The Villainess' Fate Defying Story - Chapter 18

She didn’t know if it was good to call it information about the Prince, but she certainly heard a story from the Prince’s friend.

Even if the content of that story brought her half-despair, she had no choice but to somehow get along with the Prince.

…As a matter of concern that she can’t confirm, what if the prince actually has a capture requirement parameter and he demands a value that is enough for the protagonist to lightly become the queen…

She is not the protagonist, so she has no idea about her own value.

No, he is a non-target, so it shouldn’t matter. She believes that.

She was groping in the dark, but she wanted to think that she had made some progress, even by a millimeter.

At least she knew that the Prince, who was a paragon of gentlemanliness, wouldn’t say anything negative or dismissive even if the conversation with Cassandra was boring.

If only he would tell her what topics were landmines, she would avoid them thoroughly.

Damn Jake, what useless information…!

During the afternoon lecture, Cassandra realized that she had to think about something else while hating Jake, who suddenly popped into her head.

How to arrange a meeting between the triplets and Jake, huh.

She decided to consult with Rize first about this matter.

Jake himself had ‘requested’ Cassandra to talk to Rita.

But lo and behold, Cassandra was an ally of the protagonist, or rather, the lovestruck maiden, who had consulted with her beforehand.

She closed her eyes to her own position, which was like a double agent or a double spy, and wanted to fulfill the triplets’ wishes.

To do that, she had to use Jake’s request to her advantage.

She hoped that this would be the only time she had to do something like this.

She still wanted the targets to be happy, no matter what, so she wanted to avoid deceiving them.

Basically, Cassandra was not the type of person who could handle human relationships skillfully.

She couldn’t please both sides, and since she was already considered an enemy by them from the start, she sided with the protagonist.

While maintaining her position of clearly working for the protagonist, she hoped that Jake and the others would also have a happy ending.

She also thought that it was more natural for the protagonist to advance her relationship with them and ‘capture’ them, according to the purpose of the game.

They could have a happy ending with any combination.

She aimed for a grand finale.

“Rize-san, I have something to talk to you about.

May I have some of your time?”

After finishing the afternoon lecture in a distracted state, the students all headed home.

There was no after-school homeroom at this academy, so it was customary to disband as soon as the last lecture was over.

Starting next week, there would be many classmates who would go home without seeing each other at all after lunch, as the afternoon elective lectures would begin.

“Yes, of course.

What about the two of them?”

“I have something I want to consult with you alone today”

Rize twitched her ears at the word ‘alone’.

She realized that it must be related to Jake, and her movements were very quick.

“I understand.

I’ll tell them to go back first.”

Rize spoke in her usual brisk tone.

She managed to get Rita and Rina out of the lecture room, who were fidgeting and watching her.

It was not an exaggeration to say that she had driven them away, but it was a feat that only sisters could do.

They could meet again in the dormitory soon, so they didn’t have to worry about their relationship being strained or agonize over it until the next day.

Cassandra envied their close relationship.

She sparkled her blue eyes and leaned forward with her feelings.

She was surprised that Rize, who had a strong impression of being strong-willed and cool among the triplets, was showing her emotions so much and waiting for her to speak.

She was a girl who seemed to be indifferent and secretly sneered at the topics of the classmates’ about the top three families’ sons.

She was confused by the contrast when she saw her restless and unable to calm down.

“Actually, Jake-sama said he wanted to meet you all.”

“Eh… r-really!?

Cassandra-sama… you’re amazing! To make such progress in such a short time!”

It would never have happened if Jake hadn’t contacted her.

It was an offer from him, and she wanted to make use of this opportunity.

It was very hard to say what she was going to say to Rize, who was full of expectations.

It could completely dampen her joy.

It was a miraculous story for her that Jake, who usually had people around him, would go out of his way to meet the triplets.

He didn’t have followers around him, but he often had companions, male or female, around him.

If he walked alone, the girls wouldn’t leave him alone, and the boys also seemed to rely on Jake, who was the easiest to talk to among the student council members.

He seemed to act alone sometimes, but Cassandra rarely saw such scenes.

Oh, he often comes alone when he goes to the student council room or the salon.

No one can follow him there.

It would be quite difficult for Rize to talk to Jake, even if she wanted to, with that situation.

If she tried to go see him by force, she would only become one of the many follower ladies.

She was offered a rare chance to close the distance, and it was no wonder that Rize was happy.

But if she didn’t nail it down, it would cause unnecessary trouble.

“Rize-san, please calm down and listen carefully.

Jake-sama asked me to set up a place for him to meet Rita-san.

I arranged it so that it would be all three of you at the same time.”

At that moment, she felt an illusion that the beautiful highlight in Rize’s eyes disappeared with a puff.

Her body, which had been approaching her with high spirits, staggered back.

“……Rita……?”

The man she liked was interested in her sister.

She couldn’t accept that fact easily, and her eyes lost their light and became fixed. It was a bit scary.

“Yes, I’m sorry to say this, but……”

It’s not anyone’s fault, this is just how it is!

It’s all a big mess caused by the whim of the goddess of fate, and Rita, Rize, and even Jake didn’t do anything wrong.

Who has feelings for whom is not something that can be influenced by personal intentions.

It was hard to tell her that Jake wanted to see Rita like this.

She had to act on that understanding. If she hid it, Rize would be more disappointed when she saw Jake’s attitude and realized everything.

That man was not like Ralph, who could be equally kind to women he wasn’t interested in.

It wasn’t hard to imagine that he would treat Rize and Rina as extras. It would be better than getting hurt there.

“Is Rita that much more……”

“R-Rize-san?”

She timidly called out to her, and she suddenly turned to the window glass.

This was the second floor, and Cassandra hurriedly followed her.

She opened the window glass sideways with a clatter, and put both hands on the window frame.

“If I jump from here, too! Will Jake-sama notice me!?”

“Stop it, you’ll die!”

She turned pale and hugged her from behind, and involuntarily checked the surroundings with bloodshot eyes.

She somehow pulled her away from the window and tried to calm her down.

Her thinking circuit was too broken and incomprehensible to surpass Cassandra.

She felt nothing but fear that Rize, who was good at studying and calm, would do something so meaningless…

And don’t imitate things that only outliers like Rita and Jake can do!

If Rize, who was bad at sports, fell, she would plunge headfirst and die!

At least Cassandra couldn’t find that much value in that man and really wanted her to stop.

She earnestly hoped that she would choose the right person and situation to risk her life for.

Jake was almost found guilty of the crime of driving the girl who was supposed to be a saint to this point.

“……I…don’t know……”

Rize slumped down and muttered with her head down.

“I don’t know.

…I don’t know how to make people like me.”

She covered her face and sighed.

“And…

I, swords and stuff, I’m not in a position to do that…

I know I have to study properly.”

A shadow of anguish crossed her face.

She realized that Rize was confused and swayed by the current situation, and her heart ached.

“If you don’t mind, please tell me what’s on your mind.”

She approached her.

She didn’t look at her, but when she came close, Rize tensed up and dropped a thin, long sigh on the floor.

“Why…did this happen?

When I heard about Rita, I felt like I was suddenly brought back to reality…”

She spoke up some of her feelings, stumbling here and there.

She wanted to be an official, and her expression was dark.

It was the best future she had come up with, in her own way, for someone who had always been studying hard and had no “cuteness”.

If she continued to be the top student at this academy, her dream would easily come true.

She was determined, but she fell into an unexpected trap.

It was Jake, the target.

For some reason, he appeared to her as a dazzling and attractive person.

She wanted to catch his attention, to talk to him somehow, but she couldn’t.

That alone was enough to make her sigh, but on top of that, he was interested in her sister.

That situation stabbed her heart critically, as she was proud.

She usually lived with confidence in herself, so she couldn’t stand it.

She nodded when she told her to improve in a field that wasn’t in her future plans, in order to please Jake, but she was still hesitant.

She might get closer to Jake, but she knew very well that it wouldn’t work out in the end because of their status and other circumstances.

She fell in love with someone she wasn’t allowed to hope for, and neglected her efforts for her original ‘dream’ while being lost in it.

She couldn’t accept that, as she was originally rational.

A difficult dilemma.

If Cassandra didn’t know about her previous life, she might have been able to give irresponsible advice like, you don’t have to choose swordsmanship classes to get close to Jake, you’re fine as you are, you’re wonderful!

But she, only she, knew the way of this world beforehand.

Her prior knowledge got in the way.

Then, Rize’s faint feelings would not come true.

What kind of protagonist did she have to become to be in love with Jake?

What conditions were necessary?

A thorny path for Rize, who liked someone who could be called the worst match for her.

Of course, that wasn’t just Rize.

“It’s okay, Rize-san!

You can become an official even if you’re not the top student when you graduate from this academy.

And I don’t want you to have such a hostile academy life, just competing with Sirius-sama in academic performance.

It’s okay, leave it to me?

I’ll pay more attention to getting closer to Jake-sama’s ideal and maintaining your grades at the academy.”

It’s okay, it’ll work out somehow.

Rize was basically good at raising her academic parameters, so she could adjust for the swordsmanship tournament while maintaining her current situation with a little ingenuity…

Cassandra slightly changed the position of the schedule command in her head.

There was some leeway, some degree of freedom to allow for.

There was more than one way to capture him.

“To be honest, I think it’s very difficult to surpass Sirius-sama.

But you don’t have to worry.

I and the teachers and everyone know that you are an excellent student.”

Rize looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Indeed, it was understandable that she would be suspicious of why a stranger like her would side with her so much.

“Is that possible?”

She said firmly that it was possible, and vitality returned to her eyes.

She might have various thoughts, but the protagonists were full of possibilities.

They were beings who could grasp anything depending on their own efforts.

She couldn’t tell her to give up on either one.

“Ah, but Rita is a rival…

It’s kind of hard to do.”

“Oh, Rita-san seems to be fond of Ralph-sama, though…”

“But at this point, Jake-sama is aiming for Rita, right?”

Aiming…

Can you choose your words more carefully? Cassandra thought to herself.

That was the situation, though.

“You haven’t spent enough time together to talk about it.

People’s hearts and feelings change in times like these.

Hehe, on the contrary, other gentlemen might talk to you?”

“There’s no one like that in this academy.”

She said with cold eyes, without a moment’s hesitation.

She was really a realist.

“Sirius-sama, for example…”

As soon as she mentioned his name, Rize frowned and made a face as if she had bitten a bitter bug.

What did Sirius do, besides what happened in the library? She wouldn’t make such a face if he hadn’t done anything else.

“Anyway, I’ll do my best not to lose to Rita!”

It wasn’t a matter of snatching him away, and Rita had her own target, Ralph, who she was interested in.

It was a blessing that their desired partners didn’t overlap.

“By the way, why is Rita-san interested in Ralph-sama?”

They seemed to have met and had an event somewhere she didn’t know.

She didn’t mind that at all, but she was curious about what actually happened that made Rita interested in and fond of Ralph.

She hadn’t had a chance to be alone with Rita, and had missed the opportunity to hear the details until now.

Then Rize covered her head seriously and said, “Do you have to ask me that…” with a face that had fallen to the bottom of despair.

What on earth had happened?

“It was this Monday, at the beginning of the week…”

Rize looked away from Cassandra and spoke calmly, looking at the distant sky beyond the window.

“That day, the wind was strong…

She had her handkerchief blown away by the wind from the second floor corridor before she went home.”

She remembered that their handkerchiefs had Rina’s cute embroidery on them.

If it was blown away by the wind, Rita would definitely hurry to get it.

She could easily imagine the scene.

“Her handkerchief got caught on that branch.”

She said that and pointed to a big tree planted in the schoolyard.

Oh, it looked like a tree that was very easy to climb, she thought intuitively. It was a tree with a splendid branch structure.

“She climbed the tree and got the handkerchief.”

“I see, so that’s when Ralph-sama appeared!”

She clapped her hands and cheered.

He must have been startled to see a tomboyish lady climbing a tree in her uniform.

There was no other female student in this academy who would do such a thing.

Rize covered her face with both hands and looked down.

“She…was surprised by Ralph-sama’s presence and slipped off the tree.”

“Eh!? D-did she get hurt…?”

Rize shook her head.

That wasn’t the problem, she seemed to say.

“She slid down in front of Ralph-sama, and tore her skirt on a branch…

And in front of him, with her underwear exposed…”

…Huh??

“Ralph-sama didn’t flinch at all at such an idiot, and gently put his uniform jacket over Rita and left…

He said something like ‘You don’t have to give it back, miss’.

I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone such a thing if it were me, or rather, I would definitely refuse to go to school, but what is that?”

“……S-such a thing…”

She had no words to continue, her expression must have been distorted.

What kind of situation was that?

“Is it really okay not to return the jacket?”

She suddenly raised her face and asked Cassandra with a gloomy expression.

“Eh? Well, if he says so, I guess it’s fine…”

For him, the academy uniform was probably nothing more than giving away his handkerchief.

Besides, it was impossible to go to school with his jacket and return it to Ralph without anyone knowing.

In a way, Ralph might have just offered to avoid trouble.

“She’s basically an idiot, so if she’s treated like a girl like this, she’ll fall for him in one shot.

She’s also a dreamy child.”

She had a troubled sister and Rize looked distant, but she certainly had more than enough sympathy for her.

Being treated like a girl was the point, huh.

In that case, it was really good that Ralph was there, Cassandra thought with a cold sweat for a different reason.

If Sirius had happened to pass by, he would have given her a cold glance and completely ignored her.

If it had been Jake, he would probably have laughed and pointed at her.

…It was good that Ralph passed by…!

She couldn’t help but feel grateful to Ralph, who left without leaving an indelible wound on the innocent girl, just this time.

“What does Jake-sama like about her?

Sure, she’s bright, energetic, athletic, kind and a good girl, but she’s basically an idiot, right?”

She was asked with a serious face, and she was very troubled.

By the way, the torn skirt was perfectly repaired by Rina.

She was like a mother, that girl.