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At once, everyones eyes fly towards the entrance of the classroom.

..There, standing in the doorway is Finn-Sama with a serious look on his face, and Curtis-Sama is right behind him.

Wow, they certainly know how to time an entrance.

Where were you guys? Henry-Oniisama asks brightly, seemingly oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

Finn-Sama doesnt even seem to hear him. He just glares at the girls surrounding Liz-san without missing a beat.

Seeing Finn-Sama ignoring him, I cant help but wish that Henry-Oniisama would take a page from his book and learn to speak only after reading the mood first.

Finn and I were playing catch, but we accidentally broke a window, Curtis-Sama replies nonchalantly, a wide grin on his face.

Ah. Heres another dense guy who doesnt know how to read a room.

Finn-Sama ignores Curtis-Sama as well and walks straight over to where were standing.

..No matter how many years go by, he really doesnt seem to change at all. Its a bit scary considering his appearance is basically the same as when I first met him. But I have to say. for an 18-year-old to have those looks, I definitely can see why all the nations shotacons were so infatuated with him. For them, it must be wonderful seeing that the years have no affect on him.

Finn-Sama? What could you possibly mean by that? asks the light orange-haired girl standing beside Liz-san, her face seeming to cramp up slightly.

While I was absentmindedly thinking about Finn-Samas appearance, the atmosphere of the room has turned quite turbulent.

From my perspective, Ive been wondering the same thing about what you all have been saying.

Finn-Sama really does have such a pleasant voice. Gilless is also nice of course, but Finn-Samas voice has a particularly lovely, sweet sounding ring to it.

Despite looking similar in age, maybe living longer and having more life experience really does have a considerable impact. After all, Gilless voice actually sounds rather young in comparison.

Somehow, his personality kind of reminds me of you, I whisper to Gilles so that only he can hear.

Hah? Im not that pretty. And my hair isnt anywhere near as blinding as his. Plus, that guys at least seven years older than I am, Gilles grumbles back immediately, a huge frown weighing on his face.

So defensive and calling him, that guy. Does Gilles dislike being compared to Finn-Sama that much? And he seems to have missed the point entirely. I wasnt even comparing their appearances in the first place.

Wait, Finn, I dont understand. Can you explain what you mean? Liz-san says, her face showing that shes clearly baffled by what he just said.

Hmm, lets see~ he says, gathering his thoughts. Well, to put it concisely, those girls were the ones who walked up to Alicia and started insulting you first. Alicia just ignored them. But thats as far as my knowledge goes, Finn-Sama says, shrugging.

Of course, that doesnt mean I cant guess what must have happened afterward. This may just be speculation, but I would assume that Alicia stepped on their toes a bit. You know, said some poignant line that really gouged deep on their insecurities? And those girls couldnt take it, so they came running to you in a huff, angrily trying pin the blame on her as petty revenge, Finn-Sama explains calmly. And then, without any change in expression, he turns to look straight at Liz-san. I dont want to hurt your feelings, but I think the insults those girls were saying earlier were probably their true feelings. I think the only reason they approached you, Liz, is in order to set up Alicia to take the fall for them,

The look on Liz-sans face after hearing this is priceless. Even a villainess like me is starting to feel bad for her.

Finn-Sama is so brutal! He kind of reminds of Mel in that regard actually. Despite having a youthful, adorable appearance, he clearly has zero qualms with ripping out a persons heart with hard-to-hear truths.

Just as Im thinking that, a shrill, exuberant laugh pierces my ears.

What spoiled, rotten morons~ Mel cries gleefully. She looks absolutely delighted as she stabs a finger in the direction of the girls currently huddled around Liz-san.

Dont point, I chastise her under my breath. Considering that Mel is older than me, its quite the odd feeling warning her about such behavior.

Okaaay, Mel replies sadly, withdrawing her finger. Her movements really are like those of a child sometimes.

If only she didnt open her mouth, anyone would mistake her for an adorably sweet little girl.. Could this be what youd call gap moe?

Isnt this like tripping and stabbing yourself with your own knife? So not only are you not anywhere near as pretty as Ali-Ali, but your brains are also chock-full of holes. Youd think that would be enough for you to focus on forging a decent personality, but no. Turns out youre all so shoddy that even that cant save you, Mel says and then she aims a sweet, full-faced grin at the group of girls.

Again, Im awed by how truly adorable Mels smile is. But I wonder if Im the only one carefree enough to be thinking something like that right now?

I know those girls certainly arent seeing her smile in that way. With that one look, all the color drained conspicuously from each of their faces and they visibly began trembling. Moreover, huge, bead-sized teardrops were now running down their cheeks.

The looks they are giving Mel arent those youd give to a regular human being. Its more along the lines of the sheer terror that youd find on someones face when they are rooted to the spot, three seconds away from being mauled by a bear. Its that moment when you can already feel its putrid breath beating against your face. That instant as its great, salivating maw opens wide.

As Im thinking this, Mel opens her own mouth to continue, but Duke-Sama lightly knocks her on the back of her head.

Just leave it at that, he tells her, sounding a bit exasperated.

..They really dont seem anything like master and servant.

Hes basically her guardian older brother, Gilles whispers to me after observing Mel and Duke-Sama interacting together.

I give a small nod, agreeing mutely.

At the same time, I look over at Liz-san. Her eyes seem glazed over, like she cant keep up with whats going on anymore. So many things happened in such quick succession and it appears that her brain hasnt managed to digest them all yet. Id feel so bad if she ended up growing distrustful of humans after something like this.

Speaking of which, such a thing would be bad for me too! What if her personality warps into something dark and gloomy? Then shed be of zero use to me as a villainess.

As the heroine, shes supposed to be my foil, the one who helps emphasize my evil ways and makes me stand out! I cant lose such an effective tool so early on.

Though, that being said, I have no desire to slather her in kind words or some other such out of character nonsense even if that would likely help slow her descent into the cruelness of reality.

Hey. You. Imbecilic women, I say walking straight up to the trembling group and looking down my nose at them.

Oh! Did you hear that? Ali-Ali thinks theyre stupid too!

Thats enough out of you, Duke-Sama says, cutting Mel off instantly. He says it so immediately, so naturally, like hes perfectly used to dealing with her already.

Oh, you poor things. Why are you shaking like that? Just because youre crying are you expecting some hero to come and save you? Well too bad, those tears of yours are completely worthless. Who would bother to rescue you from a disaster of your own making? Attacking others with vulgar, contemptible schemes yet you dont have the conviction to be hurt in the process? Youre worse than literal trash.

I hurl more sarcasm at the girls than a typical noble would be able to muster in a lifetime.

And while holding their gazes with my own gaze of sheer contempt, I am an honored with a front-row seat to their misery. I can see it clearly as the emotions drain visibly from their faces. I watch as the light of life seems to flicker out from behind their eyes leaving behind only a hollow, gaping emptiness left in their depths.

Whether its because my words were that shocking, or if they merely tired themselves out after their drawn out, melodramatic display Im not sure. Though I really hope its the former.

Either way, from now on, I think Ill throw my efforts into nasty, sarcastic remarks. It seems to have much more of an impact that way.

Trash.. Liz-san says, finally opening her mouth. I glance towards her and notice that shes staring hard in my direction.

Her expression tells me thats shes quite angry with me. Those emerald green eyes of her are alight with fury. It seems that the saintess Liz-Sama has finally made a full comeback.

Now this is the sort of Liz-san that I really wanted to see! Not that empty shell that had no clue what was happening and that couldnt decide what to think. I wanted to see those eyes glaring at me self-righteously and energetically.

Since Liz-sans heart is so pure, I figured that shed want to protect even this abhorrent group. Even if they hate her, I knew she wouldnt be able to help herself. I feel like I know exactly what makes her tick. Perhaps, I may even know Liz-san better than she knows herself.

Nah, that might be going a bit too far after all.

Though I definitely knew that calling another person trash would be crossing the line for her Not to mention, I went another step further and said they were worse than trash.

But lets not use that again. Lets make today the first and last time I say that. Ill have to come up with some new material for next time.

Though I dont regret using this line here. I figured it would be the fastest method to turning Liz-san back into her normal lively, courageous self.. And the plan worked perfectly as I predicted. Although, I had been planning to say that the girls were unrecyclable trash. But right at the last minute I thought better of. It felt a bit too over-the-top.

Plus, the concept of recycling doesnt exist in this world, so it would have gone over everyones heads anyway.

..Honestly, thank goodness I didnt end up saying that. It would have ruined my perfectly villainous performance.

Im on the top of my game right now, so I cant let up. Im going to flaunt my villainy skills until the very end and show them exactly what 15 long years of careful cultivation can do.

What? Do you have a problem with something I said? I ask while tilting my head slightly to the side and beaming brilliantly at Liz-san.

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T/N: Lol, for a girl with unparalleled concentration, Alicia doesnt seem very good at staying on topic XD