I advanced forward through the narrow path, my heart pounding in my chest as I tried to keep my steps light. In a few minutes, I found myself bursting out into the open.
"CRAP!" I blurted and hopped back into the shadows.
I calmed my erratic breathing, then after a while, I deftly peeked out and sent a sweeping gaze around the place.
Right there, spread across the courtyard, was a battalion of soldiers, securing the entire perimeter. They were armed to the teeth, stationed like statues with their cold, lifeless eyes sweeping over the area.
Tsk.
This many soldiers here yet no one thought it wise to check out the back?
Sighs.
This is a problem.
A really big one at that.
I can't get spotted trying to slip away. If I'm caught, then that's it. I'll be locked up in this mansion until the start of the academy arc. And if that happens…
... then I am screwed.
I don't know why but since the moment I woke up in this body as Amael a certain route in the game has been coming back to me.
The route where Amael dies at the very beginning of the game.
I think it happened during the entrance examination.
Well, it was more of after the examination since no one could really die while the exams were on, so it was after it, but still on the same say.
The protagonist killed Amael.
Yes, in that route Amael died at the very start of the whole game.
It was a hidden route, but I found it after countless replays.
I don't really know how I was able to trigger it, but it had something to do with Christina. After which the role of Amael in the story gets transferred to someone else.
Christina.
I don't know why, but I have this bad feeling that the protagonist might take that route, and given my luck...
... I just might be on point.
"Tsk."
I clicked my tongue in frustration, scanning the area with narrowed eyes. I needed a way out, a way to sneak past the guards and avoid turning this into a suicide mission. But those soldiers were everywhere—perimeter, corners, everywhere. No gaps. No chance of slipping through unnoticed.
Wait a minutes.
WHAT ABOUT THOSE GUARDS OUTSIDE MY ROOM?!
My heart sank.
If, for any reason, they decide to check up on me and realize I'm not there…
... crap.
I collapsed to my knees.
I can't catch a break, can I?
Here I was, stuck between a rock and a hard place. I could wait for the heightened security to ease up after the party, sure. But the problem was, the guards back at my room might have already noticed I'm missing. If that's the case, then the entire mansion could be on high alert.
"Tsk." With another click of my tongue, my frustration simmered.
"Alright, what do I do?" I asked myself, but it wasn't a real question.
Because I didn't have a single answer.
My head was blank—completely empty. What could I even do? I wasn't some overpowered protagonist with plot armor or superhuman abilities. I was just a helpless villain who could die at any second.
Why couldn't I have reincarnated as the protagonist instead? At least then I wouldn't be in this goddamn mess.
"Alright. Let's do this," I muttered, more to myself than anything, and took a deep breath.
A plan began to take shape in my mind, but it wasn't a good one. It might backfire spectacularly. I could get killed before I even had a chance to know it. But…
Yeah. What's the worst that could happen?
.... I shouldn't have said that.