Uncle

"Scumbag?" Xu Yi froze, then his face darkened. "Stille, tell me what happened. If someone bullied you, just say the word. I'll find a way to get even for you!"

"You?" Stille smiled and shook her head. "You can't. His family is too powerful. There's nothing you could do to him."

"That powerful?" Xu Yi raised his eyebrows and gave a soft laugh. "Then I'll have to look into it carefully. Come on, tell me who bullied you. More importantly, did he... hurt you?"

When Stille saw his gaze sweep over her, a faint blush rose on her pale face. She shot him an annoyed look. "What are you thinking? I'm fine! Don't forget, my grandfather is a great mage. He wouldn't dare do anything to me."

"That's true." Xu Yi nodded. "So you saw what a scumbag he really is, and... got your heart broken?"

"Please! I was never dating him, all right? How could he have broken my heart?" Stille snapped.

Xu Yi laughed. "Unrequited love can break your heart too."

Seeing some life return to Stille's face, Xu Yi relaxed.

It seemed Stille had simply discovered that the man she admired was a scumbag. Her beautiful image of him had shattered, leaving her shaken.

That was common enough. Young women went through things like this all the time. As long as she hadn't been hurt, she would recover in time.

"Hmph! I can't believe you're laughing!" Stille huffed and glared at him.

Yet despite her irritation, Stille found that after talking with Xu Yi for a while, the terrible emptiness in her heart had faded. The world no longer felt as though it had collapsed around her. She felt alive again.

After a pause, Stille said seriously, "Xu Yi, you absolutely cannot tell my grandfather what I'm about to say. Understand?"

Xu Yi knew she needed someone to hear her out and help ease her pain. He nodded solemnly and waited, his full attention on her.

"That gift... I never gave it to him..."

Stille slowly told Xu Yi what had happened over the past few days.

To Xu Yi, it wasn't a particularly unusual story.

The man Stille had secretly admired was a male classmate from Lampari Royal Academy. He came from a great noble family in Anvilmar City, was handsome and charming, and had exceptional talent for magic. He was widely regarded as the academy's dream man, and many female students admired him in secret.

Stille was one of them.

Ordinarily, that would have been a simple tale of unrequited love. But Stille was a devoted young woman. Even after graduating from Lampari Royal Academy and returning to Bunta City, far from her former classmate, she couldn't stop thinking about him.

When his birthday came around, Stille asked Xu Yi to help her make an exquisite Piano Model. Then she took that heartfelt gift to Anvilmar City, intending to hand it to him at his birthday banquet and confess her feelings.

But as soon as Stille arrived in Anvilmar City, she heard devastating news: the man of her dreams was engaged!

Stille was heartbroken. Even so, she still intended to give him the gift, keep her feelings to herself, and sincerely wish him happiness.

Had the story ended there, it would have been sad, but not a bad ending.

What happened next, though, was entirely unexpected.

Stille found him at the banquet. She had planned to give him the gift, offer a few words of congratulations, and leave.

But when he saw Stille, he secretly told her that he had always liked her.

Stille was shocked and delighted, but she remembered that he was engaged and gently reminded him of it.

After a stream of sweet talk from him, however, Stille somehow believed him. She even met him in secret twice over the next two days.

"So what did the scumbag do next?" Xu Yi asked, giving her an odd look. "Don't tell me he... tried to force himself on you?"

Stille blushed. "He wouldn't dare do that. But he... he... Anyway, he's a scumbag! He's already engaged and has a fiancée, but he kept asking me for that. When I refused, he even said I didn't really like him! Hmph! Who says liking someone means I have to give him my body? Later, I overheard some classmates talking. It turned out he'd toyed with several girls at the academy and then refused to acknowledge any of them. He's been a complete scumbag all along!"

Clap, clap, clap—

Xu Yi suddenly applauded.

"Congratulations, Stille."

Stille stared at him, eyes wide. "I'm miserable, and you're congratulating me? Did you come here to comfort me or mock me?"

"No, I mean it." Xu Yi smiled. "Stille, you saw his true colors before anything worse happened. Isn't that worth celebrating? I admire how you stood your ground and kept a clear head, too. If he fooled that many girls, he must know how to charm them. It's impressive that you didn't give in to his advances."

Stille blushed slightly and gave a soft huff. "I wouldn't treat myself that cheaply."

"Well said." Xu Yi chuckled. "But Stille, now that you know he's a scumbag, why put yourself through all this and end up looking so miserable? He isn't worth it."

"I just... couldn't get past it at first," Stille muttered.

"And now? Can you?"

Stille looked at Xu Yi, then at the night outside the window. After a moment, she took an exquisite box from her backpack.

Inside, of course, was the Piano Model she had made by hand.

Stille stared at it for a while. Then she drew a deep breath and slammed her fist down.

Boom!

The exquisite Piano Model was also terribly fragile. With a low-level fire spell behind Stille's punch, it shattered instantly. Even the fragments burned away, turning to ash in a heartbeat.

"There. Now I have nothing to do with him." Stille lifted her head, her beautiful shoulder-length blond hair swaying with the motion.

In an instant, she seemed to have become the lively, pretty young woman she had been before.

Xu Yi couldn't help smiling with relief.

Stille really was strong-willed, to recover so quickly.

Then again, it also showed that she hadn't truly fallen for her so-called dream man. At most, it had been a young girl's natural admiration for someone she thought was wonderful.

That was fine. Most young women went through something like this. Coming through it this way would add to Stille's life experience and help her mature.

"Xu Yi, I'm not going back tonight."

Xu Yi had been silently admiring her resilience, but that sudden announcement nearly made him choke.

"What? You're not going back? Don't tell me you want to spend the night here." Xu Yi stared at Stille in disbelief. "Are you serious? I'm a single man. If a young woman stays the night at my place, aren't you worried what people will say? If Great Mage Camilla finds out, she'll blast me away with magic!"

"Oh, I'm not worried, so why are you?" Stille gave him a disdainful look. "You're always calling me a child. What's wrong with a child spending the night at her uncle's house? Besides, Vivian lives here too. What kind of single man has a young girl living with him? Relax. I'll sleep with Vivian and stay out of your way, Uncle." Stille stretched and headed straight for the bathroom. "I haven't bathed in days. I feel filthy. Hey, Uncle, can you lend me some clothes? I haven't had time to wash mine, and I've got nothing clean to change into."

Xu Yi could only blink helplessly as Stille walked into the bathroom as though she owned the place. Turning his head, he spotted Vivian peeking through a crack in her bedroom door and waved her over.

"Vivian, go help Stille and show her how to use our bathroom. Oh, are any of the outfits I bought you last time still unworn? Let her borrow one for now. I'll buy you a few more in a couple of days."

Vivian nodded obediently, went back to her room, and brought a set of clothes into the bathroom.

Before long, the sound of running water and Stille's cheerful singing came from inside.

Xu Yi couldn't help shaking his head.

"She doesn't sound like someone who just had her heart broken. Hmph, calling me Uncle? I'm only twenty-seven! How do I look like an uncle? Hey, Vivian, do I look like an uncle to you?"

Poor Vivian stared at Xu Yi, at a loss as to whether she should nod or shake her head.