The Villainess Makes Amends

Chapter 3

* * *

For a long time, Chirpy was not able to forget the horrifying sight of Kiana, sitting in the middle of a room covered with walls and walls of dense notes, wearing a pair of spectacles, with a hollow expression. She didn’t look like a diligent person. She simply looked delirious.

“Now.”

Her lovely pink hair was in disarray and her bright green eyes were shining too brightly. The checkered patterns she wore, from her hair tie down to her slippers, only made her appearance more unsettling.

“Let’s squeeze every last bit of knowledge from our brain cells. Let’s do our very best.”

“I-I don’t remember that much…”

“Try. You can do anything with effort.”

Chirpy had always known that Kiana was a bit odd, but this was even worse—she was odd and determined. She began to flap her wings furiously.

“W-wait! Wait! Th-there’s another way!”

* * *

Luckily, Chirpy ended up not having to endure days of torment.

“There’s a better way, Kiana! I’ll transfer all of my memories to you! A summoned creature is able to transfer all of its memories to its master!” Then she shook her head and muttered, “If I get swept up in this craziness, I’ll be trapped in this room for two straight weeks and be forced to talk until my voice gives out…”

Chirpy hopped on top of my head and closed her eyes. At once, a series of events from after I’d left for the academy began to flood into my brain.

“Hey,” I muttered. “You said you’d show me your memories. Why is it all in text form? It’s like…”

The words streamed through my head, and I said, annoyed, “It’s like I’m reading a book about Melissa.”

It was a third-person novel where Melissa was the main character. It was all quite nauseating. Chirpy flinched.

“Th-there’s nothing I can do. I was Melissa’s creature, so I only saw and heard what she experienced.”

“Hmm.”

“Also, since the summoning between you and me isn’t fully complete, I can only transmit things to you like this.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

This is the best she can do…?

It was just like reading a novel. A trashy romance novel.

“I knew Melissa was popular with boys, but really, this is too much…”

After I had left, Melissa had become the object of love and obsession for countless suitors.

“I thought she would get engaged to Rodrigo right away, but she left him hanging while trapping all sorts of other men,” I mumbled to myself, my face screwed up in distaste. “Was she only interested in romance? Why is this entire book about that? This is a reverse harem novel.”

Melissa’s story might have been categorized as a romance novel, but it was merely a series of events where she kept herself slightly out of reach. Of course, it had a refreshingly unique and original ending when one of the rejected lovers ended up destroying the heroine’s family and killing them all. It hadn’t even been because of his love for her, but because of politics.

Melissa is really going to live the opposite kind of life this time around, eh?

Saints were not permitted to see anyone romantically, much less marry. I didn’t care about her numerous affairs, so I quickly skimmed over those parts. There were a few times when I was mentioned, but it was only when her suitors pitied her. They would bring up my name as the villainess who had tormented her throughout childhood and the cousin who had become wild with jealousy.

[“Thank goodness, Lady Kiana is gone. If that villainess had remained, you would have suffered even more, Melissa…”]

“Lady Melissa, the hurt and the pain you suffered from Lady Kiana… I will heal it all for you.”

“That villainess truly tormented you, did she not? It’s a shame I cannot challenge her to a duel, now that she has gone so far away.”]

It was irritating to read, but it wasn’t what was important right now. I focused on reading through the major events that had happened in the empire, which popped up sporadically in the text. I paid special attention to the end, when House Freley had been accused of treason and had become embroiled in scandal and tragedy.

These are all the things that will happen in the future. Actually, they all happened already, so should I consider this the past? What am I supposed to call it?

I pondered over the issue before deciding to label all the information Chirpy had transferred to me as the original story. The fact that I could revisit the information in text form made it seem as though I’d read a book. Although I was annoyed that Melissa was the protagonist, I had still been able to extract some helpful information from it.

“Hmm.”

I was lost in deep contemplation for a long while, and it was only when it neared sunset that I suddenly sprang to my feet.

“Kiana?”

“In that case, from among my 184 plans…” I pulled a few of the notes down from the walls and said, determinedly, “I’ll combine plans 57 and 122, plans 111 and 121, and plans 181 and 182.

“What…?”

“I’m the only one who knows the future. It’s up to me to take action, isn’t it?”

“B-but how?”

“I am going to return to the duchy at once,” I declared.

Just then, someone knocked on my door.

“Lady Kiana! The admission briefing is about to begin! The dean has asked for you to come at once! You need to give your speech!”

The admissions briefing was an event the ambitious dean had planned to gather together students and parents who were still considering whether to enroll at Lillony Academy. The students’ tuition meant money rolling in, and I had often been asked to give a brief lecture on the basics of magic engineering during these events. As I was a member of the high nobility as well as a young genius who had made significant achievements at the academy, I was the perfect person to make a presentation.

“I’ll come down right away!” I called back. I smirked and jumped up from my seat.

“Kiana? I thought you said you were going back to the duchy!”

“Sure I will. Before that, I need to go repay the dean.”

“Wow…” she muttered. “I get to see your villainy in action! I’m so excited. You’ve always been wonderful at that, Kiana!”

* * *

The auditorium was bustling with people—a rare sight in the academy, which was normally closed off to outsiders. The ceremony was well underway. When I entered, the dean, who was standing on the stage, smiled broadly and immediately introduced me to the crowd.

“Now, we will have a brief lecture from Lady Kiana Freley for our prospective students!”

I walked boldly across the stage and stood next to him, demurely greeting the crowd.

“Hello, I am Kiana Freley. I am currently pursuing my doctorate.”

I gave the same brief lecture every year during the admissions briefing, and it was usually so impressive that many students submitted their applications right after I was done.

“Magical engineering is based on the twin pillars of mathematics and science. Today, I will give a brief lecture on a few scientific principles.”

I always opened the lecture with the same speech. The dean smiled indulgently and patted me on the shoulder.

“Lady Kiana is our academy’s pride and my disciple, who is dearer to me than even my children. She is an excellent lecturer. You can all look forward to it.”

Although I had expected him to pat me, I couldn’t help but shudder when his hand landed on my shoulder. How had he dared to hand me over to the imperial soldiers? Well, it wasn’t surprising, given the immense power of the empire. At the very least, he should not have been talking about my patents and laughing while I had been dragged away. And he shouldn’t have given me this nonsense about how I was more precious to him than his children, while using me as a slave for his academy. The dean had targeted my most vulnerable points and used love and attention to manipulate me. He was a truly repulsive man.

“Yes, you can certainly look forward to my lecture.” I smiled and brushed his hand off my shoulder as I began, “Science is present in our everyday lives. For instance…”

I picked up the water bottle prepared for me in case I became thirsty while speaking.

“This is gravity.”

With that, I lifted it and poured water all over the dean’s head.

“Ahh! W-wait, Kiana—”

“I’m in the middle of a lecture, sir. Please cooperate. Now, watch closely. Let me show you the next demonstration.”

I struck the foolish man’s face as hard as I could. A sharp sound cracked through the air, and the audience gasped.

The dean’s eyes went wide as he shouted, “What are you doing? That hurt!”

“Excellent explanation, sir. My hand hurts as well. This is the law of action and reaction.”

The audience stared at us in disbelief, clearly wondering if this had been planned, while the academy staff were nodding at us with pleased expressions. Clearly, they thought we had planned a particularly interesting lesson this time.

“Now, objects move while in motion,” I said to the audience with a smile.

Then I snatched the dean’s wig from his head and flung it out the window.

“This is projectile motion.”

Every person’s jaw had dropped, while the students in the front row seemed deeply impressed.

“Wow, the lessons here are so fun!”

“The lectures are so interesting!”

The dean stood there bewildered and unable to do a thing. He wiped the water dripping down his face.

“Everything in life has science hidden behind it. At Lillony Academy, we study these laws and use magic to create useful tools for daily life. This is a powerful adhesive that was just recently patented…”

I stuck a piece of paper labeled “trash” to the dean’s forehead.

“Wh-what is this?!” the dean cried out in disbelief.

“The adhesive is very strong, and it will not come off easily without special remover. It might not be much, but we can create everyday items with small, yet effective uses.” I smiled and tossed the adhesive to the ground. Turning to the audience, I added, “But even if you’re impressed, do not come to this academy. You’ll only be worked like a dog if you do. Thank you for coming to my lecture!”

And with that, I left the auditorium and boarded a carriage headed straight back to the empire.