The Guidebook for Villainesses

After Lara and Demian went back, Acerus' doctor gave him a strong sleeping pill to help him sleep well until tomorrow morning. Suddenly, Acerus woke up in the middle of the night. He opened his eyes wide.

The bedroom was quiet. The doctor and ladies-in-waiting caring for Acerus tried to avoid waking him up so they stayed in a small drawing-room connected to the bedroom.

Hwiii.

A cold wind blew outside. The double-locked window rattled.

“Valac.”

Acerus muttered. A cold wind blew in the bedroom. Valac jumped in from outside the window and quickly closed the shutter. Then, he approached the bed where Acerus was lying.

Horrible emotions rushed through Acerus’ head, showing disgust in his face. Although he knew his body was abnormal, Acerus could not hide his intense rage and growled.

“You son of a b*tch…”

“Is that your way of saying thanks?”

“I will kill you. I will tear you apart and throw you into hell.”

Muttered Acerus, clenching his teeth while laying down. Valac tilted his head to one side as if he could not understand him.

“I heard that a human should return the favor to their life savior…”

“Life savior? Don’t paraphrase what you did to me like that. You insult me, I will do no such favor for you.”

“But I saved your life?”

Valac pulled the curtains back and came over to sit down on Acerus’ bed. The face of the demon with a subtle light glimmered in front of him.

“Acerus, if it weren’t for me, you would have died on the spot that day.”

Valac said. Acerus closed his eyes. With Valac in front of him, it was difficult to control his anger. He thought that he would rather have died back then.

After stabbing Lilith’s heart, Acerus collapsed on the spot. After waking up, he thought he survived because he was lucky. But the moment the doctor said, ‘Did a demonic beast bite you? There are teeth marks on your arm,’ because Valac was a vampire, Acerus recalled his face.

“Don’t worry, you won’t crave human blood. You didn’t even become a monster or demon.”

“Get lost.”

“You just became connected to me.”

Valac smiled pleasantly, he looked really happy. He did not even know how desperate Acerus was, and was just extremely satisfied that the leader of the human realm had become his vassal.

“I will help you. I will do my best to help you become the hero of humans. And when the great demon war breaks out, I will tell you all the information I know.”

Valac whispered. It was a sweet voice.

“If you want, I will keep this secret to the end. I can even treat you with pity like a captive. I’m a generous demon, after all.”

“I told you to get lost, before I kill you.”

“You must be kidding, right?”

Valac chuckled.

“Acerus, you will never kill me.”

What he said was true.

“Because if I die, so will you.”

When the vampire liege died, the vassal would also die. Acerus could not kill Valac, rather, if someone tried to kill Valac, he needed to step forward and protect him.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Lara had a disturbing dream. She did not remember any of the contents, she only clearly remembered God following and gazing at her. As soon as she woke up and opened her eyes in the morning, she muttered in a cracked voice.

“You know that I can’t go there. It’s too crowded.”

Because news regarding the appearance of the saintess had quickly spread, not only from Dandelion, numerous people from nearby cities flocked to the capital to see Lara. And most of them rushed to the Temple of Glory, so there was no way that Lara could secretly visit the sanctum.

“If it’s urgent, you can just say it right away. You keep asking me to come because it’s not urgent, right?”

The God of Fate did not answer. Lara was satisfied with the fact that her guess was right and got up from bed.

It was late in the morning. Lara could not sleep and had to wake up late due to the cold wind blowing all night.

“Milady, you’re awake now!”

Konny approached with a warm towel. While Lara wore her slippers, the diligent Konny ran to her side and massaged her cold exposed shoulders with her warm hands.

“Thanks, Konny.”

“You don’t need to thank me for this much. I know that I’m such a great maid.”

“Huh?”

“I’m the only maid in the world who serves the saintess. When the scholars write a history book or something later, maybe someone will add a line or two about me. Something like, ‘There was a loyal maid next to the saintess Lara.’

“Is that your wish?”

“No. My wish is to save money quickly, retire early, and build a red brick house on the beach in Hautean.”

“I thought you didn’t want to live in Hautean. Don’t you like a big city?”

“This place is too big! I was going to go ice fishing with Valentine, but oh my gosh! They said I have to go a long way even by carriage. I just gave up by then.”

Lara burst into laughter. She could not believe the timid Valentine went ice fishing. It would be fortunate if he did not turn pale and collapse.

“Even Valentine is acting weird these days.”

“How weird?”

“His shoulders are full of energy. When his customers were about to talk about the saintess at the store, his whole body would move up and down. He would be clearing his throat awkwardly…”

After rubbing her face with a warm towel, Lara raised her head and looked at Konny.

“What’s with him?”

“He must be proud of serving you.”

“What?”

“If I didn’t tell him to keep it a secret, he would have written about it in front of his store. The store by the saintess’ no.1 subordinate.”

“I’ll go nuts.”

When Lara muttered, Konny laughed until her shoulders trembled.

“‘Shut up! No.1 is me!’ He was so sad when I said that to him… Hehehe! He’s really fun to tease.”

Lara considered going to Valentine's store. He could not find a worker that he liked, so he might get restless. And because of that, Lara thought to help him as much as she could. After changing into thick cotton clothes, Lara came down the inn. The innkeeper approached her and asked.

“Are you going out? What should I do about your meal?”

“It’s fine. My maid will take care of the cleaning, so don’t worry.”

“Oh, my. I got paid a lot so I ought to do something…”

“It is really fine.”

Lara barely showed her face. Choosing a small luxury inn was also to avoid any hassle.

“What about the company I brought?”

“His friends came early in the morning and went out with him.”

Demian was gathering the Barbarians scattered all over Dandelion. He said that, if what Lilith said about the demons were true, while the demons were preparing to reveal themselves in this world, it would be cowardly to just wait for them to appear. So Demian took it upon himself to gather up the Barbarians and search for the demon worshippers themselves.

Lara got on the carriage after being seen off by the innkeeper. Konny excitedly sat across from her with a basket in her arms containing milk and a wrapped sandwich.

Valentine’s store was located in a workshop alley a block away from Dandelion’s downtown area. Looking from the front, Valentine’s store looked small, but there was a large warehouse and a house inside, so it was actually quite spacious. He was making long-distance magic receivers out of diamonds that Isadora had gotten, along with products to display at his store.

“Valentine!”

Konny knocked on the door with her small fist. Then, Valentine appeared with a swollen face and opened the door.

“Konny, why are you here at this hour? Oh… Milady!”

Seeing Lara, Valentine stepped back in surprise. Konny helped while laughing at him staggering from surprise. Valentine thought that he was no longer afraid of Lara anymore, but that did not seem to be the case.

“How have you been?”

“Yes! I’m fine…”

When Lara entered the store, Valentine moved in a rush. He laid a blanket on a fluffy sofa and poured a cup of warm tea for Lara. Then, he stood next to her and stammered over his words.

“One more pair of long-distance magic receivers…will be completed soon. Madam Isadora sent me a fairly large diamond so its range could probably be as large from here until the border.”

“Really?”

Lara asked with joy. If the receiver could be used that far, Lara and Demian could have one each. So when Demain and his comrades went to deal with the demon worshippers, she could even respond quickly by listening to their news in real-time.

“Yes, umm, and…”

Valentine hesitated. He seemed to have something to say to Lara, but he could not easily bring it up. Lara first asked him, who was chewing on his lips and groaning.

“If you have anything you want to say, just say it.”

“Umm, about that.”

“Yes, I’m all ears.”

“Milady… do you really think… I can be…the best alchemist?”

His voice was as small as the sound of dragonfly wings. When Lara looked up at his face, she could see his reddish neck and ears despite the cold weather.

How should I explain this?

Lara hesitated for a moment. She could not just say that she had been through the future─a future where he was the best alchemist and black-market merchant. But while she was contemplating, Valentine misunderstood her silence and whispered with a dejected look.

“I know you were just saying things back then just to encourage me. I… just, I mean…”

“No, I didn’t.”

Lara quickly cut him off. Then, she put strength on her eyebrows and said firmly.

“You’re already the best alchemist. I was about to say that.”

“Pardon?”

“You made long-distance magic receivers. Do you know how surprised Crown Prince Acerus was when he saw this? He looked like he would cling on my leg if I didn’t introduce you to him.”

“Huh?”

Valentine asked with blank eyes. Lara smiled haughtily at him.

“Of course, I postponed it to a later date. I want to monopolize the receivers for the time being.”

“Are… are you being serious?”

“Of course.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I swear to God.”

Actually, she did not need to swear or anything. Even without thinking about what happened in her past life, Valentine was already the best alchemist. He was just too insecure and scared for now.

“Oi, feelin’ good, huh?”

Konny poked Valentine’s side mercilessly. He flapped like a fish but kept glancing at Lara. Then, he muttered to himself.

“I will make sure…”

“Pardon?”

“No, nothing!”

Valentine moved awkwardly. Lara got up after finishing her tea, she looked around the store and was amazed. Though stuttering, Valentine explained his products one by one. Even though he stayed up all night making and researching new things, his eyes were sparkling.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

After Lara returned, Valentine opened his store and frowned at the snow that began to fall again.

“It’s snowing again.”

Valentine had never seen so much snow in Hautean. Tarragon was a country with many things—people, resources…and data.

With the money Isadora funded, Valentine purchased all books related to ancient artifacts and records on the black market, not even refraining from reading banned black sorcerers’ books. He was locked up in his lab every night and preoccupied with only one thought.

How can I make a better product for milady?

It was not difficult to build a long-distance magic receiver. However, the diamond that Isadora brought him this time was too big and a great hem to be used only as a receiver.

So he thought about it.

If I can transfer sound, maybe I can even transfer objects. Furthermore, if I could even transfer people, wouldn’t it be easier for milady?