People always said you couldn’t protect a kid too well—otherwise, they’d be a nightmare once they grew up.
Vinny understood why now.
Just look at Milian. A textbook case of being way too naive—protected way too well by her sister, Selivlin Chenfen.
Good thing Vinny, the royal-capital delinquent, was a man with style. If it were someone else, Vinny didn’t even dare imagine what would happen to that idiot elf.
“Listen to me first—I’m not saying I still feel that way about you... I just want to try, that’s all.” Seeing Vinny’s reaction, Milian hurriedly explained.
“Try what?” Vinny’s head started to hurt. “Wasn’t this case already closed? Why are you dragging it back out again??” He’d thought Professor Sif had already explained everything to that Golden Elf brat. Who knew she’d still be clinging to it like this.
No wonder people said elves had this inexplicable stubbornness and obsession.
“Your Highness the princess, why do you keep grabbing onto this?” Vinny sighed, then went straight to his usual routine—full shrimp-head offense. “How about this: maybe you’ve been secretly in love with me the whole time, but you never had a chance, and now you finally found a ‘legitimate’ excuse to chase this Young Master? Sorry, but I told you before—there are way too many pretty girls chasing this Young Master already. I’m not lacking pursuers. If you want to chase me, take a number and get in line.”
“Who’s been secretly in love with you?!” Milian snapped.
“Good. Then stop caring about it.” Vinny narrowed his eyes at her. “Because if you keep acting like this, I don’t care what you think you mean—what it feels like to me is exactly that. This Young Master will just think you’re secretly in love with me and can’t say it, so you’re using this to win my favor.”
“You—You human.” Milian straightened up. “Can you ever not be so narcissistic for once??”
“Nope. Confidence is one of this Young Master’s fine qualities.” Vinny said it like it was the most reasonable thing in the world.
“You think I wanted this?!” Milian blurted. “When I drank that potion, the person who popped out was you! Otherwise I’d rather fall for a worm than fall for you, you human!”
“Then that’s that.” Vinny waved her off, impatient. “Why are you still yapping at me? If that’s what you think, then do exactly that.”
“But I drank the potion called Love at First Sight!”
“Damn it—how many times do I have to say this?” Vinny snapped. “That was just a drink! It doesn’t make people develop feelings for someone! It’s all a delusion!”
“You’re not me!” °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Milian refused to back down. “You don’t know what I felt then—so how can you decide it was a delusion??”
“Then how are you deciding it was love?” Vinny shot back. “At the end of the day, you little idiot have never even dated, but you’re acting like some seasoned veteran. ‘My heart’s racing’—go touch a live wire and your heart will race even harder. Why don’t you say you fell in love with the live wire, then??”
“You...!” Milian’s head filled with a giant question mark. “What’s a live wire?”
“Enough. You don’t need to know.” Vinny spoke casually. “You won’t understand. All you need to know is that what happened before was a delusion.”
“Even if we take ten thousand steps back and say that drink really did have a little effect—your whole life doesn’t have to revolve around me.” Vinny looked at her like she was ridiculous. “Didn’t you say it yourself? Elves aren’t allowed to marry humans.”
“Then can’t I find someone else?” Milian asked.
“Why can’t you?” Vinny stared at her.
“You don’t know?” Milian said. “An elf can only fall in love with one person in their whole life.”
“...So if the person you love doesn’t love you back, aren’t you just doomed?” Vinny’s tone turned strange.
“Anyway.” Milian went quiet after that. “Elves only love one person in a lifetime. ‘Falling out of love’ doesn’t happen to elves.”
“Seriously.” Vinny clicked his tongue. “Why are you elves so damn troublesome??”
It also explained why elf birth rates were so low. But thinking about it, it made sense—reproduction was the continuation of life, and elves were an absolutely long-lived race. Their lives were long, so their views on emotions naturally differed wildly from humans.
“Fine.” Vinny sighed. “Looks like you’ve decided to drill into this corner until your head breaks. Then I’m going to ask you a few questions, Milian.”
“What questions?” Milian lifted her eyes, those dazzling olivine irises full of confusion.
“You said you feel something for me, right?” Vinny folded his arms. “Then I’m going to test you.”
“First question—what kind of person am I?”
“...Huh?”
“What do you mean, ‘huh’?” Vinny rolled his eyes. “I asked what kind of person I am. You said you have feelings for me, so answer me—what kind of person am I?”
“Y-You...” Milian answered uncertainly. “A lot of the time you’re really punchable, but... among humans, you’re probably a pretty decent person?”
Vinny didn’t care how she evaluated him. “That was pretty forced, but fine. Next question—what did I do that made you like me?”
“Like you...?” Milian hesitated. “Dale’s situation. I’m really grateful to you for that.”
“And?” Vinny pressed. “That was about Dale. I’m talking about you.”
“Uh...” Milian fell silent.
“Alright. Next question—what do you like about me?”
“...W-What do I like about you??”
“Yeah. What else?” Vinny raised his brows. “You don’t understand me at all. You can’t even say what you like about me?”
Putting it simply: what on me attracted you—what made you interested.
“This... you...” Milian started thinking hard. Her hands twisted together, fidgeting restlessly as she rubbed her fingers, as if thinking about it took an absurd amount of effort.
“Fine.” Vinny watched her struggle and asked the last question. “What strengths do I have?”
“Uh...” Milian squeezed her brain dry for ages, like she was wringing out every last drop. Finally, with no other option, she answered tentatively. “Pretty narcissistic...?”
“Alright, Your Highness.” Vinny held up a hand. “If you can’t answer, then don’t answer. Don’t force it. You answered too well—don’t answer like that next time, got it??”
“It’s like you’re trying to complete some task.” Vinny scowled. “This isn’t a task. You don’t need to ‘complete’ it.”
“You don’t need to keep answering.” Vinny waved. “If you really had feelings for me, the four questions I just asked—you wouldn’t need to think to answer them.”
“You were protected way too well by your sister.” Vinny’s tone cooled. “Protected so well you can’t even date, to the point you don’t even know what love feels like.”
“Milian, the questions I asked—you couldn’t answer a single one.” Vinny said flatly. “And even when you answered, it was total nonsense. That shows you don’t understand me at all.”
“You don’t understand me even a little, and you can’t name my strengths or what attracts you.”
“So tell me—what are you even ‘liking’ me for? Do you believe what you’re saying yourself??”
“I...” Faced with Vinny’s sharp questioning, Milian was speechless again.
“I don’t really understand elf views on love,” Vinny continued. “But if you stress devotion—if you’re choosing a lifelong partner—should it be this casual??”
“...Mm.” Milian couldn’t refute him.
“What, you never even thought about any of this?” Vinny almost laughed in anger. “You’re running on nothing but some invisible, untouchable ‘feeling’??”
He’d seen stupid. He’d never seen this stupid.
She could go compete with Fennia and Shicodale for first place at the thirty-third annual idiot convention.
“Now do you understand how ridiculous your thoughts are?” Vinny tilted his head. “Little princess who’s never left her ivory tower?”
“Then you know all of those answers?” Milian shot back, unwilling to accept it. “You can answer them??”
“I...” Vinny stalled. When Milian asked him like that, he actually thought seriously about whether he could answer.
The answer was—he probably could.
She was one of the rare people who could combine wicked tastes and elegance without any conflict, with zero sense of mismatch. A person who carved confidence and an unmatched aura of luxurious nobility into her bones.
Without question, she was an extremely annoying person—someone who loved teasing him, loved watching him burn red, loved treating him like entertainment.
She had more thoughts than the stars in the sky, depths impossible to measure—and she was bent, too. Flirting with girls was as effortless for her as eating and drinking.
And yet, on the other hand, she was also a person you couldn’t truly bring yourself to hate.
She was full of schemes, but she always despised those who did evil. She was born noble, but she was friendly and polite toward ordinary people and those suffering hardship.
She was confident and proud, that elegant, lavish aura seemingly carved into her bones. Her pride would never allow her to sink into evil, or bow her head and submit to anyone.
She was strong and reliable—like as long as she was there, everything would be handled properly. Even if danger piled up, it would turn into safety in the end, giving you a deep sense of security.
As if she was omnipotent.
No—not as if.
She really was.
To this day, Vinny couldn’t think of anything she wasn’t good at.
Perfect, without a flaw.
“Hey, hey?” Milian snorted when Vinny fell silent, thinking he’d been cornered. “Say something! Don’t just clam up!”
“...Huh?” Vinny snapped back only after Milian called him. He cleared his throat. “So—where were we again?”
“Tch. So you can’t say it either!” Milian’s eyes filled with disdain. “And you had the nerve to criticize me. You’re the same! You don’t have any experience either, but you’re over here acting like you’ve got it all figured out—what a ‘veteran,’ huh??”
“Who said I can’t?” Vinny clicked his tongue. “You little brat, what do you know? How do you know I can’t say it?”
“...Huh?” Milian’s eyes widened. “Do you have someone you like??”
“I—” Vinny almost answered on reflex, then immediately choked. He hurriedly denied it. “Don’t talk nonsense! No! What are you even saying?! This Young Master just spaced out for a second!”
“Then that’s that.” Milian snorted. “Still pretending you’ve got someone you like. What a ‘veteran.’”
“So what?” Vinny snapped.
“You couldn’t even answer the questions you asked me, and you still mocked me for not answering!” Milian huffed.
“If I can’t answer, I can’t ask?” Vinny retorted. “Those were all serious questions. You only need to ask them if you like someone. If I can’t answer for myself, so what??”
“Do I need to learn refrigeration myself before I’m allowed to buy ice-stone?” Vinny scoffed.
Even though he actually could refrigerate.
“You don’t have dating experience either, but you laughed at me and my sister.” Milian puffed her cheeks.
“Tch.” Vinny waved a hand. “Isn’t that how it is? You and your sister are both just—”
“And besides.” Vinny forced himself into a confident tone, even though he felt guilty as he said it. “I believe that anyone who likes me will definitely be able to answer those questions! They’ll definitely be able to say what kind of person I am, what strengths I have, what they like about me!”
Just like when he talked in front of Ferdi, he had zero experience with love.
So whenever he spoke about this kind of topic, he was always short on conviction.
“Liar.” Milian’s voice was full of contempt. “You don’t have experience either.”
...Ow.
Vinny truly didn’t expect that one day he’d be looked down on by an idiot like Milian.
That pissed Vinny off so much that, in a fit of rage, he got mad for a second.
“Believe it or don’t, it’s still true.” Vinny snapped. “Anyway, if you can’t answer those questions, stop clinging to this topic. You definitely don’t like me. You’re not interested in me. Stop guessing.”
“You just felt that for the first time and mistook it for love.” Vinny turned and left, ignoring Milian.
Whether Vinny’s words actually moved Milian, or Milian simply understood Vinny’s attitude—either way, Milian didn’t come looking for him again after that.
Before long, finals arrived. After the written tests, it was time for the most important part—the practical assessment.
No matter the year, all the students prayed they wouldn’t draw some overly bizarre task, or something ridiculously difficult—otherwise they’d have to retake, or even fail outright.
For first-years, this practical assessment wasn’t like last semester’s. Last semester, Vinny and Aesphyra had drawn the grand prize, but most first-year tasks were relatively simple—not that hard.
But that had only been because the Academy was taking care of brand-new first-years.
Now they were still first-years, sure—but they weren’t that new anymore. The Academy wouldn’t deliberately lower the difficulty again.
Of course, first-year practical assessment tasks would still be easier than upperclassmen’s.
