The Villain Bought the Female Lead - Ch. 31
“Master, I came because I missed you.”
She said, gripping my clothes with both hands as if she wouldn’t let go.
Her eyes shook, and they seemed ready to spill tears at any moment.
I remained silent and listened to her continuing words.
“I understand that my feelings might be wrong, but I can’t suppress them anymore.”
—On the day you danced with Lady Erica, my heart felt like it was breaking.
—The smile you showed to Lady Erica isn’t something I can have.
—But today, I want to muster up the courage to ask you to accept me.
“Master, I earnestly ask you to accept me.”
She raised her toes.
Her petite nose, eyes, and lips seemed to come closer together.
As she drew near, she closed her eyes.
Her scent teased my nose, and her hands pulled me closer.
I was so close to her delicate skin.
Taak!
I flicked her forehead.
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
Her fragile scream tore through the air.
She slumped to the ground, breathing out cold air with magic on her forehead.
“You’re too much, Master! I truly adore you.”
“You’re still imitating Alicia after days? Naias.”
“Guess you caught me? Ugh, you’ve set everything up so nicely. But this hurts so much! Did you embed iron into your fingers or something?”
I looked down at Naias, posing as Alicia, with a perplexed expression.
Naias, with a sullen face, wiped the area that touched the floor.
“Treating a girl this rough might get you punished! I don’t know how Alicia endured this pain for so long.”
“Funny, a spirit doesn’t have a gender, right? And I was rougher with Alicia than this.”
“Yeah, I guess so. But I seem to be feeling a bit of the aftermath. Oh, really? Am I bruised? Master, please check it.”
Sometimes I needed to be that rough with Alicia.
Naias approached and displayed her forehead.
Despite having the same appearance, her different personality made her feel entirely different.
Should I give her another hit on the forehead? I considered it, but I didn’t want to waste time, so I asked.
“Why did you pull this childish stunt? It’s not a reporting day.”
“Oh? Well, you see… I’ve come to deliver good news!”
I thought she was making a fuss because of something good, but it was disappointing.
“As you can see, I’ve gotten much better at transforming into the image I want. Half of my strength has returned!”
“I already knew, didn’t you know? What’s your real reason?”
“As Alicia, I was curious about your startled reactions… oh, wait! Never mind, it’s not what I meant! Ahhhhhh!”
Naias’s style of speech was quirky, and there was usually a hidden agenda behind her behavior.
However, since I had bound her by contract with restrictions, she couldn’t lie to me. She could be evasive, but not when I pressed for a straightforward answer.
“My forehead’s going to burst!”
The grandeur of the son of an esteemed Duke faded when I faced with Naias.
The spirit Naias, bound within Alicia’s sword I gifted to her in Rubid Village, seemed different from what I envisioned. I was familiar with the sword since Liam used it in the original story and had been mentioned a few times. But Naias herself had never appeared since she was already dead by the time Liam found her.
Naias had a distinct personality I wasn’t aware of.
“Stop staying in that form.”
“… you’re so boring. It’s a beautiful lady, and you don’t even get nervous.”
“Stay as Alicia and get nervous? Yeah, that won’t happen.”
“Haha, I really like this form, though. Every time I look in the mirror, I feel amazing.”
“…….”
Anyway.
“Report. Since you’re here, cover the past three days now.”
“Sure, sure. Um… there wasn’t much. But, wow, she’s really clingy. Unless she’s in class, she doesn’t let go of me at all.”
“I’ve told you numerous times, objective actions, not subjective opinions.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve learned how to give a report.”
Naias pulled out sheets of thin parchment paper infused with mana. These sheets described activities or locations visited and actions performed.
I glanced through it quickly, but as I expected, nothing out of the ordinary stood out.
Nothing unusual. Just a strict schedule adhered to.
Naias giggled and watched my room as she hovered in mid-air.
It appeared she had found a place with a good flow of mana since she stayed in a specific area while floating.
“By the way, you’re really gentle. Quite considerate, actually. Sneaking around behind your fiancée’s back and doing this is quite impressive.”
“You make it sound like I’m ordering you to stalk her.”
“Haha, basically the same thing. You’re still watching her every move, just behind the scenes.”
Naias’s body briefly glowed with a black tattoo around her neck, and she fell to the floor as if gravity returned.
Naias, who was unable to dematerialized due to the tattoo, rubbed the fallen spot, grimacing.
“You seem to forget that you and I have a contract, Naias.”
“I know… but I want to share something. Freedom of speech, right?”
“You can speak anything if you can take responsibility for it.”
Naias was now my familiar.
A servant contract between familiar and human was different from human-human contracts and held more coercive power. This was why I preferred them.
“Alright, alright. I’ve got something to say.”
Naias finished pondering and tilted her head slightly, grinning. But even though she was smiling just like earlier, her atmosphere changed slightly.
Her smile had a hint of malice now.
“That guy. The <Goddess Church>, right?”
She continued.
“His powers weren’t magic. It was a <blessing> from the Goddess Church. Well, if it was magic, you wouldn’t have needed to ask me to investigate.”
Naias massaged her temples, blinking lazily at me.
“… but I’m curious. How did you find out that the person named Erica’s companion was from the Goddess Church without any proof? You don’t have eyes like me.”
“You’re sharp. You caught it well, even distinguishing blessings from magic.”
The Goddess Church.
A religious cult of the red beasts, the Artife.
They had faith and were driven by their beliefs. One of the main reasons they attacked was to follow the commandments of their religion, although there was also entertainment and reproduction purposes.
In other words, the Goddess Church was the unifying center and spiritual backbone for the Artife.
‘Well, believers of the Goddess Church are not only monsters.’
Although it was clearly a religion of monsters, it did not mean that there were no believers in it. Believers were spreading and operating in secret all over the world.
A representative example of their activities was the Academia tragedy that took place a year later. This was possible because the forces of the Goddess Church lurking inside found the right time to make a surprise attack and neutralized the defense system.
Other heinous actions were numerous, but I would stick with this brief description.
And, in short, they were the ultimate evil who seek to bring about the end of the world.
Their aim was to destroy the world, and my peaceful life would be disrupted if they succeeded.
The individual hovering around Erica was one of their followers. Although he was human, he was blessed by the Goddess Church and bore the blessings of the deity.
The blessings bestowed on believers differed based on personal characteristics.
The believers influenced the Artife with their command, and many have allied with these creatures in exchange for this sought-after power.
“I know they’re widespread but pinpointing them is another matter altogether. It’s challenging to catch their trail.”
So, Naias wondered how I discerned Erica’s companion was associated with the Goddess Church without any evidence.
My people were quite curious, it seemed.
I couldn’t tell her everything about my position. I didn’t even think about it.
“I can’t see it, but I can tell. If my hypothesis is right, it will be the time he makes a move.”
“Why are you spouting nonsense?”
“It’s a time to pretend to be peaceful. Plus, as you said, if I could see him, I wouldn’t be using you.”
“Ugh…. whatever! I’ve known you’re strange since the first day I met you. There must be some reason. Anyway, you’re a human with too many secrets.”
Naias laughed with a playful face like a lively boy.
She added that it was nice not to have time to be bored.
“Speaking of humans, they seem to live a tough life. That Liam male and Erica female tried to keep an eye on you, right? But then you keep an eye on them. Why make life so hard? Just overpower them with force.”
“If it were that simple, I’d have done it.”
Naias seemed to be deep in thought again, sitting cross-legged on the floor with a slightly tilted posture.
I had never told this guy anything seriously, so she probably wouldn’t come up with a solution if she thought about it with her limited brain.
“I’ll stop thinking. Anyway, you said the results would come out faster than my previous thoughts. I’ll enjoy that moment.”
As Naias said, things were flowing smoothly compared to what I had thought initially. Now, all that was left was to wait for the event to happen.
It wouldn’t be long.
He would definitely bite the bait.
And when that moment came.
Without missing a beat, I would snatch it.
—
“Got it… let’s meet for dinner tonight.”
“Yeah, let’s meet for dinner.”
That guy, Schugenhartz. What was going on with him?
The second daughter of the Portlet family.
Erica Troa Portlet couldn’t shake the question filling her mind lately.
Once a week, he suggested a meal appointment. Now in his third week, Schugenhartz moved the lunch appointment to dinner.
‘I never know what he’s thinking.’
Schugenhartz and she weren’t on good terms. Their engagement was more like a shackle for both. It was all his fault.
He disliked and pushed her away, leading to the current relationship.
Even though she disliked him as much as he disliked her, why?
‘Why is he pretending to be involved with me?’
Memories of that moment when they had to dance together came to mind.
Since then, he was preparing something.
The unpleasant whisper in her ear by Schugenhartz at that time.
“You can listen carefully, Erica. I will make the same offer around ten times. Maybe even less. It’ll be something you hate.”
“You can just refuse, but I don’t think you’ll accept. I’m saying it clearly.”
“I’m not saying you should accept. If I offer something different suddenly, just pretend to accept.”
Pretend to accept?
Why? Was he doing it to show someone?
She couldn’t figure out why he was doing this annoying act without any apparent reason.
And the glance from that ballroom and the lab.
Those eyes showed genuine concern, but she knew it was a lie.
Still, it reminded her of his old self, which she thought had forgotten
“… it’s annoying.”
She hated being used by Schugenhartz. She didn’t want to get involved, and she didn’t even want to see his face.
But the fact remained that they were engaged. Her job wasn’t difficult, and there were no disadvantages. In fact, there was benefit.
He also promised to give her ten Cattia. If he was currently holding twenty Cattia, that was half of what he owned.
He couldn’t transfer it directly, so he’d give it to her via grading matches. She doubted he’d intentionally lose some matches. If they made a deal, there was no doubt he might betray her.
“….”
But even if he was vicious, he wasn’t a coward.
Ten Cattia.
Depending on the grading, it was not a bad amount to dismiss, and he was doing it as hush money for a bit of deception.
‘What’s he plotting?’
Her job was simple.
Simply agree to the dinner appointment and don’t show up.
It was related to his benefit, but she didn’t think it would cause harm.
If she got duped here, she would have no counter against him in the future.
“Erica, you look upset. What happened?”
“Oh, Bantlow. No, nothing happened.”
Approaching the corridor, she found one of her few friends, Bantlow. Since they took a class at the same time as her, he was likely done.
He must have noticed her grim look.
“I’m worried… Erica, if you’re feeling unwell, why don’t you return to your dorm early?”
“I’m fine. I won’t skip class for something like this.”
“It worries me. If you’re really unwell, I’ll carry you.”
“You have afternoon class.”
“It’s hard to attend class, but I’m free beforehand…”
“Your offer is kind, but no.”
Since he knew her and Schugenhartz’s relationship, he wouldn’t act so conspicuously.
He only said such things as a superficial courtesy. But she didn’t understand why these warm words of courtesy resonated with her so much.
“Anyway, just let me know. As an old friend, I can do that much.”
Such a grateful friend.
Unlike some others, he accepted her rough personality. Although they had been friends for quite a while since her relationship with Vargan went sour, they had never fought with each other. He always adjusted everything to suit her.
That was what Bantlow says. No matter what, he spoke with good intentions, so she shouldn’t refuse too much. Since it was something that was unlikely to happen anyway.
“I might be a nuisance then.”
……
The face of Bantlow overlapped with the face of the guy from the past.
They didn’t look the same, and their personality wasn’t alike, but something struck her.
What if that guy hadn’t changed?
What if she was more resilient to his betrayal?
Would they be in a different place right now?
‘… no, it’s impossible.’
Come on.
She remembered the terrible things he did.
That pain in her chest was still fresh. Would he change now? A laughable idea.
He was always like this.
Erica’s aching chest pain was sneered away.
She hadn’t fully recovered from the wound that Vargan planted in her heart.