The Villainess
Translated by GXYRU
Edited by GXYRU
Surrounded by about ten girls who exuded a noble air, Noel looked up from her book to face them.
“Permission…? I sat here because it was empty,” she said.
“Of course it was empty. It’s our seat,” one of the noble girls retorted.
“But… there’s no sign or anything,” Noel replied, confused.
“Not having a sign… That’s why commoners like you don’t understand common sense. You can’t even grasp why it’s empty,” another noble girl mocked.
Noel’s face showed her lack of understanding. Two of the noble girls tried to force her to stand by grabbing her shoulders.
“Hey, stop… Ah!”
As Noel resisted, the plates on the table toppled over, staining her uniform.
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t make a scene. You were the one causing trouble,” one of the noble girls remarked.
“Yes, that’s right. Oh, how dirty… How can you stand being seen in such an unsightly state?” the noble girls jeered, further mocking her.
Unable to tolerate the situation any longer, I intervened abruptly, drawing the attention of the noble girls.
“A-Arius-sama…”
Well, Arius, one of the capture targets, is famous, after all. The other students are also paying attention, but that doesn’t matter.
Ignoring the noble girls, I approached Noel.
“Arius-kun…”
“Noel, can’t you read the atmosphere a little?”
When I activated the magic spell “Purify,” Noel’s uniform returned to its original clean state.
The commotion among the surrounding students was due to the incantation-less casting. It’s rare for students at the academy to be able to cast magic without incantations.
“Arius-kun, thank you. But I wasn’t at fault…”
“Yeah, I know.”
I glanced at the noble girls.
“At the academy, social status shouldn’t matter, and everyone should be free to sit wherever they want. It’s those who impose arbitrary rules that are at fault.”
The noble girls didn’t retort because the Gilbert family has a higher rank than theirs.
I don’t really care about rank, but if they want to bind themselves with arbitrary rules, that’s their choice.
The noble girls sought salvation from the girl at their center, attracting their attention. She had long milky-beige hair and emerald eyes. She stood out from the ordinary girls and was considered a beautiful and popular young lady. Her name was Sofia Viktorino, the daughter of the Viktorino Duke, one of the three major ducal families, and Erik’s fiancée.
I had met Sofia at social events when we were children. However, unlike Erik, I only greeted her a few times. She wasn’t Erik’s fiancée back then, and our parents introduced us as children of prominent aristocratic families.
But I had observed Sofia since childhood. Not because she was a beauty, but because she was the rival of the protagonist in “Love Academy.” In other words, she was the so-called villainess.
However, the real Sofia was slightly different from the game’s image. She had been obedient and cute as a child. Well, I thought she was still a child at the time.
Even now, amidst the noble girls surrounding Noel, Sofia was the only one who looked uncomfortable. It seemed like she was forcing herself to go along with them.
“Arius-sama, as a noble, surely you understand. While it’s true that social status shouldn’t matter, there are implicit rules that exist. It’s common sense at the academy to follow the rules. I believe she is at fault for ignoring them,” Sofia declared firmly.
But she was clearly forcing herself
. Despite being of lower rank than the Gilbert family, she still maintained a respectful tone towards me.
Well, I can guess the reason. The girls around her belong to the Viktorino Duke faction, and as the daughter of the faction’s leader, Sofia has a duty to protect them. Even if she personally believes that they are at fault.
It’s not that I don’t understand the noble society; I just dislike it because it’s bothersome. Speaking of which, my childhood friend told me that Sofia actually has a good side, hidden beneath her exterior.
“The implicit rules may be understood, but this is going too far. Sofia, isn’t it your responsibility to stop them?” I said, brusquely.
Sofia was about to protest, but before she could, I approached her and whispered in her ear.
“Hey, Sofia. Deep down, you feel the same way, don’t you? There’s no need to force yourself to do something you don’t want to, you know,” I said, maintaining a distance that made it difficult to breathe. The girls with romantic inclinations let out squeals of excitement.
Sofia knew that it wasn’t something befitting the fiancée of the first prince. However, she had to deny it because otherwise, others would hear her. With a sharp sound, Sofia slapped my cheek with all her might, leaving her face bright red.
Dodging it would have been easy, but I didn’t. Because if I did, Sofia would lose her position.
“What… Arius-sama, what are you doing!”
“Ah, sorry. I was just completely captivated by your face.”
Of course, that was a lie. After all, this is the world of an otome game. Saying something like this shouldn’t be a problem.
Sofia’s face turned even redder, and the yellow voices of the girls and jealous glares from the boys resurfaced. But I ignored them all and grabbed Noel’s arm, pulling her out of the circle of noble girls.
Since I stood out more, the matter concerning Noel would likely be left unresolved. Besides, we were the ones who retreated, so the reputation of the noble girls wouldn’t be tarnished.
Honestly… this is why dealing with nobles is such a hassle.
“A-Arius-kun…”
“Noel, let go of the lunch idea. I’ll treat you to something later.”
“N-No, that’s not it… Y-Your hand…”
Come to think of it, I was still holding onto Noel’s hand. But why is her face turning red?
“Ah, sorry. Did it hurt?”
“W-Well, it didn’t hurt, but… suddenly holding hands like that is embarrassing…”
I couldn’t quite catch the last part of her sentence as her voice was barely audible, but if it didn’t hurt, then there shouldn’t be a problem.
The gasses around us were annoying, so let’s just leave for now.
“Noel, I’ll clean up the dishes. Wait here for a moment.”
The noble girls had already asked the staff to clean up Noel’s dishes. I don’t like relying on others, so I quickly took care of it myself.
I led Noel to the courtyard. In this boarding school, it’s not common to eat lunch in the courtyard, so there weren’t many people around.
I sat on a bench and took out bread and a drink from my ‘Storage’ and offered them to Noel.
It seems like Noel was surprised by the sudden appearance of bread from the ‘Storage’. Perhaps she hasn’t seen it before.
There are warm dishes in the ‘Storage’ too, but both Noel and I had already eaten part of our lunch, so this should be enough.
“If you want dessert, let me know. I have ice cream.”
“Really? In that case, I’d like to have some.”
Girls have a weakness for sweets, after all. I took out a plate with ice cream and a spoon from the ‘Storage’.
“Um… um, Arius-kun. Thank you for helping me earlier.”
“No problem. I did it on my own because I was annoyed. But more importantly, if we don’t eat quickly, lunch break will be over.”
“R-Right… the ice cream is delicious.”
For some reason, Noel’s face turns red again. Is it that hot today… Nah, just kidding. I’m not that oblivious. But considering my age from my past life, which is 40, I wouldn’t make any misunderstandings. Noel is embarrassed because Arius is handsome
, not because of me. I know that much.
※ ※ ※ ※
Arius Gilbert, 15 years old
Level: ????
HP: ????
MP: ????
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