I Am The Game's Villain

"Amael, what exactly happened?" Victor asked hesitantly as we exited Professor Priscilla's classroom.

"About what?" I tossed my bag over my shoulder, dismissing the question.

"Obviously, he's talking about the engagement between Elizabeth and you," Celeste joined us, her expression a mix of curiosity and shock.

"Oh, that. Well, she just became my fiancee. What's wrong with that?" I replied nonchalantly. "Why don't you ask Selene about it?" I shot a cold gaze at Selene, the source of all this chaos.

"I did ask her, but she refuses to tell us," Celeste pouted.

"I didn't say that. I said I would if Victor spends tonight helping me with homework," Selene clarified, shaking her head.

There's definitely something wrong in her mind.

"I-I can't…" Victor replied, blushing slightly.

"T-This is inappropriate, Selene!" Celeste blushed bright red.

"What's inappropriate?" Selene innocently asked. "I just wanted him to help me with homework."

"Nobody believes that. What kind of lascivious homework are you thinking about?" I retorted immediately.

Selene shot me a cold gaze. "The same kind you had with Elizabeth, Brother-in-law."

"You...bitch!" I snapped at her.

"C-Calm down, Amael!" Victor restrained me from confronting Selene with a punch to send her back to her grandpa.

"I-I'm confused about your conversations... lascivious homework?" Celeste seemed to reach the right conclusion, blushing even deeper. Only Selene and I knew she was spot-on.

"You two seemed unusually close... even if just a few days ago, you barely spoke to each other," Cylien observed suspiciously.

"Who's close with her?" I scoffed, freeing myself from Victor's grasp. "I'd rather die than be her brother-in-law."

"But you are her brother-in-law..." Victor reminded me.

"I know..." I sighed, clenching my fists.

I know dammit!

Curse my life!

"You're hiding a lot of things, Amael," Victor suddenly remarked.

"Really," I replied ambiguously.

"I mean, you're hella strong, and you even provoked Alvara of all people... and now you're engaged to Elizabeth for some reason," he pointed out.

"I never claimed to be weak," I shrugged. "As for Alvara, she can play around, but not with me around."

"You can be quite cool sometimes, Amael," Celeste chimed in with a grin.

I cast a glance at her. "I am always cool."

Celeste giggled and shook her index finger at me. "Sometimes, you don't do anything, and I find that quite a pity."

"You sure have the guts to say that after you stalked me and witnessed with your very eyes me saving Alicia, my junior," I snorted.

"I-I didn't stalk you!" Celeste glared at me, embarrassed, as everyone looked at her strangely.

"W-Wait, what about Alicia?!" Victor, upon hearing his sister's name, interjected.

"It was Adrian," Celeste clarified, her expression turning to disgust. "He harassed Alicia again, but Amael took care of him."

"He took care of him?" Selene asked.

"Yes, he kicked him out of the academy," Celeste trailed off with a smirk, as if she could relive the moment.

"You attacked another Great Noble... it won't end well for you," Cylien commented, dumbfounded.

I ignored her and looked at Victor.

He stopped his steps, clenching his fists. His face was very cold, and he seemed on the verge of snapping, as a bloody aura appeared to leak from him.

Is that his Raven Bloodline?

Impressive.

I get chills just feeling it.

"Victor," Selene intervened, grasping his arm, and surprisingly, it seemed to calm him down.

Wow.

Usually, that role would be Celeste's, but it looked like Selene's relationship with Victor was more 'soft' here. I guess by intervening with the love potion, I altered a lot of what should have happened, but there seemed to be more to it.

I couldn't deny that I was glad about what I was seeing.

Selene taking the Villainess' route might be less and less possible and it would save me from pain in the future.

After Victor took a deep breath, he looked at me gratefully. "Thanks, Amael. I'm really grateful. I can't even help her... she doesn't want to," he added bitterly.

Victor had intervened plenty of times between Adrian and Alicia, but Alicia would reject his help, much like she had rejected Celeste before. It wasn't that she hated Victor; she seemed resigned to her fate. Moreover, it was a decision from Salazar Raven, the Head of the Raven House. Victor couldn't do much, especially since he wasn't directly related to Alicia.

"I just helped my junior in distress, nothing much."

[<I'm sorry, Amael, it doesn't sound convincing from your mouth.>]

My eyes twitched at Cleenah's remark.

"Still, if you need any help, ask me, Amael. I'll come right away," Victor grinned and pressed his fist against my shoulder.

I smiled and nodded.

The more time I spent with Victor, the more I was convinced that the developers of Jayden might have indulged in a lot of creativity, if he truly was a character, that is. Victor was miles ahead of Jayden, that was for sure."

…

We all headed to the cafeteria, and as usual, I took a lone table. Victor offered to have me join his table, but I politely refused. Honestly, I found it quite uncomfortable to be surrounded by Victor's harem.

A few minutes later, John joined me with his usual aloof expression, but today he seemed more annoyed than usual, and I knew exactly why.

"..."

He kept glaring at me, but I ignored it and continued to devour my spaghetti at great speed.

"I hope you have a damn good reason for that, Edward," he said coldly.

"Reason for what?"

John gritted his teeth, and the table cracked under his arm.

"Fine, don't worry about the engagement. It's just a forced one because of Duncan Tepes. He dragged me forcefully into it," I explained.

"You think I'm stupid enough to believe that?" John snorted.

"This is the truth, John. I was forced, just like Elizabeth. Once she finds her lover, likely Victor, I will break off the engagement. I hope you didn't ramble anything to Layla," I asked with a glare.

"I will send a letter right after classes."

"Don't do that! It's just a forced one, I said," I pointed my fork at him.

Layla wouldn't come here just for a forced engagement, and she would believe me if I explained that I was forced. However, that wasn't the problem.

Layla was smart.

Dangerously smart.

The smartest woman I knew, along with Aunt Belle.

She would quickly connect the dots with just a few pieces of information. If she found out what happened to my virginity, she would definitely arrive here the very night. I wasn't against her coming since I truly missed her, but I feared what she would do in Sancta Vedelia.

[<I'm more afraid of what both of you reunited would do together.>]

Anyway...

"Hello, guys."

-Thud

Amelia arrived with Elizabeth, who was clearly dragged here.

"Amelia... I don't think-"

"You shut up, Eliza!" Amelia forced Elizabeth to sit in front of me while she took the seat in front of John, next to me.

I continued to eat, trying my best to ignore them, but it was difficult.

"Soooooo. You both are madly in love and pleaded to your parents to engage you together?" Amelia asked loudly.

"Yes..." Elizabeth lowered her face.

"That's... right," obviously I nodded.

I could feel John's glare on me intensifying, but what could I do?!