How a Villain Defies Destiny – Chapter 37

Author: Nikss

Only then did Selene seem to realize her mistake.

“…”

Their gazes met in the air, but neither of them spoke.

‘I guess they’re wondering how to fix the situation.’

A stifling silence settled over the room.

“Why waste time? After all, Selene’s a real saint!”

Riqueia, who was in some ways as clueless as Selene, interrupted.

“I’m not doubting the holy relic, but I don’t even see the divine mark on her.”

His grumbling was unrelenting, as if he’d been holding in his frustration the entire time under Enheduane’s influence.

“And I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while now, what kind of god do you have, so I can believe you?”

Believe?

I was dumbfounded by his outrageous demand, but before I could respond with ignorance, Yves spoke up.

“I have identified the mark of Laurus’s god.”

“You know, but not the High Priestess? Why?”

It was a legitimate question.

Everyone assumed that Enheduane would know.

But Yves simply ignored the second question from Riqueia and continued.

“However, I’m afraid I can’t comment on the god who favored her, as it’s still unclear.”

Endymion’s eyes widened, and like a hyena on its prey, the crowd pounced on the new topic.

“How could you not recognize the pattern?”

“It’s not the seven ruling deities.”

“I heard that Lady Selene was blessed by Nanna, so there’s definitely a comparison.”

The Crown Prince’s foibles were amusing, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk in front of him.

‘When I leave for the monastery, I’ll have no one to look at and no one to worry about turning against me, so I can make fun of him to my heart’s content.’

They watched for a moment, and then Yves turned to Endymion.

“For the record, I think it’s more likely that Lady Selene is a saint, herself.”

“Why?”

“Because Lady Laurus’s divine power is too small to be detected in my experience.”

At first glance, he seemed to be taking Selene’s side, but it was easy to see that he was trying to get the trial over with.

But Selene held on tight.

“But it’s pitiful that you won’t give Miss Laura a chance!”

It was almost like a swarm.

‘This is going to put me at a disadvantage.’

She’d been trying to frame me as a wizard just a few minutes ago, and now she was feeling sorry for me, an act that would only increase my distrust of her.

Then a bubbly voice sounded out of place in the tribunal.

“I’ve got an idea!”

It was Enheduane, smiling brightly despite the heavy air.

“It’s a brilliant idea that takes all of your opinions into account, and resolves all of your little quibbles in one fell swoop!”

I wasn’t convinced.

‘It sounds like a total fraud.’

Enheduane received a few skeptical glances, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“That is, Miss Laura is going with me to the Holy Land.”

“What?”

I repeated, dumbfounded by the unexpected development.

“What do you mean, all of a sudden!”

For some reason, Yves objected, even jumping out of his seat.

“Calm down. Let me explain to you what makes the most sense.”

Not batting an eyelid at Yves’s sudden outburst, she smiled even wider and began to list the evidence to support her argument.

“First of all, as Endymion points out, Miss Laura is currently incapable of purification, but Selene has a point.”

Looking back and forth between Endymion and Selene, she pounded her fist in the air like a politician on the campaign trail.

“Just because someone has divine powers doesn’t mean they can use them, so I’ll take them to the Holy Land and take charge and teach them.”

“That can be done in the Euphrates Kingdom.”

I wondered why Yves was arguing back, but I didn’t intervene in their conversation.

The last thing I wanted to do was get involved in an argument.

“Some things are only available in my homeland.”

“Like what?”

“We can meet His Holiness the Pope!”

She answered triumphantly, like a child bragging about a new toy in the house.

For someone who makes ‘voilà’ sound effects with her mouth, her reasoning was surprisingly sound.

“As far as I’m concerned, the divine marks and powers of the gods are an absolute beyond human comprehension…”

Wiping the smile from her face, Enheduane trailed off as she scanned the interior of the courtroom.

Everyone averted their gazes or turned away, either frightened or angered by her gaze.

“With so many people doubting this, I’m going to check with the Holy Father back in the homeland and have a thorough investigation done.”

Her mauve eyes turned to Riqueia.

‘They must have been firmly marked.’

Unlike Endymion, who had responded with logic, and Adhad, who had remained neutral, Riqueia had remained unrelentingly nasty, even after the relic had been tested.

“Besides, as Miss Selene says, we can’t completely rule out the possibility that Miss Laura is a saint, and I’m sure we can find out about that as well through various procedures back home.”

It was a neat speech.

‘You’re not a High Priestess for nothing.’

I marveled at the way she had captivated the room in an instant, but Enheduane quickly broke into a mischievous grin and added in a boisterous voice.

“How’s that, lucid?”

The freezing air in the room doesn’t thaw, perhaps startled by her stark change in temperament.

“I approve.”

It was Endymion who broke the uncomfortable silence.

“Endymion!”

“There are no changes.”

He cut Selene off firmly, delivering his verdict.

“The care of Laura Laurus shall be entrusted to Enheduane, High Priestess of the Holy Land.”

It has been challenging.

‘It’s a lot different from the original plan.’

I breathed a sigh of relief, rationalizing that at the end of the day, I survived.

💫

I sat up in bed, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling.

The darkness of the early morning contrasted with the surroundings.

‘I slept too much, and now I can’t sleep.’

Opening the window, a cool breeze blew in, revealing an enchanting, albeit faraway, landscape.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be so easy to get here.

I was now in the Holy Land of Diwanitas.

It had been exactly one week since I arrived here today.

‘It’s been a week since the trial, I can’t believe it.’

Indeed. I had been transported immediately after the trial ended to the Holy Land with Enheduane.

To be honest, I was nervous because I had experienced carriage travel when I first arrived here.

Spending all day in a wobbly carriage was already tiring enough, but this time we weren’t traveling from place to place, we were crossing borders, so I expected the travel time to be longer and more difficult.

However, the travel was brief enough that my worries were unfounded.

Surprisingly, there was a direct teleport from the capital of the Euphrates Kingdom to the Holy Land.

‘But if magic is banned, shouldn’t all magical tools be destroyed?’

Ironically, wizards were executed on sight and books containing magical theories were burned upon discovery, but the use of magical tools that made life easier, like teleportation, was not restricted.

Honestly, I’m glad it’s easier for me, but I also found the double standard to be ridiculous.

I didn’t realize it was such a strange world when I was playing the game.

‘No. I’m not even sure if this is a game world anymore.’

The original Selene didn’t have a regression setting, and the personalities of the targets were subtly different from the original.

And Endymion wasn’t subtle, it was completely different.

Endymion Euphrates.

With his lustrous platinum hair, he was the half-brother of Yves, but he bore no resemblance to him at all.

The only thing they had in common were their quick wits and silver eyes, a sign of Euphrates royalty.

Their personalities were polar opposites.

Unlike Yves, who at first appears to be a cold, hard principled man, but secretly a sweetheart once you get to know him, Endymion behaves kindly to everyone.

In reality, he’s a harsh man who knows where to draw the line.

‘Endymion was the quintessential bad boy with regrets.’

As a common cliché, he approaches Selene in the original story to take advantage of her title as the first saint of the continent, a savior who could cleanse him of his curse.

As the story unfolds, despite his initial intentions, Endymion finds himself increasingly drawn to her sunshine-like charms.

‘But the happy ending is that he comes out of the blue and doesn’t admit his love for Selene, treats her coldly, and then later regrets it and becomes her solemn protector.’

The happy ending was clichéd, but it was a tightly wrapped up ending, and most players considered him a main protagonist because he had a lot of stories compared to other targets.

And the only one with two normal and two bad endings.

‘Adhad was the most popular character, though.’

Anyway, the important thing to note was that this was the beginning of the game.

On the other hand, letting go of his obsession with being the ‘perfect king’ for the sake of Selene and openly revealing his weakness in front of the nobles was more like the second half of the happy ending path.

In other words, even if I could have found a way to quickly increase Endymion’s favorability thanks to repeated regression, it would have been impossible.

Unless Endymion was also regressing…

‘No, no, no… I don’t think so.’

I fought to deny the thought that had popped into my head.

The hypothesis that Selene might have regressed and then Endymion.

‘Never mind, whatever it is, it’s not going to involve Selene.’

Despite my resolve to no longer be associated with the original, I recall Yves’s face.

‘Is it because of the falling out with Selene?’

I don’t know why his face popped into my head at this time, but if so, he’d be fine without me worrying about him.

‘There’s nothing to worry about.’

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

The next thing I knew, the sky was brightening from the darkness.

I woke up to a new day, praying that my future would be as sunny as the rising sun.