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Gilles stares at me wide-eyed the moment I come out of the cabin.
Not surprising, I suppose, considering the atmosphere that I’m giving off is completely different from my usual one.
I’m wearing a black lace dress with golden embroidery in the same shade as my eyes…. I’m sure I’m giving off a fantastically villainous aura with this amazing gown on. Particularly large and shining earrings accentuate the outfit, and with my hair pulled back smartly into a high ponytail, I’m sure I look much more mature.
And finally my diamond necklace no longer seems so out of place. I’ve fully grown into it, so instead of making me look like a little girl playing dress-up, it now ties my whole look together. It gleams wickedly from its usual spot on my chest, flaunting my affluence and style.
“……You’re so beautiful….” Gilles murmurs in awe, his eyes still wide and fixated on me.
He probably didn’t even realize he had spoken aloud. The moment the words leave his mouth, his head jerks back a bit in surprise.
“I know,” I say lightly, smirking at him.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“…..I still don’t think it’ll be easy to conceal the fact that you can’t use magic….” he says once his awe subsides.
“Yup. I realize that.”
“Why do you look so happy then?”
“It’s just one of the many hardships on my road to becoming a villainess.”
“So, as long as it’s for the sake of your goal, you’ll happily throw yourself at whatever tribulations that life has in store for you?”
“Exactly.”
“Alicia, you truly are incredible. In more ways than one,” Gilles says, both admiring and a bit exasperated at the same time.
So that he doesn’t realize the slightly sentimental tone of my thoughts and his promotion within my mind, I laugh haughtily as if his compliment is merely stating the obvious.
It’s been so long since I last saw the magic academy, and somehow it appears even more extravagant than before.
I think staying in that tiny cabin might have had a bigger effect on me than I thought. After two years of living in miserly frugality, it probably won’t take much for something to look exorbitant and wasteful in my eyes. Even my old home will likely feel overly luxurious to me now.
“Alicia, a word of advice…. Go in there with the mindset of walking onto a battlefield.”
“Why?”
“I think…. it’s going to be rough in there otherwise,” Gilles replies, being intentionally vague.
“Whatever it is, just spit it out,” I say, giving him a small glare.
As if giving up, he lets out a little sigh.
“Alicia, you’re strong and you don’t care what people say about you. I know you’ll be fine with whatever badmouthing they do to you but…. Don’t let yourself be tricked.”
This time, Gilles lets out a long, drawn out sigh.
Was my question that odd? As he said, badmouthing I’m okay with. More than okay with! I welcome it as evidence of my wickedness. But, being tricked? What could he mean by that?
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“Within the academy, you’re going to be at a serious disadvantage. You didn’t attend for a whole two years. The other students would have gotten used to you not being around. They probably rejoiced the day you left. But now that you’re back, they…..”
Right as he’s getting to the good part, he stops. If he was trying to draw my attention through suspense, then it worked. But without finishing that thought, I have no idea where he was going with it.
Speaking of rejoicing though…. I feel over-the-moon right now! I’m nothing like the villainess that I was before. Over these last two years I’ve blossomed into a splendid flower of wickedness and pure evil!
And if during that time, the rest of the student body has recognized my tyranny, so much the better! After all, I’m not aiming to only be a self-proclaimed villainess, but to become an evil villain who’s recognized by the masses.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is, no matter what they do, don’t let them convince you to quit the academy.”
“Oh, there’s no need to worry about that. There’s nothing they could possibly do to make me leave,” I declare. And I punctuate my statement with a big, toothy grin.
Despite my confidence, Gilles somehow doesn’t seem convinced.
But that’s fine. If he doesn’t want to believe me, so be it. I’ll just let my actions speak for me!
And, for now, I think it’s time that I see just how terribly disadvantageous the situation at the academy is for me. Seeing is believing, after all. I’m sure it’s nothing that I can’t handle.
And so, for the first time in two years, I stride through the gate to the academy with my back straight and my head held high.
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