How a Villain Defies Destiny Chapter 21

 

A silver glow emanated from him.

 

The divine power touched my wrist. I hadn’t realized it, but the spot where Selene had grabbed me earlier had turned red.

 

‘You’re quite powerful.’

 

I clicked my tongue lightly and pushed the thoughts that filled my head to one side.

 

“Thank you.”

 

The conversation ended, and the carriage was silent, but I didn’t mind the silence.

 

It was comfortable. I was too tired from one unexpected development after another.

 

‘I’m tired of the tension.’

 

The silent carriage quickly came to a halt.

 

“Thank you for taking me home. Take care, Count.” 

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

✨

 

The next day. The much-anticipated following day dawned, but my heart was only more agitated.

 

It was because of Selene, who was completely different from the game.

 

‘The original heroine, Selene, was clear, pure, and bright.’

 

She’s the epitome of the phrase, ‘outgoing and radiant’. 

 

In contrast, she had a completely different vibe in person yesterday than in the game.

 

‘Plus, Selene is a noblewoman from the countryside, so she’s supposed to be clumsy in the beginning.’

 

I decided to hypothesize myself that Selene might be a possessor.

 

Since I’m a possessor myself, it wouldn’t be surprising to have one more anomaly.

 

But the bigger problem was Selene’s suspicious behavior.

 

‘Why does she want to make me the villain?’

 

All she had to do was awaken as a saint, and she would be loved. There was no reason for her to make Laura the villain.

 

‘Maybe if I ask Selene herself, she’ll tell me.’

 

Of course, it was clear that confronting her again would do more harm than good, so Laura wasn’t up for the challenge.

 

‘After all, my options are limited.’

 

Running away from Selene. Or locking myself away in the Barony.

 

And somehow repairing the relationship with Selene and getting out of the bad books.

 

‘Is running away the easiest option?’

 

Now that Selene has awakened as a saint, it’s unlikely there would be a regression.

 

So once I got away from the Euphrates capital, the game’s center stage, I could live a life untethered to the original, whatever Selene’s purpose might be.

 

With a rough plan in mind, I stretched and got up.

 

After lying in bed for so long, I’m getting hungry, and I need to get back on my feet to prepare for my escape.

 

Knock, knock—

 

“Miss, are you awake?”

 

That was good timing. I was just about to ask Charlotte for a meal, so I was happy to see her at just the right time.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Good, because Count Leblanc has just arrived.”

 

“Oh!”

 

I had completely forgotten. Yesterday, Yves had said we’d talk about it tomorrow.

 

“Will you tell him to please wait for me, I’ll be ready as soon as I can?”

 

“Okay.”

 

“And call the others to help me get ready.”

 

“Yes!”

 

Charlotte’s cheerful footsteps raced away.

 

‘But what am I going to do about Yves?’

 

The decision to run away eased my mind. Enough that I no longer wondered why Yves hadn’t taken Selene with him.

 

But after a good night’s sleep, I woke up and calmly reviewed the situation.

 

I could interpret his behavior yesterday as a sign that he recognized me, not Selene, as a saint.

 

‘I’m not a saint, even though he said so.’

 

We don’t know exactly why he made that judgment, but it means that if Yves treats Selene negatively, the curse may never be fully undone.

 

There’s no turning back now, so I have to be more careful. 

 

‘But I can’t just come clean…’

 

When she finished dressing, she reached the front door of the sitting room, but couldn’t bring herself to open it.

 

Unsure of what to do with Yves.

 

“How long are you going to stay like that?”

 

Yves’ voice came from the other side of the door. Perhaps he had noticed me standing in the doorway. I couldn’t help but step into the room.

 

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”

 

“That’s okay, we didn’t decide yesterday what time I would come by.”

 

‘Well, I slept well enough to make my worries irrelevant.’ 

 

The next morning, Yves was his usual self.

 

Just far too tired to stay up late.

 

Sitting down on the couch across from him, Yves spoke as if he’d been waiting for this.

 

“Actually, the only reason I left Lady Laurus alone at the party last night was to see how the nobles would react.”

 

“What?”

 

I thought he was going to bring up Selene. My expectations were wrong again, and I stared wide-eyed, but then Yves bowed his head.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Now I couldn’t even predict Yves’s reaction.

 

‘Why are you doing this!’

 

Figuring it was easier on the old Yves, who could usually guess what was going on, I threw up my hands.

 

“It’s not for you to apologize, Count.”

 

“If I had stayed with you, you wouldn’t have gotten into that mess.”

 

I shot back skeptically at his self-blame, “Well, I don’t know, maybe someone jealous because I was with the Count might have gotten into it?”

 

“That’s…”

 

“There are plenty of people who don’t like me.”

 

“…”

 

A subtle silence settled uncomfortably.

 

‘I’d rather just cut to the chase and say it now.’

 

Because in the few times I’d regressed, turning around and telling Yves had rarely worked out well.

 

Having made up my mind, I turned to Yves, who was somewhat dazed, and began.

 

“I think Lady Selene is the Saint from the Oracle.”

 

My goal was to repair my relationship with Yves just enough so that he wouldn’t take revenge on me until the heroine came along.

 

While things turned out better than I had planned, I shouldn’t have kept holding onto Yves if I decided to flee.

 

‘It’s not that I don’t like Yves, but if I make a mistake, I could get killed.’

 

And he was perfect. Handsome, high class, wealthy, fit, and caring, he was the perfect groom.

 

If only I could be betrothed to Yves as I am, and marry him safely.

 

Just like any other possession story. I briefly considered that with five targets, I might as well dump one of them.

 

I briefly considered that with five targets, I might as well dump one of them.

 

But Selene’s demeanor yesterday convinced me otherwise. I don’t know exactly why, but she was trying to make me the villain.

 

Just like in the original. She would want me to die a villain.

 

Therefore, in order to live, I had to leave the capital and never look back.

 

‘I don’t want to tell Yves everything and make things worse.’

 

Hopefully, Yves takes my side and things work out for the best, but I must also consider the worst-case scenario.

 

My worst case was, well, execution without much thought. 

 

But Yves was different. As long as I didn’t get involved, he was a character I could live with.

 

The only bad ending in Yves’ route was not ending up with Selene.

 

Even if Selene went the other target route, there was a joint episode where she lifted the curse, so Yves wouldn’t completely turn into an animal.

 

On the other hand, if I ask him for help here? There’s still a requirement in the contract, so Yves would certainly help me.

 

And worst case scenario.

 

‘He will die with me.’

 

Of course, there’s a better chance that we both survive than that we die together.

 

But life couldn’t be judged by probabilities like a game. What’s more, the world has rewound time and time again to awaken Selene as a saint.

 

The title of heroine was that overwhelming.

 

Therefore, it was not a wise choice to confront her, the center of this world.

 

‘We’d be better off splitting up and going our separate ways.’

 

My mind wavered back and forth until I faced Yves, but once I spoke up, it seemed to be for the best.

 

“I knew Lady Selene was on a different level from me, just by the sheer amount of divine power I felt when the divine symbol appeared on her.”

 

“…”

 

I spoke in an exaggerated voice to his silence. 

 

“Perhaps it could even purify the Count’s curse in one fell swoop?”

 

Gazing at me intently, Yves replied slowly. 

 

“I… think so.”

 

“So it is, is it? Me being a saint. I didn’t think it was appropriate.”

 

“…”

 

“Well, since the divine mark appeared in front of so many people yesterday, the word must have gotten out already.”

 

“…That’s right.”

 

But then why…

 

‘I wonder if Yves is distressed.’

 

I’ve seen frowns before, but they were usually expressions of anger. Not like he was holding something in, like he was right now.

 

‘No. More than that, it’s not like there’s anything between us, so why did everything have to be like this in the first place?’

 

Someone would think we’d been in love for a century.

 

Although exhausted, I added an afterword, undaunted.

 

“Actually, I’ve often thought to myself, maybe the gods took pity on me and gave me a small blessing.”

 

“…”

 

“Well, um… I think I’m feeling a little under the weather, so if you’ll excuse me for the day.”

 

Realizing that Yves’ face was getting more serious the more I opened my mouth, I opted to retreat.

 

‘I’ll have to come up with a more plausible excuse.’

 

✨

 

There were many things that Yves wanted to ask Laura.

 

Since last time, she’d said she wasn’t the saint in the oracle. That there must be a greater saint on the looming horizon.

 

She’d said something that seemed to foretell Selene’s arrival. And then last night.

 

Yves vividly remembered the look on Laura’s face. For some reason, she’d been relieved when everyone else had been surprised.

 

As if she was glad, Selene had the divine mark.

 

‘I wonder what she knows.’

 

So Yves had tried to explain yesterday why she’d followed Viscount Oannes, and then sneak in a leading question.

 

Laura wears her thoughts on her face. Even if he didn’t hear the exact answer, he could tell what she was thinking.

 

But when I was confronted with her, my jaw dropped.