Transmigrated as the Villain: I will survive

Dead silence seemed to spread across the land as the entirety of Arcane seamed to hold its breath, as if still processing what had just been announced even the workers at the cafe simply stared blankly at the sky

Beside me Sophie simply stared at me her eyes screaming the same question I had going through my head

’ Koschei is dead? ’

An SS rank archwizard, a man who had been stated to have reached the realm of immortality has just been declared dead and from that news a new duke was born for the first time in the empire’s history

’ Was that the incident? but he said it’ll be revealed in a week or so? ’

Countless thoughts were jumbled up in my head as I tried to process this, yet suddenly screams erupted all around us

No calling them screams was not right instead they were....

" Cheers... they’re cheering "

At Sophie’s words I focused on the words being spoken, watched as the servants who had served us in this hotel and the employees who brought us our cake cheered, some of the older staff even seemed to be on the verge of tears

" The Oath!!! He kept the Oath!!! "

" ITS DUKE ARCANE!!!! "

" THE LORD DID IT!!!! "

All around us and even from the city’s kilometres away if one focused enough they could hear the sounds of celebration

The only ones staying still were the security guards and knights yet even they couldn’t help but wear a smile

Seeing that a thought settled lightly in my head

’ How is this a bad thing? ’

The death of a monster who terrorized the continent and the emergence of a Duke who is loved by his people, no matter how I looked at it this seemed like a good thing

Of course there is political aspects to think about but those where secondary at the moment, instead watching the atmosphere for some reason I started to feel embarrassed

It was simply due to the surprising announcements and original purpose of the golden echo that our thoughts froze for a moment and we had gotten all riled up

but the fact remained that we were standing still while conjuring mana while others cheered and celebrated all around us

" Hey bella?"

" Yeah? "

" doesn’t it feel like we are ruining the mood? "

" Yeah "

Perhaps reaching the same thought Sophie started shifting awkwardly as she quickly dispelled her mana before proceeding to sit down and continue to eat her cake

" Um... this is really good cake "

" Ahem... yeah your right "

Taking the seat beside her I commented lightly as I took out my communication crystal, good thing or bad thing it was still better to know the situation better

Contacting the other professors we agreed to meet up in half an hour, in the meantime we should reach out and gather all the students into the hotel

’ Just in case ’

For now meeting up and trying to learn about the details would be better than just sitting still like this

right after I finish the cake first

-----

Nicholas Pov

" Duke Arcane!!! "

" Duke Arcane!!! "

" Duke Arcane!!! "

Roars pounded against the office windows as the ringing of multiple calls erupted from the communication crystals

The endless commotion drew me in as I stood basking in it drawing a deep breath

’ Still a long way to go, but it’s a step ’

" Ok then that was fun, back to work...Albert the public statement! "

" Already on it sir "

" There are twenty different calls and more to go any tips?? "

" It’s a joyous occasion yet sometimes joy could be expressed in rather gruesome ways... I would recommend starting with those who are most likely start killing each other first sir "

" Noted "

’ The cannibals then ’

It was a rather rough couple of hours after that

-----

A public statement was issued quickly summarizing the sequence of events that lead to the battle and eventual death of Koschei

To the public it would appear as a miracle victory brought upon by luck and the will to not back down in the face of overwhelming odds

’ An act of unbending will and chivalry they said ’

" Give a bonus to the entirety of the PR department "

" Yes sir "

Handling the last of my paperwork I called in the rest of the advisors to check the current flow of events in and outside Arcane

An even greater economic boom on the horizon, speculation quickly thwarted by the quick response of the PR team, no threats currently internally or externally, future events that may occur and so on and so forth

Till then it was all within a predictable range that we had foreseen in previous meetings, in fact it was actually better than expected.... until one of the captains of the guards entered

" He did what? "

A news of information that I had to ask twice to check if it’s true

" Using the commotion and the current festive mood Jake Whiteheart left the hotel again and had attempted to sneak into Lunae, thankfully he was intercepted by Sir Jaster before setting foot there "

" I’m guessing there were others? "

" Ahem... yes lady Elizabeth of house Ignis and lady Christine were there "

" I see "

Was I supposed to be glad that he was caught early, or should I be relieved no one else knows, I pondered that for a while

The heir of whiteheart that had disobeyed my command in my very domain, knowing him he had dragged Christine and Elizabeth with him

Sensing my worsening mood the rest kept silent giving me time deliberate this matter for a while, as countless thoughts spread in my head my mood only soured further

’ Was it confidence due to his family or was it confidence in his sister? ’

" They’re currently in custody, correct? "

" ...Yes sir..."

" Tell Sir Jaster to bring them here... he’s in Arcane he’ll learn what that means "

Twenty minutes later the group I had been waiting for arrived, alongside some extra guests

-----

Sophie Pov

’ Never disrespect an Arcane ’

" I’m sorry yet I hope you would let us join you "

" Please "

" .... "

’ That idiot... Jake you idiot ’

He slipped past us and ended up in trouble, now he is in shackles and being dragged like a prisoner on top of a horse towards the arcane estate

Both Eli and Christine were also being escorted, yet instead of shackles they were treated courteously and left untouched merely sat in the carriage we had once rode

All Isabella and I could do was ask to go along hoping to minimize the damage done, and take responsibility instead

Watching us the spear of Arcane, an S ranker stared silently down at us, he didn’t say a word with the same expressionless face since the beginning

In the end he never said anything just gestured towards the carriage that Eli and Christine were riding, that was enough, we thanked him and entered

A minute or so and the carriage started moving

" What happened? "

Bella’s voice broke the silence her voice cold, understandably so, the actions they did had not only disrespected the professors and faculty at hand but also this lands owner

The only salvation that was present was that the knight dealt with this discreetly if not then the image of the heirs of Whiteheart bound by shackles would have been plastered at every newspaper in the continent

By this point both seemed to understand what they have done, Christine especially had turned ghastly pale

" Eli just tell us what happened "

Trying to get a better gist of the situation I reached out as I asked Eli directly, holding her hand I looked into her eyes and then she finally spoke

" W.... We didn’t mean to cause problems.... J-Jake got suspicious and all... you know how he is you tell him one thing he does the opposite... "

" Suspicious? "

I asked again hoping that it wasn’t what I was thinking

" H-he suddenly became a duke.... and killed Koschei... and then he specifically told Jake not to go... so he wanted to figure out if there was any secrets... "

The more she talked the more her voice turned into a whisper, perhaps realising what the words she had just said truly entailed

" But then as if they knew all along, the knight came.... and in an instant Jake was on the floor bleeding... "

Having finished her story silence fell as I kept holding her hand and bella closed her eyes tightly seemingly tired

" Hic-Hic "

Then a voice came, one soaked in tears, and turning around to check I saw Christine curled up in the corner her head buried in between her arms shaking terribly

She looked as if her whole word had collapsed

" I- hic-hic... I messed up... he’s going to hate me.... I...I...I "

" ... "

Watching her it felt like time froze in the carriage, the way she kept stuttering and crying was heartbreaking for anyone to see

Seeing her like that bella stood up and took her in an embrace quickly trying to comfort her, gazing at that scene I thought about it once again that Jake was truly an idiot