The Serpent's New Deal
She was originally an irredeemable villainess. Clustered tightly around an inferiority complex toward others, she was an extra who tormented the protagonist with a twisted heart. A role no one wanted to play.
I can't accept this.
Why is everyone cheering for a mere commoner like that...?
I'm more outstanding, aren't I? With no foundation whatsoever, what right does she have to smile so confidently?
The girl's obsession flowed in the wrong direction. She grew jealous of the protagonist's brilliant talent, and that venomous envy soon blossomed into a single ugly flower. Perhaps they were tears for what she could never possess.
I don't like it.
Before long the girl had come to hate the protagonist. She despised her, dismissed her, distorted her. Sometimes she even harassed her directly, trying to erase the girl's place within the academy. It was the classic tale of a thoroughly unlikable villainess. An obstacle. A stumbling block.
When I thought of the vicious acts Emilia had committed in the original story, crushing the bud early was certainly one option. I could remove her from the board before she had the chance to scheme against the protagonist. I possessed the power to do exactly that. An annoying extra could be cleaned up anytime I wished.
Yet I did not. The reason was simple.
Because she hasn't committed any sins yet.
I knew the future. But did that make it right to punish crimes that had not yet been committed? This fundamental question kept me hesitating.
Perhaps she could still change. I held no great expectations, of course. A predetermined fate. Knowing how unreasonably it unfolded, I simply watched.
Who knows.
A single phrase that always left room for possibility. No matter how deeply steeped in darkness a villain might be, there was usually at least one belief they wished to protect while living in this world. I was no different.
I want to see a future that never existed.
If it was not yet too late, perhaps it could be rewritten. No matter how much knowledge of the original work I possessed, I hoped that knowledge did not encompass everything this world had to offer. I wanted every child to live their own story—opportunities, anguish, choices—crossing paths with one another through countless intersecting processes.
"Young lady."
This time, my faith was rewarded.
"······."
"Do you need strength?"
Blue eyes trembling vacantly. I found myself wanting to learn a little more about the new story this girl would weave from here on.
"I believe I can help you."
So I extended my hand. To my commendable and pitiable extra. Toward the vain girl who could no longer truly be called a villainess, the serpent offered a gentle smile. Blessing the petals that had only just begun to bloom.
Fragments of tentacles floated in the air. Behind the scream that stabbed straight into the eardrums, the monster thrashed in agony as it retreated. The scene had flipped in an instant.
"······."
The villainess stood in a daze. It was a frantic situation with blood and flesh flying everywhere, yet her frozen body refused to move. Every frame passed in slow motion, as though the world itself had stopped.
It felt unreal. The landscape before her eyes resembled a single long dream. As she stared with a vacant gaze, someone stood at the point where all her questions converged. It was a golden serpent.
"Hehe."
A sly laugh tickled her ear. A blond boy rested his chin on her slender shoulder. His distinctively sweet scent brushed the tip of her nose. The villainess's breath caught in her throat.
"This... was my entrance a little too abrupt?"
The serpent murmured languidly. Even with the monster right before him, he showed not a trace of fear. The corners of his mouth curved upward as though he were enjoying himself. Looking at him, the question slipped out unconsciously.
"······How?"
The girl muttered blankly. Her voice had lost even its usual sharpness; only dreamy wonder remained. She asked inside her own mind. How was he still alive? She had clearly seen him crushed beneath the monster, yet here he stood without a single wound. The situation defied understanding, but the boy merely whispered in reply.
"It's a secret."
His voice brimmed with mischief. Even that childish disguise could not hide the unique ominous quality beneath it.
"Young lady?"
A faintly flickering killing intent. Darkness that swallowed the entire laboratory. Eyes that silenced the very air. This was not his usual frivolous atmosphere. One could tell from the aura alone. It was overwhelming power in its purest form.
"You needn't be so tense."
"······."
Emilia held her breath as tightly as she could. Any lingering questions had already vanished. There was only one-sided submission. The distant, absolute authority she faced for the first time crushed her entire body with a colossal sense of deprivation. She gave up on trying to understand. The girl simply froze where she stood.
When she remained motionless like that, the boy who had been leaning against her soon gave a sly response. A small whisper reached her ear.
"Young lady."
"······."
"You told me back then, didn't you? That you wanted to live."
"······."
Back then—did he mean the moment right before her execution? The day she had knelt pathetically and begged.
The boy smiled with dark amusement. Their faces were so close their foreheads nearly touched. The breath brushing her earlobe felt dizzyingly intimate. A faint tremor dyed her heart. Ecstatic light gleamed across her white pupils.
"Like that time... won't you make another deal with me?"
The serpent flicked its tongue. Within the pitch-black darkness rushing toward them, the boy extended his offer.
"I will help you so your story can continue."
Life.
"If you take my hand... you will surpass that monster and escape this hell alive."
The serpent's proposal was unbearably sweet. Only moments ago she had been staring death in the face; now he offered her the hope she had already abandoned. The girl received another chance beyond regret.
"However, I hope you will live for me."
The price she would pay was none other than herself.
"So that I may continue watching your story... it will be enough if you simply remain by my side."
The boy spoke. Emilia did not fully understand what that meant, yet she could only nod as though entranced. The single thought of surviving filled her mind completely.
"This is a new transaction."
The serpent smiled softly. Their foreheads touched. The body heat flowing from his gentle skin clouded her reason. After she had stood there dazed for some time, the forgotten scream suddenly rang out once more.
The monster, now fully frenzied, charged forward. It had already recovered from its wounds and was swinging tentacles in every direction. Yet the boy remained perfectly composed.
"Don't panic."
The serpent wrapped his arms around the girl from behind. He drew her slender body into his embrace, then took hold of both her wrists.
"As long as I am here, you will not be pushed back, young lady."
Srrrng—
The boy lifted Emilia's arm. It was like manipulating a doll. The girl seemed briefly startled, but soon surrendered herself to his calm guidance. The cool spearhead leveled at the monster.
"Only for a moment."
Right after, shadows began to creep upward. The jet-black darkness that had been tangling and colliding with itself suddenly surged forward in a massive current. The ice it touched began turning black as well.
"I will show you a new world."
The blade was coated in pitch blackness. Darkness gathered at the tips of her slender fingers and bloomed into a midnight frost flower. Emilia felt a shiver of awe run through her.
"It is temporary power."
It was a kind of omnipotence. Even as cold seeped into one side of her chest, the spear shone with noble sharpness. Emilia, who had been lost in a daze, regained her stance. Her arm moved on its own, as though it already knew what to do.
The monster was nearly upon her. Hundreds of tentacles rained down from above, yet the girl simply stared in silence. Not all her fear had vanished—the terror the creature had instilled in her still lingered.
Can I really do this?
Her blue eyes wavered. But then a single phrase whispered into her ear, as though the answer were obvious.
"You can."
There was not the slightest doubt in that plain encouragement. How long had it been since she received such pure trust? It felt like a memory from a childhood she could no longer recall. A surge of fulfillment warmed her chest. The girl widened her eyes and unleashed her power. A strange sensation concentrated in her palm. With all her strength she swung the spear in a clean arc.
The next instant.
Slash—!
A beautiful afterimage trailed behind it. A powerful cutting sound rang out along the slender trajectory.
"······."
The scene played in slow motion. A straight line sliced across the entire laboratory, and immediately afterward the monster's body split cleanly in two. It was a single, flawless strike that severed its very being.
Ack! Kyaaaa...!
The monster could not even finish its scream before it collapsed. Black, rotten blood soaked the floor. The countless eyes clinging to its skin lost their light. A hideous pile of severed tentacles lay scattered. The girl stared at the sight in disbelief.
"Haa... haa...!"
As she gasped for breath that rose all the way to her throat, a voice spoke from directly behind her.
"Didn't I tell you? That you could do it."
She wanted to turn and look at the boy, but strength suddenly drained from her body. Emilia staggered several times before sinking to the floor. The exhaustion that followed extreme tension washed over her. Her consciousness flickered as though it might snap at any moment.
"Whoops."
The serpent caught the falling girl. Perhaps it was the unusual warmth of his embrace. Emilia felt relief bloom inside the vivid heat of the boy's body.
"You did excellently, young lady."
His sweet scent brushed the tip of her nose. Like soothing a sleepy child, the serpent gently patted her back with slow, rhythmic strokes. Her mind gradually dissolved into haze.
"Rest deeply. I will take care of the rest."
A palm covered both her eyes. In the perfect darkness, within the consciousness that was drifting away, the last thing she remembered was...
"Sleep well."
A tender whisper, steeped in affection.