The Villainesses in the Romance Fantasy Novel Became Obsessed with me

“… Please.”

Nadia reached out desperately towards me, who couldn’t move.

Her hand slowly caressed my clothes, trying to open them.

To see the proof of the vow she believed was inside.

‘If I could move, I would at least resist…’

Damn ability.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move.

It felt like a giant hand was gripping my body.

I managed to squeeze out my voice and spoke to Nadia.

“What happened today… I will formally protest… Duke Verdium…”

“Protest. I’m only making a move to find what’s mine.”

So.

“Shut up and stay still.”

The informal language I used when I was the servant, Darmian.

Nadia muttered a warning to me and continued her actions.

Slowly and earnestly.

She unbuttoned my shirt and revealed the skin underneath.

But, her eyes widened in surprise as she spoke.

“… It’s not there?”

Seeing my heart, Nadia voiced her despair.

Because the proof she believed to be there wasn’t.

‘I’m not an idiot… Would I come to the academy without hiding the proof in a place where Nadia could find it?’

I had been planning since I was born into this world.

I never wasted time and devoted all my time to transforming villainess.

Sometimes the plan failed…

But I wasn’t stupid enough to go to a place like the academy, where Nadia might be, without minimal safety measures.

‘Preparing tools as per the plan is the easiest part.’

Hiding the proof was very easy.

The item the heroine used in the original story to hide her identity.

A skincare cream produced by the Magic Tower.

Originally produced as a cosmetic to improve skin tone for high-ranking nobles.

Was its efficacy too strong?

That cosmetic had a strong enough effect to cover even the proof of the vow.

‘She surely believed the proof would be there…’

I must not reveal my identity yet.

I must keep her doubting and not give her certainty.

I spoke to Nadia, who was staring blankly at my heart without proof.

“What are you doing…? You must be mistaking me for someone else in the picture… This is clearly an offense, Duke Verdium.”

“No, it’s not. It must be there. Only the hair color is different, but the face and eyes are the same. Then why… why doesn’t it have the same proof of the vow as mine?”

“Because I’m not that person. Please take your hands off me immediately.”

“… No, it’s you, Darmian.”

“How many times do I have to say-“

“Be quiet.”

Nadia coldly muttered.

She placed her hand on my heart where the proof was supposed to be.

Then.

Ziiik-

She raised her nails and scratched down my skin harshly.

No, it was more accurate to say she was tearing my skin off with her nails.

Naturally, I had no choice but to scream.

“Aaagh…!!”

“There it is. The proof. Why are you hiding it?”

“S-stop…!!”

“You can’t not be Darmian. You hurt your arm in the winter, right? The winter when my vow glowed. You were in a life-threatening situation then, weren’t you? Pathetic. Show me the proof quickly.”

C-crazy.

Nadia was threatening me to force me to admit I was Darmian.

Even if I wasn’t Darmian, she looked like she would make me Darmian by any means.

‘If this goes on, my disguise will be exposed… This is bad.’

The cream was only applied to the skin.

If the upper layer of skin was peeled away, eventually the proof of the vow underneath would be revealed. I gritted my teeth and spoke, enduring the pain as much as I could.

“The arm… was injured in spring, not winter… And as I’ve repeatedly said, I’m not this Darmian person…”

“That’s impossible. Do you know how many times I’ve drawn your picture? The shape of your face, the look of your eyes, the texture of your skin, the structure of your bones. I can’t forget it, Darmian.”

“Stop talking nonsense… Let go now…? Unless you want to turn this into a big deal…”

“You’re the one who started this mess, Darmian.”

Nadia persistently dug her nails into my heart, not willing to back down at all.

At this rate, really.

I might get exposed to Nadia and be trapped in her art studio for the rest of my life, living as a model for her paintings.

However, there was still a voice that seemed to have a purpose to save me from captivity.

“Don’t touch Damian…!!”

A timid voice followed by strong action to back it up.

Yuri came running and tackled Nadia with her whole body.

At the same time, Nadia fell to the ground with a loud thud, and the restraint holding me disappeared without a trace.

‘Yuri. You came to rescue me.’

Yuri groaned, seeing my injured heart.

“D-Damian… Blood, blood… I’m sorry… again… I couldn’t protect you…”

“No, you came just in time. No need to apologize, Yuri.”

Yuri, looking at the blood flowing from my chest.

I lightly patted her head as a gesture of praise.

“Ehehe…”

It seems her anger had subsided.

But, is Nadia okay?

‘Yuri seemed to have come at full speed.’

Despite her appearance, Nadia might be quite sturdy.

She sat on the floor, regaining her senses, and still glarer at me.

“It’s definitely there. It should be there. It must be Darmian.”

Her eyes were vacant and unfocused.

She muttered in a small voice, as if she had lost her mind.

“Why isn’t it there? It should be there. He must be the Darmian I know.”

“…”

Her mental state seemed shattered because the situation she expected had not happened.

I felt pity, but I knew that talking to Nadia now wouldn’t end well.

So, I decided to quickly leave, holding Yuri’s hand.

“… Let’s go, Yuri.”

“Is it okay not to take revenge on that woman…? Should I do it for you…?”

“… No, there’s no need.”

Revenge isn’t something someone like me should be doing.

The pain of slightly peeled skin was bearable.

What I did to Nadia was much worse than this.

“… Let’s go home.”

This kind of retribution was something I must bear alone.

***

“… The rumor has already spread in high society.”

Crumple—

Nadia crumpled the letter sent by the family’s informant.

Then, she muttered as she looked at the paintings displayed in her art studio.

“Sinclair Damian. Are you saying you’re not Darmian?”

No, that was a lie.

There was no way that man isn’t Darmian.

Because she knew Darmian better than anyone in the world.

“You only have a different hair color. You are Darmian. Exactly as I remember.”

‘You’ve just grown a bit taller.’

Nadia was almost certain that the man was Darmian. The only issue was the absence of the proof. She looked at the painted Darmian on the canvas with empty eyes.

“… It’s you. It’s Darmian. Then why do you deny it? Are you denying the time we spent together? Even without the proof, you are Darmian. Sinclair Damian. My servant, my family. I cannot accept it.”

Nadia reached out to the painted Darmian on the canvas and grasped his neck with her palm.

Crash-!!

The canvas compressed in an instant and rolled across the floor.

Nadia looked down at the broken canvas and coldly muttered.

“I cannot accept it. You are Darmian. Even if you say no, you are.”

Even if there was no proof, that didn’t prove he wasn’t Darmian.

“There’s still far more evidence that you are Darmian.”

Still, there was a 1% chance he might not be Darmian.

Nadia couldn’t act rashly.

At that moment, she heard the voice of her butler, Rave, knocking at the door of the studio.

– Miss Nadia. Should we proceed with the compensation for the Sinclair family as mentioned before?

“Proceed. One diamond mine should suffice.”

-… Yes, understood. I will prepare the land transfer.

“Alright.”

The value of Darmian was much higher than that of a single mine.

Thinking this, Nadia destroyed all the portraits of Darmian she had painted except for one.

Then, she sat in front of a blank canvas and began to draw.

“Next time, I will definitely uncover it, Damian.”

Blue eyes and white hair.

Nadia drew the original appearance of Damian.

“I will get what I want. No matter what it takes.”

To obtain the real Damian, not a fake.

Her possessiveness was always directed towards Damian.

***

“Crazy. A diamond mine.”

The action itself was insane.

But wasn’t the response excessive?

Even my parents, who were initially angry, couldn’t say anything upon receiving the land ownership as an apology.

“… This is beyond the level of being angry.”

“It’s rather burdensome for us…”

Despite the incident.

The unexpected response left us speechless.

Even though our family was quite wealthy.

It still seemed lacking compared to a duke’s family.

‘Still, since we received it… I should give the diamond mine to my younger sibling.’

As a token of gratitude for being born.

I decided to give the diamond mine to my sibling, packed my luggage, and got into the carriage.

Finally, it was time to enter the academy.

The moment the original story began.

We now had to head to the dormitory.

“Damian is the top student… And I, I’m the second… sniff…”

“Being second is still great. You did well.”

“R-really…? I did well…?”

“Yes, so. Do well at the academy too. Don’t cause any trouble. Absolutely.”

Please.

Don’t cause any trouble.

When I met Yuri’s eyes and cautioned her, she quickly nodded.

“Yes…! I won’t cause any trouble…!”

Good.

That’s a good answer.

Please, keep that mindset until graduation.

Yuri and I boarded the carriage, waved goodbye to our family, and set off for the empire.

Having traveled the route three times for the entrance exam, it was a familiar path by now.

It was neither bad nor good, just a peaceful route.

There’s no particular danger, making it a comfortable journey.

“… My mind is complicated though.”

“What did you say, Damian…?”

“Nothing, just talking to myself.”

“I’ve noticed you talk to yourself a lot, Damian… Is it because you have a lot on your mind…?”

“Probably.”

“I think it’s nice that you think a lot, Damian…!”

“Is it a good thing?”

Since my head was full of thoughts, I sometimes ended up speaking to myself.

But now, my self-talk might decrease.

I’d made new plans and had a clear grasp of what to do at the academy.

‘I need to put a leash on the villainesses. So they can’t deviate from normal behavior.’

Therefore.

I need to give them a leash as well.

The reason my previous plan failed was because I tried to leash the villainess by myself.

Hence, I failed to transform them properly.

‘To leash a fierce dog, you also need to give something.’

My thinking was wrong.

So, I must not fail at the starting point of the original story this time.

I will give myself to the villainesses, and they will obtain me.

By doing so, I will control their actions.

‘Since we will have leashes on each other.’

A coercive relationship where both sides have leashes on each other.

It was not ideal and was rather twisted.

‘There’s no other way to control the villainesses.’

I had no choice but to do it.

Only I, who knew the original story, could do it.

Lost in near-obsessive thoughts, I looked quietly out the window.

In the distance.

The academy, where the new villainess awaited, gradually appeared.

The moment the original story began.