I Became a Childhood Friend With the Villainous Saintess

1 – The Shabby Shack (1)

The novel ‘Saint, the Reverse Harem is Impure!’ was as blatant as its title.

A mass-produced romance fantasy fiction that roams the corners of the platform.

The unfortunate protagonist dies a lonely death, only to wake up as the saint of a medieval fantasy – a typical otherworldly reincarnation cliché.

Of course, the reincarnated saintess was courted by all sorts of handsome men, forming a reverse harem.

When I think about it now, it was like a fairy tale.

In a bad sense.

There were villains who seemed to have been born only to commit evil, accumulating corpses and blood.

There was a crown prince who was almost perfect, both competent and kind, and the protagonist moved forward, overcoming her own wounds.

By the end of the novel, the deep-rooted war between humans and demons had ended.

The villains were either defeated by the prince’s sword or had all their sins exposed and were executed.

And the crown prince and the saintess were finally united in marriage, living happily ever after.

An absurdly one-dimensional story.

A happy ending so sweet that it would rot your teeth.

If one had to live within a novel, it could be considered a decent choice.

If only I wasn’t the villain who collapsed at the end of the final battle.

Me. Regent Vertus was the antagonist who threatened the protagonist throughout the work.

Until my heart was pierced at the end of the battle with the male leads, I was also a killing machine who took the most lives.

The siblings of the Elyncia Archduke family, whom I grew up with since my infancy, were no different.

The eldest, Terion, went abroad to study and died of illness, while the second, Sirien, was captured and executed after plunging the empire into a crisis with me.

Of course, I didn’t plan to die like in the novel.

I couldn’t let the siblings, who had always considered me as their family, die either.

I wanted to have a taste of that foolishly sweet happy ending too.

But the moment I regained my memories was too late.

The day I recovered my memory.

The fifteenth Demon King Eligoss invaded the Elyncia Archduke’s domain.

* * *

It was a night with a pale moon shrouded in haze.

As I took a breath, the cold, damp air seemed to dampen my lungs, and the thick darkness was covered in fog.

When the wind blew, the leaves rustled, making a chilling sound. In the gloom of night, it appeared as if dark shadows were wavering before my eyes.

On such a night.

There were those who were running on a path that they could not see even an inch ahead.

It was an old carriage.

The carriage ran like a ghost down the road.

There wasn’t even a single lantern hanging, which meant everyone was holding their breath.

It was a sudden journey. The sound of the bells announcing the air raid was loud, and the stern expressions of the knights marching out would not fade from memory.

The explosions created when magic collided. The watchtower, on the edge of melting, spewing red-hot lava. The soldier whose neck was pierced by a thrown spear.

It was not easy to forget their territory that had become a battlefield.

The brother and sister inside the carriage also had grim expressions.

Even though they were barely ten years old, they seemed to feel the situation was not good.

How long had the silence lasted? A familiar voice echoed.

“Uncle. Please tell us now. Where are we going?”

“I cannot tell you anything yet.”

“What happened to our father?”

“I cannot tell you that either. It is for your sake.”

How many times had this question been asked?

The eldest of the siblings, Terion, made a frustrated face.

The delicate prince’s face was scrunched up.

If he had been acting according to his usual sharp personality, he would have lost his temper long ago. But this time, the opponent was tough.

Count Rocksen, the siblings’ uncle, was not an exaggeration to say that he was the most trusted person of the Archduke of Ellencia.

If Count Rocksen said he couldn’t tell them for their sake, then it really must be so.

That’s why Terion couldn’t push him any further.

“Cough, cough!”

“My lady, are you alright?”

“Uh-huh. I’m fine. Just a bit of dust flying.”

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

Did the carriage wheel catch on a rock? Dust flew inside every time the luggage compartment shook.

It smelled of old wood, but it seemed that it was all dust.

The young lady of the great duke’s family was not accustomed to this kind of environment.

Even when covered with various cloths brought from here and there, she huddled up due to the cold, and whenever dust blew, she coughed with a pitiful sound.

The maid who rode with us in the carriage sent me a pleading look for help. Fortunately, there was plenty of water in the container.

“Drink some water first.”

“I don’t like it, it smells of the leather container. I don’t like cold water either.”

“Just bear with it and drink. It’s not that cold.”

“Ugh…”

The princess, Sirien, drank the water while grumbling.

When I covered her nose and mouth with a handkerchief, her coughing subsided a little.

The situation would have been much better if we could slow down the carriage, but we couldn’t say such a thing due to the circumstances.

Rather, I was grateful for the urgent sound of the coachman’s whip. We had to finish this unpleasant journey as soon as possible.

“It’ll be better now. It’s suffocating, but endure it.”

“Thank you. How about you, Razen? I have a handkerchief too.”

“I’m fine. The knight’s armory is dustier than this. My throat isn’t that dry.”

It was a lie.

Until I was summoned here, I was in the middle of training. I was both hungry and thirsty.

But I didn’t know when I could fill the container again, so I had to save even a little water.

I couldn’t say such a thing to the girl.

The situation was clearly bad.

The offensive of the Demon King Eligoss was exceptionally fast and sharp.

As a result, the direct descendants of the great ducal family of Ellensia were hiding in a carriage to evacuate with only a minimal number of guards.

I couldn’t be sent to the battlefield, even though I was supposed to gain some experience soon.

‘Either way, it seems like the worst interpretation.’

The first one means that the enemy chasing us is so threatening that having escorts would be pointless.

Instead of clumsily attaching escorts and attracting attention, it would be better to choose to remain inconspicuous from the beginning.

In other words, if we’re caught, it’s over.

The second one means that the overall situation is extremely unstable.

Anyway, I was the successor of the major lineage. Although I was not directly related by blood, I was treated somewhat specially.

I wasn’t sent to any battlefield. That means I couldn’t be sent to extremely dangerous or unfavorable battlefields.

In other words, the current situation must be very unfavorable or dangerous.

As expected, Ciriene seemed to have a complicated heart as well. Her gaze, directed at a corner of the carriage, was completely empty.

Though she often acted like a child, Ciriene was the smartest among us.

She might have grasped the situation even faster than I had.

Soon, she opened her mouth.

“Hey, Rajen.”

“What?”

“Do you think the other siblings are okay? I’m a bit worried.”

No, she was much better off than I was.

The Duke and Duchess only had two children.

So the “siblings” Ciriene mentioned were somewhat distant relatives. They were probably referring to the children of the family members who lived and ate together in the Duke’s house.

Even in a dangerous situation, Ciriene knew to worry about them.

The young girl, barely ten years old, had never looked so mature.

I had to remind myself of her name.

Ciriene Ellencia.

The legitimate daughter of the Duke of Ellencia, known as the Empire’s Shield.

Always wearing a refreshing smile at the corners of her mouth, she was a kind lady not only to her siblings but also to the servants.

However.

Her siblings were likely used as bait.

This was a plausible inference, but for now, I had to erase it from my mind.

“You should worry about yourself. The Duke and my father are with them. Our seniors have also gone there.”

“But that…”

“I know what you’re thinking, but right now, the most important thing is you. Since we don’t know what’s going to happen next, try to get some sleep now. I’ll wake you up.”

“Uh-huh. Okay.”

It really wasn’t the time to worry about others.

We didn’t know when the Demon Army’s pursuers would catch up with us, and the future I knew from the novel was utterly bleak.

It was only ten years from now.

Only ten years left until the heroine reincarnates and becomes a saint in the original work.

‘The Ciriene in ten years, and the Ciriene now are two completely different people.’

The Ciriene I knew from the original work was a picturesque villainess.

I couldn’t find her gentle and tender nature like she had now, even a little bit.

The same went for worrying about the other siblings.

Her first act in the novel was to purge her own blood relatives with her own hands.

She had personally put countless relatives on the execution block and confirmed their deaths.

The problem was that I had no idea what experiences Serien and I went through during these 10 years.

That damned novel. No, the failed novel barely described anything about us.

In the worst case.

Serien might have already died, and it wouldn’t be strange if the original Serien was her stand-in.

If you think about it, it’s actually more natural. If the original Serien was her stand-in, I could understand why she killed her blood relatives.

She wouldn’t have wanted to leave anyone alive who knew her true identity.

It was a more plausible story than the tenderhearted girl suddenly going mad one day.

‘It’s still unknown, but the information is too scarce.’

Other possessors memorized the world setting and hidden stories of the characters, gaining benefits from the very beginning.

Not only did I not gain benefits, it seemed like I was doomed to reach a dead end right from the start.

I remember every single letter of the original content, but there wasn’t a single piece of helpful information.

If I had to pick one piece of information right now, it’s that Count Rocksenn likes cookies with Lamyris petals in them.

Lamyris flowers grow abundantly in the western part of the empire, and when their petals are baked, they taste sweet and sour.

What can you do with this kind of information?

I can’t figure it out no matter how much I think about it.

I didn’t have to worry about a problem that I couldn’t solve by thinking.

First, let’s start by overcoming this situation.

If possible, I planned to manage my health thoroughly to prevent Therion’s death.

As for Serien… I would have to watch her as closely as possible.

I didn’t know how much would change just from that.

For both Serien and myself.

Coincidentally, Serien spoke in a quiet voice.

“Thank you… then, can I ask for your help?”