The Villainess Maker
“…Won’t you take me in? I wish to serve you by your side.”
I could feel a sense of bewilderment radiating from Iolet at those words. Well, it was only natural. If a woman she’d just met—a highly suspicious one at that—suddenly begged to serve her, I’d be flustered, too.
But I wasn’t just shooting in the dark.
‘Either way, I have to get into the academy.’
The moment I realized this was the world of Saintess Hero, that was the only conclusion that had surfaced in my mind. The main stream of Saintess Hero is a journey where the Saintess finds the Hero at the academy and defeats the Demon King. Naturally, most of the hidden pieces I knew of were also buried within that setting.
‘If I go there, I might find clues about the .’
Above all, the answers to why I was dropped into this world and how I could return to my original one were highly likely to be at the heart of the story. The problem was how to get in.
Stella Academy, the cradle of geniuses where the empire’s greatest talents gathered. According to the lore, it wasn’t a place you could just walk into and take an exam for whenever you felt like it.
It was a sanctuary, a continental version of Hogwarts, where a golden admission letter would suddenly arrive one day only to the “chosen geniuses” who passed the criteria independently established by the academy. The probability of a blind beggar from the back alleys receiving that invitation was close to zero.
It was the same in the game. If you were caught in the pre-admission phase in custom mode and failed to secure the admission letter within the set time, it was an instant Bad Ending. It was a start notorious even among hardcore veterans.
Now that the game had become reality, I didn’t know what kind of ruin failing to enter would lead to, but there was no need to take that risk.
‘In that case, the only way is to go all-in on the Iolet Coin…!’
There was a fairly famous standard route among the veterans: latching onto a core character whose admission to the academy was guaranteed. That would exponentially increase your own chances of admission. And Iolet Dranice was one of those core characters who was guaranteed to enter the academy.
From my current position, there was no better blue-chip stock than this. Plus, there was one more thing. Iolet was currently in a situation where it was difficult for her to refuse my proposal.
‘If things had gone according to the original script, you should have awakened your magic yesterday.’
The assassination attempt yesterday was an event that had been mentioned in the game as well. It was the scene where Iolet, driven to the edge of a cliff after the succession struggle, finally awakens. But because I intervened, the flow had been disrupted.
Iolet hadn’t awakened her mana, and she remained in a precarious state, still exposed to threats against her life. She desperately needed a reliable “force” to protect her life right now.
In this situation, where even her own family might have betrayed her, I—nameless and without connections, but possessing undeniable skill—must have looked like an attractive lifeline.
‘The fact that she brought me here and even treated my wounds is a dead giveaway. She’s probably thinking, “I should use this favor to win her over,” right?’
I chuckled inwardly. Before coming here, I was the one who had reset the game countless times just to take down the hidden boss, Iolet. I might be a woman now, but anyway! I could read Iolet like the back of my hand. ‘Alright, time to butter her up.’
Iolet Dranice, the youngest daughter of the Dranice Duke family, age 16. She was currently engulfed in a sense of bewilderment she had never experienced in her life.
Was it because her siblings had sent assassins to kill her? No. Was it because a girl she’d never seen before had sliced those assassins up like bugs? That was shocking, but no, that wasn’t it either.
The reason Iolet was flustered was….
“My Lady. The moment I heard your voice in the back alley yesterday, I thought an angel had descended.”
‘Th-this girl…?’ Iolet’s eyebrows twitched.
“That elegance, even in the face of assassins… Honestly, I was in awe. I have never seen anyone like you.”
Iolet crossed her arms, pretending to be indifferent. “…Hmph. You have an eye for things.”
It was the moment her wariness softened just a fraction.
“The young lady of the Dranice magic family. A great mage who will one day illuminate the empire.”
“…….”
“Though my eyes are blind, I can feel your talent.”
Iolet’s lips twitched. She had been treated as a “failure” her entire life. To her, someone was finally sending her praise filled with conviction.
She was clearly a suspicious person. Rationally, she should keep her at a distance. But strangely enough…. The girl’s words kept tickling her pride.
“H-hmmm….” The tips of her ears began to turn red.
“Your voice is as clear as jade beads rolling on a silver tray, and the aura you exude is so great it could cover the entire empire! If I could only serve someone like you, my lowly life could become the dust that paves your flowery path!”
The more she heard the girl speak, the more Iolet’s head heated up, making it impossible for her to think straight.
“S-stop….”
“Even the tip of the sword I used to cut down those assassins yesterday was imbued with your grace. When I punished those detestable bugs who dared to threaten you, I finally realized it. The fact that I was born to protect you!”
“I-I get it, so stop!”
Iolet shouted, but it was already too late. Her lips were curled upward as far as they could go.
“You can’t see, but you have a good eye. That’s right, I, of the Dranice bloodline, am a bit dazzling.” Iolet cleared her throat unnecessarily and held her head high. “If you want to serve me that badly… I won’t turn you away.”
“Ohhh…! I will engrave this grace into my bones, thank you! My light, my sun, Lady Iolet!”
“Ahahaha! Consider it an honor and serve me with all your heart!!”
‘Easy.’
I could feel Iolet’s shoulders soaring to the heavens at my dazzling eloquence. Iolet at this age was starving for praise. And she had absolutely no resistance to this kind of favor.
Iolet as a hidden boss is the strongest. But when it came to human relationships…. ‘She’s a total amateur. I guess she’s been like that since she was little.’
Even in the game, Iolet was on the very easy side to clear. Because she had zero resistance to praise, you could build up favorability quickly if you just buttered her up a little.
Yet, her mentality was weak and she suffered from human distrust, so if you didn’t manage her constantly, she was a troll character who would get yandere and blow up the party. That was the true identity of Iolet Dranice.
She wasn’t stupid, but to those she deemed not an enemy, she was just too easy, wasn’t she? But from my current position, that was actually a relief.
‘It’s easy as long as I’m not perceived as an enemy.’
If she had judged me as an enemy, no matter how much praise I poured on her, it would have only increased her wariness. Anyway… the Iolet Coin all-in was a success!
“Now that I think about it, what’s your name?”
Iolet, who had been laughing in self-admiration for a while, asked as if it had just occurred to her.
I fell into thought at that question. I certainly had a name I used in my original world. But this body was the body of a character in a game. Using my original name felt as awkward as wearing clothes that didn’t fit.
‘It’s a new life anyway, so it’s better to swap out the name.’
I bowed my head, pretending to be pathetic once again.
“I was a lowly beggar who wandered without parents or a name. It was my fate to be called like a pebble on the road and then disappear.”
“……You have no name?”
For a brief moment, a feeling akin to pity flickered in Iolet’s voice. Of course, I didn’t miss that opening and drove the wedge in.
“But after meeting you yesterday, I was reborn. My past is meaningless now. So, please call me whatever you wish. The name you give me will be my new life.”
Iolet closed her mouth, seemingly lost in thought at these words.
‘Since I’ve handed over the naming rights, Iolet will now think of me as her own possession.’
Everything was a maneuver to raise Iolet’s trust. I was the type to name characters haphazardly when playing games anyway, so I didn’t care if Iolet named me.
“Hmm… Alright. If you say so, I’ll specially give you a name. Since you’re a servant of Iolet Dranice, I can’t just give you anything.”
Her heels clicked rhythmically against the floor. Iolet paced around the room, muttering.
“You are blind, but you possess the sharpest blade of anyone….”
After a long deliberation, Iolet’s footsteps stopped right in front of me.
“‘Gladia’. From today, your name is Gladia.”
“Gladia… is it?”
“That’s right. The most loyal and sharpest blade of this Iolet Dranice. Gladia. How is it, do you like it?”
The name itself wasn’t bad. Was it derived from Gladius? More than that, the fact that Iolet had named me herself was what mattered. Now, every time she looked at me, she would be reminded of the name she had given me, and she would feel a sense of responsibility and attachment.
“It is an undeserved name, My Lady. From today, my name is Gladia.”
“Fufu, good! I like that attitude, Gladia.”
Iolet patted my shoulder, seemingly satisfied. Her touch was much more friendly than before. Feeling that touch, I also wore a satisfied smile.
Iolet Coin all-in complete. Now all that was left was to carry this young lady on my back and sprint toward the goal of the academy.
‘To do that, first… I need to raise Iolet while adapting to the and the .’
If Iolet failed to enter the academy, my coin would be as good as delisted. But I had no worries. Because I was an expert. There was no one in the world who knew her potential better than I did. Plans on how to raise Iolet were being laid out in my head, one by one.
I kept smiling as I listened to Iolet’s voice, which was filled with excitement. Princess… no, the Iolet Maker has officially started!