How a Villain Defies Destiny Chapter 41

Apparently, 《Please, Saintess!》 was a normal female-oriented game, but as soon as I possessed the game, it became a hard-mode survival game, and now it turned into a cram school youth drama…

 

No, it seemed to have changed into an anthology.

 

‘I don’t know how many times the genre changes.’

 

I sighed.

 

Like the children who were fussing over Yves’ unexpected appearance, my heart was in turmoil.

 

And of all the problems he brought with him, the most pressing was the need to calm the children down from their exuberance.

 

That’s when Karen stood up.

 

“Guys, if you keep this up, the teacher might come by.”

 

I quickly realized that she had stepped in to help me with my panic, so I quickly chimed in before anyone could argue.

 

“Right, and then we’ll all be punished together, no doubt.”

 

The classroom fell silent as I finished my sentence.

 

Everyone was scared of being punished by the teacher.

 

Even the kids in the secular group are silent, their eyes rolling intently.

 

‘It’s a good thing they’re so naive.’

 

As I look around at the children, relieved that I’ve somehow managed to calm them down from the wildness of the noblemen’s social circles, aka the swordless battlefield, Nishana, still in my arms, tugs at my collar.

 

As if she had something to say, I leaned down, and she whispered in my ear.

 

“Laura, what is a guardian knight, anyway?”

 

But the classroom was so quiet that her voice was heard by everyone in the room.

 

At the same time, the secular kids, who were exchanging glances with each other, and the faithful ones, who were studying silently amidst the commotion, burst out laughing.

 

As if Nishana was being ridiculous for asking a basic common sense question.

 

‘Well, they’re young, so maybe they don’t know.’

 

Shrugging it off, I explained, choosing simple words so she could understand.

 

“A paladin who protects only one person is called a guardian knight.”

 

“Then why is the guardian knight only following and protecting Laura?”

 

Oh, this…

 

‘For some reason, I feel like I’m in infinite purgatory.’

 

A.k.a. was infinite Why’s.

 

It’s a common symptom of inquisitive toddlers, who ask questions like squirrels in a chase.

 

Of course, it’s easy to answer at first, but I’ve heard that the nature of the question leads to a never-ending stream of questions, so much so that you end up giving them the dictionary definition of a word.

 

The bigger problem here was that even if I elaborated, ‘We decided to call it that when we heard it,’ the question ‘Why?’ was likely to come back!

 

Furthermore, I had no parenting experience and only picked up knowledge in passing, so of course I didn’t know what to do.

 

I’d often heard that it was important to talk to children on their own terms, so I inferred that this was something similar.

 

“So, firstly, Nishana…”

 

But she couldn’t continue for long. Syris suddenly interrupted.

 

“That’s because Laura is special.”

 

“Why is she special?”

 

The endless questioning was on.

 

‘The more careful the better…’ 

 

Realizing that no matter what Syris said, ‘Why?’ would be repeated like clockwork, I tried to estimate Nishana’s eye level and think of a suitable answer.

 

However, Syris, who usually acted more reserved than my age, raised her voice in a rare instance.

 

“Silly Nishana, she’s a candidate for sainthood.”

 

“Whoever said you were stupid also meant it.”

 

It sounded like the bickering of four-year-olds, not fourteen-year-olds.

 

‘Maybe this is how Nishana sees things.’

 

Syris picked up on it and said, deliberately…

 

“I bet you could grab anyone and ask them, and they’d say I’m smarter than Nishana.”

 

I’m sure it wasn’t intentional.

 

‘Well, at least it seems to have gone well, thanks to Syris.’ 

 

There were still a few kids staring at Yves, but none of them were as overt as earlier.

 

I relaxed and watched the childish bickering of the oldest children in the room.

 

Tomorrow’s snack would have to be shared between the two of them.

 

💫

 

After dinner, I should have been able to relax in my room, but contrary to my plan, I was now in the middle of a confrontation with Yves.

 

“Wait a minute.”

 

“Is something wrong?”

 

“That the Count is here.”

 

“I’m not a Count anymore.”

 

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

 

“You might want to correct your title in case you get it wrong in public.”

 

Realizing that arguing back would only prolong the unnecessary conversation, I quickly agreed.

 

“I’ll be more careful in the future, so please answer me quickly.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Why did you barge into my room?”

 

The reason I’m currently fuming at Yves.

 

It was because I had just gotten out of the shower, and he was in my room without my permission.

 

It was obviously rude to barge into the owner’s room, and it was clearly his fault, so I scowled at him, trying to make up any excuse I could.

 

“I apologize. I was going to bring it up earlier, but the apprentice priests by your side were being a little unreasonable, so I didn’t ask for your permission beforehand.”

 

He concedes and apologizes so readily that I no longer know how to argue.

 

‘I can’t stay mad at someone who apologizes for something.’

 

Eventually, I let out a small sigh and slowly got to the point.

 

“…What brings you here?”

 

“The curse has gotten worse.”

 

“What? Have you not been purified by Lady Selene?”

 

“She’s been avoiding me ever since the trial, so it’s been hard to get close to her.”

 

“No. But you should have gone after her and asked her.”

 

A thirsty man should dig a well.

 

He said it in a tone that suggested he had been watching from afar, and I inadvertently stung.

 

“There are still many nobles who have their eyes on Lady Selene, so I didn’t dare approach her.”

 

Then Yves trailed off, a hint of resentment in his voice.

 

“If I slip up and my secret gets out, it could shake the entire Euphrates royal family.”

 

“I see.”

 

He had a point. If it became known that Endymion and subsequently Yves had been cursed, it would seem to the people that the entire Euphrates royal family had done something grievously sinful and had been punished.

 

This would undermine their power and, in the worst-case scenario, lead to a rebellion.

 

The chances of that happening are close to zero, as it never happens in the game.

 

‘This is the real world.’ 

 

Don’t assume that because it’s not in the game it won’t happen, but consider all the possibilities.

 

As I nodded my head in agreement with this plausible explanation, a new question popped into my head.

 

“But does Lady Selene not yet know your secret?”

 

“Yes.”

 

A wave of embarrassment washed over me.

 

My guess, which I had expected to be somewhat correct, was completely wrong.

 

‘Strange, the nuance was that if certain events didn’t happen, time would surely revert.’

 

The day, Selene unexpectedly revealed her regression.

 

She said that she doesn’t use her powers to turn back time, but that she knows the conditions under which regression occurs.

 

So I naturally assumed that the episodes that happen no matter whose route you enter, like the Saint Awakening, are regression junctures.

 

But then Yves’ comment just proved me wrong.

 

The second required event, the flowering of the purification powers, was different from the original.

 

‘In the original, Selene was supposed to target Yves to purify the curse first.’ 

 

That’s because, unlike the curse, which causes Yves to grow scales on parts of his body at all times, the other targets rarely turn into animals as long as they keep their emotions under control.

 

‘Which reminds me, it’s weird that Endymion was already purified by Selene at the trials.’ 

 

Usually, it’s not until about halfway through the story, after entering a specific target’s route, that the curse mystery begins to unravel.

 

What’s more, Endymion was the last one to reveal the curse.

 

He’s been in denial longer than the other targets, and he’s always been reluctant to reveal his weaknesses to others, so it’s only at the end of the story that he swallows his pride and confesses to Selene.

 

I was replaying the route from Yves to Endymion and recalling the general plot.

 

“Miss Laura, are you okay?”

 

Yves’s voice snapped me out of my deep thoughts.

 

I realized that I’d been talking to him and lost myself in my reverie.

 

‘I was so surprised that the regression didn’t happen when the required event went awry that I completely forgot the point!’

 

Realizing my error, I quickly apologized to him.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I sort of wandered off… I wasn’t paying attention to what you were saying.”

 

“That’s fine, but you suddenly got a serious look on your face, what’s going on?”

 

How serious did I look…?

 

‘I wonder if Yves was asking how I was doing.’

 

He sounded pretty worried too.

 

“It’s nothing.”

 

I rubbed my stiff cheeks and shook off the thoughts I hadn’t yet organized.

 

Whether there are more conditions to fulfill, or if everything Selene said was a lie, and it’s her unique ability, I’m not sure…

 

‘I’ll have to think about this when I’m alone.’ 

 

For now, I shove the thoughts of regression to the back of my mind, since dealing with Yves’ curse was a priority, and I lift my gaze to deal with the first thing that needs to be dealt with.

 

An involuntary flinch ran through me.

 

Yves was staring back at me, his eyes wide with fear.

 

“Uh, is there something you want to tell me?”