The Villainesses in the Romance Fantasy Novel Became Obsessed with me

The rattling carriage.

Inside the carriage heading back to the Pieridot Family Estate,

Bluebell thought about what had happened at the restaurant.

“Ugh, it’s so annoying… Damian is such a jerk… And who the hell is that girl…? Sticking to Damian so shamelessly…”

It was driving her crazy.

She thought she could be happy with Damian at the academy.

But everything was ruined, and it was giving her a headache.

“So annoying. So annoying! So annoying!! So annoying!!!”

Bang! Bang! Bank!

Bluebell kicked the front seat and shouted.

“Driver!! Can’t you drive properly?! It’s shaking and making me nauseous!!”

“S-sorry!”

“If you didn’t do something wrong in the first place, there’d be nothing to apologize for! Ugh, this is so annoying! It’s driving me crazy!!”

Bluebell took out her anger on the driver.

After shouting a lot, she felt a little better.

But the depression that always lingered around her showed no signs of disappearing.

“Ugh, I want to die. Because of Damian, I want to die. How could he treat me like that… I’m definitely prettier than her.”

A gloomy expression, slumped shoulders showed a lack of confidence.

With such a timid demeanor, she didn’t seem particularly attractive.

‘Why is Damian with someone like her?’

‘I’m so much better.’

“… No matter how I compare, I don’t lack anything.”

‘It just feels like I’ve lost.’

‘It’s frustrating.’

Bluebell gazed out of the window with blurred eyes.

The green fields and well-maintained roads.

The sky was clear and beautiful.

However.

“I feel so depressed… I want to die… I’m so much better than her. Damian, you idiot… You don’t understand my feelings…”

Unlike the beautiful scenery.

Bluebell was tormented by a deep sense of depression.

***

First round of the written exam: passed.

The academy entrance exams proceeded smoothly.

“I-I passed the practical exam too…!”

Yuri also passed the first round of the practical exam.

Rumor had it she passed with quite high scores.

‘They said her physical abilities are twice that of other students…’

She looked delicate and had a timid personality,

But her physical abilities were twice that of others.

It was hard to imagine.

Until the third exam.

After passing the second exam easily,

There was only the third and final exam left.

After finishing my third exam, I headed to the practical exam hall to watch Yuri.

“Hey, Damian! Wait! I’m almost done!”

“Examinee number 26! Please be quiet in the exam hall!”

“Hey, stop right there!!”

“…”

There were some incidents along the way,

But I managed to leave the exam hall without trouble.

Bluebell had kept pace with me in the first and second exams.

But the higher average difficulty of the third exam created a gap between us.

No matter how hard she studied for a year, she couldn’t catch up to the skills I’d built since childhood.

‘As I get older, I’ll be called a fading genius, but still.’

Maybe I should be called a genius in decline.

I was not washed up yet, but it was something destined to be.

But if I transformed the villainesses, none of that would matter.

With that thought, I entered the practical exam hall for the Swordsmanship Department.

‘Since it’s a practical exam, there are a lot of spectators.’

People were seated, watching the duels to observe the empire’s talents.

Among them were notable figures who had made their mark in wars and whom I recognized.

‘Count Roche, Commander O’Neill of the Knights, and Marquis Raeloff.’

I nodded lightly to those who recognized me

And took a seat, waiting for Yuri’s turn.

However.

‘That’s… that person.’

I noticed an important character from the novel.

“The next exam is between number 1 and number 91! Step forward!”

Thud! Thud!

Two figures walked forward.

One had platinum blonde hair and golden eyes, symbolic of the royal family.

Tall, handsome, and with chiseled features.

Unlike his appearance, he had a cold, mechanical demeanor.

The fiancé of the heroine in the original story.

‘Fritz le Lionel.’

The crown prince who mercilessly slashed down the villainesses I aimed to transform.

He appeared at the exam site.

It was an unexpected situation.

‘Although I’ve seen him from a distance at banquets, this is the first time I’ve seen him up close…’

His presence was indeed different from others.

‘I’m the crown prince of the empire.’ That kind of aura.

The person standing opposite Lionel seemed to sense defeat already and was trembling.

“Numbers 1 and 91, face each other! The duel exam will begin in 3 seconds!”

“Understood.”

“…”

The person facing Lionel couldn’t even respond.

The spectators clicked their tongues at the sight.

“Tut. Even if you’re fighting the crown prince, you can’t be that intimidated.”

“Excluding the crown prince, this batch is hopeless. The empire’s future looks bleak.”

“…”

While it wae true the empire’s future appeared bleak.

It was not because of the guy who was scared of the crown prince.

I thought to myself and decided to watch the crown prince’s duel.

However.

“Winner, examinee number 1!”

The duel that was supposed to last a bit ended in 3 seconds.

How dull.

Still. Watching the duel made one thing clear.

‘I should avoid fighting the crown prince. Hopefully, I’ll never have to fight him.’

There was no benefit in fighting him.

While I might be able to hold my own in swordsmanship,

if he started using his hidden special ability,

I would definitely lose and die.

As far as I know, everyone who knew about that ability, except one person, was dead.

“Da-Damian…!”

While I was thinking about the crown prince.

Yuri waved at me from below.

It seemed her turn was coming up, so I waved back.

“Hehe…! I’ll do my best… Damian…!”

“Yeah, do well. Just like we practiced.”

“Thanks, Damian…! I’ll try even harder…!”

“Don’t overdo it.”

“Okay…!”

Yuri smiled brightly and headed to her spot for the duel.

‘Since that conversation with Bluebell, she’s been overdoing it…’

It was as if she was trying to prove her worth to me.

As if she was afraid of being abandoned.

Yuri had been acting more excessively than usual.

Because of that,

Eventually.

“Aaaargh—!!”

An incident occurred during the duel.

Despite using wooden swords, not real ones,

Yuri swung her wooden sword at her opponent, who fell to the ground.

However, his arm was bent in the wrong direction.

Clang! Clang!

“Winner, number 31! Move the injured examinee number 86 to the infirmary! Quickly!”

The exam proctor shouted to the staff.

Renowned knights cheered, hailing a new talent.

Yuri appeared anxious as she watched the scene.

“Did I hit too hard…? I’m sorry…”

She bowed repeatedly, apologizing to the departing examinee.

However, as if something more important was on her mind, she finished apologizing and turned to me with a smile, waving.

“How did I do, Damian…? You need me, right…?”

“…”

“You won’t abandon me, will you…?”

Ignoring the knights praising her.

Yuri looked only at me.

For some reason, her gaze felt incredibly heavy.

Almost unbearably so.

***

There was another round of dueling exams.

Winners would face each other again, and so would the losers.

This was to give another chance in case someone faced an opponent too strong in the initial match.

Since Yuri had another duel left, I decided to explore the academy.

‘I should familiarize myself with where I’ll be studying. It’ll be helpful later.’

The Fritz Imperial Academy attracted talents from around the world.

I wandered around, taking in the grounds described in the novel.

Library, cafe, laboratories, gardens, classrooms.

There were many people, and the facilities were impressive.

‘I thought I might run into that villainess if I were lucky.’

Had she not arrived from the south yet?

It was a shame I couldn’t see her.

While exploring, I entered one of the buildings.

“This must be the Art Department building.”

There were many paintings.

Numerous paintings were displayed on the first floor.

Since the Art Department’s third exam ended earlier than ours,

these must be the works of the new students.

“The theme is landscapes. They’re really well done.”

The paintings made me feel like I was actually at those places.

From green fields to vast oceans.

The landscapes were beautifully depicted, far beyond my skill level.

‘Though they’re not quite as good as the paintings I’ve seen at the mansion.’

Nadia’s paintings were on a different level.

They looked like real scenes transferred onto the canvas, evoking indescribable emotions.

It would make you feel as if you were part of the painting.

“… No, it’s not just a feeling. This is really me, isn’t it?”

The theme was landscapes,

But why did Nadia paint my portrait?

A boy with brown hair and blue eyes.

No matter how I looked at it, it was my face.

The background showed a cityscape through a window,

But it was more of a portrait than a landscape.

And below it was written proudly:

‘Top Student of the Art Department: Verdium Nadia.’

Unbelievable.

The theme was landscapes, yet she became the top student with a portrait?

How was this possible?

What were the professors thinking when they gave her the top spot?

I stood there, mouth agape at the absurdity of the situation.

At that moment, I felt a gaze behind me.

Click-clack! Click -clack—

The owner of the gaze approached with the sound of neat shoes.

A familiar feeling of coldness.

I turned towards the owner of the gaze.

“You were looking at my painting, Sinclair Damian.”

“… Do you know me?”

“Of course, I know you well. They say my painting resembles you.”

Except for the hair color and eye color.

“Seeing you in person, you really do look like my painting.”

Nadia’s emerald green eyes sparkled with suspicion as she approached me.

Rip—

“W-what are you doing—”

She began to unbutton her clothes, showing me the mark of the oath.

“Have you seen this mark before? I think you might have one near your heart. Can you show me?”

“If you refuse, I’ll check it myself.”

Nadia’s expressionless face uttered a threat disguised as a suggestion.

‘I can’t let her find out. Even if she does, I must not give her certainty.’

Though she was close to certainty, she was still in the stage of suspicion.

Gulp—

I gulped dryly, mustering my courage to answer,

“No, I cannot.”

“Is that so, what a shame.”

Maybe because there were people around, she decided to back down with just a threat today.

Thankfully.

I sighed in relief.

But then.

“… Then I’ll have to check it myself.”

Nadia’s eyes gleamed like jewels as she pronounced my death sentence.

I had forgotten.

‘She doesn’t care about people’s gazes at all.’

I was unable to move.

Nadia started fiddling with my clothes,

Determined to see the mark near my chest.

She was moving with blind determination to uncover the truth.

“Please…”

Hoping the mark was there, she moved her hands desperately.