"Huh? What is he doing?" Aaliyah asked with a frown, making me turn my gaze in the direction she was looking.
There, in the middle of the canteen, Shyamal sat alone, eating gracefully, while Ethan stood beside her, holding his tray of food.
"Did he fall in love at first sight?" Oliver mumbled, shifting his body backward as he observed them.
"I bet he is going to get rejected," Aamir said with a grin, taking a similar seated position as his brother.
"That's a given," Oliver replied, focusing on them as I adjusted my position as well.
"You guys are blocking the view," Miley grumbled, and like the simp both brothers were, they shifted their chairs, giving her a full view.
And slowly but surely, the canteen quieted down as students' focus fell on those two.
"Ah, mind if I sit down here?" Ethan asked politely, his smile reaching his eyes as he looked at Shyamal, his voice echoing in the quiet canteen hall.
With her crimson eyes, Shyamal glanced at him deeply before she parted her pinkish lips. "No."
"Told you," Oliver gloated, casting a glance at his brother.
"Yeah, shut up now," Aimar replied, his gaze fixed on them.
"I'll just take the seat here." Ignoring her blatant rejection, Ethan settled himself opposite to her.
"That's shameless behavior," Oliver mumbled, nodding his head. "And I approve. He has some potential."
"Just like you," I commented, slapping Oliver's chest, causing him to wince in pain.
"Are you for real?" Shyamal asked, her expression bored as she regarded Ethan.
"Ah, I just wanted to talk with you," Ethan replied with a slight smile as he picked up his fork.
"Fine, what do you want to talk about?" Shyamal asked, looking at him as she paused in her eating.
"Nothing much," Ethan shrugged, looking back at her. "Just wanted to say that you look beautiful."
"Man, I want his confidence," Oliver grumbled. "How the fuck did he say that without cringing?"
"Do I even know you?" Shyamal asked, squinting her eyes as if his praise had no effect on her.
"Maybe or maybe not," Ethan replied with a smile.
[....Fill me in, will you?]
'What do you want to know?'
[Didn't you say Ethan was the protagonist? Then why is he flirting with a Villainess?]
'If your dumb brain still didn't get it, then let me just tell you: Ethan is Asher lye Heimdall.'
[.... Didn't that girl say that he was executed?]
'The one who was executed was a body double; he is the real one.'
[How did your mother miss it?]
'She didn't... Ethan... is like a monkey dancing in her palm.'
He is just living in delusion that he is safe and his family sacrificed themselves to protect him, but in reality, he is just another pawn in my mother's twisted game.
[But why is he flirting with her?]
'...Ethan wants revenge against the empire and my mother, anyway. Tell me, what's the best way to make allies when women are involved?'
[..... Seduce them?]
'That's exactly what he is doing; he will try to seduce high-ranking women so they can help him in his revenge.'
That fucker will go after every woman that has a high enough status, including the third princess Arianell and my fiancée, Christina.
And the only reason he is starting with Shyamal is because she is his ex-fiancée, and before his family was executed, she was the closest to him.
[Spoil me a little. What happened to both of them? I mean, she is a Villainess for a reason, right?]
'...As soon as she gets to know about Ethan's real identity, she becomes obsessed with him... to the point of being extremely unstable and sensitive about his matters.'
[Yandere?]
'yeah, she wanted Ethan to be just with her, and when she gets to know about him seducing multiple girls... she snapped.'
She truly snapped... letting out her [Primordial Evil] and plunging a third of an island into darkness... and even then, the first one she tried to kill wasn't the woman Ethan was seducing... it wasn't Ethan... it was me.
[But... didn't that girl say you were close to her?]
'For her, I was nothing but a substitute for Ethan.'
When I first met her, she was depressed, and like a foolish little boy I was back then, I did everything that I could to cheer her up.
I pretended to like the music that she liked.
I pretended to like her favorite food, even though I couldn't taste.
I stayed with her even when she scratched me to the point that I bled.
Even when she yelled at me, compared me with Asher.
I stayed...
But in the end...
She didn't picked me.
She didn't chose me.
She didn't loved me.
[Are you ok?]
'Yeah.... I don't feel anything.'
'I.. don't care anymore.'
In fact I hate her, I hate with the very fiber of my being.
"Aye, Az, look," Oliver shook me violently, making me turn to him. "Lucus is here."
I shifted my focus towards Lucus, whom I had met a while ago, as he walked towards Ethan with a disturbed smile on his face.
"I am sorry, my hand slipped." Picking up a bottle of milk, he emptied it on Ethan's head as he jeered.
"The fun is about to begin," Oliver beamed in joy as he stood up from his seat. "Aimar, let's go gaslight them."
"Count me in," Aimar replied with a grin as he stood up as well, and so did I.
"Don't overdo it," Miley said, and both of them nodded with a smile.
Ethan slowly stood up from his seat as we closed in, with Aimar walking towards Lucas and Oliver towards Ethan.
"Dude, what does he think he is, disrespecting you like this?" Folding his arms, Oliver mumbled in Ethan's ear. "If I were you, I wouldn't have let this slide."
"Dude, he was flirting with your crush right in front of all the students," Aimar mirrored Oliver's action as he whispered in Lucas's ear. "If I were you, I wouldn't have let that slide."
[...I always wondered how they could be friends with a guy like you; now I know.]
'....What the fuck does that mean?' I asked, standing at the side away from Shyamal, who was quietly eating.
[... Nothing.]
"Who are you?" Ethan asked, running his fingers through his brown hair.
"Lucus Sai Mairac, heir of Mairac dukedom," he replied with a proud smile, looking down at Ethan. "Nice to meet you, commoner."
"Ohhh, now he's done it, he's blatantly looking down at you, man," Oliver lamented, whispering in Ethan's ear.
"Nice to meet you too. Now, if you'll excuse me," Ethan replied with a smile, ignoring Oliver's words as he moved towards his seat at Shyamal's table.
"Man, now he's ignoring even when you told him who you are," Aimar mumbled, clicking his tongue. "Don't know who's looking down on who."
"Hey, get up," Lucus demanded as soon as Ethan took the seat, grabbing him by his collar and making him stand up.
"Let go," Ethan said, looking at him coldly.
Both Oliver and Aimar were grinning like idiots as they stood beside them.
"Stay away from her," Lucus growled, his eyes glaring at Ethan. "Or you'll understand what it's like to live in pain."
"She isn't yours," Ethan rebuked, clenching his fist.
"Ohh, that's for now," Lucus whispered with a smile, making Ethan glare at him.
[AZARIAH!]
As El shouted in my mind, my instincts kicked in, propelling me off the ground towards Oliver and Aimar.
"Kukkk."
"Urgh.."
Without explaining or saying anything, I grabbed both of them by their collars before propelling them backwards.
The very next moment, an ominous dark circle formed on the ground, swallowing everything within its reach.
The table, the chairs, everything dissolved into it as if they were objects sinking into water.
I looked towards Ethan and Lucus, who sat there, taking deep breaths. They had barely avoided the circle, missing their shoes in the process.
"Haaah...thanks man." Oliver mumbled but I ignored him as I looked at the culprit of the mess.
In the middle of the circle...She stood alone.
With a solitude of an obsidian-colored crown adorning her head.
It wasn't as ornate or as clear as the one that my mother possessed, but its similarity was unmistakable.
It was undoubtedly the same type of crown.
Her crown.
The Crown of Darkness.
A fucking cheat item that only few in this world have.
An item that can stack up blessings, ignores the use of blessing forms, providing absolute control on one element and so on...
However, my attention swiftly diverted to her attire.
Her usual academic uniform had transformed into a stunning obsidian-colored bridal dress, enveloping her figure.
The dress that nullifies any type of physical attack.
"You guys are as annoying as pests," she remarked, glancing at Ethan and Lucus. "Don't try to pester me again if you don't want to die."
Having said that, she looked in our direction, more specifically, she looked at me...and smiled.
A beautiful and mesmerizing smile.
Had I not known how much she hates me, I would have surely thought she is a maiden in love with that smile of hers.
But the rest doesn't know that as I felt the glare of all the boys in the canteen.
Specifically the glares of Ethan and Lucus.
As she slowly walked towards me, I felt both Oliver and Aimar walking backwards slowly.
'What type of fucking friends are they?' I thought but I ignored them as Shyamal stood in front of me.
With the same smile on her face, she leaned in bringing her lips close to my ears.
"I hope you are ready for the most brutal death," she mumbled in my ear, her voice barely audible, "because I will grant you that death."
If she thinks this will make me afraid then, how much wrong she is.... I have been through worse.
With a smirk, I replied, "stand in line, you aren't the first to say that."
But suddenly... She kissed my cheek.
No, it wasn't a kiss as her lips never touched my cheek but to all present, it looked like she did.
"Then I hope I could be your first," she leaned back as she winked at me with a smile.
And then she walked away....
"I am glad we don't have a sister or this fucker would have seduced her as well." I completely ignored Oliver's words as I looked at Ethan and Lucus.
And... sure enough, they were glaring at me as if I have NTRed them.
[She unknowingly pitted you against them.]
'knowingly,' I corrected him as I let out a tired sigh.
She truly is a [Villainess.]