The Villainesses in the Romance Fantasy Novel Became Obsessed with me

Irenia.

Yuri’s sister.

A woman with black hair and red eyes. The characteristic of the Justia family.

Currently, she was laughing to herself as she recounted past stories in front of me.

“Yuri is really stupid, you know? She’s the dullest in our family. The other day, I tripped her on the stairs… And she didn’t even see it coming and tumbled down! It was hilarious seeing her roll down the steps!”

Irinia laughed maniacally, recalling the memory.

What was so funny that she laughed so hard?

I couldn’t understand her at all.

However, I laughed along to humor her.

“Ha, haha… Lady Yuri’s stories are quite amusing.”

Since Irenia was also somewhat of a villainess raised by a tyrant father, I had no intention of antagonizing her while staying at the mansion. I didn’t want to become her plaything.

I had no desire to kill her either.

“You certainly have a knack for telling entertaining stories, Lady Irenia.”

“Do I? But it’s more fun to do things rather than just talk about them. Want me to show you how I bully Yuri? If you punch her in the face, she cries instantly, and her reaction is the best—”

“I’m not interested in bullying, so I’ll pass.”

“Too bad.”

I basically disliked villainesses who were beyond redemption because their souls were already damaged.

Even the word evil couldn’t describe properly. She was a villainess who, through her actions, created another villainess.

She was an irredeemable existence, much like her tyrant father.

“Ivasten at least has the excuse of training Yuri’s abilities. Irenia torments Yuri simply because she finds it amusing.”

Irenia was the villainess without a tragic backstory.

Her malicious acts contributed to turning Yuri into the butcher of the North. She forced that kind-hearted Yuri into killing people, leading her to commit heinous crimes and turning her into a cold-blooded killer.

When I read the novel, Irenia was the character I despised the most.

“Ah. Talking about Yuri makes me want to punch her again. I really want to see her cry.”

“…”

“Do you want to see it too? I could even gift you one of her teeth.”

She looked like a child showing off at the playground.

Pathetic.

I hid my internal sigh within a smile.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave. Enjoy your tea.”

“Sure, let me know if you want to play with me next time. I’ll make sure it’s fun.”

She would use Yuri as a toy for her amusement. No way I was visiting her. I didn’t want to see Yuri’s mental state crumble.

I headed to Yuri’s room to check on her condition from yesterday’s treatment.

But when I arrived, Yuri seemed a bit off.

“What did you talk about with my sister…?”

“Huh? Nothing much. Why do you—”

“Then why were you laughing…? Why were you laughing with her…? You’re not becoming friends with her, are you…?”

Her mental state seemed fragile.

Yuri approached me with a somewhat desperate voice, her deep red eyes fixed on mine.

“Damian… you’ll stay friends with me, right…?”

What was she saying?

Though taken aback, I gave the most appropriate answer.

“Of course, once a friend, always a friend.”

“Right… We’re friends…? Then… Don’t be friends with Irenia.”

“… What?”

“She bullies me every day… So don’t be friends with her. I don’t like it…”

Yuri was usually timid but she conveyed her feelings clearly this time. She begged me not to be friends with Irenia, and gripped my sleeve tightly.

I answered nonchalantly.

“… Sure.”

I also disliked Irenia and had no intention of befriending her.

Yuri brightened at my response and exclaimed.

“Th-thank you…! Don’t be friends with my sister…! Don’t even laugh with her…! Thank you for listening to my request…!”

Was I her lifesaver or something?

Yuri was so happy that she bowed deeply in gratitude.

Her physical condition seemed good.

She bent her waist without any sign of pain. The ointment and bandages worked better than expected.

“… But could you stop thanking me? You’re making me embarrassed.”

“Th-thank you…!! I’ll be a better friend from now on…!”

“…”

Watching Yuri constantly express her gratitude, I thought it would be nice if there were an ointment for the mind as well.

‘What does it mean to be a better friend…?’

Back then, I didn’t realize how dangerous the word friend would become for Yuri.

***

In Verdium mansion.

Nadia’s art room.

“Hmm.”

Nadia slowly looked around at the paintings displayed in the art room.

All the paintings were portraits of the servant Darmian.

To her, ‘Darmian’ and ‘family’ had become synonymous.

“In these expressionless paintings, Darmian is clearly visible. But in the ones with a smile, I can’t see him well.”

Nadia’s memory was far superior to that of an average person. Her intelligence and her practice of painting had enhanced her memory.

She was good at recreating scenes from her memory exactly as they were.

“In this smiling portrait, Darmian doesn’t show up.”

The smile was artificial and twisted.

It wasn’t a genuine smile.

Nadia recalled the faces of people she had seen through the mansion window.

“When other people smile… They smile more openly..”

Had Darmian deceived her even with his smiles? Were all the smiles he showed her completely fake?

Nadia placed her palm on the painting of smiling Darmian.

“I don’t need a fake Darmian anymore. This isn’t even really Darmian. Even the name Darmian is fake.”

Crunch!

The canvas crumpled in an instant.

Nadia set aside the canvas with the smiling face and continued inspecting the other portraits that bothered her. If a fake Darmian was mixed in, Nadia ruthlessly used her power to destroy the canvas.

Crunch!

Nadia destroyed eight canvases.

Even so, her art room was still filled with portraits of Darmian. She fixed her gaze on the portrait she liked the most.

It depicted Darmian’s face twisted with guilt as he fled from the engagement ceremony.

She cherished this distorted face the most, as it was seared into her memory.

“He must have felt genuinely sorry for me to make such an expression. I’ve seen many people with regretful faces. This regret is genuine.”

She recalled the faces of people who looked truly sorry before they died.

Nadia placed her hand on the distorted face of Darmian.

The paint had dried completely, leaving nothing on her hand.

“He’s already so far out of reach. Darmian has left my grasp. But, we’ll meet again soon, Darmian.”

One year.

Nadia had not forgotten and had patiently waited.

Waiting to enter the academy and meet the one she suspected to be Darmian.

“We made a pact, staking our lives on it. Eventually, we’ll become one.”

‘I want the real you, Darmian.’

Nadia smiled wistfully at the portrait she had painted.

Once again, she prayed that Darmian would show her a distorted expression.

***

The North was an isolated territory.

In winter, fierce snow storms made it almost impossible to approach or escape.

If there was anything fun to do, it might be bearable, but there was nothing to do here.

“It’s snowing again today.”

“Yeah. It’s snowing again…”

The routine involved watching the falling snow and treating Yuri’s injuries.

End of story.

Time in the North felt like it flowed differently compared to other territories.

“How are your wounds from yesterday?”

“They’re okay… The ointment helps… My wounds heal faster… So, my father doesn’t hit me as much…”

I thought he might hit her more if her abilities were improving.

But maybe he was satisfied and stopped once they reached a certain level.

For a moment, I reconsidered my opinion of Ivasten after hearing he hit her less, but I quickly dismissed the thought, shaking my head.

“Hitting you in the first place is the problem.”

“Y-yes. That’s true…”

Yuri agreed, sticking close to me and looking out the window.

But then.

“Yuri.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you always sticking so close?”

It was becoming uncomfortable.

Yuri stayed by my side constantly unless something urgent happened.

Whenever I asked why, her answer was always the same.

“Because… We’re friends…?”

“Even friends don’t stick together all the time. Besides, we’re of opposite genders.”

“But still…”

“Rumors are spreading around the mansion.”

Even now, I could feel the presence of three people watching us.

Recently, the servants in this mansion had been keeping an eye on me.

I wasn’t entirely sure why, but it seemed they were trying to figure out why Yuri’s abilities were improving.

‘Yuri’s just a late bloomer.’

The family couldn’t wait for her growth, so they labeled her a failure and trash.

They failed to recognize a talent that would appear maybe once in a generation.

The head of the Justia family, Ivasten, was both smart and foolish.

“So, let’s spend some time apart today. I want to be alone for a while.”

“Because I’m a failure and dangerous… Yeah, I get it. You don’t want to be around me… Alright…”

“That’s not it.”

“No, it’s okay… It’s because I’m lacking… I’m sorry…”

This was driving me crazy.

This was why she ws always sticking close.

I couldn’t pry her off.

She constantly fell into a self-deprecating mode, making things difficult.

‘The biggest problem is she genuinely thinks she’s lacking and doesn’t realize how troublesome she’s making things.’

Having decided to be her warmth in the cold North, I had to respond once again.

Yuri was kind-hearted and wouldn’t become a villainess if she managed to escape from the mansion.

She wouldn’t become a villainess if she didn’t massacre her family.

This level of dependence was something I decided to overlook.

“Alright. Let’s just stick together then.”

“Great…! As expected of my friend Damian…! Hehe…!”

Hug-

Yuri clung to me happily.

Yuri said that and then moved into my embrace, spreading her arms wide to hug me. It seemed she also had a bit of an affection deficit. After hugging me tightly, Yuri blushed and stepped back, embarrassed.

“S-sorry…! I must have startled you by hugging suddenly…! I’ll make sure to tell you before I do it next time…!”

“Actually, I think it would be better not to hug at all next time.”

“W-why…? We’re friends… Isn’t that something friends can do…?”

“Like I said earlier… We’re a boy and a girl.”

We were friends, but we were also a boy and a girl. You might call our relationship a platonic friendship, but I didn’t believe in such things.

‘People listen behind thin walls, waiting for a chance to break them. How can that be a pure friendship?’

It’s nonsense. It would be more accurate to call it a friendship with hidden intentions. My response seemed to hurt Yuri since she lowered her head.

“But we’re friends…”

“Look, it’s because we’re friends that we shouldn’t.”

Pushing firmly, Yuri finally stepped back.

“… Okay.”

She seemed to understand and reluctantly nodded her head. She was shy but had a surprisingly stubborn side.

“Let’s stop watching the snow through the window. Is there any place in the mansion worth visiting?”

I asked, partly to scout escape routes. Yuri seemed ready to answer.

“Th-there is—”

At that moment.

“Excuse me, you two.”

“M-Mary…”

An old servant named Mary approached us. Her voice sounded familiar.

‘This voice is…’

It was the same voice that called Yuri to the training ground on Ivasten’s orders. She seemed to be Ivasten’s personal attendant. She spoke in a calm, steady tone.

“The Duke has summoned you both.”

“Where is Duke Ivasten?”

“The Duke is waiting for both of you at the training ground.”

Yuri was startled. She gazed at me and asked.

“B-both of us…?”

“Yes, the Duke has requested both of you.”

Winter.

Snow was falling heavily that afternoon.

Duke Ivasten had called for both Yuri and me to come to the training ground.

Mary’s gaze was fixed on me, not Yuri. Her eyes held a look of pity.

Yuri appeared anxious, turned to me and cried out.

“D-Damian… It’s okay, I can go alone—”

“… No, let’s go together.”

I felt uneasy.

But as a guest of the mansion, I couldn’t refuse Duke Ivasten’s orders in the dead of winter.

So we walked to the training ground with nervous steps.

Yuri was filled with anxiety, clung to me, and held my hand.

“D-Damian… If something happens… I’ll protect you…”

Her hand was cold.

The atmosphere felt ominous as if something unexpected, something that was not mentioned in the novel, was about to happen.