SAINTESS [Chapter 68: Queen vs Queen]

“Alright, alright, there's nothing for you to do here anymore, hurry up and leave, good nutball, don't block the way, I'm afraid Miss Isatia will misunderstand.”

Hearing this, looking at the dark-haired beautiful girl who had already walked beside her, Aesphyra fell into a rare silence.

'Virtue + 50.'

'Current Virtue: 4634.'

“Miss Isatia, there are many points in today's lecture that I didn't understand, you know, I took sick leave before, so I didn't catch up, can you teach me?” Winnie asked.

“No problem.” Isatia replied, walking around Aesphyra, and without even a glance at Aesphyra, she sat down next to Winnie. “It's already agreed upon, no need to repeat it.”

What Isatia was referring to here, of course, was the tutoring matter that the two had already agreed upon in the library earlier. Winnie will be Isatia's shield, and Isatia will tutor Winnie, helping him catch up and fill in the gaps.

Aesphyra only felt a noble, faint orchid fragrance brush past her nose, and then the dark-haired beautiful girl sat between her and Winnie, facing Winnie.

Aesphyra fell into a deep silence.

And it wasn't just her who was silent, but all the boys in the class and all the Tyrell Empire Faction students.

No way?!

As soon as class was over, they walked towards each other, tutoring each other, so proactive and obvious??

At least pretend a little, fool everyone, okay? Is it really okay for you two to be so intimate??

The male students of the Tyrell Empire Faction couldn't help but roar in their hearts.

Although the two had similar behaviors in the library before, the intimacy was far less than this time. The previous times were just Isatia happening to appear in the library and running into Winnie, wanting to find a quiet and undisturbed place. This time, however, Isatia really took the initiative to approach Winnie, as if she knew he would have something he didn't understand and specifically went over to teach him.

That was their own Princess. Logically, they, who were supposed to have the advantage of being close, had made no progress, but instead, this notorious foreign playboy, who had deceived the world, had succeeded??

This was something that all the male nobles of the Tyrell Empire Faction absolutely could not accept.

But unacceptable or not, this was their Princess's choice. They couldn't possibly step forward now and volunteer to tutor Winnie, asking Isatia not to help Winnie with his studies, could they??

Even someone with low emotional intelligence who couldn't read the atmosphere would know that such a thing was impossible to do, right??

Eh, don't say it, someone really did do it.

“Your Royal Highness! I can do such trivial matters, you don't have to come personally. My grades are good. If you really want to help a classmate, I can tutor him!” A male student from the Tyrell Empire Faction excitedly stepped forward and raised his hand, saying that he was about to walk over and replace Isatia to tutor Winnie.

“Roland, I believe I've said many times not to call me Your Royal Highness at the academy.” Isatia didn't even bother to look up at the male student named Roland, her gaze still on the textbook, not even turning her head.

“Yes, Miss Isatia, but…” Roland thought he was giving Isatia a way out, and also preventing Isatia from interacting with Winnie, which was the best of both worlds.

However, Isatia didn't seem pleased with his actions. Roland immediately panicked and wanted to say something, but before he could finish, Isatia interrupted him.

“Roland, you should know the importance of seizing every second. Your time and mine are both very precious, immeasurable by money, so don't waste it on meaningless things.” As soon as Isatia said this, it directly blocked everything Roland was about to say.

The surrounding Tyrell Empire Faction students couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.

This was the first time they had heard Isatia's words so stern. In the past, even if Isatia was disturbed, she would still have the patience she should have, unlike this time, the subtext was directly 'don't waste her time anymore, it's meaningless to her'.

Anyone with a bit of sense could understand Isatia's unspoken meaning.

Roland instantly sat back, his face pale and covered in sweat, because he knew that being disliked by Isatia was not just as simple as being disliked by a classmate with a special status.

He was a noble of the Tyrell Empire, the eldest son of his family, the future head of the household, and Isatia was the future Empress of the Tyrell Empire, his superior as a minor noble subservient to the royal family. If the Empress was unhappy with him, then his life and even his family's life will be difficult in the future.

“I, I understand, I'm truly sorry for disturbing Your Royal… no, Miss Isatia, I apologize.” Roland said tremblingly, naturally not daring to continue being a clown, and withdrawn.

At this point, no one dared to step forward and cause trouble again. There was already a precedent, and if anyone was to blame, it could only be Roland for not being able to read the room and having such low emotional intelligence.

“Where should I start?” Isatia had not paid attention to anyone else the entire time, her gaze fixed on the textbook. When she spoke to Winnie, the warmth in her tone instantly climbed several notches.

“Can I say, from the very beginning? I don't understand anything from start to finish.” Winnie flipped the pages to the first one.

“Okay, let's start from the first paragraph of annotations and technical terms,” Isatia said meticulously and patiently.

Aesphyra remained silent, resting her chin on her hand, smiling as she watched Isatia explain the problems to Winnie.

Next to her, Shikondell looked rejected. She knew she was completely unable to teach, which was why Winnie had no choice but to choose Isatia to teach him.

“I say, why are you still sitting there? I already told you there's nothing for you to do here, hurry up and leave.” Winnie saw that Aesphyra not only didn't leave but was also staring at him with that meaningful smile, and said in a huff.

“Eh, can't I sit here? This seat doesn't have Winnie's name written on it, does it?” Aesphyra tilted her head and said. “Whether I sit here or not, it's my freedom, right?”

“Alright, suit yourself then, you can sit here.” Winnie withdrew his gaze and continued to focus on the textbook.

Isatia, who had stopped explaining, suddenly glanced at Aesphyra, who was propping her chin and looking over. She remained silent, then refocused her attention on explaining the problem to Winnie.

“Winnie is really cunning~”

“No, we're having a class here, can a certain silver-haired nutball stop muttering and disturbing us??” Winnie looked up and couldn't help but said. “Also, what am I cunning about??”

“Hm-hm~ Just a thought, when I visited Winnie's sickroom that day, you said you didn't have a good relationship with Isatia and there was nothing special about it, but now… tsk tsk, really, why hide it on purpose?” Aesphyra exclaimed, propping her chin.

This girl.

Winnie frowned, unsure what Aesphyra was trying to convey by secretly emphasizing what he had said that day.

However, Isatia, who had been diligently explaining and teaching Winnie beside him, seemed to have a different feeling, silently turning her gaze to Aesphyra.

“Long time no see~ Miss Isatia, how have you been?” Seeing Isatia staring directly at her, Aesphyra also turned her gaze, smiling as she met Isatia's eyes.

Two pairs of remarkable violet eyes collided in the air, as if everything was understood without words.

Both of them were very strong-willed types, but their assertiveness differed in direction. Therefore, in the collision of their gazes, neither showed any intention of backing down.

“Hm, long time no see.” Isatia nodded, but this gesture was clearly more polite, merely responding to Aesphyra's previous words.

“In the Dungeon, Miss Isatia truly shone brightly, as expected of the Princess of the Tyrell Empire.” Aesphyra praised.

“I wouldn't dare claim that, Winnie helped me a lot. If it weren't for Winnie, I definitely wouldn't have been able to get out of the Mars dungeon alone.” Isatia spoke truthfully, but to many people present, it sounded purely like modesty.

Isatia could only say so; she certainly couldn't make it too clear. If she spoke too plainly, Winnie's secret would inevitably be exposed.

Just kidding, when Isatia and Winnie were together, who was clinging to whose leg anyway??

Even just looking at their age ranking, Winnie was far from Isatia's match, alright??

“Besides that, later I heard from Winnie that Miss Aesphyra gave him a lot of help before he was sent into the dungeon. Those alchemy potions and magic scrolls played a crucial role later on, I'm truly grateful to you.”

“Oh, it was just a small favor.” Aesphyra smiled sweetly.

“Hmm, it's also my fault,” Isatia said, her expression unchanged as she looked at Aesphyra. “If it wasn't for the contractual relationship, Winnie wouldn't have had to take such risks with me.”

“.......” Aesphyra maintained her smile, but fell into a rare silence, only to slowly reopen her mouth after a moment.

"Indeed, one has to admit, fate plays truly tricks on us. Who would have thought that a voided engagement contract would become the fuse for a new beginning?"

“Fate plays tricks on us? Miss Aesphyra, out of a rigorous attitude, I believe I may need to correct you on a few points. The current status of that engagement is not entirely void, and besides, whether this is fate playing tricks or a destined encounter and arrangement, no one can say for sure; only the future will tell.” Isatia responded.

“Oh, I see, thank you for correcting me, Miss Isatia. However, I think what I said is what is generally accepted as fact by the outside world, isn't it?” Aesphyra's smile grew wider. “After all, everyone can see the intentions of Emperor Tyrell and the Lantville family~”

“.......” Winnie listened to their conversation, opened his mouth, but ultimately chose to protect himself under the strong urge to survive, not getting involved with the two of them.

Even he noticed that the atmosphere of Aesphyra and Isatia's conversation was a bit off, so much so that his initial thought of interjecting with “Did you two forget about me?” was completely abandoned.

The interaction between Aesphyra and Isatia, the two academy beauties and the first and second best students of the first year, naturally attracted the attention of the entire class.

However, both of them spoke in a very low voice, in a tacit understanding, so only Winnie and Shikondell, who were nearby, could hear them.

“Uh, huh?” Winnie noticed something amiss, and so did Shikondell, as elves are quite sensitive to emotions.

For example, right now, Shikondell found it very difficult to understand why the two girls, one with black hair and one with silver, seemed to be having some kind of dispute based on the atmosphere, yet neither showed it. One was calm and composed, the other was smiling, as if they were old friends enjoying a pleasant conversation.

For Shikondell, this kind of thing was still too difficult to comprehend, as elves are emotional creatures by nature. Unless they are older elves, any unhappiness will be expressed and very hard to hide.

“So, strictly speaking, it hasn't been abolished.”

“Strictly speaking? So, how strict is this 'strictly speaking'~?” Aesphyra quipped nonchalantly.

No, why are these two women so fixed on this matter? If they want to have a heated discussion, can't they find something else? Shouldn't the urgent matter be his lagging study progress??

Winnie pursed his lips.

“Standards are always relative, naturally from a legal perspective. Furthermore, why are you so relentless when I bring up this matter, Miss Aesphyra?” Isatia slightly raised her gaze, boldly straightening her back and using her height advantage to moderately look down at Aesphyra.

"That's just a piece of paper, an engagement. I won't be bound by it, nor will I use it to bind others. It was that way before, it is now, and it will be that way in the future." As Isatia spoke, her tone carried an undeniable pride.

“I'm simply stating its existence. Only the weak would overly concern themselves with the meaning of that paper. Truly confident strong individuals should have ample trust in themselves, both in their strength and their charm.”

“Only those who possess neither strength nor charm would believe that a piece of paper is the key to victory. If you can't even decide your own matters, what good is an agreement?” Isatia's words were both calm and filled with absolute confidence.

“Well said, Miss Isatia.” Aesphyra remained unmoved, smiling as she gently clapped her hands. “Everything depends on oneself. Only the weak lack self-confidence and thus rely on a for a sense of security. I think so too.”

Isatia silently gazed at Aesphyra, and Aesphyra also smiled back at Isatia, both their eyes reflecting each other's silhouettes and those noble violet eyes.