Chapter 40
[Leave, stranger.]
Originally, she was an irredeemable villain.
An extra who tormented the protagonist with a twisted heart, filled with inferiority towards others.
A role no one liked.
[I can't accept it.]
[Why is everyone cheering for that commoner...?]
[I'm more excellent. What right does she have to smile so proudly with no background?]
The girl's obsession led in the wrong direction.
She envied the protagonist's brilliant talent, and her jealousy soon blossomed into ugliness.
Perhaps it was tears for what she couldn't have.
[I don't like it.]
Before she knew it, the girl hated the protagonist.
She despised, ignored, and distorted her.
Sometimes even directly pressuring her, trying to erase her place in the academy.
It was the story of a typical dislikable villainess.
An obstacle or hindrance.
Considering Emilia's misdeeds in the original work, nipping it in the bud was one option.
She could have been removed early to prevent her from bothering the protagonist.
I had that power.
Troublesome extras could be dealt with anytime if I wanted.
But the reason I didn't was simple.
'She hasn't done anything wrong yet.'
I know the future.
But is it right to punish for crimes not yet committed?
This fundamental question made me hesitate.
Maybe she could change.
Of course, I didn't have high hopes.
A set fate. I knew how unfairly it flowed.
I just watched.
'You never know.'
A phrase always leaving a sliver of possibility.
No matter how dark a villain, everyone has something they want to protect while living in this world.
I was no different.
'I want to see a future that didn't exist.'
If it's not too late, maybe it could be reversed.
Even with knowledge of the original work, I hoped it wasn't everything defining this world.
I wanted all children to live their own stories.
Opportunities, anguish, choices... intersecting through numerous processes.
"Lady."
This time, faith was rewarded.
"......"
"Do you need power?"
Blue eyes trembling blankly.
I wanted to learn more about the girl's story that would newly unfold.
"I think I can help you."
So I extended my hand.
To my endearing and precious extra.
Towards the vain one who could no longer be called a villainess, the snake smiled gently.
Blessing the softly blooming flower petal.
***
<Kiaaaaaah!!!>
Fragments of tentacles floating in the air.
Behind the scream piercing eardrums, the monster writhing in pain and retreating could be seen.
It was a scene changing in an instant.
"......"
The villainess stood blankly.
Though it was an urgent situation with blood and flesh splattering, her stiffened body wouldn't move at all.
All scenes flowed slowly.
As if time in the world had stopped.
It was surreal.
The scenery in view resembled a dream.
As she stared with a dazed look, someone stood at the point where all questions intersected.
It was the golden snake.
"Huhu."
A fishy laugh tickled her ear.
The blonde boy resting his chin on her slender shoulder. His characteristic sweet scent brushed her nose.
The villainess's breath caught.
"My... Was my appearance too sudden?"
The snake recited leisurely.
Though the monster was right before his eyes, he showed not a trace of fear.
Rather, his mouth corners curved as if enjoying it.
Seeing him, a question unconsciously leaked out.
"...How?"
The girl muttered blankly.
Her voice, having lost even its characteristic sharpness, was tinged only with reverie.
She asked inwardly.
How was he alive?
She had clearly seen him crushed under the monster, but now he was fine without a scratch.
Though it was a situation difficult to understand.
Instead of answering, the boy only whispered quietly.
"It's a secret."
A voice full of playfulness.
Even with such a childish disguise, there was an unmistakable ominousness.
"Lady?"
Killing intent rippling faintly.
Darkness swallowing the entire laboratory.
Eyes silencing the atmosphere.
It wasn't the usual frivolous mood. She could tell just from the energy felt.
It was truly overwhelming strength.
"You don't need to be so tense."
"......"
Emilia held her breath as much as possible.
Questions no longer existed. It was just unilateral submission.
Facing distant authority for the first time.
A huge sense of deprivation weighed on her whole body.
She gave up understanding.
The girl froze in place.
As she stood still like that, the boy leaning on her body soon showed a sly reaction.
A small whisper was heard.
"Lady."
"......"
"You told me then, didn't you? That you wanted to live."
"......"
If then, was he talking about what happened right before the execution?
The day she begged on her knees unsightly.
-Please, Young Master.
-I want to live.
-Hic, ugh... Because I want to live.
The boy smiled lecherously.
The faces of the two people close together. The breath brushing her earlobe was especially dizzying.
Her heart was dyed with a faint trembling.
An ecstatic light flashed over white pupils.
"Like then... Won't you make a deal again this time?"
The snake flicking its tongue.
The boy offered a proposal in the pitch-black darkness surging.
"I'll help your story continue."
Life.
"If you take my hand... You'll be able to overcome that monster and survive this hell."
The snake's proposal was unbearably sweet.
Until just before she had been facing death, but now it made her hold hope she had given up.
The girl received another chance beyond regret.
"But I want you to live for me."
What she paid as a price was none other than herself.
"It's enough if you stay by my side always... so I can watch your story."
The boy said.
Though she didn't know exactly what that meant, Emilia could only nod as if bewitched.
Surviving. Only one thing filled her mind.
"This is a new deal."
The snake smiled tightly.
Foreheads touching.
The body heat transmitted from soft skin clouded reason.
After standing in a daze for a while, suddenly a forgotten cry was heard.
<Kiaaaaaah!!!>
A scream full of excitement.
There was a monster having a fit ahead.
It seemed to have recovered its wounds somehow, running while swinging tentacles in all directions.
Yet the boy was relaxed.
"Don't be flustered."
The snake embraced the girl from behind.
He trapped her slender body in his arms, then grabbed each of her wrists.
"As long as I'm here... You won't be pushed back, Lady."
Shing-.
The boy raised Emilia's arms.
It was as if moving a doll.
The girl seemed bewildered for a moment, but soon entrusted her body to his calm touch.
The chilly spear tip aimed at the monster.
"Just for a very short moment."
Right after.
Shadows gathering stealthily.
The pitch-black that had been entangling and colliding among themselves soon swept in a huge flow.
Accordingly, the ice began to be dyed black as well.
"I'll show you a new world."
The spear blade was coated pitch-black.
Darkness gathering at slender fingertips. It bloomed as frost flowers in the middle of the night.
Emilia felt a thrill rise.
"It's temporary power."
It was a kind of omnipotence.
Even in the cold air dyeing one corner of her chest coldly, the spear shone with a noble light and was sharp.
Emilia, who had been in a daze, regained her posture.
Her arm moved on its own.
As if knowing what to do.
<Augh, wuaaaah!!>
The monster approached close.
Hundreds of tentacles were pouring down above her head, but the girl only stared silently.
Of course, not all anxiety had disappeared.
The fear she had received from that monster still remained.
'Can I do it.'
Blue eyes wavering.
But there was a whisper in her ear as if it were natural.
"You can do it."
There wasn't even a trace of doubt in the plain encouragement.
How long had it been since she received such pure trust? It was a childhood she couldn't even remember now.
A feeling of fulfillment choked up one corner of her chest.
The girl opened her eyes wide.
She exploded her energy.
A strange sensation rushing to her palms. She swung the spear straight with all her might.
The next moment.
Slash-!
A beautifully continuing afterimage.
An intense cutting sound rang out along the thin trajectory.
"......"
It passed by in slow motion.
A straight line drawn across the entire laboratory, right after the monster's body split in half.
It was a strike cleanly cutting through its substance.
<Ugh! Kiaaaa...!>
The monster collapsed without even leaving its scream whole.
Black rotten blood soaked the floor, and the eyeballs stuck all over its skin lost their light.
A pile of tentacles messily scattered.
The girl stared at that scene with unbelieving eyes.
"Haa, haa...!"
As she caught her breath chasing to her chin, a voice was heard right behind.
"Didn't I tell you? That you could do it."
She wanted to turn her head to look at the boy at that, but suddenly strength left her body.
Emilia staggered a few times then sat down.
A sense of exhaustion following extreme tension.
Her consciousness flickered precariously as if about to break at any moment.
"Oops."
The snake caught the falling girl.
Was it because of his especially warm embrace?
Emilia felt relief in the boy's clearly dyeing body heat.
"You were splendid, Lady."
A sweet scent brushed her nose.
As if putting a sleepy child to bed, the snake patted the girl's back with a slow touch.
Her mind gradually blurred into haziness.
"Rest well. I'll take care of the rest now."
His palm covered her eyes.
In her vision going completely dark, the last thing she remembered in her fading consciousness was...
"Sleep well."
Dyed with affection.
It was a gentle whisper.