The Villainess' Fate Defying Story - Chapter 6

They shared the situations that the students would need to know in the future in their school life and gave them particularly strict instructions, especially since it was the year that the prince would be entering school.

The sons of the close aides would also be in the same class at the same time.

They are special, and the words were lined up to strictly warn the mere “students” not to treat them casually.

Those qualified for admission to the academy were the children of nobles with titles, the sons of rich people who could pay large donations, or the heirs of unranked lords who ruled local fiefdoms.

The exceptions are limited to those whose talents are recognized by the country, and these are called “scholarship students” in the position of the protagonist.

All of them know their place.

Even if they don’t bother to warn them, the children of nobles would never think of being disrespectful to the prince in the school.

The aristocratic society in this country expresses strict status differences in every aspect of life.

There is no way that there would be an idiot student in this school who would dare to make a challenge to the prince, who has one of the highest positions in the kingdom with a monarchical rule.

In the long history of the school, it is said that there have been incidents in which low-ranking nobles of bad character got involved with the prince or got involved in incidents.

Please be mindful of your own position and behave accordingly.

The teacher advises with a grim face, but if such a thing is found to be wrong, it is goodbye from the next day.

Not from the school, but from the kingdom.

In the game, even the protagonist was not close to the character of the prince.

Perhaps because the game thoroughly eliminates even a glimpse of the “prince route,” the prince, who is not the target of the game, is an existence above the clouds that even Rina and the others are reluctant to take on.

Perhaps it is because of this refreshingly thorough game setting, but even Cassandra, who has played the game several times, does not know what the prince is like in his everyday life at school.

Although she occasionally sees him passing by in the corridor or in the company of a character she is trying to capture, even that fleeting glimpse is refreshing.

Even from that brief glimpse alone, one can tell that the prince is a fresh young boy.

The reality of the prince hidden behind a veil of mystery! The time is coming to uncover some of his true face.

Cassandra has been anxiously awaiting the time for lunch.

“We give thanks and pray to the Goddess Vadia, who watches over us from the heavens.”

A solemn voice echoed through the cafeteria.

The school’s cafeteria is a huge building that is incomparably larger than the gymnasium.

In the center of the cafeteria sits a white statue of the Goddess Vadia, polished to a shine.

From there, three long rows of tables were arranged longitudinally, one for each grade.

The tables were decorated with fresh flowers, and three candles were lit and swaying in front of Cassandra’s eyes.

The male students held their right hands to their chests and the female students lightly clasped their hands to their chests in a prayer pose.

They pray to Vadia, the Goddess of creation, who is worshipped in this country, before starting to eat, a custom already ingrained in their bodies.

The long table with a dull sheen has a fixed seating arrangement.

The prince sits at the far end of the table, followed by Jake, Ralph, and Sirius, and then Cassandra.

After Cassandra, the children of the nobles fill the seats in order of their rank, followed by the so-called ” illegitimate children,” who are from the nobility but are not the children of the noble families’ wives.

The students from wealthy families who are not from the nobility are next, and the scholarship students from commoners are placed in the last row, the furthest from the prince.

It is a refreshing class society. she was even impressed.

The position of the protagonist is such that it is impossible for her to sit and eat close to the prince.

There were a few events in the cafeteria, but they included the target insisting on eating beside the protagonist and moving to the last table, and the interfering character Cassandra intentionally causing the protagonist to fall and ruin the meal……

No, she would never do that herself, though.

There is no merit for Cassandra to do such a thing now, it only brings harm and not a single benefit to the protagonist’s bully.

As soon as they finished praying, today’s lunch started.

In many school otome games, you order your own lunch and serve it yourself, or you bring your own lunch box.

It is easier to be familiar with school life that way, but she also understands that this is the best way to have lunch in this world.

It is a visual representation of the cruel “class society” of this kingdom.

Of course, not everything in daily life is restricted. Friendships and romances that transcend the boundaries of status are common, and since they are boys and girls attending the same school, they are a natural part of life.

Because of the emphasis on strict status, the satisfaction of being accepted by those around you and overcoming obstacles is great.

She is Cassandra now.

Instead of being relegated to the back of the class, she has the prince’s face right in front of her…!

Of course, Ralph is sitting next to her and across from her are Jake and Sirius, the calm boy with glasses.

Cassandra was eating every day while gazing at such good-looking people?! ……

Cassandra’s who was overwhelmed by the glitz and glamour slightly twitched her mouth.

The students were quietly cutting up the meat and fish with knives and forks, and proceeding with their meals in an elegant manner.

Cassandra, pretending to be unconcerned, unconsciously glanced at Prince Arthur.

She is truly in love with him, he is truly of royal blood.

Doesn’t he always have particles of light around him, really why did they decide to make this prince the mastermind?

Why did they put so much thought into his appearance?

Even though it would be very unfitting for him to be a villain, looking at his appearance.

She wonders if he is already a villain …….

Does he have the “seed of malice” in him?

If he has it in him, he is a psychopath, smiling and working in the dark in an unseen place.

Under his long eyelashes and clear blue eyes, there is no such shadow.

Is there any way to detect it?

Every time she thought so, she stared at his face.

She was seated so close to him that it was only natural that he would notice her if she stared too hard.

“Miss Cassandra, is there something wrong? Do I have something on my face?”

Arthur, looking bewildered with his knife and fork pointed diagonally downward, called out to her.

Oh no, what a suspicious behavior in front of so many students.

With a gulp, Cassandra’s back was dripping with sweat.

“N-No…I am sorry to be presumptuous, but I was just concerned that the prince might be feeling unwell. It’s a new environment, and I thought you might be tired.”

Thinking back objectively on how she had been watching him too closely, if there was a hole she wanted to get in it.

If the seed of malice has an evil aura surrounding it, she would never let that moment pass her by.

She was taking it too seriously. If such a sprout had grown, she would have pulled it out with her own hands.

“There is no change in my physical condition, it is the same as always. Thanks for your concern, Miss Cassandra.”

He said, “Thank you,” but she couldn’t sense his feelings in it.

Even though his eyes were so beautiful and showed unclouded purity, his words were really empty.

Then, Ralph, who was eating next to her, chuckled.

“He is not like someone who falls ill and falls asleep in the infirmary as soon as they enter the school. There is no way the prince is inadequate in taking care of himself, Cassandra.”

This man is too much.

If he blurts out her weakness in such a public manner…

“What? Cassandra, You’ve made a blunder as soon as you entered the school?”

Jake was so happy to see her blunder that he joined in on the conversation.

“I was surprised to see you bothering a scholarship student who just got in.”

“A scholarship student… Oh, the triplets, huh.”

Jake is not very interested and brings his hand to his glass of water.

His fingers are thick and strong, befitting his position as the son of the general.

He has very prominent bright red hair, and you could probably make him out from anywhere in this large dining room.

Although he is sitting down now, which is fine, if you stand next to him, you can feel like you are being looked down upon by a giant.

The setting was 180 cm, a head taller than Cassandra, so it can’t be helped.

“She’s a very sweet girl, I can tell by looking at her. That’s why I don’t like behaviors that takes advantage of her kindness and forces her to obey.”

“….I will be careful from now on.”

The filter through which they see the villainess and the protagonist is completely different, she understands.

She is used to that kind of reaction, but she didn’t want to bring up that story in front of the prince too much.

Even though she tries to end the conversation concisely, Jake gets involved again. Shut up.

“What is it, Ralph? You’ve already got your eye on a classmate, huh? I am surprised you are interested in a scholarship student. You sound like you like her a lot.”

“…… it is a misunderstanding. I didn’t mean it like that.”

His reaction is really honest and amusing as his face starts to turn red.

Love at first sight, she doesn’t dislike it.

“Hmmm. They all look the same to me though.”

She wonders if Jake has two eyeballs properly attached in his head because of his comment.

Same? Where are they the same? Should she force both of those orange eyes open with her fingers so that he can see the difference better?

In her imagination, she would force his eyes to open to their fullest limit, up and down, and if she did that, he would be able to tell the difference easily.

“S-She is not like the other two at all…!”

Oh my, by the looks of it, he must have been following Rina’s figure with his eyes all morning.

Let’s have him show us his fidgeting in tomorrow’s lecture.

She hopes Ralph will keep it up so that Rina can change her first impression of him.

That was his bad luck. Cassandra feels a little sorry for him.

Ralph and Rina falling in love would open up the possibility of a saint route, which would be a great help to Cassandra.

There is nothing better than a natural attraction.

“Don’t talk nonsense, you guys. It’s not good example to the other students.”

Pushing up the bridge of his glasses with the tip of his finger, Sirius speaks up, sounding truly fed up.

She is most familiar with Sirius, who’s route she had just finished in her previous life. Remembering the ending, she hurriedly tightened her facial muscles, as if they were about to stop doing their job.

Since he is fawning on the protagonist at the end of the game, it seems like it’s been a long time since she has seen Sirius with this calm, displeased face.

Jet-black hair like a crow’s wet feather color, and equally black eyes.

He is the son of the Prime Minister and the son of the Marquis family of Eldim, one of the top three families in the kingdom.

“Cassandra Rendall. Refrain from behaving in a way that will disappoint us or the prince.”

“I am sorry, and I will do my best not to do so.”

The villainess’s correction on herself will not be loosened by her rebuttal.

On the contrary, Cassandra in the game, she did a good job of coming close and following this cold and unwelcoming target, didn’t she!?

She is even in awe of the strong mentality of that “Cassandra”.

She wonders if it can be put away on the level of insensitivity or something like that. There is a limit to how far you can go when it comes to not being able to read people’s minds or the atmosphere.

It is impossible for her, a person with a very average mentality, to like Jake and the others and approach them because of this, no matter what.

Her mentality in the game must have been made of diamond.

She lightly pick up the glass of water to quench her dry throat.

Then she felt eyes on her, and when she looked nervously in that direction, she saw Prince Arthur and his eyes met hers.

She held back the shock that almost caused her to drop her glass. If she did, she would end up in an uncomfortable situation.

He doesn’t say anything and turns to eat as soon as his eyes meet mine.

But just before he shifted his gaze to his plate, his face looks so worried……

“Are you okay?”

She thought she saw the shape of his mouth move like that, though he didn’t speak.

“No way……”

Her voice was hoarse, but fortunately, no one could hear her.

This could be a misunderstanding, she is too self-conscious.

He took his eyes off her, maybe he still thinks we’re annoying……

Still, it’s okay! up to now, there has never been even a moment of misunderstanding.

That slight “misunderstanding” is enough to make Cassandra’s heart beat so fast.

It’s not fair for the prince to look like that.

He lowered the end of his eyebrows a little and squinted his eyes. Until he stopped eating……

She wonders if he was worried about her.

Even though it was an awkward meal time, it all at once turned into a single fluffy feeling.

Is it because he has a good face that she is so excited?

Then isn’t it just like love at first sight?

She can’t laugh at Ralph.

She wants to know about him.

________________________________________________

After school, she was finally released from the lecture.

If it wasn’t in the lecture hall, she would have raised her arms and stretched out as much as she could.

“Cassandra-sama!”

Rina’s lively voice was familiar to her.

“The three of us ate the sweets you gave us, thank you very much! I was so impressed with the wonderful baking quality, I want to try to make such delicious sweets too.”

The girl, cute as a small animal, speaks to her in a lively voice that is the complete opposite of the other day.

Cassandra smiled as she saw that the nervousness had been loosened and the stiff response of yesterday had been softened a little.

The triplets sitting at the end of the table in the cafeteria are too far away from Cassandra to grasp the situation.

She wondered if they had eaten any additional food after that massive lunch. There was probably no other time for them to eat, but she is impressed that they were able to fit it all in their bellies.

“If it suited your tastes, then I am very happy too.”

Three protagonists are very strong.

Three people are better than one.

Rather than always being on their own, they have sisters who support each other.

The fact that they are triplets is a big part of the reason why she was not blatantly frowned upon for talking to Cassandra and even receiving a gift from her.

If she were alone, she wouldn’t be surprised if she was completely noticed and summoned to the back of the school building to be bullied.

Unknown to the next queen and daughter of the marquis, cronies are bound to appear.

But there are three protagonists.

No matter how many nobles or rich children they are, it takes courage to pick a fight with them at the same time.

They may be able to come on strong against a lone opponent, but they would be hesitant to do so against triplets.

If one of the triplets became the favorite of Ralph or the others, for example, that would normally  make the rest of the group jealous, but that would not be the case now.

She was glad that the three of them appeared together, thus allowing her to interact with the protagonists without any unnecessary hindrance.

At first she was shocked. She wondered what was going on, but now she is thankful to God.

“Is Cassandra-sama going to go home like this?”

She wondered for a moment if it might be an invitation to walk back to the school gate with her.

Oops, she somehow made a convenient premature assumption about the prince at lunch.

And even if he did invite her, she couldn’t go with him.

“I have some research to do at the library.”

“Cassandra-sama, you are going to the library!? If you like, please allow me to go with you.

……Ah. Thank you for the sweets!”

She bowed.

It’s Rize, the older sister of the triplets with the striking red ribbon.

“Well, then, Rize-san, let’s go toge…….”

As soon as she called out for her to accompany her, she had an intuition that stopped her from saying those words.

Could this be the same as Ralph’s case from yesterday ……!

Recalling the exchange in the cafeteria, Rize and Rita must not yet have met any of the targets properly.

If she were to go to the library with only Rize in this situation, there is a high probability that they would encounter Sirius!

Because Cassandra was there, Ralph’s words and actions had become thorny, which greatly damaged Rina’s impression of him as a likable person.

Sirius is likely to suffer the same misfortune.

She wants to avoid such a stomach-churning situation if at all possible.

For Sirius, this Rize is the protagonist he finds most desirable.

It is clear as day that he will become interested in her even if she does nothing, and Cassandra must not hinder the progress of their relationship unnecessarily.

She won’t make the same mistake again, that’s what learning from experience is all about.

But if she goes to the library, she may find a groundbreaking book that will answer her questions……

Not going is not an option.

Behind Rize and Rina, she can see Rita, who is now waiting for the opportunity to speak to her.

“That is right! Rize, Rita, Rina, why don’t you come with me to the library?”

It was a desperate measure.

Even if they were to encounter Sirius, with triplets and triple heroine power, he wouldn’t have time to say anything sarcastic to her.