The Villainess' Fate Defying Story - Chapter 17

“……Huh?”

With a very long pause, Jake turned a dumbfounded expression to Cassandra.

She could see that his orange eyes were staring intently at her.

“What is that?”

He couldn’t suppress a sneer, and raised the corners of his mouth.

It was a look that was peculiar to when he found a flaw in someone, a look that made fun of people.

“Are you really Arthur’s fiancée?

If so, you’re disqualified no matter how you look at it.”

She knew that he would immediately find fault with her like that.

They didn’t openly agree with Cassandra’s engagement to Arthur, but they probably wanted her to break it off if possible.

At least they wouldn’t be happy to see someone from the Marquis Rendall’s family enter the palace like this.

For them, the top three families who support the king, Rendall’s influence, which binds many rural lords, is difficult to handle.

They just don’t say anything because they pay a huge amount of taxes for the sake of the center.

Even though they are from the countryside, the history of the Marquis Rendall’s family is in a sense longer than that of this country. They have come to this point because they think it is better to use Rendall as it is, who gathers the rebellious rural nobles, rather than plotting to overthrow them with all their might.

They are suppressing their desire to say, “Just stay in the countryside.”

She finally realized clearly in these less than two weeks that they were wary of her.

They mistakenly think that the Rendall family is aiming to expand into the center by becoming a royal relative.

But they can’t interfere with the engagement arranged by the king without a valid reason.

Therefore, they would be overjoyed if Cassandra fell from grace at this academy.

That’s why they keep on tripping her up.

That’s the situation at the root of it, but what she wonders is that there was no such situation in the game setting.

To begin with, there was no mention of the target’s family being one of the top three families in Clores Kingdom. Maybe it was because it was not directly related to the protagonist, and a commoner-born person wouldn’t need to know the details of the noble society.

The targets would also probably not want to show such troublesome and messy circumstances if they could.

Within the range that does not affect the scenario, this world is creating such a setting. She doesn’t know what that means, though.

Oh, but then she can understand a little bit.

Why was Cassandra denounced and exiled at the graduation party?

She guesses that the target exposed Cassandra’s misconduct and immorality in public because of such circumstances, and indeed it makes sense.

To protect the beloved protagonist, and above all, to legally exile Cassandra.

He decided to denounce her in a situation where she had no room for excuses.

It was an aspect that didn’t show up in the game, of course…

Targets, aren’t these perfect moves!?

While playing a hand that could make a powerful noble who could become a political enemy fall from grace, he officially becomes romantically involved with the protagonist and gets her…!

He chases two rabbits and gets both of them.

That’s scary. They are really scary men…!

Of course, there is a high possibility that the production side thought that far, but it was right not to bring it to the forefront.

The protagonist is repulsed by the calculation of the man she fell in love with.

Whether she assumes that or not, Cassandra in the game is too pitiful a clown…!

She was so recklessly pushing herself on the target who was eagerly waiting for her downfall.

She was only getting in the way of the protagonist….

Maybe she was a very stupid child?

Well, they all have good faces, so if you’re a attracted to that kind of thing, you can’t help but be drawn to them, she defends Cassandra, who is not herself, a little bit.

She felt a strange and weird sensation and felt restless.

Unlike the targets, Cassandra is just a rival and a villainess character.

That’s why she has less settings to talk about than them, and a person who didn’t exist in the original work like Alek was created.

Maybe it was easier for something like a god who created this world to add some hidden settings to her.

Even so

He said she was disqualified as a fiancée just for asking about the prince.

He said a lot, even though he was an enemy.

Cassandra brushed her golden hair over her shoulder with the back of her hand and put her other hand on her hip.

She straightened her back so as not to lose to him, and narrowed her eyes.

She didn’t need to be reserved, she was not allowed to flatter and fawn over Jake here.

“Jake Fol Lombardo.

How is your precious horse, Loudruck?”

“……Huh? Why do you……”

“And, do you know?

The reason why you wanted to be a knight was because of your cousin’s incident.

The scar on your back is from that time too.”

“……….Why do you, know such things…!?”

“Your half-brother Grimm-sama.

He hasn’t returned from his remote treatment yet, has he?

……I’m sure you’ll have a hard time with him at your mansion from now on. I’m sorry for your heartache, I sympathize with you”

“Wait!”

Jake pressed his forehead and raised his voice without hiding his murderous intent.

He, who never talked about his family affairs, easily fell for the shake-up.

She was really glad that it was Jake, who was relatively simple, who was here.

Of course, if it wasn’t Jake, he wouldn’t have thought of making a move like asking Cassandra for a favor, so in a sense it was inevitable.

“Cassandra, you, were you snooping around me?

What are you up to…!”

“Ho ho ho ho ho!

Don’t misunderstand me, Jake-sama!

For me, this level of knowledge about you is nothing but a trivial matter that I happened to know”

Cassandra, who has a face that suits such a high-pitched laugh at the age of fifteen.

Aptitude is a scary thing. She is scared of herself.

“The name of your horse? Who would find value in the name of Jake-sama’s horse?

The details of your cousin’s affair are something that can be found out with a little research, and you ended up becoming a knight. What’s the point of saying the trigger for that now?

You will introduce Grimm-sama to everyone sooner or later, even if I don’t spread it around, won’t you?

For me, everything I have just told you is neither beneficial nor sufficient for even a little bit of bargaining material for Jake-sama.

Please listen carefully.

All of these are nothing but by-products of the result of acting on wanting to know about the Prince.”

She piled up the shock on top of the fact that she didn’t get it because she wanted to find out about Jake. Her chest hurt with guilt for lying because she got the information from following him as the protagonist in her previous life.

Bluffing is important.

Cassandra has no way of knowing about Jake in this world. She is aware that she is cheating as much as possible, but she can’t help it.

He must be quite creeped out about her knowing his “circumstances” from the game in her previous life.

The red-haired boy glared at her as if he was facing a malicious stalker.

“……What do you mean?

You have the means to get that much information, but you don’t know anything about Arthur?

Is that possible…?”

Things that she couldn’t have known unless she had a spy in Jake’s residence.

He was shaken by being confronted with something he had tried to keep as hidden as possible, and he seemed to have realized what Cassandra wanted to say.

“I have received the offer of engagement with the prince, and I have hardly seen his face until the approval was given privately.

After all, I am from a rural noble family, you know?

I may have received a grand-sounding title in name only, but it is too much to say that my father and Marquis Lombardo are of the same rank. I am always deeply ashamed of that.”

She didn’t want to threaten him with the information he didn’t want to leak to the outside.

In short, she had the means to get such detailed information from Jake, the Prince’s close aide, without him noticing

And yet, Cassandra still knew nothing about the Prince.

She wanted him to notice that abnormal situation.

“I want to be the Prince’s closest confidant, as everyone says, as a partner for his future.

But it’s hard to do anything with just feelings.

I don’t know anything more than the rumors that are told in the world about what kind of person the Prince is.

As Jake-sama says, I’m still ‘disqualified’ no matter how long it takes, and that’s very regrettable and painful for me.”

She thought she could deepen her friendship with him by attending the same academy, but his close aides started to act as if they wanted to eliminate Cassandra.

The Prince also avoided her because he was concerned about his close aides’ fiancée situation!

There is no way that Cassandra can gather information about the Prince, behave appropriately for him, and ‘earn his trust’ in this situation.

Sirius probably calculated that and deliberately acted to lower Cassandra’s reputation.

He is a person who has been trained by his father, the prime minister.

Except for the protagonist. His attitude after getting into his heart is a great example of before and after.

Jake shouldn’t have thought that far.

She can guess that the reason why he has a strong hit on Cassandra is because Cassandra has the attributes of being a noble lady who he hates, who is arrogant and haughty, and whose parents are from a family he doesn’t like!

He probably also feels that a villainous-looking lady is mean and too inadequate for the Prince.

“I want to know about the Prince.

I can’t win the favor of someone who doesn’t exist”

At least, he is a boy with a strong sense of justice.

He shouldn’t take Cassandra’s words in a blatantly distorted way.

……But maybe because she is a villain, this kind of thing is also added as a minus point for him.

She might have gotten a little too carried away.

She never had a chance to express her true feelings like this before.

It was only because Jake asked her for a favor that she was able to say it without hesitation, but……

“Ha ha ha ha!”

He also didn’t lose to Cassandra in momentum, and he pounded the nearby desk with his fist.

Stop it, you’ll break the legs of the desk with your brute strength.

“You have such information gathering skills and he still completely guards himself, Arthur is too amazing.

……Well……I don’t blame you.

Information about him that has substance, huh. ……It must be pretty hard”

He was completely enjoying himself.

Even though this is so nerve-wracking for me.

She clenched her hand tightly so that he wouldn’t notice the sweat on her palm.

“A deal, huh? Fine.

I want your cooperation too, I don’t mind that much.”

It was a surprisingly anticlimactic development.

She felt her whole body start to relax, but Jake grinned and looked very happy.

Was this what he called pleasure? Cassandra had a bad feeling, no, a state of alarm.

But she couldn’t run or hide.

“Shall I tell you? About Arthur”

As he said that and began to talk about his ‘friend’, Cassandra completely lost her words.

According to Jake’s story, Arthur was a very, very excellent prince in every field.

He was handsome, beautiful, and well-behaved.

He was a model of royalty, gentle and never without a smile.

He was tolerant of Jake’s hobbies, good at horse riding, good at swordsmanship, and had high physical abilities. He would play with him if he invited him.

He could respond normally to Sirius’s political discussions, and was excellent in his studies.

He was a gentleman who treated all the ladies equally, without any gossip about him being active in the social world like Ralph.

He was moderately fond of painting and not averse to reading, and he never said anything bad about anyone.

He had three childhood friends with different personalities, and although he didn’t match any of them in any aspect, he had enough skills to satisfy them, and he was humble and somewhat insensitive.

What kind of perfect superhuman is this!?

She was speechless that he actually existed.

Can this information be called information? It’s just a condensed version of the rumors.

How about something like this, Like having a surprising hobby or something, or a flaw!

Or a field that he is interested in and involved in passionately!

Doesn’t he have any personal, unique stories of failure or past stories that make him want to talk about them!?

Looking at Cassandra’s frozen expression, Jake gave a mischievous smile.

“Arthur, you know, he can do anything, he responds smoothly if he is expected to.

I can’t think of any flaws right away…

If I had to say, maybe his lack of ambition?

He doesn’t have any desires or intentions, or anything like that.

Oh, he’s a good guy?”

……What kind of character is that?

She was the one who wished to know about the Prince.

But normally, isn’t there something human-like somewhere?

Where should she start cutting from?

It’s quite different from what she thought……

She thought she could hear some amusing episodes that would be a good start for a conversation, or learn about something he is obsessed with now and prepare to bring up the topic.

She thought that information gathering meant something like that.

She reached into a dark hole to grasp the other person, and tried to grab him with her fingers.

But what she tried to grab was a slippery sphere, and it rolled further back……like that……a feeling of disappointment….

Are there no protrusions on the surface that are easy to grasp!

At least have some corners so it doesn’t roll!

She felt a sense of despair as the Prince’s existence became more and more vague and misty, too perfect.

“Well, his official queen candidate must have a hard time.

She has to be a woman who is not ashamed to stand next to such a perfect human being.

Is it too harsh for you?

Not just you, but anyone who is with Arthur would be scrutinized to the extreme.”

He snorted and laughed through his nose.

At the same time, she understood why he agreed and talked to her.

It may also be because his guard is strong. But Jake knows very well that he is not a person with such a remarkable “personality” that he would stand out.

It was easy to explain in words, but the word perfect superhuman was everything and there was no information to gather.

It was too much for her to have such a person as her fiancé.

He can do anything, a mass of talent……a listless prince…?

Could this be…

Could it be possible that he was bored with life and became dominated by a pessimistic view of the world, and reached out to the ‘seed of malice’ himself…!?

She suppressed the urge to cover her face and collapse on the spot, somehow, in front of Jake.

“Thank you very much…”

Oh, but depending on how you think about it, maybe the Prince would respond to any topic.

……He might respond, but…

He can only respond, but he doesn’t have any interest or favorite things.

He lacks ambition.

His desires and intentions are weak.

How can she make such a person enjoy a conversation……?

Maybe he doesn’t even have the intention of wanting to get along with Cassandra…?

Oh, the Prince is far away!