I Possessed the Villain’s Childhood Friend – Chapter 60

Three weeks have passed since the vacation began.

Naturally, not much has happened.

I wake up as usual, perform my duties, and spend the remaining time training.

It was just like my life before enrolling in Arcana.

If I had to find a different point…

“Looks like we got a ton of invitations again today.”

Could it be that countless invitations to banquets have started arriving?

Most of them were from the houses of my fellow students at Arcana.

“Please dispose of them all, Noelle.”

“Understood, Young Master.”

However, I had absolutely no intention of attending these banquets.

Of course, if it was something necessary, I wouldn’t be able to avoid it, but until now, they were all about socializing anyway.

“Noelle, what happened to the matter I asked you about back then?”

“I received a message saying we’re talking about it this morning.”

Right now, the most important thing for me was resolving Sophia’s issue.

If fate truly exists in this world, and she was destined to become the Saintess no matter what, I could rest easy. But without that certainty, I couldn’t do so.

The tangled storyline was all my fault.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t shameless enough to just sit still in such a situation.

“Sigh.”

I took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.

Standing in front of me was an unexpected figure.

Someone who would join me in my training starting today due to my father’s orders.

“Young Master, you’ve worked hard today as well.”

It was my butler, Alex.

He was holding a long rapier in his right hand.

“Thank you.”

Though I had known this from before, he was quite an exceptional talent.

Not quite on par with my father, but at a level similar to Arvain.

Well, that made sense since he was my father’s pupil when he was young.

“Young Master.”

Noelle spoke to me as I sat in the shade of a tree to cool down.

“I received a message.”

“…Let’s move to another place for now.”

“Understood.”

Today’s training had reached a certain conclusion.

Of course, on a usual day, I would have exercised more, but if a message came, there wouldn’t be time for that.

“So, it means I can’t hand it over unless I come myself?”

“Yes, that seems to be the case.”

Is it really that obvious?

After all, I can’t just have someone else deliver it when it’s something important.

“Shall I prepare a carriage?”

“This time, I’ll go alone. Please arrange for an external carriage.”

“…Understood.”

I was not certain what I would hear.

There was no need to bring Noelle or anyone else with me.

★

“Hey, you just need to come back here by 2 PM tomorrow.”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

After greeting the hired coachman, I lightly jumped down from the carriage.

As I listened to the sound of the carriage departing, I looked around.

The city was characterized by its extravagant streets.

It was Velion, an artist’s city about a 10-hour journey from Arcadia.

The reason I came here, of course, was to take care of that matter which I had asked Noelle about.

It was not a task related to my family’s duties, but a problem concerning Sophia.

“Is it this way?”

I wandered the streets with the rough map I received from Noelle.

Before long, I found myself in front of a dilapidated house, completely at odds with the surrounding grandeur.

“Haah.”

“Come in.”

Just before I could knock, that voice beckoned me from inside.

Startled by the fact, I stood there blankly.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and come in.”

The voice called me again.

“…Excuse me.”

I slowly grasped the doorknob in response to those words.

With a creak and an unpleasant sound, the door opened.

It was a tiny studio apartment.

In the center of the room sat a woman in her thirties with brown hair.

“You’re the one they’ve been looking for since last week, right?”

I quietly nodded at her words.

“Do you think you know who I am?”

To that, I also quietly nodded.

Former Saintess Selene.

She was basically a person who had died, so she wouldn’t be mentioned much in the original story.

However, Selene had a tremendous influence on the work.

The woman sitting in front of me was one of her close aides.

Olivia.

I didn’t know her last name; it was never mentioned in the original either.

To put it simply, she was a prophet.

She knew that Saintess Selene would be assassinated by Avatarara.

She was the prophet who was exiled for failing to stop the assassination of Saintess Selene.

And her role in the original story was…

“You’re here to receive the ring, aren’t you?”

“That’s correct.”

I would play the role of handing over the Ring of the Saintess, one of the Holy Artifacts, to Sophia.

Of course, originally, Sophia was supposed to come to Velion in person and receive it next year.

But that was an episode just before she was to become the Saintess.

Right now, I didn’t even know how she would take her first step towards sainthood.

So, my conclusion was that I had to prepare in advance.

Fortunately, Olivia’s role was a minor one.

She simply handed over the ring after chatting a little with Sophia.

It wouldn’t cause significant issues to receive it in advance.

“Before we proceed, may I have a little chat?”

“Of course.”

Saying she would bring out some black tea, Olivia slowly stood up from her chair.

“I’m sorry. As you can see, it’s cheap tea that won’t suit a noble’s palate.”

“It’s all right.”

Indeed, it was a bit more bitter than what I usually drank, but I didn’t mind.

It actually felt fine to me.

“Okay, let me ask first. What do you know about me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean quite literally. How much do you know about me?”

“I know quite a lot more than what’s known to the public.”

Saintess Selene was assassinated by Avatarara.

However, if this fact became known, it would cause turmoil in the empire.

That’s why the upper echelons of the empire announced her death as due to illness.

Since Saintess Selene had always been in poor health, there were hardly any people questioning it.

Avatarara, for some reason, did not spread that fact.

“Really? So you know that Selene was assassinated, and I was exiled for failing to prevent that assassination.”

“That’s correct.”

“But you probably don’t know that Selene was deliberately assassinated. Am I right?”

“…Yes?”

“Just as I thought.”

This was a plot detail that was never resolved in the original.

As I realized this fact, my breath momentarily caught in my throat.

And Olivia smiled as if she knew it would happen.

“This was a story only Selene and I knew, but originally, I had seen two possible futures. The common point in them is that no matter what efforts were made, Selene would end up dead.”

“Did you give up on preventing that future?”

“No. Of course, I tried to do everything possible to stop Selene’s death. But it was Selene herself who suggested that we devise a plan with the premise that she would die.”

While pouring more black tea into the now-empty cup, Olivia continued her tale.

There were two futures Olivia had seen: one where Selene would die fighting Avatarara with the help of the Martires Order, and another where she would lose her life without any resistance.

Selene, upon hearing this, chose the latter.

The reason was…

“To avoid losing her Holy Artifact, right?”

“To fight them, the Holy Artifact was essential. Especially since Selene was naturally frail.”

Of course, if she won, there would be no issue.

But what if she were to lose?

“Above all, Selene thought that under no circumstances should the Holy Artifact fall into their hands.”

Thus, she chose a quiet death.

I had been puzzled about why Olivia, who had been exiled, still held the Ring of the Saintess.

Now, I finally understood the reason.

But with that revelation, another question arose.

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because the future has changed.”

“Excuse me?”

“Some future I saw back then has changed.”

Olivia, saying this, wore a serious expression.

“The day before Selene’s death, I caught a glimpse of a very distant future. A future where the next Saintess saves the empire together with someone.”

I immediately realized that the new Saintess referred to Sophia, and the ‘someone’ pointed to the Crown Prince.

“I accepted Selene’s death precisely because of that. I realized that my last role was to hand the ring over to the next ones.”

“So the future has changed?”

“Yes, and in the changed future, you were standing alongside them.”

“…What does that mean?”

“It’s true.”

“It could just be a simple misunderstanding.”

Olivia calmly shook her head.

Her gaze was filled with certainty.

“After Selene’s death, I gradually lost the ability to foresee the future. Now I can’t see it at all. But my memories haven’t faded.”

“….”

“When I last saw that future, it was none other than you standing beside them.”

I wanted to argue that it made no sense.

But didn’t I already know this?

That Avatarara was targeting me.

“So make sure you pass this ring to the next Saintess.”

Olivia said that and slowly took off her necklace.

Suspended from that necklace was the ring.

It wasn’t extravagant, but I felt it had a noble aura.

“Please protect the peace of the empire that Selene wished to safeguard until her last moment.”

As I received the ring, I quietly nodded.

“…I wonder if this will work.”

Spending a day in an inn in Velion and heading back to Arcadia, I sighed while thinking that.

While contemplating how Sophia could be recognized as the Saintess without overcoming trials, I recalled this ring.

Perhaps, this could serve as a first step.

If all else fails, I could forcibly head to the central church of the Martires and retrieve the remaining two Holy Artifacts.

Because Sophia, with those Holy Artifacts, was essential to fight Avatarara.

★

“Welcome back, Young Master.”

Upon returning to the family estate in Arcadia, Noelle was there to greet me.

But for some reason, her expression seemed off.

She had a strangely awkward look on her face.

And I quickly understood the reason.

“Long time no see, Aike.”

Walking slowly from behind was…

“…Huh?”

It was definitely Reina.

“I’m sorry. I ran away from home and came here.”

And with that, her words left my head spinning.