A Third-Rate Villain Tries Her Best Today 127

Chapter 127: Marie and Louis

Acrea naturally led Sue out of the chapel. But he didn’t head outside, instead, he led her deeper into the village, into a narrow alleyway. Sue felt a sense of unease, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.

Awkward silence hung between them in the darkness.

Sue tapped her foot impatiently. And then, Acrea said,

“Byron, look at me.”

She didn’t know what he was up to, but she obeyed. Their eyes met, and they held each other’s gaze for a long time. A very long time.

The one who broke eye contact first was the one who had initiated it. Acrea adjusted the raven pendant that was slipping off his wrist and smiled, his expression unchanged.

“Let’s go back to the capital. You have your carriage, right? I’ll take you there.”

His smile was as emotionless as a doll’s, as always. But something felt off.

“Master Acrea, was the day you joined the Holy Demon Religion after hearing the high priest’s words… the day of the minor pilgrimage?”

Sue brought him back to their conversation in the cobweb-infested stairwell.

“Yes, why?”

Acrea’s gaze returned to her. Sue swallowed nervously at his slightly curt tone. It was a voice she couldn’t imagine coming from Woo Acrea.

“What did the high priest say to you?”

She finally asked, mustering her courage. Acrea must have understood what she meant, because he just stared at her silently.

And then, his reassuring voice said something completely unrelated to her question.

“Byron, there’s no illegal magic in this subordinate religion.”

“What?”

“So you don’t have to worry about it. I’ll make sure your maid is properly taken care of and sent back to the Byron mansion.”

That wasn’t what she was asking.

She was asking what the high priest had said to him on the day of the minor pilgrimage.

“Master Acrea, I…”

“Byron, can’t you trust me?”

“….”

Sue was speechless. And she had lost. He was demanding a trade. I overlooked your lie, so you overlook mine.

That must have been why he had deliberately ignored her evasiveness in the stairwell.

For some reason, he was refusing to answer. Of course, Sue had no right to demand an answer from him. She knew that. She knew, but…

A chilling fear started to creep up on her.

Trust him? Should she trust him? Should she just smile brightly, as she always did, and say, “Yes, Master Acrea,” and be done with it?

…Done with what?

“There’s no illegal magic in this religion. I joined the Holy Demon Religion after hearing the high priest’s words. So you don’t have to come here anymore.”

His words were always trustworthy and reassuring. Sue barely managed to hold onto her sanity. It couldn’t be helped, his tone and voice were designed to persuade.

She couldn’t bring herself to be optimistic about this situation. Sharp questions, coiling around her like a snake, weighed her down.

“So let’s go back, Byron.”

They were both wearing masks, but Sue was different from Acrea. She was much weaker.

“You’re lying, aren’t you?”

Sue grabbed Acrea’s arm with both hands, stopping him from turning away.

A cold wind blew through the alleyway. Their skin was the only source of warmth in the chilly summer night.

There was no answer.

Sue saw the raven pendant dangling from his wrist. She slowly raised her gaze, her red eyes gleaming.

“Tell me, you’ve been brainwashed, haven’t you?”

***

A heavy silence fell between them, like a bolt from the blue. The silver raven swayed mockingly.

It didn’t take long for a smile to appear on Acrea’s face.

“Yes, I lied.”

Her heart skipped a beat.

“But you’re wrong, Byron.”

“…What?”

“A brainwashed person wouldn’t say they’ve been brainwashed.”

Acrea admitted defeat, but at the same time, he calmly pointed out Sue’s flaw.

Brainwashing.

Sue, unable to imagine anything beyond that, asked, her voice trembling,

“Then… what is it?”

“He did use brainwashing magic on me. There’s definitely a trace of illegal magic in the chapel. But that doesn’t mean I was affected by it.”

“….”

Acrea confessed, simply but clearly. He had no intention of hiding it anymore. The alleyway was silent. He slowly closed his eyes.

“Byron, your intuition was right.”

He had sensed a strange magic, its formula unreadable, but he was certain that it was based on black magic, a brainwashing curse.

“He usually uses brainwashing magic during the soul level measurement. The most amazing thing about this magic is that no one notices it, even though he uses it so openly.”

Acrea even expressed a hint of admiration.

“So… Master Acrea, you’re saying you weren’t brainwashed?”

Sue asked cautiously, her mind clearing.

“That’s right.”

Sue swallowed at his gentle smile. Acrea hadn’t been brainwashed. She was relieved, but at the same time, her mind was racing.

‘He said there was no trace of brainwashing magic. But now he’s saying there is? …How did he find out?’

Jean had been quite vague in the workshop. Was Acrea that good at magic? Of course, the Acrea grand duke family’s white magic was exceptional, but something, somewhere…

“I was planning to pretend to be brainwashed and play along with the high priest for a while.”

But Acrea had decided not to care anymore, whether she believed him or not.

Sue flinched at his somewhat barbed words.

The tables had turned. She was slowly realizing that. Sue spoke, her voice heavy,

“You told me to stay away because I was in your way, weren’t you?”

There was a lot of information to process, but she was certain about this. He had repeatedly told her that there was no illegal magic here, that she should “stay away,” almost ordering her. She finally understood what he had meant.

‘I was a hindrance.’

Acrea didn’t answer, his silence speaking for itself. Sue assumed it was an affirmation.

Her face burned, she felt like a fool.

“…What are you going to do now?”

“Now that we have evidence, it all depends on when Grand Duke Reeves decides to make his move.”

“Make his move?”

“To destroy the Holy Demon Religion and arrest the high priest.”

“What? Destroy? …Really?”

“Yes.”

The human heart was fickle. Sadly, the moment she heard those words, the petty sense of betrayal she had felt vanished.

Acrea was going to destroy the Holy Demon Religion. Sue, filled with hope, asked,

“So the Holy Demon Religion will be gone?”

“Yes, especially since the second daughter of the Vava family is involved. It’s best to get rid of it as soon as possible. I’ve sent a message to Marquis Yuna. She’ll be back in the capital soon.”

Sue smiled.

Things were progressing smoothly behind the scenes. Once Melaine was rescued, Ten and the others would be rescued too.

“Byron, it’s best if you don’t come here anymore. This place will be surrounded by soldiers soon. It won’t be a pleasant sight.”

“Are you participating in the operation, Master Acrea?”

Sue asked, touching her neck. Acrea nodded.

“Probably, the Grand Duke has no reason to exclude me.”

*Didn’t he care about his brother? Wasn’t he even a little bit upset?* She knew it wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things, but she felt a strange sense of frustration.

*‘Ah, right.’*

But even though things were going so well, there was a problem.

Sue’s goal wasn’t to destroy the Holy Demon Religion, it was to capture the high priest alive. Reeves would surely kill or arrest the high priest.

She was glad the Holy Demon Religion would be gone, but it would be a problem if Acrea arrested the high priest. Sue, realizing that, started tapping her finger anxiously and said,

“Master Acrea, when do you think the raid will take place?”

“Why?”

Because she had to kidnap the high priest alive before then.

“I’m going to bring Ten back before that.”

Sue made up another excuse, using Ten. She didn’t even care if he believed her anymore.

“The timing is still being discussed. We’re going to have a meeting once Marquis Yuna returns to the capital. I’m sure she’ll want to crush this place immediately. Don’t worry about your maid, Byron. I’ll make sure she’s properly taken care of and sent back to the mansion.”

She couldn’t press him any further. Her mind was racing with the sudden information, and she needed time to discuss it with Jean. Sue backed down.

“Thank you so much, Master Acrea.”

***

It was the day before summer break. Sue had been pacing in front of the Black Eagle classroom all day. But the person she was looking for was always absent, so she had returned to the Golden Lion classroom, disappointed, several times.

‘This is better. We’ll use this opportunity.’

‘This opportunity?’

‘When the soldiers raid the place. We’ll take advantage of the chaos and capture the high priest. Or we could try to persuade him by promising to save him.’

Sue and Jean, gathered in the workshop, started their meeting, sharing the information they had gathered. And this was their conclusion.

Jean’s only response to the question of illegal magic was, “It’s subtle.”

‘It’s like he didn’t use it, but he did.’

Sue couldn’t understand his vagueness.

‘But based on what I’ve heard, that brainwashing thing seems to be coming from the black snake. Woo Acrea said he couldn’t read the magical formula… Well, whatever. Let’s just focus on kidnapping the high priest for now. We can figure out the rest later.’

The meeting proceeded on the assumption that Woo Acrea wasn’t lying.

‘Anyway, they’ll be the ones destroying the religion. We just have to quietly take the high priest. Got it?’

As a result of the meeting, Sue was tasked with finding out when Acrea’s “timing” would be. And the moment she received the task, she was practically kicked out of the workshop, without even hearing a concrete plan for capturing the high priest.