Reborn As An Overpowered Villain

Melissa traced the blurring silhouette of Lucien as he disappeared into the horizon, leaving her behind at the running track. Her back was pressed flat against the floor, and the sun rays fell directly into her eyes, so she covered her face with her right arm.

In her other free hand rested the vial of rejuvenating potion, which she clung onto tightly, not having even enough strength to sit straight and drink it, because she was tired. Extremely tired. So much so that she would have loved for someone to place the vial's top against her lips so she could drink it without effort, but no such help existed here, and she had not expected any to begin with. After all there was no one on the training ground beside her except one girl who had not once looked at her since she had arrived.

Eleena.

Eleena had not once looked at her, nor had she welcomed Melissa's approach, because whenever Melissa would catch up to her on the running track, Eleena would increase her pace and vanish further ahead. And even though Melissa would push herself to close the distance, Eleena would increase her pace as well, not allowing Melissa to reach her, despite how much Melissa would have liked to at least exchange a simple hello or a hi. It was as if Eleena despised Melissa to her very core, as if she could not bear the thought of letting Melissa come anywhere near her.

And what Melissa could not understand was that it should have been her who should have kept the distance, she should be the one who to stay far away from Eleena, and not the other way around.

Yet despite that, Eleena was acting as though Melissa were the one who had done something wrong to her. Because it was rather Eleena who had gone out of her way toward Melissa on the very first day of Melissa at the academy, approaching Melissa and asking about her relationship with Lucien.

And, instead of holding onto that resentment, Melissa had let that go to a certain degree, since Eleena had not given her much reason to feel anything after that particular incident. Eleena had mostly spoken to Melissa quite pleasantly and had not tried to come across as rude, and more than anything, the princess whom Eleena always accompanied had even started to cling to Melissa herself. So Melissa had decided to be the bigger person and forgive them both, the princess and Eleena alike.

And if possible, Melissa wanted to keep her distance from the two of them, yet she knew from some small and practical part of herself that she ought to at least maintain a decent relationship with both, because it would serve her well in the future. One was a literal princess, and the other was clearly a high-ranking noble, that much Melissa was certain of, though she did not know much else about Eleena beyond that. She knew Eleena was a noble, but nothing more than that in any particular way.

Still, since keeping even a passing acquaintance with them would benefit her, Melissa had decided to at least greet Eleena with a hello, and yet Eleena had not allowed even that. So Melissa was truly left wondering what the reason could be, because only yesterday Melissa had walked alongside Eleena and the princess. Though Melissa had mostly been the one talking, answering questions the princess had asked her, Eleena had also joined the conversation in between, adding words here and there, and Melissa had not noticed anything particularly wrong from Eleena then either.

While Melissa was spiraling through her thoughts, she heard the sound of shoes pressing against the ground, and a shadow fell directly over her, relieving her eyes from having to fight against the sun any longer using an arm as a cover.

When she lifted her arm away, Melissa found herself looking up at the very person she had been thinking about all this while.

Eleena stood before Melissa, both hands resting on her waist. She wore a white jacket with the zip left open, revealing the white top beneath it, along with that she wore white shorts and black shoes, and a cap sat on her head with her azure hair pulled into a single ponytail threading out through the back of it. Her azure eyes were fixed on Melissa with the faintest narrowing, and her face still glistened with the remnants of sweat that clung to her skin.

"Melissa," Eleena began, her voice laced with resentment, "what is your relationship with Lucien?" The aura surrounding her was not a pleasant one at all. It was white, like innocence, yet it scattered visibly around her body with a trembling tension, as though her aura itself had grown unstable.

"Huh?" Melissa was not sure what to make of the question. Had Eleena not asked her the same or something very similar before? How many times had Melissa already explained it? Had yesterday's detailed account not been enough to satisfy Eleena? And why was Eleena so fixated on knowing what existed between her and Lucien?

"Are you his new fiancée?" Eleena pressed, and the hands resting on her waist clenched tightly into the fabric of her jacket.

"Stop it!" Melissa snapped, her voice sharper than she had intended. "I have already told you and the princess yesterday that there is nothing between me and Lucien."

Eleena gave a slow nod as if she understood, yet the doubt had not left her face. "Then why is he training you of all people this early in the morning?" Her voice climbed with each syllable and with a sarcasm, she added "He is sponsoring you, he admitted you into the academy, and now he is even training you personally."

"Is he grooming you as his future bride, or what?" Eleena mocked, and she bent her body forward toward Melissa, almost startling the poor girl out of her soul entirely.

Melissa clenched her fist. "Stop it, Eleena," she snapped, her tone lashed with anger. "I do not know why you are so invested in me or in Lucien, but for your own sake." She drew a long, steadying breath. "Know that there is nothing going on between the two of us."

Not allowing herself even another second to hear whatever Eleena might say next, Melissa picked herself up from the ground and did not forget to slip the potion vial into the side pocket of her jacket.

Melissa looked at Eleena one last time. There were tense lines at Eleena's temples, and Melissa wanted nothing more than to raise her hand and slap Eleena's face hard and strong, but instead she only clenched her fist tighter, turned on her heel, and started walking away.

"I know girls like you," Eleena called out after her, her voice carrying sharply across the track. "Your type knows exactly how to offer your body to trap nobles, and I am sure you are offering yourself to him every single night. That is why you keep running away without giving me a proper answer, is it not?"

Melissa stopped in her tracks, freezing instantly where she stood.

***

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