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Chapter 28.
It was then that cracks appeared on Mio’s once-relaxed face.
Why is everyone acting like this?
Just how long were they planning to drag out the villainess pattern to humiliate her?
Growing anxious, Mio decided to pour oil on the fire one more time. Honestly, it was closer to her blurting out whatever came to mind in near panic… but still.
“Caleb. Your dependable backer, Wyden, is nowhere to be seen today. Without his shouting as background noise, it somehow feels lacking. I don’t even remember the last time I had such a quiet conversation with you.”
Surprisingly, Mio’s attempt failed yet again.
“…Could it be that you’ve been treated badly while living at the Kelt Ducal House until now?”
“Just hearing that the Archducal House is more comfortable makes it seem that way.”
“My goodness. At least today, I can’t even curse that woman as a villainess.”
“So there really was a reason Mio Northam became twisted.”
No—what is wrong with everyone? You all watched Wyden screaming just fine until now. Why are you acting like this is the first time you’ve heard of it?
Feeling her anger boil over, Mio scanned her surroundings. She could swear this was the first time ever that the villainess pattern hadn’t activated at all from the very beginning.
Is something different from usual? Because Wyden isn’t here? No. Even without Wyden, the villainess pattern activates. So there must be some other variable.
Given the setting that Mio accompanies Caleb to all of his banquets, the villainess pattern is guaranteed to activate at least once at a banquet. While the scale of the commotion varies by scene, there are common elements that could be called conditions.
First, it must be the scene where Mio and Caleb encounter each other for the first time at the banquet. Second, there must be an audience gathered to denounce the villainess’s misdeeds. Third, the active participation of Mio the villainess.
Those are the three main points. There are other trivial settings—such as the pattern being invalid if there is no audience even if the first meeting occurs, or a reunion after a certain amount of time being counted as another “first meeting”—but those were not what mattered right now.
At this very moment, when all the conditions were met, the fact that the villainess pattern was not functioning properly was what inspired fear.
This is a lie… right?
For reference, even Count Duon—arguably the person Mio was closest to in this world—would often get swept up in the villainess pattern and curse Mio, only to approach her a second later and say, “Hehe, why did I do that?” while acting cute. That was how they had ended up becoming friendly in the first place.
Mio kept searching for the cause, repeating to herself internally.
Something different. There has to be something different…
As she slowly swept her gaze over the crowd, Mio suddenly realized that one of her hands was still being held by someone. When she stiffly turned her head to the side, she saw Aletheia standing there alone, looking perfectly at ease.
Lete was… Aletheia was here…?
When their eyes met, he spoke with a bored expression.
“Are you done with the greetings? Then let’s go back.”
Perhaps because she had let the incomplete conclusion of the villainess pattern at the Kelt Ducal House slide, the errors that had snowballed now seemed to be shaking the very foundation of this world.
Mio slowly looked back on everything that had happened so far.
The villainess pattern had failed to complete exactly twice until now—and both times, Aletheia had been present at the scene.
Come to think of it, that wasn’t all. There was also that time when positional fixation was ignored after going to his house.
At the time, these were things she had dismissed as minor suspicions. Busy dealing with the marriage issue that had come crashing down on her, she had postponed uncovering the cause of the error for later.
I should’ve properly addressed it back then…
Regret was useless now, but if she had realized something in the past, Mio would have written other useful clauses into the prenuptial agreement.
I wouldn’t have foolishly hoped that Aletheia would get caught up in the villainess pattern either.
With the feeling of cramming overdue homework, Mio began fitting together the fragmented pieces of the puzzle in her mind. Inevitably, one figure emerged.
Aletheia. He was the very one who had nullified the laws of this world.
But how? What exactly is Aletheia in this world?
Mio held that question for a brief moment, then had no choice but to nod. He was the undisputed strongest being in the setting, acknowledged both by himself and by the original work.
If he not only possessed the tremendous ability of mind reading but also the power to ignore even coercive force, then the title of “strongest” was only fitting.
Fine. I can respect the idea that rules don’t apply to the strongest being in the setting. But why did it have to be me who got entangled with someone like that? Why…
She had thought before that she’d gotten tangled up with some crazy guy by mistake, but now that she truly felt the weight of that epithet from the original work, the burden was on a different level.
Before, it had felt like being saddled with a load that was hard to carry; now, it felt like standing before a mountain so massive she couldn’t even dare to try lifting it.
“Hoo…”
Letting out a sigh so deep her shoulders rose and fell, Mio recalled what had happened on the way back from the banquet hall.
The moment they left the hall, Aletheia told the coachman their destination.
“To the Moro estate.”
“Wait. We’re going back to the Kelt House, right…?”
If Mio hadn’t immediately questioned it because she found it strange that he named only one destination, she would have been carried straight to the Moro estate.
It was because he, for some reason, naturally assumed they would return together to the Moro estate that she was put in an awkward position.
And then there was the matter of him asking why when she said she was returning to the Kelt Ducal House. For a moment, Mio almost mistakenly thought she and Aletheia were already married.
In the end, she had no choice but to repeat exactly what Caleb had said: “We’re not married yet, so we can’t go there.” Aletheia’s reaction in response was something else entirely.
Instead, he replied in a genuinely baffled tone, “Aren’t we family?”
Though embarrassed, Mio had to pretend she was deeply hurt by the argument she’d just had with Caleb and by the surrounding reactions.
Lete, did that guy dream about getting married while lying down in the lounge or something?
After many twists and turns, Mio returned to the Kelt House and sank into thought for a while. The conclusion she reached was Aletheia’s “nullification ability”—though one that was extremely self-centered and very temporary in effect.
Last night, just in case, I even went out into the forest and stayed up all night with the foxes, but…
The fact that she returned as usual to Caleb’s maid’s room was proof enough.
Her hope that the nullification ability she’d experienced at the banquet might still be in effect was shattered completely. Could it be that even his ability resembled him…?
Grumbling internally, Mio idly thought,
If I could make use of that nullification, I might even be able to shut my eyes and get married…
No—no, that wouldn’t work. Mio hurriedly shook her head hard from side to side.
I shouldn’t even imagine things like that. It’ll bring bad luck!
She could only escape this place by completing the original story. Getting entangled with Aletheia offered no such guarantee.
…Running away wouldn’t be easy either.
Mio quickly abandoned the idea of using Aletheia’s ability.
Even if she somehow nullified changes in her status through his power, the result would be the same. The moment she was separated from him, the coercive force would activate again anyway.
The idea of never being apart even for a moment is unrealistic to begin with.
What if Aletheia decided to go back to the battlefield?
Trying to suppress the fleeting positive impulse she’d felt about “marriage,” Mio hurriedly listed various reasons why she absolutely should not marry him.
Thinking back to the incomplete pattern at the Kelt estate, the nullification ability’s range is limited anyway.
Up until the moment Aletheia came right up close, the villainess pattern had clearly been progressing…
And even after he arrived, the villainess pattern did continue. It worked on everyone except Lete. Maybe the nullification ability doesn’t activate every single time.
In any case, there was only one conclusion. Lete’s nullification ability was of no real help to Mio.
