How Could the Villainous Young Master Be a Saintess?-Chapter 442 - 4 : Milian Under the Tree

Isatia guided him through problems, offering hints when he completely lost his train of thought, leading him step by step until he finished solving them. Meanwhile, Mirexia sat across from the two, occupied with her own work, occasionally lifting her gaze to glance at them before burying her head back into her tasks.

During this time, Isatia refrained from making any similar advances, and thus, the tutoring session ended in an awkward atmosphere.

In the days that followed, Winnie frequently sought out Isatia for tutoring. Forgotten knowledge was gradually recalled, and with Isatia's help, Winnie's academic progress improved significantly.

Soon, the long-awaited first day of school arrived. It seemed that the Mount Kamov incident had been more or less resolved by Carillian Academy, after all, the academy couldn't remain closed indefinitely.

In the morning, Winnie neatly put on his uniform and tied his tie. He examined himself in the mirror, giving himself a symbolic compliment, "This young master is still as handsome as ever," then walked out of his room, went downstairs to eat the breakfast Shikondell had prepared for him, and headed out with Shikondell, bag in hand, toward the lecture hall.

"By the way, Dell, we've been suspended for a while. You haven't forgotten what we studied recently, have you?" Winnie asked about their way to school.

"Eh? No, not really. I think I still remember most of it," Shikondell pondered.

Her academic performance had always been excellent. The only downside is that she wasn't good at explaining things, otherwise, Winnie would've had her tutor him. It would've been convenient and hassle-free.

Plus, compared to Isatia, she lacked a certain... excitement.

Ah, no, no, no, excitement wasn't a good thing, right??

Somehow, whether intentionally or not, whenever Winnie grew drowsy and couldn't focus during Isatia's tutoring sessions, she would lean close, speaking softly into his ear while gently breathing warm air, immediately jolting him awake.

Once, those black-stockinged legs even brushed against his thigh, rubbing against him for a few moments.

Cough! Maybe a little excitement wasn't such a bad thing after all.~

Ah, no, no, no! What was he thinking? How could he have such thoughts??

"Winnie? You... okay?" Shikondell asked, puzzled, noting that Winnie, walking beside her, had an unnoticeable flush on his cheeks. She held her bag with both hands, confused.

"Ah, nothing, nothing. I just meant, if there's anything you don't understand or forgot, you can ask me. I'll help you review," Winnie shook his head and said.

"Eh? Okay, thanks, Winnie," Shikondell replied, surprised. In her memory, Winnie's test scores had never been good, he usually sought help from others. Why was he suddenly offering to tutor someone?

As they walked, they passed beneath a large tree in a campus park.

This giant tree, located at a fork in the path, was part of their daily commute. They passed it every morning on their way to school and often saw it while wandering the campus.

When he first arrived at the academy, Winnie had marveled at the tree's lush, towering presence. Now, after seeing it so often, it no longer seems special. But today, someone they both recognized stood beneath it.

"Huh??" Winnie's expression turned slightly astonished as he realized who stood beneath the tree.

Her? What was she doing here?

Beside him, Shikondell also recognized the girl standing under the tree, her back turned towards them, gazing blankly at the giant tree.

"Milian?" Shikondell called out, her expression strange.

"…" The figure didn't turn around, as if she hadn't heard Shikondell at all. She continued staring at the massive tree, silent and entranced, her golden high ponytail swaying gently in the wind. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Winnie found the golden-haired elf girl's reaction strange. Normally, when Shikondell called her, this little golden-haired brat would be thrilled.

Seeing that Milian was acting abnormally, Winnie stepped forward, glancing at her from the side. He noticed her eyes were unfocused, fixed on the towering tree, muttering softly, too softly to make out the words.

Was she bewitched or something??

Winnie had no idea what was wrong with Milian, but she certainly looked like she was in a trance.

He frowned and waved his hand in front of her face.

Almost immediately, she reacted. Milian's eyes slowly regained focus, shifting from the tree to Winnie's hand, then to his face.

"I-It's you? What do you want??" Upon seeing Winnie, Milian seemed to come back to life, her expression shifting. Ever since the incident with Shikondell, her attitude toward Winnie has noticeably improved.

"Wow, that's harsh, Milian. What kind of tone is that? I was kindly checking if someone kept spacing out like that, they'd be late for the class and end up being punished with detention. I came to warn you, and now I'm getting questioned? No good deed goes unpunished," Winnie teased.

"Class? Oh, right." Reminded by Winnie, Milian seemed to just now remember. She turned around and saw Shikondell.

"Dell, you're here too?"

"Yeah, I always go to class with Winnie," Shikondell nodded.

"...Right." After confirming Shikondell was fine and acting normally, Milian glanced at Winnie beside her. In her memory, the two always entered the classroom together, they lived under the same roof, after all.

"What were you spacing out for? Staring at this tree like that, what's so special about it?" Winnie asked curiously, glancing at the tree Milian had been fixed on.

Honestly, apart from noting the tree was clearly very old, he couldn't see anything remarkable about it.

"...This tree is very old. Even by elven standards," Milian replied seriously, unusually so.

"Milian, how about telling us something we don't already know?" Winnie pouted.

"Its lifespan is coming to an end," Milian continued.

"Huh??" Winnie froze, looking at the towering tree, its branches lush and green. "You're saying it's about to die? No way. It looks perfectly healthy to me."

Milian didn't answer, only giving Winnie a look that said, "Believe it or not," before turning away. "Dell, let's go. We'll be late for class."

"Trying to steal the spotlight, huh?" Winnie shot Milian a sidelong glance. "Alright, let's go, Dell. Time's getting short."

"Okay." The three walked to school together. Throughout the journey, Milian, the noisy little brat, was usually unusually quiet. Normally, she'd be arguing with Winnie or teasing Shikondell relentlessly. Today, however, she seemed preoccupied, her attention clearly elsewhere.

Shikondell naturally noticed this too. Elves were highly sensitive to emotional shifts. She glanced at Milian's expression, then looked away.

They soon arrived at the classroom. As they stepped inside, the class bell rang. Winnie scanned the room, roughly counting that no one seemed to be missing.

Isatia still preferred sitting by the window, letting golden sunlight spill over her long, dark hair, casting a shimmering layer of gold.

Aesphyra's seat remained random, she didn't care where she sat. When she noticed Winnie's gaze lingering on her, she returned a warm, smiling look.

Winnie turned away and took an empty seat towards the back. Shikondell, as always, sat beside him as his desk partner. Milian also chose a seat in the back.

Right after the three entered, the teacher walked in, carrying his lesson plan. After scanning the students, he pushed up his glasses. "I'm very glad and relieved to see that none of you are late today. I wouldn't want to think that any of my students might never attend my class again. Although my lectures may not be particularly exciting, I hope you all continue to show up, until you graduate safely."

"As you've seen, recent times have been rather turbulent, not just here at Carillian Academy, but across the land, various incidents have been occurring, most of which remain unknown to us." After a brief pause, the stern, meticulously dressed old man continued.

"I don't wish to say anything ominous, but since you're all my students, I have a duty to warn you. Remember, history can reveal the rise and fall of civilizations, and even glimpse the future."

"I've studied history for many years. Although I haven't achieved much, based on recent events, it seems the continent of Terraria is teetering on the brink of collapse." The history professor leaned on his cane. "I can say with certainty that, historically speaking, what's happening now resembles the early omens before great catastrophes."

"Of course, you're free to dismiss this as the ramblings of an old fool. But I urge you all to remain cautious. Staying alert and vigilant can never hurt. In the face of history's wheel, we are but mere specks of dust."

"Alright, that's enough said. I also hope none of you have fallen behind during your break."

With that, the history teacher opened his textbook and began class. How many actually listened was anyone's guess.

But Winnie did.

Honestly, he had a similar feeling, something big was coming.

No, he didn't even need intuition for that.

Winnie glanced at Aesphyra.

The chosen heroine of fate, along with several other fated heroines, were all here. With them around, wouldn't big events keep happening nonstop?

If nothing huge happened, why send down several fated heroines in the first place?

Too small. Way too small. Talking about Terraria being in turmoil? That's still too narrow-minded. What's coming might be even bigger than that.

Not to mention, the Church of Radiance was a serious danger. That so-called core of humanity was filled entirely with demons and monsters. Just that fact alone meant disaster was inevitable.

Back when the Radiance Saintess was still around, though you couldn't guarantee every member of the church was virtuous, at least no priest, from the lowest pastor to the Pope, dared commit evil openly. They certainly wouldn't do it in front of the Saintess. Their misconduct had to be done in secret, and even then, they couldn't go too far, doing so would be outright suicide. They were limited to minor evils like bribery.

They knew the risks were enormous. If the Saintess or her trusted aides discover their deeds and launch a secret investigation, they'd be ruined. If they commit major crimes, they'd end up on the execution block. During the era of Saintess Frey, they didn't even need to wait for execution, once guilt was confirmed, they'd instantly experience the Saintess's warhammer skull-crushing service.

Under such powerful deterrence, very few priests dared to commit evil. If caught, within half an hour, the Holy Radiance Cross Knights will be knocking at their door.

After all, the Saintess truly held military power. The Holy Radiance Cross Knights answered only to her, obeyed only her commands. At her word, an entire regiment will arrive to deal with them.

Now? Now, things were uncertain. They might not even need to pretend anymore.

Soon, the day's classes end.

Good news: tomorrow's classes will be followed by the weekend.

Bad news: next week, every subject will have an exam to assess everyone's level.

Yes, adjustments had been made, but exams still had to happen. In this regard, Carillian Academy students were no different from Winnie's former classmates on Earth. Upon hearing about the upcoming tests, everyone wore bitter, miserable expressions, each one more miserable than the last.

From this, it was clear none of them had studied during the break. They'd all been relaxing, completely unwound after returning from that terrifying, high-pressure, dangerous environment to the safety of campus. Everyone was mentally drained and just wanted to collapse.

"Ugh! Another test? I'm gonna get roasted to a crisp! We just had a few days off, and already they're testing us?? No preparation at all??" During the weekend, Fred slammed at the card table, his face twisted in agony.

"Winnie, man, what should we do??" Fred wailed.

As soon as he said it, everyone's mood soured. Among card players, anyone who mentioned exams would darken the room's atmosphere. After all, not a single person present had decent grades.

What the hell? Everyone was trying to enjoy themselves despite their struggles, and you go and bring up the damn exam? Want to ruin everyone's mood?

But Winnie alone remained calm, smoothly playing his card. "So we have a test. What's to fear? Fred, calm down. Stop screaming like a madman every time there's an exam. It's so immature."

"Huh??" Fred immediately lifted his head, scrutinizing Winnie. "Something's off. This is very off! Winnie, why aren't you panicking at all??"