A Third-Rate Villain Tries Her Best Today 139

Chapter 139: A Friend’s Reason 

Sue didn’t answer for a long time. A shadow fell over her face at Halo’s sincere gratitude. She pulled her hood back over her head.

“You don’t have to thank me. Someday, the opposite might happen.”

Perhaps because they were on a secluded beach in a remote region, where no one would curse them, Sue Byron and Soran Halo.

Sue, her face sullen, mumbled the words she should have kept to herself,

“Don’t resent me when that happens.”

Even she thought it was a shameless wish. Halo stared at her blankly, then stifled a chuckle.

“Okay, I won’t resent you. Thank you, Lady Byron.”

Did she think she was joking?

But Halo had never taken Sue’s words as a joke. She was just reminded of Airan, because Sue Byron’s attempts to expose her wrongdoings and threaten her were so comical, and at the same time, she looked like a frightened child.

Luckily, Noel returned to the beach just as Halo and Airan were preparing to leave. Halo and Airan had special permission to come and go from the village, but they couldn’t stay too long.

“Sister Sue, Sister Sue! Let’s meet again!”

Airan, wearing the yellow artificial flower headband Sue had given her, waved enthusiastically.

Could they meet again? Sue waved back, thinking about how disappointed Airan would be if she knew. Noel, standing next to her, also waved. Airan grinned and said, “Bye, cool brother!” Even though they didn’t know each other.

---

After parting ways with Halo, Sue and Noel headed back to where Nine was waiting. The sun hadn’t even set yet, and it was still early, but they didn’t want to linger.

“Are you close to the special recruit?”

Noel asked as they walked along the wide village road. Sue shook her head.

“No, we’re not close. We’re just classmates.”

“You seemed close.”

“That’s… complicated.”

She looked up at him. Their eyes met, but neither of them looked away.

“Noel, can you keep it a secret that Halo lives here?”

Sue asked, even though she knew Noel wouldn’t spread rumors.

Soran Halo’s hometown, as known to the academy, was in the Lopetrefer territory. But Emnon wasn’t part of the Lopetrefer territory. She doubted anyone would care, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Okay.”

Noel nodded casually.

The road back was quiet and deserted, as most of the villagers were at the shopping district. They occasionally smelled stew wafting from the houses preparing dinner. Sue and Noel continued their trivial conversation amidst the mundane.

And then, in the middle of their idle chatter, Noel suddenly said,

“I visited my mother yesterday.”

His voice and tone were light.

He probably wanted her to treat it as just another trivial topic.

“How is she? Your mother?”

So Sue, suppressing her pounding heart, asked back with a smile. Noel, touched by her consideration, blinked slowly.

“She’s still asleep. But… she looked peaceful.”

Sue couldn’t bring herself to say “That’s good to hear.” She had to swallow her words.

Hina Noel.

Noel’s mother was currently hospitalized at a hospital sponsored by the Vava family. Because of Damon Keron, she had been suffering from delusions caused by childhood trauma, and she had completely lost consciousness when the Noel mansion had burned down. And she hadn’t woken up since then, over six months ago.

“It’s okay, she’ll wake up.”

Sue tried to lighten the mood by forcing a smile and encouraging him. But she knew it was just self-deception. She might die of guilt if Hina Noel didn’t wake up.

“Right, she’ll definitely wake up.”

Noel chuckled and repeated her words. And then, he stopped walking and gently removed Sue’s hood. Her red eyes, bewildered, were fully revealed.

“Byron, about the debutante partner… Do you want to be mine?”

The boy, as refreshing as the sky, as clear as the sea, smiled innocently, his face devoid of any nervousness.

“Haha, no, I’ll pass.”

But his friend couldn’t smile innocently. But Noel didn’t give up and asked,

“Do you have someone else in mind?”

“Well, not really. I’ll probably go with a knight from my family.”

Sue, putting her hood back on, tried to walk away, but Noel blocked her path.

“Perfect, I don’t have one either.”

“Noel, I…”

Before Sue could finish her sentence, Noel gently placed his hands on her shoulders. His eyes were filled with conviction and determination. He said,

“Byron, I’m fine.”

‘Ah, that look.’

Sue stared at his face blankly.

The confident look of the boy in ‘Sue’s’ memories. The look of self-love that Raines Noel rarely showed.

“We’re friends, let’s be partners.”

That look sometimes intimidated ‘Sue’.

“Noel, do you know something?”

“Huh?”

Sue’s lips curved into a slow smile under her hood.

Friends.

The selfish Sue Byron had forced Raines Noel to be her friend.

Well, he didn’t really think of it as being forced, but…

“I used to hate you.”

But the word “friend,” which occasionally came out of his mouth, always gave Sue strength.

---

Azette, the third daughter of the Delondariwood duke family, had entered Full Bloom to revive her family’s fortunes. She liked to tend to the flowers in front of the dormitory. And she could spend hours just looking at the light purple forget-me-nots(Myosotis plant), the symbol of the Delondariwood family.

Forget-me-nots had been the symbol of the Delondariwood family since they were the royal family. Azette didn’t have any memories of being royalty, but her mother would often tell her stories of her “princess” days while looking at forget-me-nots.

Her loving parents and siblings were all waiting for her. Even if the forget-me-nots were withered now, Azette believed that if she kept watering them and exposing them to sunlight in fertile soil, they would bloom again someday.

She was someone who was willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of history. And Azette also harbored feelings of love for someone.

‘Master Woo, you probably don’t remember me.’

The eldest son of the capital’s grand duke family, his radiant platinum hair shimmering in the sunlight. Azette had never forgotten his honey-colored eyes since she had first met him when he had visited the Delondariwood territory as a child.

But she had never shown any sign of her feelings at the academy. In fact, she had never even properly greeted Woo Acrea.

She was just a remnant of a fallen kingdom, and he was a man who would become a part of the empire’s glorious history, now and in the future.

But she could never forget the man who had smiled at her, a smile as warm as the sun, even for a moment, at the withered forget-me-nots that were about to crumble.

“Azette, why don’t you ask Master Acrea to be your partner?”

So Azette was shocked when Vercia, sensing her feelings, had said those words.

She had been hiding it so well.

Vercia, as if reading her mind, chuckled mischievously.

“This is what happens when you live in the capital.”

Vercia had known about Azette’s feelings all along. It was too obvious.

“For some reason, Master Acrea isn’t looking for a partner. And no one has asked him to be their partner. So you should be the first to ask, Azette.”

“B-but… Someone like me…”

“Azette.”

Vercia squeezed Azette’s cheek. Azette looked at her friend, her eyes welling up with tears.

Skia Giona Vercia Taillian stared at the former princess of a fallen kingdom. She was such a lovely child.

But now, she was the one with the upper hand.

“You’re too kind. You have to be more shameless if you want to survive in the capital. Because that’s how everyone here lives.”