How a Villain Defies Destiny Chapter 9

 

It was evidenced by the slight trembling of her hand, her inability to look straight ahead, and her body flinching as if startled by the slightest of his actions.

 

‘There were expressions on her face that she struggled to hide.’

 

From top to bottom, he was a different man.

 

Nevertheless, I was wary of Laura because I couldn’t shake the lingering doubt that a person could change so abruptly.

 

I’d already been fooled by her once, which made it even harder to accept her change.

 

Perhaps if Laura hadn’t first apologized for the contract, Yves wouldn’t have been so defensive.

 

‘I still don’t fully trust her, but the divine pattern was real.’

 

Last night, when she lost consciousness again.

 

The snake scales half-covering the back of my hand had disappeared, if only for a moment.

 

‘But what if she’s hiding something else?’

 

I whirled around and stood in place.

 

Even as I calculated the possibilities, I couldn’t decide if Laura had truly changed in remorse or if she was hiding a sinister agenda.

 

Pressing a hand to a throbbing temple, Yves chided himself.

 

‘How pathetic.’

 

In truth, his greatest fear was making the same mistake over a second time.

 

He regretted that he’d gotten impatient when his secret was discovered, that he’d been tricked into a ridiculous contract by the flimsy lies of a barely grown noblewoman.

 

I hated myself for being so pathetic and stupid.

 

“Whew…”

 

His chest tightened, and he sighed deeply.

 

With no conclusion, he decided not to rush to judgment this time, but to stay on the sidelines for a while.

 

🌙

 

Once Yves had left.

 

After changing into her pajamas in broad daylight with the excuse of feeling sick and dismissing the maids, she checked the roof of her mouth with a hand mirror and saw a strange pattern.

 

‘It’s real, but it doesn’t look like the one in the game illustration.’

 

On the back of the heroine’s hand was a blue pattern with a crescent moon and triangles.

 

Mine, on the other hand, was a strange intertwining of symmetrical curves.

 

‘I wondered if it looked like a horn… or just a non-proportionate version of divine pattern?’

 

According to the game’s description, there are many gods in this world.

 

Among them, the most widely known on the continent are the Seven Ruling Gods, also known as the Four Lords and the Three Divine Deities.

 

The heroine was a saint of Nanna, one of the seven ruling gods, who was said to control the moon, wisdom, and time.

 

The crescent moon in her pattern also symbolizes Nanna.

 

On the other hand, I didn’t seem to have any particular symbolic identity.

 

I wondered, ‘Maybe this is the reason Yves appeared somewhat indecisive during the first regression.’

 

At the time, I thought Yves was lingering in the room trying to break the contract with me.

 

Laura, who claimed to be a saint, had a divine pattern on her palate, so perhaps that was enough to convince him.

 

For Yves, having signed on the spot, grasping at any possible straw, there must have been a million questions he wanted to ask.

 

‘I don’t really feel anything.’

 

Despite seeing it for myself, I couldn’t believe it.

 

However, on the other hand, I also thought that some kind of heavenly being must have been involved since I was able to possess someone from another world.

 

‘Well, this is another one of those puzzles that’s pointless to ponder.’

 

Like the mysterious possession, the regression, and the original Laura’s whereabouts, these were questions that could not be answered except by a god.

 

The same was true of the divine pattern, so I gave up trying to figure it out and flopped down on my bed.

 

As I wrapped myself in the fluffy duvet, I felt myself relax.

 

‘All that matters now is that I finally took the first step!’

 

After a long, arduous, and short trial and error process, I felt like I had finally taken a step towards breaking free from the original.

 

🌙 

 

The next day.

 

Yves came at the same time as yesterday.

 

“Welcome to the house. I’ve been waiting for you.”

 

“Are you feeling okay today?”

 

“Thanks for your concern. I took the day off, and I’m feeling fine.”

 

“…I’m glad to hear it.”

 

The corners of his mouth lifted in a smooth smile as he thanked her, and his face crumpled as he replied a beat late.

 

His reaction was understandable.

 

He was probably surprised by Laura’s uncharacteristic demeanor.

 

‘She’s already a suspicious character, and now that she’s changed so quickly, she’s even more suspicious from his point of view.’

 

I’d tried to play up the fact that Laura was a little nicer in the last meeting to avoid raising his suspicions unnecessarily.

 

I didn’t realize that facial expressions say it all, which led to a lot of misunderstandings.

 

Regardless.

 

I apologized to him yesterday and made it sound like I was remorseful and repentant, so this change shouldn’t be too surprising.

 

I turned to Yves, who was still watching me warily, and asked cautiously.

 

“So, shall we continue our unfinished business?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“About our contract.”

 

At the mention of the contract, Yves’s eyebrows rose sharply.

 

Before he could get the wrong idea, I quickly added an afterthought.

 

“Why don’t we just tear up the old contract and make a new one?”

 

“What are you up to this time?”

 

The same old, consistent response.

 

“I’ll be honest: I don’t actually want to die.”

 

I should have told him yesterday.

 

‘I was planning on letting the proper pace of anticipation develop, but the conversation went off in a different direction yesterday.’

 

Somehow, the combination of divine patterns and Yves’s questioning ended the conversation before I could get to my real goal.

 

“What do you mean, you suddenly don’t want to die?” Yves retorted, frowning.

 

‘He asked what I was up to, and the response was that I didn’t want to die.’

 

Seeing his reaction was understandable, I continued.

 

“I apologized for my behavior yesterday, but that doesn’t take away the fact that I was rude to you, Yves.”

 

Yves nodded slightly in agreement.

 

“That’s why I wonder if you might want to kill me if you ever get the chance, or even right now, because then no one would know your secret and you could get your revenge.”

 

In the original, Laura was spared because of the possibility that she was a saint.

 

And now that she had the divine mark, it was unlikely that she would die, but just in case, she made the same demand she had planned ahead of time.

 

“So I came up with a new contract, with the stipulation that I keep your secrets and you won’t kill me…”

 

Before I could finish the sentence, Yves’s luscious face crumpled into a grimace.

 

“What in the world do you think I am?”

 

Someone with otherworldly beauty, colder and more demanding than an ice princess, and capable of killing me on sight?

 

I couldn’t say it out loud, even if I had a dozen mouths to speak, so I tried to use common sense.

 

“I’m not saying you’re cold-blooded, Yves, but anyone would want to avenge something that was done to them.”

 

“You’ve been looking at me as heartless.”

 

I half-unfolded the fan I was holding, covering only the corners of my mouth.

 

Sensing my unspoken affirmation, Yves clicked his tongue lightly.

 

“Look, I get the gist of what you’re offering me in your new contract, and while I don’t believe all of it, I can’t sign on the spot.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Because not killing you is so obvious, it doesn’t even need to be written into the contract. Tell me what other demands you have.”

 

“I don’t have any.”

 

“…”

 

Yves fell silent, but the doubt in his eyes deepened.

 

“It’s true, I can swear on Astarte’s name. Shall we do it now?”

 

“Alright.”

 

Yves rejected my offer with a look of disbelief.

 

Then silence fell over us, his gaze fixed on the table as if deep in thought.

 

I, on the other hand, couldn’t understand Yves either.

 

‘What’s wrong with him?’

 

After all, I figured, it’s a win-win: Yves keeps his secret and I get to live in peace.

 

Before I could finish my thought, speculation popped into my head.

 

‘Maybe he didn’t kill Laura in the original because she might be a saint, but because it just didn’t fit his definition of a saint?’

 

Despite all the humiliation she had inflicted on him, maybe he was just being a decent man, a member of a temple that valued life.

 

If that’s the case, then I’m stuck with my prejudices, and I’m judging Yves on a whim.

 

Yves was just a faithful paladin, and I was mistaken in thinking that he might kill anyone alone.

 

‘No, I think the temple is probably corrupt, and even a paladin would be selfish…’

 

I’ve seen a lot of novels like that, so I must have developed a stereotype.

 

‘In any case, let’s reflect.’

 

I grumbled at how Yves always took things the way he wanted to interpret them, no matter how true they were, and I couldn’t blame him.

 

This was why I believed in the importance of externalizing myself, but Yves’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

 

“Then in return, I’ll teach you how to control your divine power, something a saint should learn anyway.”

 

“What?”

 

“What’s wrong, is there something wrong with that?”

 

There were many.

 

First, the premise was all wrong.

 

“Well…”

 

I rambled on for a moment, unable to say what was on my mind straight out, so I chose my words carefully.

 

“I, uh, I don’t actually think I’m a saint from the oracle.”

 

I noticed that Yves’s eyes had grown cold before I finished, so I hastily added an afterthought.

 

“I believe you, Yves, I saw the pattern with my eyes yesterday. I was just saying that I thought the saint from the oracle might be something greater.”

 

“…”

 

Although Yves didn’t say anything, his face showed that he was thinking, ‘What kind of nonsense is she talking about?’