How to Redeem a Trashy Side Villain

Chapter 129: Eruption of Tension

[Diana]

Although it didn't hit the same, the fact that Bell allowed me to create blood pills mixed with his mana for whenever I needed a boost of energy made my days much better.

Although I still need my daily dose of his fresh blood straight from his neck.

Ms. Morgan was a really strict teacher and an even worse master.

"Again," she said flatly.

Clenching my jaw, beads of sweat were dripping down my back. I focused up and in front of me, hovering a piece of ice that was no bigger than my thumbnail.

Even though I had very little room to work with, Ms. Morgan wanted me to replicate the statue that was in the training hall. The life-sized statue was carved with absurd detail and every fold of cloth and strand of hair had been rendered so precisely that it felt alive.

Her instruction was, "Replicate that statue until it is identical one to one."

That didn't seem like a hard task until she clarified that it had to be the size of a fingernail.

"If you miss even a small detail, start over."

This was already my 100th attempt at replicating the statue. Although the amount of ice I was creating didn't use up a lot of mana, molding and sculpting it was draining me.

My mana flowed again.

Too much and the ice would fracture.

Too little and the details would be inaccurate.

Shaping the edges thinner than a hair, to my left was—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosion of mana in the form of these lava balls was being spewed out and hitting flying targets in rapid succession.

Asano Ichiko. A woman whose beauty was greatly exaggerated in my opinion. Even if her face was pleasing, what's the point when the inside is rotten to the core?

"That took you 3.2 seconds," Ms. Morgan called out without even looking while working with Peneri. "Too slow. Again."

"I got it under four. That's my personal best," Ichiko said as she placed her hands on her knees, leaning forward slightly.

She was also tired.

"And? That's still too slow. You need to get under two seconds."

Without looking up, I muttered, "Maybe if you knew how to cast spells with your other body parts, you wouldn't look so much like a toad."

"Oh?" Ichiko scoffed as she grabbed three discs on the floor and tossed them into the air.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"3.4 seconds. Even worse. Again," Ms. Morgan said.

"If I look like a toad, then you're a slug."

Smiling without lifting my eyes, I said, "Well, I think slugs are quite cute. See how I'm working on my precision rather than my speed? That's because I'm already fast enough."

She scoffed. "Sure. While you're going to be out there making ice sculptures faster than the speed of light, I'll be actually contributing with real firepower."

Another blast of mana erupted from her as she spewed out three lava balls back-to-back-to-back.

Her aim was extremely accurate, and the raw power was enough to shake the dust on the ground.

Of course, I would never tell her this out loud.

"3.1 seconds. Better. Again," Ms. Morgan nodded as she moved on to helping out Maya.

Minutes passed like that as I tried and failed to replicate the statue on such a small scale.

Then I heard Ichiko yawn. "Ugh. This is torture. At least my week will be better once Bell takes me out somewhere for Valentine's Day."

My hand slipped and the ice in my hand cracked, shattering into frost particles.

"Excuse me?" I said calmly, finally looking up at her.

Even though she was sweating profusely, she looked like she could still attend a ball if she simply wiped the sweat out of her face.

How?

Ichiko grinned and asked, "What?"

Reforming the ice while staring at her, I said, "I just heard a very funny joke coming from you."

"What joke?"

"You being Bell's Valentine's? That's seriously top-tier comedy material."

"Hehehehe," she chuckled without moving her face. "Why is it so funny? It's what'll be happening this Saturday."

An eyebrow twitched on my face.

Did Bell perhaps ask Ichiko to be his Valentine's already?

"Did he ask you?" I asked.

Her face also twitched.

"Hah! Seems like you're talking big for something that isn't even confirmed."

"But it will happen. It's inevitable."

"And why is that?" I asked as I began working on another statue, the previous attempt failing again.

"Because I am his…" She didn't finish her sentence, but I could see her mouth the word "fiancée".

"Yeah. One that was forced by the parents. It's not like he wanted to be [engaged] to you. He likes me more than you. So I'll be the one he'll take out this weekend."

"Oh," her voice took on that infuriating smug smile that made so many men swoon over her whenever she showed it. "You're that confident?"

I didn't answer right away. Instead, I let the ice magic in my palm complete and when I looked at the sculpture, it was perfect.

Ms. Morgan, who was working with Peneri, saw the sculpture floating in my hand and clapped. "Good work, Diana. You finished faster than I thought. Now, I need you to work on creating two at once."

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Oh? 1.9 seconds. Just barely, but you did it. Ichiko, increase the discs to five."

"Confidence?" I said softly. "No. It isn't confidence. I'm just aware of reality and understand his feelings better than anyone."

As she cracked her fingers, Ichiko responded, "Reality? The reality is that I'm now tied to Bell politically, socially, and soon, publicly. When people think of him in the future, they will also think of me."

Turning to her, I asked, "And how does he feel about it?"

"He agrees—"

"Bell is such a kind-hearted person. Are you sure he's not just agreeing so as not to hurt your feelings or those of his parents who arranged the engagement for him?"

The air between us felt like it was shrinking.

We stood the same distance from each other like before and yet, it felt like she was right in front of me. One extended arm away from touching.

She said slowly, "You think that you've already won just because he used to have a crush on you?"

"All I'm saying is that I actually have confirmation that he had feelings for me. You? I… I don't know," I shrugged.

Both of our manas flared.

The smile on my face disappeared.

This should've happened long ago. It's a miracle that the two of us had held back for so long but I guess that was our way of trying not to inconvenience the person we both liked.

A ball of lava formed instantly, faster than anything she'd done all day and it flew in my direction.

Boom!

I dodged and sent ten daggers made of ice flying in her direction.

❖ ❖ ❖

[Bell]

"You guys… fought?" I asked as I looked at the two of them in the infirmary.

Ichiko and Diana were lying in opposite beds across the room. Both of their curtains were pulled and there were ten beds in between that separated them.

Although there were many things I was curious about, the first thing I needed to know was, "Who won?"

"I did," Ichiko said.

Diana rolled her eyes and scoffed, "You're funny. I clearly won."

"You? If it wasn't for Ms. Morgan's interference, your face would've been nothing but bones and ashes by now."

"Was it not you whose entire left hand had turned into ice?"

"Okay! Enough," I said as I gestured for the two of them to stop. "I shouldn't have asked that question."

"..."

"...If you say so," Ichiko said.

"Are you two fine?" I asked.

"Yeah. Although… I am a little thirsty," Diana said as she looked at me, suggesting something. I mouthed to her that she could have it later.

"If you're thirsty, then get up and get yourself a glass of water," Ichiko said.

"Why don't you—"

"Enough!" I yelled, which got them both to immediately shut their lips.

I took a good look at both of them. They looked fine, but according to what Peneri had told me, the two of them had been going all out trying to kill each other. If it wasn't for the teacher's interference, it could've gotten ugly.

Maya had also secretly recorded the entire thing and told me that I could see it if I agreed to let her share one secret about me. Due to our oath, she wasn't allowed to reveal my secrets, but if I gave permission, she wouldn't be harmed.

I told her that I would consider it depending on which secret it was.

She said she would think about it.

"Why did you two even fight?" I asked, although I had a feeling that I knew what the answer would be.

"..."

"..."

Neither of them said anything.

"If neither of you tells me the truth, I'll have no choice but to ignore you both for a week."

"No!" Diana screamed.

Ichiko shook her head and already had a foot off the bed before I gestured for her to lie back down.

"Then tell me the truth."

"I… I can't. But if you're going to ignore us, can you make it just five days?" Diana asked.

"Why?" I knew the answer to my own question. "Is it because five days means that on the sixth, I will still be available for Valentine's Day?"

Both of them flinched at the question.

I literally planted my face on my palm.

Ichiko was a genius. I've read some of the reports that the Facold family had given me after I requested everything about her. Not only was she probably the smartest student at the academy, but according to her childhood studies, she had mastered every weapon by the age of five.

Diana was also smart in her own right. She was an honor roll student and never got anything lower than an A.

Yet right now, both of them were acting like idiots.

"Were you two fighting to see who would be my Valentine's?" I asked.

"...Not exactly," Ichiko responded.

"Something similar," Diana chimed in.

"If neither of you plans on telling me the whole story, then I'll just spend Saturday at home all day," I told them, to which they responded by jumping out of the bed and rushing to grab my hands.

"She started it!"

"No, it was her. Why would someone as elegant as me ever create trouble first?"

"Ouuu, you think you're so elegant. Elegant. Elegant. Elegant. I hate that word sooo much. You're nothing but a fraud."

"Perhaps you hate the word because you've never had an ounce of it in your life."

"Perhaps you want to go again?"

"Let's do it."

They released my hands and were preparing to face off again when I took a step between them and gave them a look that caused both of them to shiver.

"Enough. And I won't say it again."

""Okay,"" they responded at the same time.

"If it's that important to you two, then how about you both be my Valentine's?" I asked. It seems like the only thing I could do without offending the other person.

The two of them smiled before frowning. They glared at the other person.

"Why do we need to take that uncultured lady with us?" Ichiko asked. "She probably just wants to leech off of your card and plans on giving you store-bought chocolate."

"I don't want to share. Just hang out with me. I'm all that you need."

As I listened to them argue, I wondered to myself.

When did I acquire two yanderes?

"It's either both of you or neither," I gave the ultimatum.

Both of them clicked their tongues before wrapping their arms around mine.