Winnie didn't know where Milian lived, but based on Aesphyra's dormitory district, he felt he roughly knew where the first-year top five's dorm area was located.
Along the way, Milian just kept holding onto the hem of Winnie's clothes, like a mother hen protecting her chicks from a hawk. Truthfully, she didn't want to do this at all, but she didn't know what else she should hold onto.
Holding his hand felt inappropriate, yet not holding onto anything made her afraid he'd run off. With such conflicting emotions, she settled for his clothes. Although it was completely useless, Winnie could still leave if he wanted to, it at least gave her a slight sense of security.
"Hey, we're almost there. Point the way, I don't know exactly where your dorm is?" Winnie said to the silent Milian behind him.
Milian remained silent for a mont, then finally extended her finger and pointed in one direction.
Was she telling him to go that way?
Winnie glanced at Milian's current ek, quail-like appearance and couldn't help but find it amusing.
Who would've thought that arrogant golden-haired brat would end up like this? Unimaginable.
Guided by Milian, Winnie arrived in front of an erald-like villa. Milian used her student card to unlock the gate.
"You... you..." Having reached this point, Milian stopped in her tracks, hesitating as if wanting to say sothing.
"Alright, I'll leave you here," Winnie naturally understood he couldn't follow her in, after all, this was private female territory. Going in would be crossing the line.
"Um..." Yet despite this, Milian still seed to want to say sothing. She opened her mouth towards Winnie, then closed it again.
"What now?" Winnie felt helpless. "I've already brought you right to your doorstep. You're not letting leave, so are you inviting in for tea?"
"W-who said I was inviting you in?! I'm not inviting you inside at all!" Milian imdiately retorted, her pretty face still faintly tinged with blush from earlier.
"Then that settles it. Once you're ho, stop overthinking things. Think about sothing aningful instead, like how to score well on the upcoming final exams. That's way better than dwelling on nonsense."
With that, Winnie turned to leave.
"Y-you wait a second!"
"Geez, Your Highness the Elven Princess, what is it now? Can you just say what you need to say?" Winnie was completely baffled.
"R-really... I won't turn into an elf crystal, right?" Milian lowered her head, seeming embarrassed to ask this question again.
Seeing her current expression and emotional state, Winnie swallowed back the words "How would I know?"
Seriously, if even she, an elf, didn't know, how could he, a human, be expected to know? Was he supposed to be an encyclopedia or sothing?
Still, he could ask the omnipotent Aesphyra about it. She'd probably know.
"Your Highness, I've already told you countless tis, I said no, you won't turn into a crystal. Can you please stop thinking about this?" Winnie said, at a loss for words.
"But... I'm really scared," Milian murmured, clearly feeling ashad to admit this in front of Winnie. "What if... what if I crystallize in the dormitory later because I fell in love with a human?"
"Love your head!" Winnie was too exhausted to restore properly. "Do you even know what love is? You keep saying 'love, love, love', you didn't develop any feelings toward just because you drank a bottle of drink, and neither did I!"
"Your emotional fluctuations were most likely caused by so dramatic side effects of that potion, making you feel like you've fallen for soone," Winnie explained his theory. "As long as you don't believe it yourself, it won't affect you at all."
"Besides, the whole 'crystallization' thing is pure nonsense. I don't understand elves, and I don't know whether elves actually crystallize when they fall for humans, but think about it, does that even make sense?"
"There are half-elves in this world, right? If what you're saying were true, wouldn't every half-elf be missing either their father or mother?"
Winnie's sharp retort left Milian speechless.
"I... that..."
"Exactly. Have you deliberately looked into the existence of half-elves? Have you ever heard of them being born without either a father or mother?"
"...No, I haven't," Milian replied after a mont of silence.
"There you go. Even an elven princess like you have never heard of such a thing, that proves it's not credible. There's absolutely no truth to it. Case closed. Now go back and do whatever you need to do," Winnie quickly wrapped things up, not giving Milian, the arguntative nitpicker, any chance to continue debating.
This was the only way to deal with stubborn people who overthink everything.
"Alright, I'm leaving. Even if you have more questions, I won't answer them. I already know they'll be weird ones anyway." Winnie shot Milian a glance and turned to walk away.
"Wait, human! Wait a second! I... I have one last question! Waaah! Really, it's the final one!" Seeing Winnie about to leave, Milian quickly called out in a soft, pleading voice.
"I give up. Fine, fine. Speak," Winnie stopped reluctantly, turning back with an angry expression, ready to hear Milian's final question.
What rotten luck, ending up with such a troubleso little brat.
"But if it's another weird question I don't even want to answer, I'm leaving imdiately," Winnie added, trying to prevent Milian from asking sothing outrageous.
"Um... uh..." Milian stamred again, the blush that had nearly faded now creeping back onto her cheeks.
'Virtue 100.'
Current Virtue: 2924.
"Well, go on," Winnie folded his arms and waited for Milian's answer. Three minutes passed like this.
"Seriously, what are you doing?!" Winnie completely broke down. "What's so hard to say that you can't even speak?!"
"W-wait, don't yell at ! I... I don't want to either!" Milian gently bit her lip.
"If you don't speak now, I'm really leaving!" Winnie clicked his tongue.
"W-wait, human! You... you still don't get it?!"
"Get what?" Winnie was utterly confused. "You've been stuttering for ages without saying a single coherent sentence. What am I supposed to understand?"
"There's no one else around. I really can't understand why you can't just say it," Winnie rubbed his forehead. "Fine, maybe if I leave and let you stand here alone, you'll find it easier to speak."
"W-wait! My question is... it's... I..." Finally, seeing Winnie truly about to leave, Milian didn't care anymore. With a flushed face, she blurted out, "H-how long until I give birth to a child?!"
'Virtue 250.'
Current Virtue: 3174.
"... " That sentence rendered Winnie completely speechless. He froze in place, motionless, as if soone had poured concrete over his entire body and let it dry.
"I... I asked," Milian imdiately lowered her head after asking, her cheeks burning red with embarrassnt, as if she wanted to disappear into the ground.
"Hey... say sothing, won't you?!" Seeing that Winnie remained silent for so long, Milian felt each passing second was torture. She nervously twisted her hands together and asked.
"So... what do you want to say?" After a long silence, Winnie's soul seed to return from another plane of existence.
"How can you still act like this?! After everything that's happened, you're not even trying to figure things out together!" Milian bit her lips and shouted.
'Virtue 60.'
Current Virtue: 3234.
"What kind of solution are you even talking about? What are you even saying?!" Winnie stared wide-eyed, utterly disbelieving.
"You... Do you really want to shout it again?!" Milian replied, deeply embarrassed.
"N-no, no, no! Don't shout! What if soone hears?!" Winnie quickly looked around. "You were completely silent just now, and now you're suddenly so loud, what are you trying to do?! If people hear this, how will I face anyone in the academy ever again?!"
"But you're not saying anything either! D-don't tell you're planning to abandon ?!" Milian clenched her teeth, blushing deeply as she questioned him.
"Don't say any more!" Winnie felt utterly broken. "Hey, can I call you 'big sister' or sothing? Give birth? What are you even talking about? Do you even understand anything?!"
"Y-you're human, so the child I gave birth to would be a half-elf. What will we do then?!" Milian's voice trembled. "And you don't even understand half-elves, will our child face discrimination when they're born?!"
"If I have a child, especially a human's child, and my sister finds out, she'll definitely scold ! I don't even know how the other elves will look at . We... we'll beco a disgrace to the elven royal family!"
"I don't want to crystallize, I don't want to be a stain on the elven royal bloodline, and I don't want my child to be discriminated against... waaah!"
'Virtue 150.'
Current Virtue: 3384.
"…" Winnie rembered when he first t Milian, they'd argued over Shikondell, and Milian had been defeated by his relentless attacks, retreating in defeat.
Now, Milian had struck back. This ti, it was his turn to be rendered speechless.
This was truly silent, Winnie couldn't utter a single word.
Heaven above, Winnie Varelis, the notorious delinquent and Idea King of Calla, had never been this speechless, this silent, or this emotionally overwheld, uncertain whether he should explain, stop her from continuing, or simply give her a crash course in basics.
Damn it! One false heartbeat and she imdiately jumped to having a child? Even Shikondell wasn't this imaginative!
Was this Milian generating Virtue, or was it him?
No wonder the elven royal family produced so many talents.
No, not talents, bad news was that they were far from humans, but good news was that they were closer to gods.
Looking at Milian, who now gazes at him with desperate eyes, begging for answers so she could at least die in peace, Winnie made a decision that betrayed his ancestors.
He turned around and started walking away!
No explanation, no salvation, beyond saving, just let it be.
Sensing trouble, Winnie imdiately decided to flee the scene.
"So you've already decided to abandon and our child, haven't you?!" Seeing this, Milian's voice once again struck Winnie like lightning, leaving him utterly stunned.
"Big sister, speak softer! What if soone else hears this?! I still want to keep living in the academy!" Winnie quickly tried to stop her.
"Hmph! You heartless bastard! So it's true, humans are all like this! Always abandoning people. I shouldn't have ever had any illusions about you!"
"Just go! I'll handle the child on my own!" Milian clenched her teeth and said pitifully.
'Virtue 100.'
Current Virtue: 3484.
"Ugh! I'm begging you, stop talking! Big sister, your thought process... I can't even critique it anymore. How did you even jump to having a child?!" Winnie wore a pained expression.
"B-because... isn't that how it works? Once you fall in love with soone, things naturally progress that far! Isn't that normal?! Don't you even know this? Are you pretending, or are you just afraid to take responsibility?!" Milian snapped angrily.
"You're accusing of lacking common sense now?!" Winnie laughed bitterly. "Don't you get it? Nothing has happened, you're not in love with , and none of that will happen!"
"So all of this is just your excuse to avoid responsibility?! Tch, what a scumbag!"
"You're really impossible to reason with!" Winnie felt he couldn't communicate with this golden-haired idiot at all. His logical thinking had been completely scrambled by Milian.
No wonder they say never to argue with fools, because once you start, the fool drags you down to their level and defeats you with experience.
Just as Winnie forced himself to calm down and regain his composure, trying to figure out how to clearly explain things to Milian, his Virtue increased again.
'Virtue 200.'
Current Virtue: 3684.
Huh??
Winnie frowned, instinctively sensing sothing odd about this sudden increase in Virtue.
"My, my~ Did I interrupt sothing important?" A playful yet deeply aningful voice floated over.
Upon hearing that familiar tone, Winnie instantly knew who it was. His entire body tensed up imdiately, his head turning toward the source of the voice like it was on springs.
"Looks like my timing wasn't the best," said the stunning silver-haired girl, who had sohow leaned against the wall without either of them noticing. She smiled sweetly at them, her dazzling eyes filled with unfathomable depths and unreadable implications.
But one thing was certain, she wasn't actually smiling.
"Ah... Aesphyra, you... how did you...?" For so reason, the mont Winnie noticed Aesphyra, his heart instantly sank, despite having done nothing wrong and despite having no special relationship with her.
Ah, right, this was the dormitory area for the first-year top five, wasn't it?
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