The villainess arrives
It was the second month and our classes were back to its regular scheduling. Sylvia, Melanie, and I were all walking towards the school.
“I have been hearing a lot of rumors about red hair recently.”
I decided to keep Lyn’s name to myself. They do not need to know that I already know her name. I still call her red hair whenever I refer to her.
“What are these rumors about, Melanie?”
“Apparently, the prince has been meeting up with her for a while now.”
“Meeting up how?”
“People from both commoner and noble classes have seen them talking and sometimes the prince invites her out with all of their friends, of course.”
Ah, so the boyband and blue hair are also included.
“Some of our classmates have been talking about her. They keep calling her names and how she is being too close to the prince.”
“Ah, a noble’s jealousy. Typical and not surprising.”
“What about you, miss Athena? What do you think of this situation?”
“I care not about these rumors. The prince is free to do as he pleases.”
“But aren’t you engaged?”
“Perhaps but it is something our parents have decided for us. At the very least, I do not feel that way for the prince.”
Melanie has a surprised look on her face.
“Really? You don’t have any interest at all? Any noble would do anything just to get their favor.”
“Need I remind you that I am the duke’s daughter? I am wealthy and affluent enough to not bother with such things. Even if the royal family are the only ones above our stature, it matters not to me. I will only continue to do as I wish.”
The only reason that I even pursued the prince was because of father. So, I do not need to do anything drastic in the meantime. For now, I shall stand back and observe the events that would happen. Due to my earlier actions, things are slowly changing. Eventually, more and more scenarios where I do not know what would happen will arise. Especially if this new path that was mentioned is anything but true.
“However, things are now going to change. I expect both of you to understand and follow my actions properly.”
“What do you mean, mistress?”
“With the situation at hand, I am sure that certain nobles will act. As a fiancé of the prince, I will undoubtably be dragged into this mess. I care not about these but they will certainly try nonetheless. So, both of you best prepare yourselves.”
“Can you tell us what to do?”
“No, it would be no fun if I do that after all. I will warn you that if you do something that I do not want, there may be a punishment. What it is will depend on what you do.”
“Understood.”
“U-understood.”
The three of us walk to school and unexpectedly run into red hair and blue hair. Looking around there was no other students.
“Tsk.”
Red hair clicks her tongue as I smile at her.
“Just do what you’re gonna do already.”
As she expected, I poured a cup of water on top of her head.
“You done?”
She looks at me as she asks that and then she turns towards the school and leaves.
“What?”
I ask the other two as they stare at red hair then at me.
“I sense something weird, mistress.”
“Yeah, it also feels weird.”
“Please elaborate.”
“It’s hard to explain. Its like a feeling. I don’t get it.”
“It feels like you are getting along with each other, mistress.”
“Yeah, that. It’s like there wasn’t any awkwardness to what happened. Like its something perfectly normal and nothing different.”
“I see. Yes, there is something weird about red hair recently. It feels like she is getting used to me. I should adjust what I do to her accordingly.”
“Do you have an idea?”
“None for now but I do intend to keep using water. Maybe increasing the amount or changing the approach will work better.”
As I think of more ways to harass red hair, we arrive at school. There were some murmurs from outside.
“Look, she speaking to the prince again.”
Just past the entrance, the prince, his boyband, red hair, and blue hair were all together. There were some laughs as they go inside together. Looking around, I could see some noble students glaring at them. It seems now would be the best time to stay behind.
“Melanie, Sylvia, look around and remember the faces of those people glaring at them.”
Melanie and Sylvia start looking around and nodding to me.
“Good. I will be asking things from both of you if I need information about any of them. Only tell me when I ask, I do not care enough about them to learn anything about them.”
“Yes, mistress.”
“Okay.”
Classes pass as usual. I do not go and find red hair for now. I have decided to stop messing with her until I decide on what I shall do next. My absence will make her even more paranoid as she does not know when I shall strike.
“There are some people just outside the classroom. Their shadows are too close to each other so I don’t know how many they are.”
Melanie whispers in my ear as I told both of them that we will be staying in class after it’s over.
“Reveal yourselves.”
I hear a suppressed shriek as I say that out loud. A group of 5 people enter. All of them are nobles but none of them I remember. They are probably my classmates but they are not important enough for me to take note of them.
“Good evening, miss Eterna.”
Judging from the circumstances these are probably my clique from the game.
“Do not waste my time. Tell me what it is you want.”
“Recently, there is a bug flying around the prince. We want to get rid of it.”
Ah, jackpot.