Seeing that silver-haired elf bristling with killing intent turn around, her* sinister, icy gaze swept across every last person present. The capital garrison who’d rushed over couldn’t help swallowing hard; faces taut, nerves strung tight, the crushing pressure landed on each of their shoulders all at once.

They really were something, these capital soldiers—showing up at just the right time. When the black-clad bunch ambushed them, who knew where the patrol had wandered off to; only after everything was over did they straggle in, and then happened to catch this scene. Now things were going to get troublesome again.

Vinny walked forward anyway. He’d noticed that Shicodale wasn’t looking at anyone else—he was looking at him.

Those eyes, not yet fully calmed from the hysterical frenzy, were fixed on him—fixed on him with full, undivided attention. She* was walking toward him.

Even though he still couldn’t make sense of what exactly had happened to Shicodale just now, even though he didn’t know whether Shicodale, in this uncontrollable state, would attack him, Vinny still stepped up.

He even gestured behind his back to the capital soldiers not to move, not to meddle.

Shicodale saw Vinny coming and neither halted nor sped up. His gaze stayed slightly lowered. His eyes did not change.

Vinny wasn’t scared into retreating by that posture. He knew that even in this abnormal state, Shicodale probably wouldn’t attack him. Otherwise, why had he already entered the blast radius of Shicodale’s magic and she* was still only walking straight at him, making no other move?

Cool as he was, he still didn’t understand what Shicodale intended to do.

The distance between them closed slowly, but the air turned exquisitely delicate. Even the soldiers behind Vinny could feel it: under the “strangers keep out” aura pouring off that silver-haired elf, they all suspected Vinny might get ripped apart on the spot if he kept approaching.

“Classmate Dale, are you alright? It’s over now. You don’t have to keep this up.” When they were only a few steps apart, Vinny stopped, picked his words, and asked with concern, voice earnest and warm.

A brief spin of thought and guesswork, and Vinny found a tentative answer.

This might be Shicodale’s self-protection protocol—automatically triggered the moment a life-threatening crisis struck. Shicodale would lose all rationality and become the complete opposite of his usual self: violently aggressive, striking at anyone in reach—a berserker state used to protect himself.

After all, if he slaughtered everyone nearby, then Shicodale would be safe.

Even knowing the uncertainty of approaching Shicodale in this mode, Vinny still chose to come up.

And when he stopped, he realized Shicodale hadn’t. He kept closing until they were face to face, leaving Vinny no room even to lift a foot.

Vinny was taller, so he couldn’t see Shicodale’s expression with that slight downward tilt of the head. Just as Vinny was wondering what Shicodale would do next, Shicodale raised his eyes—those deer-bright pupils like they’d been steeped in an icy spring, seeming to freeze Vinny’s own line of sight in place.

The silver-haired elven beauty’s gaze shed a cool, aloof sheen. However well hidden, that earlier extremity of frenzy still flickered through, raising the scalp even as that soul-snaring fragrance and face hooked you in, like a gnat lured by pitcher-vine gladly flying to its death.

At his lips—perhaps no curve at all, perhaps the faintest arc you couldn’t see—there seemed to rest a smile, either disdain or mockery.

One look and Vinny understood: this was absolutely not an expression the usual Shicodale could make.

He leaned back on reflex, but before he could react, that jade-pale hand extended an index finger and climbed slowly upward, finally pressing lightly to his chest.

“?!” What was this supposed to be?

Vinny was blank. He knew Shicodale wasn’t normal right now, but the other party still wore Shicodale’s face. Doing something so utterly unlike Shicodale filled Vinny with raw dissonance.

“Don’t move.” Shicodale spoke—not the soft, dopey, next-door little brother tone of before, but a voice saturated with a cool command.

“Okay, okay, I’m not moving. I really am not moving.” Vinny knew Shicodale wasn’t right and didn’t dare jar his nerves. Who knew what Shicodale, in this mental state, might do?

He used to think Shicodale was the only fated heroine he could beat. Now it looked like, if he didn’t turn into Vanessa and he had no weapon, he might not last a few exchanges and would end up no different from those black-clad men.

“Human, trying to run?” But Shicodale didn’t buy it; Vinny’s earlier flinch had already given him away.

“N-no? Classmate Dale, what’s wrong with you? You’re really strange today. What happened just now—were you frightened too much?” Vinny forced himself, despite the flutter in his chest, to show concern for Shicodale.

“Heh.” Shicodale didn’t answer—just loosed a sudden cold laugh, eyes full of tease and taunt. “Are you really concerned about her?”

“? Huh? Concerned about her? Who? Who am I concerned about?” Vinny frowned. He didn’t quite get what Shicodale meant.

“You humans have far too many little schemes—messy, layered minds that are hard to read. And reading them is such a bother. If only I could dig all your hearts out and take a look.” Shicodale’s jade finger traced a circle over Vinny’s chest—right over his heart.

Damn it.

Vinny jolted. Just as he meant to move, Shicodale stepped in and looped an arm around his waist to stop him backing away.

“Th-this—Classmate Dale, what are you saying? That’s too violent. Even if I’ve always thought you don’t have much manly presence, you can’t # Nоvеlight # do that, right? Someone as cute and decent as you saying that kind of thing—it doesn’t fit.” Vinny’s mouth twitched.

This forceful, domineering version of Shicodale was way beyond the syllabus!

He’d never seen Shicodale with aggression like this. In his impression, Shicodale had always been the herbivore of herbivores.

“Your human false tenderness is truly amusing. You destroyed other people’s homes, and now you offer a few little favors and think I should be grateful?” Shicodale sneered. The clear deer eyes were now full of mockery.

“Uh—Classmate Dale, the ones who destroyed your home were those tribesmen, right? Not me. I hate that lot who trample others’ homelands too. I’d love to help you—but I don’t have that kind of power. You can’t lump me in with them, can you?” Vinny was helpless. Why bring this up all of a sudden?

And he was starting to hear it: the Shicodale in front of him didn’t seem to be the Shicodale he knew.

Oh hell, don’t tell me this was a split personality?

Vinny was shaken.

“Really?” Shicodale gave a cold laugh. “Humans are all the same. Don’t think I don’t know. Can you swear you went near her without any ulterior motive?”

“Uh...” That shut Vinny up.

To say he approached Shicodale without a motive—well, that wasn’t true. At the start it had been to farm Virtue, to help Shicodale.

So calling his motives impure—there really wasn’t a problem with that.

“Hit a nerve, did I?” The finger at his chest slid up to Vinny’s jaw.

Wait—what was he trying to do?

Soft, delicate sensation brushed his jaw, like warm top-grade silk stroking skin. Vinny shivered on the spot.

“Heh, that reaction really is cute.” Whether praise or mockery, who could tell.

“And to think that little fool actually trusts you so much—thinks you’re different from those other humans with dirty motives.”

“Uh—Classmate Dale, d-don’t be like this. You may be cute and pretty, but my orientation is perfectly normal. Don’t pull this. I don’t fence.” Vinny shrank back—though there was nowhere to go.

Right now Vinny felt his situation was extremely dangerous. The soldiers to the side didn’t think so; they only felt like someone was forcing their heads down to eat dog food.

“Fine, you’re an idiot too.” Shicodale lifted those seductive lids and shot Vinny a sideways look.

“Huh?”

“Don’t move.”

“Eh—eh?!” Fragrance flooded into his arms, and Vinny lost the plot entirely.

He never would have guessed: the first fated heroine to attack him turned out to be the apex herbivore type—Shicodale.

Looking at Shicodale burying his head against Vinny’s chest, Vinny felt his brain crash.

No, this can’t—

What was even happening? Wasn’t he just radiating the aura of “judging a scumbag” a moment ago? How did it turn into a hug all of a sudden?

“I said, don’t move.” Seeing Vinny still thinking of struggling, Shicodale lifted his head and looked at him deeply.

“I’m the same person as that little fool, so our senses are shared. Do you understand?”

“Ah—huh? What does that mean?” Vinny froze.

“Do you really not get it, or are you pretending?” Shicodale arched a fine brow. “Do I have to actually dig out your heart and see if it’s clean?”

“Don’t, don’t! I get it, I get it all!” Vinny caved to the circumstances—though he only half-understood.

Did he mean this persona shared emotions with Shicodale’s primary self?

In other words, affection shared?

So—is that it?

Vinny felt like it was—and like it wasn’t. If affection was shared, why did this Shicodale keep wanting to dig out his heart?

Even if he did, you wouldn’t see anything, right?

“That little fool is useless—doesn’t dare take the initiative at all.” Shicodale smiled then—faintly; what he said was anything but light. “If it were me, I’d have made a move ages ago. With humans, there’s no need to be too gentle.”

“I don’t care what purpose you had approaching her, but listen—if you ever do anything that betrays us, anything that harms us, I’ll dig out your heart.” Shicodale’s voice was soft, yet Vinny felt like he really meant it.

“O-okay, okay, Classmate Dale? I know you were scared. Let’s get back to normal, alright? Don’t do this. There are so many people watching.” Vinny tilted his head toward the soldiers.

“Oh? You think being watched means I won’t dare?” Shicodale snorted, pinched Vinny’s chin, and though he was much shorter, the aura crushed Vinny completely. “Human, are you provoking me?”

“N-no, no, that’s not what I meant!” Vinny mumbled around the grip on his chin.

At first he hadn’t known how Shicodale managed to pass the practical assessment and entrance exam. Now he had an idea.

So he’d hired a ringer too, just like Vinny!

Only his ringer wasn’t the same; Vinny’s ringer was his own main consciousness, while Shicodale’s showed up the moment a lethal threat appeared—his second personality taking the field.

“Heh. Good that you know. Human, don’t get cocky. You can fool her, but you can’t fool me. And I’m always watching you. Whatever you do, whatever you think, you can’t escape my eyes. Understand?” Shicodale pinched Vinny’s jaw and spoke coolly.

“I—I understand.” Even if he didn’t, he had to say he did.

Anyway, Vinny now knew this much: never assume any fated heroine is someone he can toy with at will.

The water ran deep here—hidden dragons and crouching tigers everywhere. Each one carried an abyss. Even the one he thought had “the least going on,” Shicodale, had a dual personality.

“Time... seems to be running out.” Shicodale tilted his head.

“Huh?”

“That little fool is about to wake up. But before I go, I have to leave something behind—otherwise this slab of cured meat will get carried off by certain prowling strays.” He looked at Vinny, eyes sly.

“At that little fool’s pace, if I don’t step in, who knows when there’ll be progress.”

“And you’re still hiding quite a few things from that little fool on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Uh—w-what are you talking about?” Before Vinny could process it, Shicodale buried his face against Vinny’s neck. A waft of fragrant hair, and then Vinny felt a sting at the side of his neck.

Shicodale lifted his head slowly. At the corner of his smiling lips was a trace of blood; his eyes were full of allure and dominance.

“Wha—?” Vinny looked down and saw a small red bite mark on the side of his neck—blood welling, mixed with a glint of crystalline saliva.

“Remember this, human. If you dare to do anything that harms us—next time won’t be just a simple bite.” With that final line, Shicodale closed his eyes and fell backward. Vinny, quick as a flash, caught him.

Holding the unconscious Shicodale, Vinny felt a little dazed. It was hard to believe what had just happened had happened to Shicodale—but he couldn’t exactly deny it. The burn of the bite on his neck kept reminding him.

Only when everything seemed to have ended did the capital soldiers, led by their officer, finally approach.

“I am Vinny, a noble of the kingdom residing in the capital of Camella. My classmate from Carillian Academy and I went out to fish earlier, and we were attacked by a group of unidentified black-clad men.” Vinny turned and began explaining the ins and outs to the soldiers.

* Shicodale is male (he/him). Lines marked with “she” reflect Vinny’s moment-by-moment read of the persona’s presentation/aura while maintaining Shicodale’s pronoun lock elsewhere.