There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel – Chapter 21

Author: nicotine

“Now, you two are not going to listen if I tell you to fight amongst yourselves, are you? Then be spectators. It’s the top student versus the second-top student!”

The principal, finding this amusing, made the stage even bigger. Suddenly, the two of them were left to fight alone in the vast athletic field. News of this must have spread, as the classroom windows of the main building slid open with a drrrk tak, and a voice loudly echoed, “The first-year top and second-top students are fighting!” Then, the windows of other classrooms also began to open. It seemed like someone from somewhere had shouted, “It’s a lovers’ quarrel!”

Fucking… damn it all… I wanted to swear, but Cassis de Millang was not the type of person to do so…….

‘Since it has come to this, I can’t lose.’

I will be pushed back from now on, anyway. The protagonist and Cassis have different depths of talent.

Therefore, right now, when Ryuseong has not yet broken his prejudice against the famous figure ‘Cassis de Millang’ and has not prepared a response to blood magic, I must end this quickly.

‘Let’s win, just this once!’

Having made my resolve, I confirmed that the faculty had cast a wide, semi-circular barrier around us. Then, I arrogantly beckoned with my fingertips toward Ryuseong, who had drawn his sword.

“Come at me.”

“Three moves, you’re not going to grant me that, are you?”

“Of course not. As if I would be so reckless.”

Before I could even finish saying would I, a sword came flying. It was so fast, it was as if space itself had been folded.

But it was a feint. I did not avoid the trajectory of that thrust, which was meant to deceive the eyes.

Ryuseong, without batting an eye, slashed at me.

—!

A gruesome pain surged from my shoulder to the nape of my neck.

That’s right, I can’t use the same method I used when I fought the principal. I can’t expect him to back off out of fear that he might hurt me.

The principal was in a position overwhelmingly superior to mine, but Ryuseong is a fellow cadet, so I cannot expect mercy.

However, when I fought the principal, I did not use blood magic, and this is his first time facing a blood mage.

—When you meet a blood mage, either kill them in one blow, or never injure them at all.

Since you failed to kill me, your defeat was all but decided.

In that instant, my splattered blood flew like a flash of lightning and formed a noose around Ryuseong’s neck. It was a scene that made it look as if the blood I had shed was flowing from him. Ryuseong seemed momentarily flustered, but upon seeing me holding the blood-red leash with my white fingers, he imbued his sword with a piercing blue energy and severed the knot of the leash connecting us.

But it was already over.

“Stop!”

BOOM—!

As the principal stomped his foot, a white light so bright it made my eyes sting swept past us, completely evaporating both the blood I was manipulating and the sword energy Ryuseong was emitting.

“Why is it over already!?”

The cadets from the martial clans, who had grasped the situation late, protested in a clamor. Their main argument was that since the first wound was deep, Ryuseong would have won if the fight had continued a little longer.

But that was spoken from ignorance. The principal was also asking Ryuseong directly.

“Ryuseong! Do you admit defeat?”

“…I admit it.”

Sighs of lament erupted from the mouths of the martial clan cadets, but Ryuseong continued to speak.

“It was my misstep not to have analyzed the form of the blood magic.”

Correct.

“If he had converted the properties of the blood he put on my neck to fire, or electricity, or even just wind, I would have died instantly.”

Correct.

“Next time, I will thoroughly analyze my opponent so that something like this does not happen again.”

It was a perfect answer that would even earn him extra points.

“Then, may I now take de Millang to the nurse’s office?”

But his last remark was utter nonsense. I, who had been blinking at his fast and precise pronunciation, felt my mind go dizzy at the last sentence. The principal also seemed stunned, as his voice trembled strangely.

“Uh, uh…, go ahead.”

Just as I realized his voice was tinged with amusement and I was getting pissed off, I staggered slightly. At that moment, Ryuseong swept me up into his arms.

At that, gasps erupted from the surroundings…….

‘…I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that.’

No, seriously, why is this shit happening even when I win? I was so mortified that I ended up burying my face in my hands. I wanted to escape from Earth right then and there…….

“…Please put me down now. I can walk.”

“……”

“Can you not hear me? I have potions on me right now. I don’t necessarily have to go to the nurse’s office….”

“There’s no need to stay on the athletic field either.”

“Well, that is true, but….”

As Ryuseong looked down at me and clicked his tongue, I felt like the most pathetic person in the world. In the end, I had no choice but to be carried by him through the long, long corridor. Even though the bleeding had almost stopped.

When we arrived in front of the nurse’s office, we were once again met with a “No Entry” sign. It was at a point where I wondered why the school nurse was even getting paid, but in any case, Ryuseong, whose hands were occupied from carrying me in a princess carry, simply kicked the nurse’s office door open.

BANG!

Just as the powerful kick made me wonder if I could report Ryuseong for destruction of property, he gently laid me down on a bed.

Then, once again, he naturally rummaged through the drawers of the nurse’s office, picked up about a dozen silver potions, and was about to throw them at me.

Does this constitute theft?

But the potions he stole were coming to me. We were now accomplices. So, I decided to play the part of a pitiful victim.

“I’m in pain right now, so please be nice to me….”

At those words, Ryuseong froze as if he had been stunned. He stayed like that for a long while, and only when I let out a pained groan did he slowly walk over to me.

And just as he was about to hand me a potion with his deep, unreadable eyes, I snatched his wrist. Then, I twisted and pressed it down.

CRASH!

A few potions fell to the floor, making the sound of breaking glass. A few others rolled onto the bedsheets. You did not resist. You simply accepted my touch as it was.

So, I grabbed you by the collar, straddled you, and pathetically, or perhaps deceitfully.

“Now that is a face I like.”

I smiled. Unable to contain my satisfaction.

After a long, long wait, Ryuseong was finally looking up at me with a face that revealed his desire without reserve.

Ryuseong thought.

You, were you like this before?

Did you act this way toward the person you shared a room with even before the regression?

He pondered, to a depth that Cassis de Millang would never recognize.

Back then, just like now, with gentle gestures as if you would give both your body and soul, and with cunning, cold eyes.

Did you package a heart that had no intention of loving at all in sweet words and offer it as if it were love?

Did you present yourself, a being of pure poison, for me to swallow whole?

If so, how is your seduction any different from that of a treacherous serpent?

How is the heart you offer any different from the fruit of knowledge?

‘You have no intention of loving anything in this world anyway.’

It is loathsome. Yet, the words that you will give yourself are terribly sweet. Even knowing that the words saying it is fine to ruin you are nothing more than a formality, I am helplessly… moved.

When our skin brushes, a maddeningly cool chill scratches at my heart, and the veins on the back of my hand bulge. Even when I try not to apply force, I cannot release my grip that crumples the sheets. It feels as if I would break you if I let go.

Should I be more specific?

I want to see you broken. I want to ruin you. That is my true feeling.

Why are you, who reveals your baseness to its very depths, so beautiful alone?

‘You, who are as cunning as a serpent, why.’

Why are you so brilliantly loathsome…?

“Do you like my face?”

“Yes, very much.”

The hand that pats my cheek as if to say I am praiseworthy, the smile that seems to be praising me for revealing my desire.

“Do you want me?”

“Is there a need to say more? I want to preserve it in taxidermy.”

The soft, whispering voice is chilling. But Ryuseong considered himself even more horrifying.

If you are the fetus of the monster that will destroy the world.

‘I must be the one who seeks to couple with a monster.’

A completely insane human, that is what he is.

You do not know what he has sacrificed. You do not know in the slightest the screams he must endure by keeping you alive. The fact that he did not kill Cassis de Millang means he has bet the fate of the world on you.

You do not know the agony he went through to decide that even though you were once the one who destroyed the world, you are not yet guilty. Cassis de Millang owes Ryuseong a debt. But it is not something that can be claimed from the you of now.

Ryuseong knows.

He knows, with a miserable clarity.

‘That is a time that has vanished.’

The time Ryuseong lived through has already disappeared. The world was not destroyed, and the you of now is without sin.

And yet, he had lost so much.

The mere fact that he has kept you, the one who will destroy the world, alive makes him feel self-loathing, and yet you tempt him. He wants to condemn your shameless and impudent behavior, but he finds himself being moved by you.

The more Ryuseong gets entangled with Cassis de Millang, the more he finds himself horrifying. It was like that before the regression, and it is the same now.

‘So you must know for sure.’

“If you’re going to take me, then take me. But be fair.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“If you want me, you have to give me yourself too.”

The elegant face that momentarily contorts. See, you had no intention of giving yourself from the very beginning.

So hand it over. If you want me. If you, who are so loathsome, dare to possess me.

You must be grasped in my hand, too.

Completely, without being able to deceive with sweet words and actions.

“What, are you suggesting we start dating or something?”

A ridiculous notion. The concept of love should not be used to decorate their relationship. Ryuseong feels nothing but a terribly nauseating disgust for you. He only thinks of wanting to break you.

You are just desperately trying to sever the thread of reason he holds onto to convince himself that he shouldn’t do that, that the you of the present has no sin.

The only one in this world who is allowed to break you is Ryuseong. No other hands will be tolerated.

If you wish to be undone, it must be beneath me.

“Aha, is this possessiveness? Then I will give my kisses only to you. Be satisfied with that.”

“Then you, too, should not expect anything more than kisses from me.”

Ryuseong spoke harshly, narrowing his chillingly blue eyes.

Ah, and then you lower your head.

Sweetly, without a hint of hesitation, as if dripping poison…….

Pressing your lips to my ear.

“Are you doing this on purpose to entertain me?”

You are scoffing.

Cassis de Millang would probably be thinking this.

You, you go soft whenever I just pretend to be weak. It’s so obvious.