By Milian’s account, Vinny more or less understood. Inner demons were a terrifying thing for elves—serious enough to destroy an elf completely.

To put it plainly, an inner demon was psychological trauma. Everyone had trauma. Everyone accumulated trauma. But elves were different—if their trauma grew too heavy, it could make them sink into melancholy until, in the end, their hearts shattered and they died.

Dale had witnessed her country torn into pieces beneath foreign iron hooves. Her kin bled and fell without end. The land once blessed by the Mother of Earth, once peaceful, was filled with drifting ash and warfire. Prosperity collapsed. Everywhere was ruin and scars.

Her home was burned down by the invading barbarians in a single blaze. Her family—her people—were cruelly slaughtered by the tribal men to protect her, right in front of her.

And beyond that, perhaps what happened back then was far more horrifying and despairing than anyone imagined—so much so that it robbed her of the courage and hope to keep living.

The reason she was still barely clinging on, dragging herself forward, was probably only her father’s words—“Live well, my child”—and the conviction to liberate her kin and rebuild the Moon Elf kingdom.

That burden, one she almost certainly could not complete, crushed down on Dale until she couldn’t breathe. In truth, she always had nightmares because of it—waking in the middle of the night after dreaming of her people being slaughtered and enslaved, dreaming of tribal butchers hunting her like mad, and jolting awake from sleep.

She never told anyone any of this. She didn’t want to pass negative emotions to anyone—especially not to people close to her, making them worry.

Dale had always known she was trapped on a lonely island, and as the tide rose, that island’s land was shrinking at a terrifying speed. Her space to survive grew smaller and smaller until, in the end, she would lose even the ground beneath her feet.

“Humans don’t know how to treat elves—especially with inner demons. In the end, we’re two different races.” Milian said. “She already had the root of the illness a long time ago. This accident only worsened it, until she couldn’t bear the weight anymore.”

“So the real reason student Dale can’t wake up... is ultimately her heart?” Vinny asked.

“Yes.” Milian seemed helpless about it too. Maybe she also desperately wanted someone she could talk to—so even with Vinny, someone she’d never really liked, she was willing to speak and reveal more.

“Student Milian, I’ve been thinking. The reason you’re always pushing me away, not wanting to see me and student Dale always together... is it also because of this?” Vinny asked.

“Humans will only bring her more shadows.” Milian answered indirectly.

“The Church of the Dawn’s nuns and priests can’t heal her.” Milian’s hands on her lap clenched slightly.

“Then what do you want to do?” Vinny glanced at Milian.

“I want to take her back to the Elven Forest. My sister—the current Elf Queen—might have a way to save her. After all, most of the elves’ sacred relics are kept in the Elven Forest.”

“Even if the results are minimal, it’s still better than letting her stay in an environment full of humans.” Milian said heavily. “The shadow humans cast over her is far too heavy.”

“The Elf Queen?” Vinny’s brows tightened. Milian’s older sister—the current Golden Elf Queen—was also one of the original story’s Destiny Heroines. For reasons no one knew, she seemed to carry hostility toward Vinny. She truly hated him.

“Do you think right now... student Dale would be willing to go to the Elven Forest?”

“Why wouldn’t she? It’s all her own kind there. I’m doing it to save her. And compared to humans, elves obviously understand elves better, and care more about a fellow elven princess who’s fallen into disaster and lost her home.” Milian said as if it were only natural.

“Even if Golden Elves and Moon Elves have lived separately for hundreds of years, we still recognize each other as kin—unlike you humans, always turning on each other in the same room.”

Vinny glanced at Milian.

No wonder Golden Elves also had another name: High Elves. That arrogance leaking out of their bones wasn’t fake. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Or rather, perhaps pride and purity were simply the base colors of elves.

“Student Milian, do you know why student Dale doesn’t like you—doesn’t like you people?” Vinny didn’t offer his own judgment. He only spoke slowly.

“Of course it’s because back then we failed to help the Moon Elves. I already said it—yes, we were too selfish. But in the end, this is an internal elf matter. It has nothing to do with outsiders.” Milian said, convinced she understood.

“No. That’s not the biggest reason, student Milian.” Vinny shook his head.

“? Then what do you think it is?” Milian frowned, not understanding.

“Because you don’t understand her at all.” Vinny said softly.

“? We don’t understand her? Then who understands her better? You humans?” Milian clearly didn’t accept Vinny’s answer.

[Virtue +20]

[Current Virtue: 8034]

“No, student Milian—you misunderstood what I meant. Your thinking is too extreme. You judge everything by race. I never meant a race issue. I mean the issue of how each person’s experiences shape their personality and position.” Vinny explained at length.

“People of different races and cultures can still understand each other because they’ve lived through the same circumstances. On the other hand, even people of the same race and culture—if their circumstances are wildly different—still can’t understand each other. Do you understand what I mean?”

“You think because you’re student Dale’s childhood friend, because you’re her kin, you automatically understand her. Then you ‘give’ her things she doesn’t want at all—things she even despises. Do you think she’ll give you a good face for that?” Vinny said.

[Virtue +20]

[Current Virtue: 8054]

“Give? We never meant it as giving.” Milian said in surprise.

“But in other people’s eyes, you do.” Vinny shot back. “Like just now, student Milian—when you were speaking to me earlier, did you feel your own arrogance?”

“No, right? You can’t even feel that lofty, above-everyone tone in your own voice, can you?” Vinny looked at Milian seriously. “No wonder [N O V E L I G H T] people call you High Elves. Just in terms of presence when you talk—you really are ‘high.’”

“...” Milian didn’t speak. Only after a moment did she say, “Then do you understand her??”

“I don’t know. But as an observer—do you know what kind of feeling you give me?”

“What?”

“If I remember correctly, you elves have an agreement. No matter which side gets attacked, the other side has to help, because everyone is a child of the Mother of Earth, the Mother of Forest.”

“Back then, when the Moon Elves needed you the most, you stood by and watched. It wasn’t until student Dale escaped on her own with her kin covering for her that you found out the Moon Elf royal line still had a survivor. Before that, hadn’t you already assumed the Moon Elves were completely gone?”

“I know you might have your own unspeakable reasons. But now everything is over. It’s all finished. And then you suddenly show up and tell student Dale, ‘Your home is gone, but it’s fine. We can give you a home, because we’re kin, right?’” Vinny paused.

“Either help decisively, or don’t help at all. The thing that feels the most hypocritical is when you don’t want to help, but still want to look like you’re helping—like you’re supporting her.”

“I’m serious. If it’s just your conscience bothering you, then you really don’t need to do this. And don’t bring up the tribes anymore either. That’s just ripping open wounds.”

“Alright—maybe what I just said is a little morally coercive. It’s normal that you couldn’t help if you needed to protect yourselves. But do you truly understand student Dale?” Vinny continued.

“Why wouldn’t I understand her?”

“From where would you understand?” Vinny laughed.

“I know everything that happened to student Dale from childhood to now. Doesn’t that count as understanding??”

“That counts as understanding? Student Milian, your ‘understanding’ is far too shallow.” Vinny shook his head.

“What did you say??”

“Student Milian—have you ever experienced a person’s world turning upside down? The gap between being a greenhouse princess showered with love, and then ending up on the streets, waking and sleeping in insecurity—freezing, starving, not even able to eat a full meal?”

“Have you ever experienced the most desperate moment where no one cares, no one notices, no one helps—and your future looks even shorter than a pitch-black road?”

“That feeling where the only person on your side in this world is yourself, where almost everyone else seems to carry malice toward you, like the whole world is rejecting you and trying to grind you to death—but you still have to claw your way to live... have you experienced that?”

“No more fantasies. You fall asleep and the greatest luxury and luck is just seeing the sun the next day.” Vinny’s tone rose and fell with emphasis.

Milian was left speechless by Vinny’s barrage of questions.

[Virtue +50]

[Current Virtue: 8104]

“Ah—my mistake. Asking you these things really is putting you on the spot, Princess.” Vinny tilted his head. “You probably don’t even know what hunger feels like, do you?”

“That feeling is unbearable. You can’t endure it. It strips a person’s dignity completely clean. Anything you can put in your mouth—you’ll grab it and shove it in, even roadside trash, even roots in the dirt.”

“You... you understand that stuff, then??...” Milian pressed her lips together, unwillingly trying to refute him on instinct—then she crashed into Vinny’s eyes, full of smiling amusement, and remembered something. She went silent at once, not saying a word.

“Looks like student Milian, you should understand a little now why student Dale would rather stay with me, an outsider, than stay with you, her kin.” Vinny suddenly chuckled.

“And go back with you—go back there for what? To go there and be displayed like some rare animal, to tell those Golden Elves, ‘This is what happens when a country falls’?? And then have every Golden Elf who sees her say a few meaningless lines like ‘my condolences,’ ‘may the Mother of Earth bless you, child,’ and so on?”

“Is that what she needs most right now—your nonsense and your concern??” Vinny said coldly. “To be honest, expecting you Golden Elves to help her restore her country is worse than expecting this young master to do it. At least if I actually had the ability, I’d kick the tribes back to their homeland and rescue those Moon Elves. I wouldn’t be like you—facing suffering kin and only offering symbolic pity, spewing empty words so your conscience feels a little cleaner.”

“Student Milian, honestly, the funniest thing is what you said when you met student Dale again—‘If you didn’t have money you should’ve said so earlier. Why didn’t you look for us Golden Elves?’” Vinny’s tone gradually calmed.

“Before that, student Dale had already been wandering for who knows how long. Starving for who knows how long. Enduring who knows how long in a world without light. You didn’t even search for her with your hearts. And then when you happen to run into her wandering, you ask, ‘If you needed help, why didn’t you come find us?’”

“You expect her—a fallen princess who couldn’t even find the road after leaving home—to go find you??”

“Even if she really found you, then what? Would you truly help her? If you wanted to help, you would’ve helped long ago, wouldn’t you?? The Moon Elves were always waiting for allied reinforcements from their kin!!”

“...” Milian was completely beaten silent by Vinny’s words. Shame flooded her. She couldn’t say a single word.

[Virtue +200]

[Current Virtue: 8304]

This was probably the highest Virtue Milian had ever contributed to Vinny, but right now Vinny didn’t care about any of that.

“People who know think you’re hypocrites—betrayers of your kin. People who don’t know think you’re ‘giving’ to her, like you ran into a stray dog and tossed it leftovers. Did you ever truly treat her as kin??”

“...”

[Virtue +100]

[Current Virtue: 8404]

“Alright, student Milian. To be honest, I don’t think you ‘kin’ can help her, and I don’t think you truly want to help her.” Vinny drew a deep breath. “So I can’t hand her over to you.”

“I know we have big problems, but if you keep entangling yourself in this issue, Dale’s life will be in danger.” Milian clenched her small pink fists.

“Don’t worry. If she’s in danger, the first one who won’t allow it is the Camella royal capital’s infamous young scoundrel.” Vinny stood up, looking down at Milian. “Unlike you, my feelings for her are sincere. They’re genuine.”

“You can choose not to save your kin. But I’m going to save my friend—my roommate.” Vinny stared into Milian’s olivine gemstone eyes, each word deliberate.

“You... can you save her?” Milian finally forced out with difficulty. “You don’t understand elves.”

“I don’t understand elves. But I understand her.” Vinny looked at Milian and said seriously. “Better than all of you do.”

“When it comes to her safety, you’ll worry about your own survival. But I’m different.”

“Even if it means risking my life, I will save her.” Vinny said without the slightest wavering. “That’s the difference between me and you.”

“...What are you planning to do to save her?” Milian’s tightly clenched hand finally loosened.

“One night.” Vinny said, then looked at Milian. “Just give me one night—that’s enough.”