A Third-Rate Villain Tries Her Best Today 160

Chapter 160: The Loss of Interest

The effect of Halo’s S-rank presence concealment magic was excellent.

Noel, feeling uneasy, lingered behind the pillar for a while, but he eventually gave up on finding the source of the presence at Melaine’s urging.

After they left, Halo grabbed Azette’s hand and ran towards the dormitory.

“A-amazing, to cast such a high-level magic so easily…”

Azette looked at Halo, who was gasping for breath, with awe.

“Please keep it a secret that I used magic. It’s against the rules… And as a special recruit, I’ll receive a heavy penalty if I break the rules.”

“Ah, yes! Of course!”

It was late at night, and Halo and Azette were the only ones in the dormitory lobby.

“Do you… know Lady Byron well?”

Azette, who had been pondering the question, finally asked cautiously.

“I don’t know her well, but we were classmates last year.”

“I see. What was she like in the classroom?”

“…What do you mean?”

Halo frowned, not understanding the question. Azette, unfazed, explained,

“I’m asking about her personality… Or her relationships with her friends…”

Halo smiled faintly and stared at Azette for a moment, then recalled Sue from last year.

“Lady Byron… She was always alone in class. I don’t think she had any real friends… Oh, except for Sir Noel, the one we just saw. They seemed close. Other than that, I don’t know much about her.”

“I see… She hasn’t changed much.”

“…Lady Delondariwood, I’m indebted to her, so I can’t say anything bad about her.”

“Oh my, I’m not saying anything bad either!”

Azette quickly waved her hands.

But indebted?

But before Azette could ask, Halo spoke first,

“Are you also indebted to Lady Byron, Lady Delondariwood?”

“What? No, I…”

Azette trailed off.

Halo was deeply indebted to Sue. She had received a large amount of holy water, learned how to survive at the academy, and even her sister had been helped by her. So she couldn’t help but be concerned about Sue, even though she knew she was a bad person.

But Azette was different. She wasn’t indebted to Sue, and she hadn’t been tortured by her either.

And yet, Azette was always concerned about Sue. Since when? From the beginning.

Because the reddish eyes she had seen that day in front of the dormitory had been filled with kindness.

***

Enzhe was now genuinely enjoying herself.

She had discarded her old toy, which she had had since birth, for a moment of pleasure.

Yes, villains deserved to be stoned to death. Sue was no longer the Lady Lopetrefer’s lackey, she was just a villain now.

“Lopetrefer, stop it.”

But why was this man saying this to her?

Enzhe, facing the large shadow blocking her path, raised her chin, her fear nonexistent.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Raines Noel.”

“Ah… So?”

That wasn’t what she had asked. But before she could retort, his voice, laced with suppressed anger, rang out,

“Let Byron go.”

“…Let her go?”

“Stop hurting her.”

“…Hey, Sir Raines Noel.”

A moment of silence passed, and then Enzhe asked calmly,

“Are people making up rumors?”

A mocking smile played on her lips. Her black eyes spoke only the truth.

“It’s all true. Sue cutting off Ajax’s hair, leaving a permanent scar on Halitrang’s palm, kicking Vercia in the stomach, breaking Granhut’s brother’s arm. It all happened, didn’t it? Their words are all true. Not a single lie. And you know that best, Young Master Raines of the Noel count family.”

Enzhe Lopetrefer remembered everything. She tried not to, but their faces and names were engraved in her mind. Even Damon Keron’s filthy bloodline, standing before her speechless.

Noel, breaking the heavy silence, mumbled,

“Yes… I know best.”

“Hehe, right?”

“That you’re as bad as Sue Byron, even worse. I know that too.”

His icy eyes, sharp as blades, glared at her.

“Hmm, really? I see.”

Enzhe chuckled, amused.

“Then why don’t you report me?”

“…What?”

“Go ahead and report me. But you know it won’t work, don’t you? Who would they believe? A man who claims to be Sue Byron’s only friend? Or Enzhe Lopetrefer? You know the answer. That’s why you’re here, begging me, instead of going to someone else.”

Her black hair cascaded down her shoulders as she tilted her head.

“Isn’t it fun? Atlantis.”

Her sweet voice sent chills down Noel’s spine, triggering a flashback of his nightmares.

The madman Damon Keron, the blood-soaked mansion, his father who had abandoned his family, his mother who wouldn’t wake up. And himself, who had given up on everything.

“You don’t know Sue at all. She chose to stand below me. She said she was happy, that it was her only happiness. She would slit her own throat if I told her to. Should I order her to do it now?”

Fear consumed him again. And then, anger surged through him. He clenched his fists to hide it.

But Enzhe, as if she could see through him, just stared at him with her all-seeing eyes.

“Hey, incompetent Noel.”

Enzhe, who had been mocking him, finally spoke, her eyes narrowed.

“Why do you like Sue?”

She was genuinely curious. Why would he be kind to a broken toy like that? A girl who didn’t know her place and felt guilty for no reason.

“…Haha.”

A bitter chuckle escaped Noel’s lips. He slowly unclenched his fists. He wanted to tell her the answer that had come to mind.

“Because she’s not you.”

“Haha… Haha… Hahahahaha!”

Enzhe laughed, her laughter echoing through the academy, at his disgustingly kind voice. As she wiped away the tears that had escaped from her eyes, Noel’s faint suspicion turned into certainty.

“Lopetrefer, Enzhe Lopetrefer, you killed Cedric Atlantis.”

Enzhe clearly heard his quiet, whispered words.

“Where did you get that delusion from?”

“I don’t know, I just hate you. So maybe I’m just delusional, as you said.”

Noel, forcing a smile, countered her calmly, as she remained unfazed.

“But I’m not going to turn a blind eye like the others. It’s unfair that Sue Byron is the only one being targeted.”

“Pfft… Fine… Do it. Go ahead and try. I don’t know what you, who’s not even a Skia anymore, a mere soldier, can do, but…”

Kill me if you can, Raines Noel.

***

Sue was huddled in her bed, trembling.

So it had come to this.

Nothing had changed. She was going to die. She was going to be eaten by a monster in the wasteland. She was going to meet a miserable end, unloved, condemned, and abandoned by everyone.

The process might be different, but the ending for a third-rate villain couldn’t be changed.

She had tried to survive by trampling on others. That was unforgivable.

“Save me… I don’t want to die…”

Tears streamed down her face. But her pleas wouldn’t reach the outside world. She wouldn’t ask for help.

Guilt, fear, remorse, dread, shame, the desire to live.

All those colors mixed together, painting over the stained sketchbook.

“Sue.”

And then, salvation arrived.

Enzhe opened the locked bedroom door and called out her name gently. She, as usual, didn’t even bother with greetings and mercifully forgave her wicked toy, who was trembling under the covers.

Enzhe sat on the bed and gently stroked the blanket covering Sue.

“Do me one last favor, and I’ll pretend the trial never happened. And if you do well, I’ll even break the curse on your body.”

Sue’s trembling stopped abruptly. She calmed her pounding heart, oblivious to the expression on her master’s face.

“…Really?”

“Yes, of course.”

Yes.

Sue Byron was weak.

She could be a mad dog in front of the person who held her life in their hands. She succumbed to Enzhe once again.

Enzhe took Sue to her carriage late at night. She put Ten and Nine, who had declared they would follow her, to sleep with a sleep spell.

Pathetic humans.

Enzhe felt a surge of pleasure, seeing Sue and her servants, unable to defy her.

The carriage arrived at a very familiar place.