Episode 1: A Villainess’ Wish (3)

“Is this all?” I spoke, waving the single sheet of folded paper in my hands.

“U-Uh, I can find more… but I need time…” Elysia spoke with a squeak.

“Fine. I’ll decide later if you need to do more research once I’ve read what you’ve given me,” I clicked my tongue. 

Partly because I was still pissed over the day’s event, and partly because I had hoped for more information regarding that Kairen Copper asshole who messed up everything.

I crossed my legs, and then unfolded the paper in front of me.

Poignant and concise information. It wasn’t as well presented as what the original Elysia was capable of, but considering this as Elysia’s early work, I was more than satisfied.

Let’s see…

Kairen Copper, son of the merchant house dealing in mineral ores like coal, iron, tungsten, silver and… copper. Well, based on his name, I should’ve expected as much. A commoner family with nothing but a small mining business, they didn’t even own a gem mine.

He has a father for a fool, remarkable for his spending habits in gambling dens and prostitute houses. He is the first and only son of the family, his mother passed away early on for unknown reasons. He also has a half-sister, Reene, who was said to be an ‘accident’ that the foolhardy father promised to take responsibility for. 

Reading the one page summary one more time, I couldn’t help but sigh.

No wonder Elysia wrote so little.

He was a nobody. The troubles his family possessed were numerous enough that even without intervention from the outside, anyone could tell they would crumble in time.

I even felt somewhat pitiful that this small-time villain grew up in such a state. Compared to the loving family I had, I couldn’t even begin to imagine the bad influence his father must’ve had on him.

It would make sense why he was so obsessed with trying to make Lowe his. 

“Right, I think this suffices,” I said softly, lowering the paper and glancing at Elysia. She lowered her head at my gaze.

Knowing now the kind of environment Kairen grew up in, what would be the next best plan of action?

Initially, I thought to exploit any weaknesses his merchant house may have to send them to the guillotine. But having realised that his behaviour was not entirely his fault, I started to doubt. If anything, wouldn’t a little scare be enough to pull his attention away from Lowe?

No. Wait, why am I sympathising with that asshole again? I gave him a chance last time, he screwed up my supposed happy ending because of it.

He needed to die, yet I didn’t want to screw up Reene’s life. I held my head at the dilemma I was put into. 

What if I simply hired Reene as my maid before destroying the family altogether? That could work.

“I’m sure Reene won’t feel anything for her brother if I…” There was no way she should’ve, considering the kind of indulgent behaviour Kairen does in the original story… right?

The more I thought about it, the more I realised how much I didn’t know about the Copper family’s background. There wasn’t much info about a disposable character to begin with.

If my hypothesis aligned correctly, Kairen’s survival in the previous life had spared Reene her mental illness. In the original story, Reene should’ve appeared as a broken person, a far cry from the benevolent Reene I met last time. She was even my sweet junior.

Huh? That’s weird. Could it be that they had a good relationship after all? 

No, that doesn’t seem right. How could Kairen’s survival cause Reene to stay alive? Wasn’t he abusive? I held my head.

“M-My Lady, are you okay?” Elysia spoke.

I grabbed the nearby paper and quickly penned a letter. I then handed it to Elysia.

“Place it in a suitable envelope and deliver this to Reene directly—without stirring the notice of anyone in her family. Most especially her brother.”

“B-But how…” Elysia rejected initially out of fear, but changed her answer mid way when her eyes met mine. “N-no, I will find a way! I promise!” 

She reached out to take the short note I dangled before her.

“I trust that you won’t disappoint me.” Saying so, I turned back to the desk and supported my head with my arm, assuming a posture as if I was deep in thought.

Taking it as a sign that she should leave, she bowed and went. 

She opened the door, and right as she was about to step out I recalled something and called for her to stop.

“...One more thing,” I approached her and whispered into her ear, Elysia’s body froze up. I forced another bribe into the pocket of her apron. “Find out when and where the next auction house will be held by Vaill.” 

“V-Vaill?” She turned to me, eyes shaking. 

“Yes. I’m sure you would know,” I said with a smile.

Her neck visibly trembled, she nodded meekly before leaving.

Watching her till she turned at the end of the hallway, I locked the door and returned to my desk. Unlocking the secret drawer, I took out the notebook and jotted down a few things I only earlier recalled.

I was certain Elysia would know about the Vaill auction house.

After all, she was one of Drew Raven’s clients.

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Lowe returned to her dormitory and flopped down on the bed. 

“Lowe, you look down. Did something happen today?” Tiffany, Lowe’s roommate asked, seeing her in such fatigue.

“Um… yeah,” Lowe said, bringing a hand to cover her eyes, “So-so many things.”

Her mind spun.

First was her magic inaptitude. Professor Atruina likely gave her a passing review out of spite. She knew she should’ve failed given her measly display of elemental magic.

She convinced herself that it wasn't that she couldn’t—rather, the tension made her fumble. But of course, deep down she knew it was just a lie to preserve her self-esteem.

With that said, she was glad her mom instilled within her knowledge of a whole bunch of powerful support-type spells. It became the strength that overshadowed her flaws.

Secondly, not all hope was lost as she made friends with the Glenn Twilight. The short interaction she had because of Kairen’s fainting episode, likely bridged the gap between them. He even asked her about her support magic later when the day’s class was over. 

She didn’t think she would be able to make friends with one of the magic prodigies in class, let alone even talk to him. He openly told her of his curiosity, which made for a somewhat awkward introduction. Nevertheless, life in the academy wouldn’t be as hard now that she had a friend in the same class.

Thirdly—the hard to swallow incident she witnessed happen between the crown prince and his fiance. If she had the option to wipe out the memory of what she saw, she would’ve done so right away.

Worse, the princess had just openly declared war on her, even when Lowe hadn’t done anything to antagonise her at all! No good stories ever came out of making enemies out of a noble, and Lowe felt more uncertain than ever for her future. 

What did she ever do to the princess? Why was the prince being so kind to her and not his fiance? Why couldn’t those two just mind their own business? Why drag an innocent commoner into this!

Sighing again, she got up and told herself to cheer up. It’s probable to assume that the ice princess was just jealous. There was no point in rationalising it. After all, human behaviours were supposedly haphazard and unpredictable.

Her late mother had early warned her about the troubles abound when attending the academy.

Though school regulations stipulate that all students, nobles and commoners alike should be treated as equals, there was no avoiding the harsh reality that nobles were still in power. 

Even so… this was the academy life she had yearned for. No matter the challenge, she ought to make the best of it.

And to do so, she had to resolve, fourthly—the biggest problem currently plaguing her life.

Money.

She had spent most of her money on the academy fee, leaving barely anything for basic necessities. Currently, she has about a month’s spending left. If used sparingly, it was possible to last up to three months.

But she still needed a sum of money to pay for next semester’s rent. 

It was a big-BIG crisis.

She had considered a number of options. First was to get a part time job. However, the biggest obstacle here was that she didn’t know where she could find work that was flexible enough to accommodate her busy class schedule.

The second, which made more sense, was to apply for a scholarship from the school. She had consulted with Professor Aturina, and the professor said if she was able to make it among the top 10 in her year, she would receive reimbursements in the form of financial aid.

Between the two options, the scholarship was what Lowe had her sights set on.

And so, she grabbed her bag and took out her textbook to revise today’s note.

“Huh?” 

When she opened the book however, a letter fell out from the gaps.

“What is it?” Tiffany asked. Then noticing the letter on the ground, her eyes opened wide. “I-Is that… a love letter? Already?!”

“N–no-no. It can’t be… can it?” Lowe’s expression cracked up as she leaned over to pick up the envelope. Based on its simple appearance and lack of finesse, it seemed unlikely... 

“Open it, open it!” Tiffany, likely having read a few too many romance novels, yapped with excitement.

“Um…” Lowe opened the seal and read the letter. “Huh?”

“What does it say?” Tiffany got up from her desk and leaned in from behind Lowe.

Lowe quickly hid it. The latter groaned in disappointment while Lowe’s brows furrowed in confusion.

This wasn’t a love letter, it was an offer letter. 

A third option to resolve the financial crisis which Lowe had known but didn’t consider because it was complicated to put into practise. 

And the letter implied just that: running errands for someone who had the money to spare.

The instructions were clear, the task was simple. The only real issue here was that—

The sender was anonymous.

⋉◆⌌ ⫺⪼▫◆▫⪻⫹ ⌍◆⋊

Before riding the carriage to Oben academy, it was customary of me to have breakfast in the dining hall. Mother was sleeping in, father had matters to attend to early in the morning, while my elder brother was away. So the remaining ones were just two, my little brother and myself.

Daniel Winterfall, my charming little brother with gorgeous ice-white hair and an adorable baby face. He took after mother more than father.

Dozing off seated at the table, he struggled to stay awake.

While he wasn’t at an age where he could attend Oben academy, there were home tutor arrangements which he had to attend. It was a normal thing for nobles to be homeschooled from a young age, and cute Daniel wasn’t spared from it.

Watching him nearly planting his face into the bowl of stew, I couldn’t help but recall my previous life where my relationship with him was much better.

Alas, all the progress I made in our relationship had been reset. As an elder sister, I suppose I should take the initiative to start reestablishing our sibling-bond.

“Daniel.”

At my call, his back straightened up with a snap. 

He turned to me like a rusty crane. 

Normally, this was where he would receive a scolding from me for breaking etiquette. Instead however, I tore off a piece of bread and dipped it in his stew before holding it up to him.

“Say ah,” I said, asking him to open his mouth.

“Uh, sister, I-I’m fine,” he looked like he didn’t know what was going on.

“Say ah. I’m not repeating thrice,” I pressed on nevertheless.

Reluctantly, he opened his mouth. I gently tucked the bread between his teeth and prepared the next.

He chewed on it, a puzzled expression on his face.

“Tired as you may be, it’s important to eat a little to raise energy for the day’s activity,” I reminded him to take care of himself, just as a big sister should. He nodded in a daze. 

He looked around the empty hall once, and then back at me. 

“Is this a dream?” He asked.

I shook my head. “No. This isn’t a dream.”

“T-Then are you sick? Do you need a doctor?” He asked again, this time his words fumbled.

Restraining the urge to ask him what kind of nonsense that was, I shook my head once more. “No. I’m perfectly healthy, thank you for your concern. Say ah.”

His rosy cheeks turned pale.