"Ethan Carlien," said a young man who Lorelle noticed had been glaring holes into him for a while now.
'Crap! I JUST KEEP GETTING MORE AND MORE ENEMIES, AND I AIN'T EVEN STRONG ENOUGH TO DEFEND MYSELF,' he thought, clicking his tongue in frustration as he grasped just how messed up his situation was.
Chances of surviving even before the grading exams were slim to none, given how everyone hated him to their core and wanted him dead at all costs.
"Arton Urien," the young man said, and Lorelle began thinking.
Wait…
…what if he just made friends with the protagonist…?
No. That wasn't going to work. The protagonist would eventually meet the other heroines, most of whom would trade a limb to kill him.
So the protagonist was a no-go.
Plus, there was always the chance they could tell the protagonist about his past, making the idiot try to kill him himself as some form of justice—or something equally dramatic.
That left only two more options.
One, side characters who would later turn out to be major assets in the long run. Characters who, at some point, became major allies of the protagonist.
Hmm.
If he could pull that off, they could protect him.
But…
…that plan seemed like a stretch. No matter how strong they were, it was only a matter of time before those heroines would find and kill him.
And that sounded pretty bizarre.
Heroines killing him? Sure, but yeah, he was originally supposed to be a villain, so…
Anyway, it was either that or…
…getting close to villainesses who were insanely powerful.
"…..Rizel?" he thought, raising an eyebrow. But the idea kind of scared him.
What if, for some messed-up reason, her object of curiosity became him?
Not only was she way more powerful than him now, but as a villainess, she was bound to grow even stronger—just like the heroines. If she got obsessed with him the way the novel described, then…
…she could probably chain him up, and he wouldn't be able to do a thing about it.
…Nah, she was definitely off the list.
"…Liliana?"
He thought but almost slapped himself for even considering her.
There was a chance she'd just turn him into a love slave, given the bloodline she had.
He'd lose himself and become her thrall, which… didn't sound like a good way to go.
Plus, if for some reason she did fall for him, or even reached Rizel's level of obsession…
He'd be in deep trouble. There'd be no escaping her.
She could literally manipulate emotions—goodbye, sanity.
No… She was definitely off the list too.
"…How about Scarlet?" he thought. But the more he considered it, the more futile the effort seemed.
The novel, after all, described her as being madly in love with Michael. So… yeah, chances of changing her feelings were pretty much non-existent.
"Well, there are others… maybe… Selena?"
He cast a sweeping gaze around the humongous room. But the place was just too big, and there were far too many people to pinpoint the exact person he was searching for.
Or at least, it should have been.
After looking around for a while, though, he spotted a girl staring at him so intently, with a smile on her face that actually… scared him to death.
"What the hell?" he muttered.
Only now did he notice how many girls had been stealing glances at him—some outright flirting from a distance.
'What the fuck is this? Wait… could it be I'm considered good-looking?' he thought, shaking his head after a moment. He couldn't be too sure. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him.
He wasn't one to focus on what others thought of him, so he'd never once considered himself handsome.
Perhaps it was the perception from his past life messing with his head.
But…
That didn't explain Selena. A full-on villainess. The reason for countless deaths in the future.
Yet there she was, gazing at him with dreamy eyes.
The moment their eyes met, she averted her gaze. But after a while, she looked again.
Since he hadn't stopped looking, their eyes always met, and she'd quickly turn away.
"Okay… something is definitely not right here. Could I have met her before now?" he thought.
But nothing came to mind.
For the past three years, all he'd cared about was finding his lover. He could barely remember encountering anyone like her during his journey.
So why did she look at him with such familiarity?