contact—born of her indifference toward Vinny.
Think about it: emotional fluctuation presupposes that soone has emotions toward you. Whether fondness or dislike—having emotion is the premise.
Isatia neither liked him nor disliked him. Even if she had goodwill, it was only as a classmate, as a friend. How would she ever explode him over a hundred points of Virtue??
Ah, and speaking of which—wasn’t this secret-realm journey supposed to be Aesphyra and Isatia’s trip? Did he just steal Aesphyra’s protagonist slot??
The wall was long; the two of them walked for quite so ti before reaching the highest point of the tower.
Up on the soaring inner-city wall, Isatia went quiet. Vinny didn’t know whether she’d fallen asleep, so he gave his body a little shake, jostling her.
“Classmate Isatia, we’re here.”
“Mm.” Isatia’s response told Vinny she hadn’t fallen asleep. But after that sound, she made no further movent.
Vinny was puzzled, but he didn’t disturb her. He felt as if Isatia were surveying the structure of this Marsmo city-state from above, committing the buildings below to mory.
“I see—it’s a Celestial Diagram.” After a long while, Isatia spoke.
“Mm? What?” At her words, Vinny had also scanned the area below earlier. He’d felt it was familiar, as if he’d seen it sowhere. With Isatia’s reminder, he finally realized it.
In this Marsmo city-state, every single building had its aning—from the palace to the temple under construction—paired with the arrangent of the walls. Seen from above, wasn’t it exactly a Celestial Diagram??
Worthy indeed of an elder civilization with real weight. Marsmo’s obsession with detail was no less than that of the Old Tyrelis Empire.
“Classmate Vinny—change positions.”
“? Ah?” For a mont Vinny didn’t react to Isatia’s words, then asked, “Ah—oh, what about this position? Is it uncomfortable?”
Wait—wasn’t that a little off?
Vinny frowned; only after he said it did he feel the words were a bit ambiguous. Fortunately, Isatia didn’t care.
“Your head keeps blocking my view.”
“Right. How about I hold you like this?” Vinny asked. He didn’t care if his words were offensive or ambiguous anymore. Neither of them had any thoughts about the other, and this wasn’t the ti to care either.
“Mm.” Isatia nodded.
With his “order” received, Vinny gently set Isatia down, then slipped one arm around her slender, pliant waist and the other under the warm, soft bend of her knee, lifting her up in his arms.
Her soft, fragrant black hair brushed past Vinny’s nose, a sharp contrast to her fair skin.
Right now, the cool beauty with the long black hair wore a face of utter concentration, studying the layout and structure of the city-state below. It seed she had drunk the Stimulant Elixir for this—to focus more intensely.
To keep her view unobstructed, Vinny turned with her in his arms, letting her take in both inner and outer city at a glance.
“Classmate Isatia, do you need a Recording Stone?” Vinny suddenly thought to ask.
After all, he could be called a grandmaster of Recording Stones—having used them to rack up great service, twice pinning down Jiu Lixue, one of the power ceilings of the Tyrelis Continent, and leaving her fuming afterward.
“No need.” Isatia breezily declined. She could morize the city-state’s layout completely by mory; better to save the Recording Stone’s storage for where it was needed.
“Next—into the royal palace.”
“Mm? What?” After finishing her look at the city-state’s layout, Isatia said sothing that made Vinny blink.
“Go to the royal palace and understand its layout thoroughly.” Isatia looked toward the inner city, toward the palace. “What’s simulated here should be none other than the royal city of Marsmo.”
“Earlier, what we entered was a palace over ninety percent ruined—a completeness of less than one in ten—not the full appearance of Marsmo’s royal palace.”
“I need to know what Marsmo’s royal palace looked like at its peak.” Isatia’s tone was plain.
Understand the complete visage of Marsmo’s royal palace??
Vinny was startled.
First taking in the city-state’s whole, now the palace’s whole—coupled with how Isatia would record and survey any Marsmo ruin she encountered—Vinny thought of sothing.
Could the Lanteville family’s [Saint’s Favor] be related to history??
That would also explain why Isatia always held a history book—no matter when or where—never without sothing related to history in hand, and why she was so fervent about every ancient civilization.
Was she trying to rely on the power of [Saint’s Favor]?
“In that case, the plaque probably won’t get us into the inner city.” Vinny shook the plaque in his hand.
“Try it.”
As Vinny expected, the two of them were stopped before entering the inner city.
“Sub-Priest, you lack an invitation from the king. Please turn back.” The Marsmo royal guards spoke coolly.
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