The Villainess Draws Near
For the sake of the villainess, Leonhardt erased his traces. When many students realized that Leonhardt, who had not shown himself for some time, had completely vanished from the Academy, they grew suspicious yet began to watch their words. Even the faculty refrained from speaking carelessly, and they too sensed that the breath of some high-ranking figure had swept through the Academy.
As for me, I already knew roughly how everything had unfolded, so I did not pay it much mind. With one of the original novel's male leads exiting the stage, any foreknowledge I possessed of the original plot had become utterly useless. I had never blindly trusted the novel's contents to begin with, but from this point onward, the story would unfold in ways I knew nothing about.
Yet that did not mean I had anticipated things would take this turn.
"……It's nice to meet you. I may call you Felice, yes?"
"……."
I suppressed the deep sigh rising in my chest as I looked at the girl smiling at me. No matter the circumstances, exhaling in front of someone I had just met was hardly a wise choice.
"Greetings," I offered instead. The girl beamed and stared straight at me. Only then could I properly regard her in turn.
Her glossy brown hair was tied into cute twin tails, and her purple eyes sparkled like stars as they fixed on me. She stood about a head shorter than I, placing her height in the early 160s. Her fair skin and the harmless smile on her adorable face seemed to declare, "I am completely harmless."
To any man, she would have appeared utterly innocent and endearing at first glance. Unfortunately, I already knew her true identity.
"I am Pamela Jean Degorsis. It's a pleasure, Felice!"
Her effortless approach toward a stranger, the harmless and pure smile she wore at all times, and the cute, beautiful appearance that supported it all—I knew every bit of it was an act.
"So you are the daughter of Count Degorsis. It is an honor to meet you. I am Felice van Astria, the second son of Count Astria."
I bowed with proper courtesy while my mind raced. Why had she approached me? Because Leonhardt had deviated from the original novel? Or because Cain had yet to return to the Academy?
……No. No matter how twisted the original story had become, there was only one reason she would seek me out.
Because I am at Silvia's side.
Pamela Jean Degorsis. With her harmless, puppy-like impression, she was the classic villainess found in romance fantasies—the one who tormented Silvia from the shadows in the original novel, only to be caught by the male leads and ultimately expelled from the Academy.
In the original story, Silvia became isolated from those around her. Having the second son of a ducal house, the third prince, and the next Hero all gathered at the side of a mere commoner was something ordinary nobles could scarcely dream of. Though isolated by those around her, Silvia never yielded. Instead, she proved her own abilities, supported the male leads, and ultimately won their love.
And the Pamela standing before me was the villainess who used her harmless, adorable appearance to drive a wedge between the male leads and Silvia, going so far as to attempt expelling Silvia from the Academy. Of course, in the end she only strengthened the bond between Silvia and the male leads before making her pitiful exit.
"Where are you headed?"
At present, it seemed she intended to drive a wedge between Silvia and me. I did not know why Pamela had approached me earlier than in the original novel, but with neither Cain nor the next Hero currently at the Academy, she had clearly targeted me instead.
While gazing quietly at Pamela's bright smile, I opened my mouth.
"I was on my way to the training grounds."
"Ah, so you train very diligently, Felice?"
"……I suppose I do."
I remained unmoved by both her training fanatic remark and the flirtatious laughter of a beautiful woman. At the same time, I maintained perfect courtesy toward someone I had just met. Pamela, whose exterior and interior were completely different, was probably thinking something along the lines of:
"What a boring person……"
At my muttered words, Pamela's body gave a tiny, startled twitch. It was a change an ordinary person would never have noticed, but I had been staring straight at her and caught it.
"W-was I really that boring…? I'm sorry……"
Her swift shift to a dejected expression upon noticing my gaze was flawless. I offered her a small smile and took a step closer.
Since I had never expected Pamela to approach me, I had made no preparations regarding her. Yet I was a reader from outside the novel who knew her very well.
"You did not think so just now."
When I whispered softly near her ear, Pamela trembled and looked up at me with watery purple eyes.
"………W-what do you mean?"
"Your acting is quite poor, Lady Pamela."
There were many paths I could have taken—pretending ignorance and using Pamela, completely separating her from Silvia's side, or even reversing her plans to drive her out of the Academy. But I discarded all those easy routes for a simple reason.
As always, every villainess had her own story.
"Come with me."
At my confident tone and the sight of me walking away without hesitation, Pamela's supposedly perfect poker face crumbled. For some reason, that pleased me. Unable to hide my smile, I led Pamela toward the secluded corner of the Academy where we had once pressured Beren.
She kept her mouth firmly shut until we arrived. Once she realized no one else was around, she spoke in a blunt voice.
"What exactly are you planning to do, bringing me all the way out here?"
"So you've decided to drop the act?"
I smiled at Pamela's sharp tone, which had shed every trace of her earlier docile manner. When I turned around, the puppy-like gestures were gone. She stood with her arms crossed and one leg angled, glaring at me sideways.
"You said I was bad at it, didn't you?"
"And it seems you've dropped the formal speech as well."
"……If it bothers you, you can use it too."
Anyone who did not know her might have been flustered, but this was Pamela's true self. She was someone who constantly wore a mask she believed to be perfect. I shrugged and looked at her.
"Fine, then."
"Ha……!"
When I casually switched to informal speech to match her, Pamela let out a hollow laugh while staring at me. Clearly displeased, she frowned and shook her head.
"This is why you should never trust rumors."
"What kind of rumors were going around about me?"
Did I even have any noteworthy rumors? I was not particularly famous at the Academy. In the original novel, I was an extra whose name was never even mentioned. Tilting my head, I asked, and Pamela answered while regarding me with a disgusted expression.
"I heard you were quite the gentleman."
Though she spoke in a clearly sarcastic tone and even used formal speech to mock me, her adorable face somehow kept the barb from landing too sharply. If it had been Leonhardt, irritation would have surged long ago.
"Now that you've seen me in person, am I different from the rumors?"
Pamela scrunched up her puppy-like features and wrinkled her nose, apparently displeased that I had answered her sarcasm so calmly.
"Completely different."
"Really? I consider myself quite the gentleman. Maybe you just don't know me well enough."
"I have no desire to get to know you."
She pretended to be nonchalant, but her mind was surely in chaos. Not only had her supposedly perfect acting been exposed, but I was now joking with her as if it did not matter at all.
In truth, within the Academy, there was likely no one else who had seen through Pamela's performance. It was not that her acting was poor; I simply already knew her true nature. Pamela's acting was excellent, and her naturally gentle face had allowed her to live without ever being caught. Thanks to that, she was a girl who kept her sharp hidden blade very well concealed.
Feigning ignorance, I shrugged and asked, "So, what did you want to say to me?"
Meeting her purple eyes, I inquired about her purpose in approaching me. Pamela raised one eyebrow at the question and answered in a thoroughly irritated voice.
"Do you really think I'd tell you?"
I could not help but burst into laughter at her prickly attitude. As I chuckled, Pamela's scowl deepened and she glared at me. It was not frightening in the slightest.
"It's because of Silvia, isn't it?"
At my question, Pamela's face drained of color. I had never intended to approach the characters from the original novel first. But Pamela, standing before me, was an exception. If she meant to torment Silvia, then I had every intention of reaching out to her first—not for Silvia's sake, but for Pamela's.
For the sake of the villainess who, despite her role, possessed the most pitiful story of all.