The Villainess Is All I Want (Even If She's a Yandere)

'You are already weak, and you want to be even weaker by carrying a dead weight on your back? He will only slow you down, and you have no time to waste.'

After changing his son's diaper, feeding him, and taking care of all his needs, Lucian slumped against the carriage's seat, taking his first actual moment of rest in days. His body was battered, and he was mentally destroyed, but there was still so much work to do.

'Your enemies are only going to get stronger while you are stuck with a child.'

He had learned to ignore Voice's curses, but whenever a mishap occurred, it was hard not to let it get to him. That it was his fault for not being rich enough, strong enough, smart enough, careful enough, prepared enough.

That it was his fault that Celine was hurting, and his son, too. And that he was a retard, and that he was an imbecile, and that he should just go die in a ditch somewhere, because he was too stupid to be allowed to live.

That it was his fault for not doing enough, for not trying enough, and that he should have known better, should have done better, and if he hadn't been so stupid, and if he hadn't been so negligent, then maybe things would have turned out differently.

Lucian went to have lunch at the cafeteria, smiling at the female students looking his way and sitting down with a few of them who offered him a place, "I will no longer be a teacher here, so I don't have to keep a professional distance from you."

He winked at the six young ladies around the round table mischievously. They all giggled. One of them even dropped her fork, making the other ladies laugh at her.

"Nothing happened to you all during the horse riding competition, I hope," Lucian reached for the fork on the ground and gave her his untouched one instead. Then raised his hand to call for new cutlery.

"Ah, it's being investigated, and all of us are safe, of course," she accepted the fork, thanking him.

"Culprit is still not found, but there are rumors that it was Lady Rochefort," the lady sitting on his left spoke in a hushed tone, whispering.

The rest of the ladies also began to chime in, sharing their own theories about the incident, "Why else would she be absent? Her brother is also not defending her."

Lucian listened to them quietly, nodding and smiling occasionally.

He couldn't even depend on Celine's father to protect her during his absence. The Duke was supposed to be her shield and sword, not betray her at the most critical moment just because he doubted her loyalty to the house.

Celine had told Lucian not to clear her reputation, and her father didn't take any action to clear her name either. It was like she fed on the public's hate instead of being destroyed by it. It didn't mean Lucian would stand by and accept it.

If he didn't drag Edmund down with Celine at least, he wouldn't be able to call himself a husband to be and a father. Even though he couldn't touch him with his fists, he would use the tools available to him.

"I'm quite worried for Young Master Edmund. He doesn't seem to have the same prejudice against commoners as his sister does," Lucian contemplated with the ladies.

Any reason for the Rochefort Army to enter the academy and take Edmund away, Lucian would take.

The topic changed to Edmund's relationship with the heroine and how he was going to get punished for liking a commoner. The ladies were so excited to share what they knew that they ended up sharing more than they had to.

"Young Master Mathieu had tried to make a move on Lady Rochefort and got rejected," the lady opposite Lucian blushed, "They were seen in the library. It was the talk of the day, at least for those who witnessed it."

"...Excuse me?" Lucian asked, his smile frozen in place. He heard that right, didn't he?

The lady nodded, her blush deepening, "He even tried to defend Lady Celine's honor, and how she wouldn't use the horses to hurt her rivals, but no one believed him, of course. He was dragged down as an accomplice for helping her."

Lucian's fingers clenched around the cutlery, his knuckles turning white with the force of his grip.

The anomaly was trying to win over his future wife, the mother of his child…

Mathieu's family's backround, his rapid growth in strength, the favorability system, and now his attempt to seduce the villainess...just like the previous Mathieu... This was not good.

'He didn't correct the rumors either,' Lucian thought.

The ladies didn't seem to notice his inner turmoil and continued to chatter happily about the latest gossip, while Lucian continued to eat his food, his smile never faltering. He assessed their information and decided on the next course of action.

Lucian glanced at his three targets and saw that they were all eating their food in the corner of the cafeteria. He then asked the ladies if they wanted to join him for a walk, and they eagerly agreed.

A big group certainly would attract attention, but also act as a cover. Lucian emamored them enough that they didn't notice where they were going. One lady accidentally pushed against the heroine's shoulders as they passed her by.

The heroine stumbled, the food on her plate spilling onto the ground, her fork clanging on the floor.

Lucian used the chance to slip the powder into the drink of his targets when everyone's attention was on the heroine, then joined in helping the heroine to pick up the fallen food. He also gave her another fork and a new plate of food to show how much of a nice guy he was.

The other ladies were quick to remind him that they were his companions today. Lucian put on a little show of caring, a few flirtatious jokes, and soon they were all laughing again.

During the walk, he monitored the happenings of the Academy, passed a message to Edmund with the help of one of the ladies, making sure everything was as it should be.

Mathieu seemed to know how to predict the future, but to what degree? Would he enter the scene and interrupt it like he had interrupted his arrow game with Celine before? Lucian still didn't understand how he predicted that, but it was a fact.

Compared to Edmund and the Crown Prince, Mathieu could be considered the weakest. His background as an unfavored heir meant he lacked enough connections or alliances to rise to power, but he had plenty of potential to climb higher on the food chain.

Lucian would never consider making an enemy of Mathieu and would try to maintain a neutral relationship with him, but he knew that Mathieu was the key to unlocking the cursed shackles binding Lucian to his fate. This meant he had to force him into revealing more of his hidden cards.

'I just need an excuse to punch Edmund's lights out,' Lucian stopped near the library's entrance with his entourage of ladies.

Edmund should be looking for Lucian now (regarding his sudden disappearance), while Mathieu was in a rush to catch up to Adeline and apologize for standing up to Celine in the interrogation room.