How a Villain Defies Destiny Chapter 6

 

Even though I was currently in Laura’s body, she was the one who built the karma.

 

Even if I tried to make the best of it, if Yves kept nitpicking like last time, there was a good chance that I would subconsciously feel like, ‘I’m holding it in!’  and it would appear unconsciously.

 

It would show on my face, and the suspicious Yves would think I was hiding something.

 

The result would be the same conversation over and over again.

 

That was the last thing I needed.

 

Gazing at the ceiling, I breathed a light sigh and went back to the origin of the problem.

 

About how I could deliver a sincere apology to Yves.

 

‘What comes to mind right is identifying Laura and me?’

 

Feelings of resentment stem from the idea of being caught up in other people’s affairs.

 

It’s important to accept it as ‘my’ own, not ‘someone’ else’s

 

Consequently, other emotions tend to fade away on their own if I eliminate the idea that ‘I’m in a bad situation and forced to deal with what I hadn’t done.’

 

‘But it just seems too much after waking up from the dead.’

 

Laura and I were so different that I couldn’t empathize with her.

 

To be more precise, I’ve never been the type of person who gets invested in characters.

 

Even though I liked games and novels, I liked the story itself, and I often found myself rooting for the protagonist from a third-person perspective.

 

What should I say? I’d rather be more like a child…

 

‘A child? Maybe that will work?’

 

That idea that came next was like a tail, appearing out of nowhere and extending oddly, but with closer inspection, I realized it wasn’t all that terrible.

 

I’ve never been in a relationship, much less married, so I have little insight into what it’s like to be, but I do know that I’m the only person in the world who truly understands Laura.

 

Besides, I know that she’s a child I could never dislike, and I’m the only one who shares the emotions and memories.

 

Therefore, based on my feelings of pity for her, I could say, ‘I am Laura’s guardian!’

 

And even if I don’t relate to her, I would be able to minimize my feelings of being unwillingly involved in someone else’s affairs.

 

‘Well, if I understand it and my heart fails to embrace it, it’s all for naught, just like the last problem.’

 

Still, it was worth a shot.

 

Failure would only lead to another regression like this one, and it wasn’t that difficult to look back at Laura’s memory for the rest of the time.

 

Besides, my desire to mend fences with Yves was genuine, and I’m sure he would recognize it if I tried hard enough.

 

‘Sincerity works all the time!’

 

This may seem like a haphazard plan at first, but it was well-thought-out.

 

While reciting the conversation I had with him lying blankly in the room several times, at the end of the day, when I admitted my wrongdoing, I realized that it was not just my feelings that his reactions had softened.

 

‘Looking back, that was the only answer that didn’t mix any other intentions at the time.’

 

That day, I was very eager to resolve the issue quickly, no matter what.

 

Even though Laura did something wrong, ‘I still apologize on her behalf even when I found it unfair. It’s annoying, but I’m holding it in. I want to finish it quickly.’ These thoughts were all over the place.

 

Since it was all revealed to my face, it was impossible to communicate properly with him.

 

But when I realized that I hadn’t taken Laura’s side of the story into account, I was truly unselfish and apologized profusely for her mistake.

 

Maybe Yves noticed that as well, and his fury diminished, if only a little.

 

I therefore decided to give up the act and be honest with Yves when facing him in the next regression.

 

Despite the need that there be no deception and no condition that manifests itself as worse than how I truly feel.

 

‘Should I better prepare a fan? If I keep covering my face, it’ll be weird, but if it’s not going to work, at least once, my face ugh… Oh well, it’s not the point.’

 

Realizing that I almost fell into a pointless thought, I moved on.

 

The biggest challenge between Laura and Yves, the worst one, not knowing how he would react when I revealed that it was all a lie.

 

It was about Laura calling herself a saint.

 

‘I guess I should get that out of the way first.’

 

If I apologize sincerely and explain that I made the wrong choice because I loved Yves so much… 

 

‘Maybe he’ll listen to that story.’

 

I didn’t expect to be forgiven in the first place.

 

It’s difficult to simply get rid of anger, even when the person you detest the most acknowledges their shortcomings with an apology.

 

My purpose was to show Yves that I’ve changed, and then offer him a new deal.

 

I concluded that Yves would be pleased with a fresh arrangement of confidentiality if I offered him something other than the need to be a toy.

 

‘But will my life be in danger if I break the existing contract?’

 

Following Laura’s demand that Yves become a toy, Laura made him go to the Laurus mansion every day. The following evening, she had given him the command to secretly enter her chamber and spend the night with her.

 

And that was when they had only been in a contract for three days, as of the day I possessed Laura.

 

It was a short time in a way, but anyway, the past that Laura humiliated Yves was still a fact.

 

So Yves might take revenge on Laura to avenge the disgrace she caused him, as breaking the contract that she could not defy the order would also eliminate the safeguards.

 

As my mind wandered to that point, I felt a strange twinge.

 

‘Wait, Yves didn’t really kill Laura because of the contract?’

 

I recalled the contract in my head, and there was nothing in it that said Yves couldn’t kill Laura.

 

None of the orders given to Yves specified him to protect her or to not assassinate her.

 

At the same time, I felt the blood drain from my body.

 

‘Yves could have killed me any time he wanted, but he kept me alive on purpose? But why?’

 

I took out the contract in the drawer to check the exact details.

 

The words on the white sheet of paper read, in short, that in exchange for Laura keeping Yves’ secret, he had to fulfill her demands.

 

‘The demand was to be a toy that obeyed orders…’

 

Again, none of the options guaranteed Laura’s life.

 

My fingertips trembled at the truth of it, but I carefully put the contract back in its place, not wanting anyone else to see it.

 

Then I came back to bed, pulled the covers over my head, and curled up.

 

‘Why did Yves keep Laura alive when he could kill her earlier if he wanted to?’

 

In retrospect, he could have sent an assassin to take her out without signing the contract.

 

Because the dead don’t talk.

 

As my mind raced with a million ideas, one hypothesis flashed through my mind.

 

That Yves was watching Laura because of speculation that she might be a real saint…

 

No one claimed to be a saint until the heroine appeared in the game.

 

‘Other than Laura.’

 

Yves would know immediately if Laura received God’s protection, but she was the continent’s first saint anyway.

 

With nothing to compare her to, no one could be sure how a saint was determined, or when the divine emblem of the gods would appear.

 

So Yves could have kept Laura alive, unsure but just in case.

 

As I came to a conclusion that was close to an answer, I suddenly remembered the first problem I had set out to solve.

 

‘What if I told him outright that I wasn’t a saint, and got assassinated that night?’

 

But I couldn’t lie forever.

 

Sooner or later, the heroine would appear.

 

It’s just a matter whether the appearance of a saint would reveal Laura’s lie, or reveal it myself.

 

If there were only two options, the latter was better.

 

‘Ha, why is Laura’s life so problematic?’

 

I thought I had finally found a clue to repair my relationship with Yves, but it seemed to have gone backward.

 

‘If I hadn’t regressed, I would have lived as a commoner.’

 

I regretted that my only attempted escape had gone so well.

 

Despite all the emotions revealed on my face, Baron’s employees were not interested in Laura at all and didn’t want to be involved no matter what Laura did.

 

Laura’s unremarkable appearance also made it easy for her to hide, as she could become a commoner by simply changing her clothes without any special makeup.

 

‘Such shitty fate…’

 

It was a subjective speculation, but it was highly likely that the reason I am currently experiencing a repetitive regression was because I did not move according to the original.

 

Originally, Laura was an extra villain who was executed in the beginning, but on the other hand, it was an indispensable role.

 

‘If I don’t go to Viscount Oannes’ party with Yves, the heroine won’t be able to manifest as a saint, and we’ll keep going back in time.’

 

And so it was.

 

Laura was playing the ‘coincidence’ role of the heroine who happens to be a saint.

 

Early on in the game, when the heroine is new to the capital, she meets Yves at a party.

 

‘The oracle makes it sound like the saints and the cursed are predetermined, but the reality is a little different.’

 

By now, the targets are aware that they are cursed, as the curse has begun to slowly erode.

 

But the saint was different.

 

The divine pattern that identifies her as a saint won’t appear unless she comes into contact with someone who’s cursed, so she could live her life without realizing that she’s a saint.

 

Moreover, the heroine, Saint Selene, was the eldest daughter of a poor viscount with no fief.