Villain's POV: The Heroines Want Me!

Rize drove for several hours in complete silence, listening to the radio music and thinking about many things. The world had naturally changed a lot in the last 9 years, and Rize kept track of all the changes to make sure the story was still going in the general direction it was intended to go in.

The good news was that no major changes happened during that period of time, which made him exhale a sigh of relief. The bad news, however, was that Rize was certain the ripples from what happened years ago were still going to reflect on the story.

'I haven't met Venera in years… Surely that is long enough time to reset everything that happened and make sure her character goes in the intended path.' He thought to himself. 'She will meet the protagonist soon, and that must go flawlessly. No, I must make sure it goes flawlessly.'

Luckily, Rize knew how that would happen, where it would happen, and the consequences of that meeting. If things went well, he had a chance at pulling the story back to its initial track.

'I've already planned this out properly. I think I could do it with some small maneuvers. I just need Venera to be completely disinterested in me.'

In the real story, Venera didn't really find Rize that interesting, and she simply accepted him as her bodyguard because her father insisted he would come with her. At that point, Rize was a devout follower of Venera and had fallen deeply in love with her.

However, their relationship was always cold and very distant, with no real nice moments between them. Venera even despised his presence a lot of the time due to his clinginess and obsessive nature.

That naturally led to the betrayal that happened down the line. However, Rize knew that wouldn't happen, at least not in the same manner anymore.

'Mainly because I'm not obsessed with Venera anymore.' He thought to himself as he stared into the far distance. 'She also seems to look at me in a favorable way, which is… Good and bad.'

The good was that, naturally, the chances of him being mistreated or thrown away or betrayed were reduced. The bad was that it would really change the core story and could even turn the dynamics into a chaotic mess.

'An upside and a downside, no other way around it really.' Rize sighed. 'In any case, I'm still assuming too much without much information. I need to see how things will go first and then decide. On that note… I'm almost here…'

At that point, Rize finally emerged from the forest, and the all-too-familiar capital welcomed him back. Aside from more skyscrapers peeking from behind the high walls, the city was still the same as he left it years ago.

Seeing it again, Rize instinctively smiled.

"I will never get sick of seeing this place." He muttered as he drove to the checkpoint. A guard knocked on his door.

"License and registration, please."

Rize looked at him before he pulled the necklace and showed it to him. The moment the man saw it, he froze as if he saw something that he could've never expected.

"My apologies for stopping you, sir. Please continue." He said as he saluted.

'Hm, this isn't bad. I guess I will be treated as an important person from now on.' He thought to himself with a smile as he drove into the city.

The same bustling streets filled his eyes immediately, somehow even louder than ever before. The bright lights of the billboards floating above his head covered the bright sky. Rize could barely even read them from how clustered they were, but that gave them a different charm.

Driving slowly through the city, Rize found himself getting lost in the atmosphere.

'Nothing beats a massive, metropolitan, fantasy city.' Rize smiled as his eyes sparkled.

As he was driving, Rize spotted a small convenience store on the side of the street. So, he stopped.

'I need some water. Haven't drunk or eaten anything in hours.' He thought to himself as he walked out. The moment he stepped out of the car, he suddenly felt several eyes look at him.

"Huh?" He looked around him, and all the passersby had suddenly stopped and started staring at him with shock in their eyes. Particularly the women passing by. They all had the same exact look on their faces.

'Why are they looking at me- Oh… right… I forgot…' Rize blinked before he shook his head. It only sank in how good-looking he was. After all, he had lived most of his life as a hermit in a forest, so he never experienced how people would react to his looks.

"Woah, look at that guy…"

"He's so handsome, what the…?"

"Is he an actor? Maybe a model?"

"Noooo, he's too gorgeous for that… Maybe an awakened?"

"Who knows~ Oh my god, he is actually so beautiful."

"What a fine specimen."

"Should we go talk to him?"

Before Rize realized it, the few became a crowd that stared at him and only him.

'What the hell?! Why are they all staring?! Isn't this getting a bit out of hand, guys?!' Rize panicked as he hurried to the convenience store. As he walked in, the customers and even the workers looked at him.

One of the staff even dropped one of the things they were holding as they watched Rize pass by.

"Where is the water?" Rize looked around for a bit before he finally grabbed a bottle along with some snacks and headed to the cashier.

There, the woman saw him arriving. Rize watched as she adjusted her hair and position, and she smiled widely at him.

"Good afternoon, sir~" She said.

"Good afternoon…"

The woman kept staring at him with her friendly smile.

"Uuuuh, can you…" Rize said awkwardly as he gave her his items.

"Oh, yeah, silly me~" She said with a smile on her face. "That will be 15 Gils, sir."

Rize paid up and packed his things before he tried to leave. That was when he realized that people were waiting for him outside.

'What is going on?!' Rize almost blurted out. 'I'm not a celebrity, guys! Relax!'

The moment he left, a group of girls approached him.

"Hiii there. Oh my god, you're so handsome, sir." They swarmed him from every angle, oogling every inch of him.

"Uuuuh, thanks?"

"Oh my god, you're so muscular too and tall! Do you wanna go have lunch with us? We were heading there anyway."

"Eh, no… I'm sorry, but I have somewhere to go. Excuse me." Pushing his way through, the girls headed to his car.

Meanwhile, the people kept watching him. When he finally closed the door, he exhaled.

"What the hell was that? I knew I was good-looking, but what the hell?! Did these people not see a good-looking person before?!" He rubbed his face. 'Note taken, don't go around in public that way. I don't want a crowd of people chasing me wherever I go.'

With that, he exhaled and drove away.

Slowly, he left the main parts of the city behind him and entered the Royal Palace district. Finally, he was going to meet the Royal Family in person.