The Villainess' Fate Defying Story - Chapter 25

“Thank you.

I’m very sorry to have to decline your offer, even though you went out of your way to lend it to me, but my sisters will bring me a towel and a change of uniform soon, so I’ll be fine.

…Besides, I’ll have to change anyway for the next elective.”

Rize bowed deeply to Sirius and quickly took the jacket he had given her in both hands.

“It got wet because of me, so I’ll dry it and return it to you later.”

For a moment, time stopped.

What is this atmosphere?

Cassandra had never seen Sirius freeze with such a “?” mark on his head before.

The game only showed him in static poses, but seeing the real Sirius who had a physical body and could move was stunned and unable to move was quite surreal.

She didn’t know what was going on in her mind, who had thoroughly and unambiguously refused him, but she must have succeeded in pretending to be modest and saying that he was too good for her.

Any ordinary girl would have been instantly captivated by such an action from him, knowing what he was like normally.

But frighteningly, Rize’s eyes were calmer than any scene she had ever seen.

“Is, is that so…”

Sirius finally squeezed out his voice.

“But it’s strange that you say you have to change for the next elective.

No one would bother changing for a lecture.”

“I chose martial arts training today.”

“!?”

Sirius was speechless.

He had never been so at a loss for words before.

His facial muscles had been very inactive in the early stages of the game, but looking at him now, he was quite easy to read.

He must have thought that she would definitely choose one of the academic lectures.

In fact, that’s how it would have gone if Cassandra hadn’t made any adjustments.

Fortunately, they trusted Cassandra and changed their lecture choices according to her advice.

It was too difficult to suddenly choose swordsmanship, so martial arts was not a bad choice to increase their physical strength.

By increasing their physical strength, they would be less likely to accumulate fatigue and the effect would be more effective in the second half of the game.

No matter who they were aiming for, it wouldn’t hurt to raise this value first.

It must have been a terrible thing for her, who hated exercise in the first place, but it must have been the result of Rize’s own thinking.

“Martial arts?”

He raised the bridge of his glasses with his fingertip as if he had misheard.

“As I said, I have poor athletic ability and no stamina.

I’m thinking of overcoming my weak areas.”

“That’s a waste.”

As if to interrupt Sirius’s attempt to persuade Rize to change her mind, she noticed her sisters’ arrival and waved her hand.

“Thank you both…

Wait, why is Jake-sama here too!?”

Cassandra wondered what was going on when Rize suddenly panicked, but she saw him too and her expression froze.

This place was supposed to be a spot with few people passing by and perfect for meeting the Prince.

Why are there so many visitors today?

Rita and Rina ran up with towels and borrowed uniforms in their hands.

She stared at the red-haired male student who followed them leisurely.

“What, you’re here too. That’s perfect.”

Jake, who noticed his childhood friend, spoke to him in a light tone.

Why is Jake here, too, when she doesn’t even understand why Sirius is here…

Cassandra was busy picking up their conversation with her ears, while glancing at the triplets’ situation.

“I was looking for you and I almost got caught by Miranda.

So, I ran away in the opposite direction of where they were going and I ran into the triplets there, so I followed them.”

Jake’s gaze seemed to be fixed on Rita without a doubt.

Oh, he definitely came along because of Rita, and that was painful to guess in many ways.

It was even more so when she remembered their exchange from earlier.

Miranda!

Please reflect on how your existence is messing up this situation!

Countess Miranda, who was trying to ignite as many bombs as possible, Cassandra had a hallucination of her laughing in the sky.

She suppressed the urge to hold her head in both hands and sighed quietly so as not to be noticed by anyone.

“You have something to do with me?”

“You know my uncle came to the dorm yesterday, right?”

“The dorm supervisor said something about that.

Apparently, a student from this academy inflicted a serious injury on a thug that will take months to heal.

Even if it was against a thug…

I had a feeling, but you did it, didn’t you?”

Sirius’s harsh tone.

He was Sirius, who looked unhappy just by being silent.

If he added a questioning tone to that, it felt like he was being scolded with full pressure.

Rita’s hand stopped wiping Rize’s back.

She could tell from her back that she was sweating profusely and visibly flustered.

The man Rita kicked yesterday had come back to complain to the academy side.

Jake’s relatives were mostly military-related, so it would be safe to assume that he was a big shot in the security department.

She didn’t know exactly where all of his relatives worked.

“That was self-defense and it should have ended there.

But they’re making a fuss and trying to pick a fight with me.

I’ve arranged for accurate information to be circulated among the students, but it’s annoying to be bothered by idiots any more.

I need your signature on the statement. I’ll go and give it to my uncle after school.”

What? What kind of statement needs the vice-president’s signature?

Cassandra froze a little.

“Just to confirm. There’s no mistake that they were the ones who started it, right?”

“Of course, why would I need to hit someone who hasn’t done anything?

It would have been fine if they hadn’t made a fuss, just extorting some medical expenses.

They went too far.

I’ll put them in jail.

I need your signature for the procedure, so please do it by the time I get back.”

Jake casually said something outrageous with a shining smile.

“Hmm…that might be better to cut off the trouble from the source.”

Based on the flow of yesterday’s story and what they said now…

The seriously injured man Rita kicked was taken to the clinic and he started making a fuss that he was done by a student from the academy side.

It would be easy to find out about the triplets’ background. And Jake’s face and name are known by everyone in the royal capital.

The big shot from Jake’s family came to the academy to verify the facts after hearing the men’s complaints, but of course they reported that the men were the ones who started it.

But no matter how you look at it, it was excessive self-defense to inflict such a serious injury, and they probably paid some compensation.

The case should have been over, but the men still kept nagging and demanding more.

They said that a student from the academy had inflicted such a serious injury on them, and they didn’t care about their own conduct and could spread bad rumors.

Considering the possibility of being made a fuss of in the future, they understood that he was working to spread the accurate information that when the students were attacked by thugs in the square, Jake happened to be there and beat them back.

“I” hit them, he said.

In other words, he was covering for Rita.

It wasn’t all true, but he must have decided to go with it as if it was.

It was a plausible story.

She wondered if Rize wouldn’t have had such a hard time if this accurate information had reached Miranda’s ears sooner, but no, she would have been guilty in her eyes anyway just because she came back from outside with Jake.

She was so obsessed with that, she didn’t even think that it was Rize and the others who had encountered the rumored thugs.

Hmm, Cassandra groaned softly. Could this tragedy have been avoided?

She never thought that just making contact between the triplets and Jake would cause such a situation.

And on top of that, she really felt sorry for not thinking that Jake could handle the problem so calmly.

She had too strong an image of him as a musclehead, but he was actually a promising son of a big shot.

She thought that her image of him changed quite a bit when she thought of him as a real person.

It also affected the image of the academy, and it would be bad for their reputation if they made too much noise.

But those men were ignorant of the world. They should have thought about who they were picking a fight with.

This wasn’t just a school for rich kids.

As a result, Jake got fed up and decided to put them in jail for assault charges.

He wanted him to give him the go-ahead for imprisonment, apparently.

What they did was call out to Rina and grab her arm.

And then… they got kicked and suffered a serious injury that would take months to heal, and on top of that, they would end up in jail…

It was their own fault.

They were offered to pay for their medical expenses generously, but their eyes were dazzled by the idea of extorting more if they made a fuss.

Humans, when they get greedy, nothing good happens.

And yet…

She thought as she looked at Jake, who casually said such dangerous things.

This person is really bad to make an enemy of.

Cassandra nodded strongly with a serious expression. Power is scary.

If she ever messed with the protagonist who had such a person behind her, she might be targeted without exaggeration.

“I can agree with you, Jake.

But what are you doing against amateurs? You’re always told to hold back.”

Sirius’s mood was already low as it was.

He was disgusted and his tone was prickly.

“I-I’m sorry! I’m really sorry, I was the one who…”

Her voice completely cracked, and Rita bowed her head over and over again.

She was usually cheerful, but she must have been shocked that she had caused so much trouble for Jake, and she looked like she was about to cry.

For them, yesterday’s story was that they met Jake and had some trouble, but in the end Rize was able to go home with him, and that was it.

They never dreamed that Jake had taken care of everything Rita had done.

“Don’t worry, I got to see something rare too.”

Jake laughed cheerfully.

He didn’t have to cover for Rita, no one would believe that a woman’s kick could crush a rib.

She was a relatively slender girl.

Anyway, it was bad for both sides to dig into this matter any further.

So, Cassandra quickly wiped the wet area while pressing it from above, and decided to call out to Rize, who was putting on the borrowed blazer from the medical office.

“Rize-san, are you okay?”

“Yes, my hair will dry soon too.

Like I said earlier, I’m going to change anyway.

It’ll be fine as long as they don’t find out that I was soaked in water until the changing room.”

When she looked at her closely, she couldn’t see any drops of water on her fluffy chestnut hair.

Her hair had been carefully wiped by Rina’s hand, and luckily the wet spot was only on her upper body, so she could hide it with a blazer.

“By the way, why are you wet?”

From behind Cassandra, Jake’s voice came flying.

At that moment, Rize’s expression was indescribable. She didn’t know if she should be happy or run away, or feel embarrassed.

She desperately tried to hide the mixture of various emotions and act calm, but Cassandra couldn’t help but laugh.

“I-I tripped and…

I fell into the fountain, head first.”

“Seriously!? You’re pretty clumsy!”

Jake laughed without any hesitation or delicacy.

He didn’t know that she thought it was a good thing that Jake hadn’t been the one who had passed by Rita that day.

“You’re the first one to stick your face in here, aren’t you?”

It’s your fault though?

Cassandra and Rina and Rita all gave him a collective retort at his innocent laughter.

“…Huh? That red thing, isn’t it yours?”

Jake narrowed his eyes as he looked at the fountain, and then noticed.

She had seen it before, but there was a red ribbon in the center of the fountain that was sucked in and tossed around as it pleased.

“Oh, you’re right.”

Rize unconsciously touched her head, but the ribbon that had become their identification mark was not there.

If she wanted to get it back, she would have to go inside. She doesn’t want to do that…

Cassandra also smiled wryly.

But Jake took off his shoes without any hesitation.

He hummed a tune and hopped into the water with agile movements that didn’t suit his sturdy body.

Huh?

He walked in the water with a splash, and at the moment when the red ribbon was pushed back to the front by the water flow, he grabbed it with a flick of his wrist.

He came back and sat on the edge of the fountain and handed her the wet ribbon with a “here”.

“Ah, thank you… very much…”

Rina handed him a large towel from next to Rize, who bowed her head and thanked him.

His legs below the knees were completely soaked.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?”

“I’m going to change anyway.

Without this, the others might have a hard time telling them apart.”

Is that what you’re saying, the person who said ‘they’re all the same’ pointing at the triplets last week?

She wanted to retort, but silence was golden.

“Even so…”

Sirius frowned at Jake’s carefree words.

“…Um, excuse me! I think it will take me some time to get ready…

I’m sorry, everyone, I’ll go ahead!”

Rize, who was red as a beet to the back of her ears, seemed to have reached the breaking point and ran away from the courtyard.

What? Jake looked puzzled as he wiped his feet roughly.

And Sirius, who was glaring at Jake with a scary face and a bad mood aura.

Everyone had their own troubles.

She wished she could leave here as soon as possible, or maybe she should have followed Rize out of concern.

“But it’s too bad, if you had chosen swordsmanship, we could have gone together.”

Jake said that to Rita without any ulterior motive.

He was a scary man in a different vector from power.

She was confident that if Prince Arthur did something like that to her, she would be in a flower field for more than a week, not just a day.

She hoped Rize wasn’t incapacitated by now…

Skipping one lecture was pretty tough. Hang in there, Rize.

Well, she calmed her mind.

She had been so focused on Rize’s condition until now.

But from halfway through, Cassandra had become more than half air.

Or rather, she wanted to be air, so she erased her presence.

She didn’t want to get caught in the aftermath of the exchange between the protagonist and the target.

It was scary.

Besides, she wasn’t even sure if Jake and Sirius noticed Cassandra’s existence.

She wasn’t even in their sight, which made her laugh.

That was convenient for her.

After this unbelievable dense lunch break, and after the elective lecture was over…

She would finally be able to meet the Prince!

It wasn’t someone else’s business.

Cassandra felt a shiver of excitement for her own challenge.

Aim for a friendly conversation with the Prince that focuses on the atmosphere!