Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Villainess Feeling a Sense of Crisis (2)
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"Wh-what the...! What are you doing!!!!"
Tiona cried out in shock and wedged herself between the Saintess, who was leaning forward, and Arthur.
"And what the hell is that supposed to mean! What does Arthur getting married have to do with you!!"
"Oh my."
Cynthia giggled, still leaning slightly forward.
"Tiona, why are you making such a fuss?"
"Making a fuss...! Y-you...! How dare a commoner—!"
The very first thing Arthur had drilled into her from the start was not to use classist language.
But this wasn't discriminatory behavior.
It wasn't about nobles speaking casually to anyone; commoners and nobles were clearly distinct.
Imperial law itself granted them special rights in every aspect.
This was a fact that had never changed throughout the empire's history—no, even further back than the empire's founding, right up to the present.
Extremely speaking, in the ancient Second Era, nobles could do anything to commoners without it being a crime. There were even times when a noble's pet enjoyed more rights and privileges than a commoner.
That era ultimately collapsed amid a brutal rebellion.
Anyway, the point was that if a commoner used a phrase like "making a fuss" toward a noble, it could strictly be punished as an insult under current imperial law.
"Oh my, what are you talking about, Tiona?"
If Cynthia were still a commoner, that is.
"I've become the Saintess, so now I'm equal to nobles, right?"
"Ugh...!?"
The Saintess title wasn't hereditary, so she wasn't technically a 'noble.'
But she received treatment equivalent to high nobility in every aspect of society.
"You know that too, Tiona, right?"
"Th-that's..."
Only then did Tiona realize it.
Cynthia wasn't adding "Lady" after her name anymore.
"Y-you!! How can a person change so much!"
Her eyes stung and her throat tightened. Tiona looked like she was about to burst into tears, but she held it back desperately—she didn't want to look pathetic by crying here.
"Sniff...!"
It wasn't exactly a success.
"...Tiona."
Cynthia gave a wry smile.
"Did you know? You're the first friend I made after coming to the capital."
"Huh... Fr-friend?"
"Yes. Friend. Though you never noticed. Neither that I saw you as a friend, nor that you saw me as one."
Cynthia's finger poked the tip of Tiona's nose.
"You're clueless about so many things, especially your own feelings, you idiot noble lady. I like you, and I like spending time with you. It's been fun being friends until now, and I want to keep being friends going forward."
"Y-yeah..."
"But."
Cynthia flashed that bewitching smile again.
"Even friends have lines they won't cross."
Friends could share cake, brownies, waffles. Sharing made it tastier and more fun.
But not men.
"So, step it up, Tiona. Unless you want him snatched away right in front of your eyes."
'...Cynthia.'
This side of Cynthia was unexpected even to me.
But a beat later, I realized this was probably the real her—the one I knew.
Sharp, bold, and unafraid to speak her mind.
The Cynthia from the original story.
Her growth, delayed by my interference, had finally begun.
The circumstances were different, so she wasn't exactly the same as the original, but close.
"Arthur."
Having verbally neutralized Tiona, Cynthia turned back to me with a playful smile and whispered.
"See you next time, then. Who knows, maybe I'll be the one inviting you next."
"...Cynthia."
I formed hand seals behind my back.
Gesture casting—a method of activating magic through body movements.
It popped with a firecracker-like bang!
"Eek!?!?"
Cynthia immediately crouched and covered her head with both hands.
"Hiiiiiik!!! Wh-what!? What's happening!? Hic!"
"...Pfft."
I felt a little relieved.
Because Cynthia was still Cynthia, after all.
Maybe the original Cynthia had a scared, fragile little girl deep down too, one I never knew about.
And embracing that girl, she'd struggled desperately in a world crumbling under the Outer Gods' invasion.
"...You're really something."
With Cynthia huddled low, her height was just right, and without thinking, I placed my hand on her head.
"Oops."
I pulled it back immediately.
On second thought, it was irreverent. I was a commoner, and she was the Saintess.
But the one most shocked here wasn't Cynthia or her accompanying priests—it was Tiona, right beside me.
"Ugh...!"
A hiccup.
"Waaaaaah!!!!"
And then she burst into tears and ran off.
"Lady Tiona!"
.
.
.
Knock knock.
"Don't come in!"
"...Lady Tiona."
"I said don't come!! If you cross that door, I won't forgive you ever!"
After being turned away, I came back down to the first floor, where the Pink Mage Tower Lord sprawled on the sofa snickered.
"Looks like you got rejected?"
"Don't joke."
This wasn't a joking matter.
Especially since I knew Tiona harbored feelings for me—it couldn't just be brushed off as a joke.
'This is driving me crazy.'
This was exactly why I'd said the original protagonist's party's love triangle was dangerous. What? Triangle? Boom! Added an extra angle so it wouldn't feel lacking—now a quadrilateral! Oh, still short? Toss in that unemployed swordmaster for a pentagon—
'Should I smash the protractor?'
My mind was so jumbled that all sorts of nonsense popped up.
Arsapi, stop overthinking. Thanks, inner gigachad. But aren't you a bit outdated? You were already a forgotten meme before I got isekai'd? Oh, arsapi... I've been watching over you from even closer than your own heart.
"Tears are really coming now."
"Want a handkerchief?"
"No thanks. It was rainwater."
"We're indoors."
"How can a mage be so bound by stereotypes?"
"Fair point."
"Don't agree with that. It's scary when you do."
Thanks to the nonsense exchange with my mentor, my head cleared a bit.
The Pink Mage Tower Lord dangled her long legs off the sofa as she lounged.
"So what now? Gonna pick the lock? Want me to teach you lockpick magic?"
"Are you insane? That'd just backfire spectacularly."
"R-really?"
She actually seemed surprised, and my mentor deflated.
In terms of human relationships, this woman was a real mess too...
"Feels like my disciple just cursed me in his head."
"Who taught you mind reading? Might wanna retake lessons."
...A deeply problematic person.
"Forcing my way past a door she told me not to cross would only deepen the wound."
Sometimes exceptions existed. Or there were times when you had to open the door even knowing it'd hurt.
But not now.
Forcing the door would twist my relationship with Tiona into something irreparable.
"So what then? Just wait?"
"That's the textbook approach, but no. If I leave her like this, she'll starve through lunch and dinner, wallowing in misery."
As her home tutor, I couldn't allow that. Bad health meant no lessons.
So, we'd use a workaround.
"She said not to cross the door, so we respect that."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Sniiiiff...! Hiiiing...!!"
Tiona sniffled on the bed, grabbed a tissue, and blew her nose.
"Ptooey!"
She wiped deep inside and tossed it aside. The used tissues piled up and rolled across the floor.
"Arthur idiot. Arthur moron. Retard. Traitor. Rebel. Bastard. Dork. Donkey. Playboy. Nameless scum...!"
A barrage of insults with a vast vocabulary but questionable eloquence—pure Tiona style.
Badmouthing Arthur eased her heart a little at first, but the relief never lasted.
Because the person she wanted to see most right now was that same Arthur.
So the varied curses gradually faded, leaving just one phrase.
Tiona hugged her knees.
Her shapely breasts squished and changed form.
"...Idiot."
Was she directing it at Arthur, or herself?
Unsure, she mumbled it again, still uncertain.
"...Idiot."
Then Tiona heard the windowpane rattle.
She ignored it, thinking it was the wind, but it persisted.
"?"
Tilting her head in confusion, Tiona looked up—and locked eyes with Arthur peering in from outside the window.
"!!!"
Tiona strode over to yank the curtains shut. She said not to cross the door, so he comes through the window instead? What a real idiot!?
As she approached, their gazes met again, and she saw his face clearly.
The face she wanted to see most. The face she hated seeing most.
Serious eyes.
Tiona's delicate, soft hand trembled on the curtain, frozen between closing it and not.