[Antagonist? But that doesn't seem right.]
"Well, let's just say I was into some weird shit, and I only read that novel because of the genre. So yeah, this world isn't exactly normal," I muttered, watching the girl who stood up right after our protagonist.
"Shelly Trinika," she said, and I glanced toward the front where that bastard was staring at her with barely concealed lust.
"Jake," I whispered, studying him as I weighed my options.
I could change the plot to prevent the incident that sends her down the villainess' path. But why should I? I've got my own villain fate to deal with. The cannon events are about to kick off, and things are about to turn real messy... in the original story, I'm supposed to be engaged to that princess by now.
Elena.
I found her in the far corner—amber eyes, white hair caught up with a familiar golden clip that made my eyes widen.
Shit. She still has it.
[The hair clip?]
"Yeah... I gave that to her," I breathed.
[Wait—didn't she attend that nursery school too?]
What the hell? It wasn't a nursery school. It was a pre-academy, and we were only there for a year.
[But that was ten years ago.]
"Yeah."
[Don't you think it's strange?]
I don't just think it—I know it is. How else do you explain gathering children from every prominent noble and royal bloodline across the empire into some unknown place? There's definitely more to it, but the novel never explained what Yuphenia was really after. It just served as a backstory—a way for all the major characters to have childhood connections.
Since I can't figure out her real motives, and honestly don't care to, I've left it alone.
[But why did you give her the clip? Did you mistake her for the human?]
"No. I was just trying to follow the original storyline at first. I was scared of what deviating might cause."
So I befriended everyone, just like in the story. Well, not exactly. In the game, Lorelle met people by chance—getting bullied by his stepbrother, then saved by Eloisa and Ariana. He found the loner Elena and became her only friend. Pure coincidence, supposedly.
But I took a direct approach. I used what I knew about their likes, dislikes, habits. The bullying scenario wouldn't work on me anyway. And with Elena... I probably overdid it. She got too attached. On our last day at that shitty place, I gave her the clip, just like Lorelle did in the story.
That should have been the end of it. In the original, she was supposed to be engaged to him after the pre-academy. But something changed.
[So what happened?]
Me.
After the pre-academy, there was the incident with Eloisa. I mistook her for... well, whatever. I ended up engaged to Eloisa instead of Elena. I figured Elena's role in the story was finished.
[Does that make her a side character then?]
"No." She's a hidden heroine—important, but now that she has nothing to do with me, there shouldn't be any connection between her and the protagonist.
[So the clip?]
"That's what I don't understand. This all happened ten years ago. Why the hell does she still have it?"