I'm a Villain in My Own Game?

[Alisha PoV]

The moment I called myself Raul's future wife, for some reason they all looked utterly shocked. Wasn't marriage between nobles fairly ordinary?

The blond man wore a dumbfounded expression, while his red-haired friend looked irritated at the man beside him. The woman named Ariel covered her mouth with both hands, as if she couldn't believe it, and the woman named Valeria looked like she had a thousand questions she wanted to throw at me.

"How is this even possible!? Is he threatening you, forcing you into this!? Does your family owe—Ouch!"

The man named Brian's voice cut off as Valeria smacked him hard on the head.

"Valeria! What was that for!?" Brian protested, clutching his head.

"Quiet, you idiot! You're being incredibly rude, prying into Princess Alisha's private life!" Valeria snapped, clearly furious.

"But I'm not wrong, am I? How could someone as beautiful as Alisha possibly want to marry a scoundrel like Raul!?" Brian said, his voice rising. "He's always hurting women's feelings, looking down on students who aren't from noble families, has no sense of honor, and always does whatever he pleases!"

Ahhh... how interesting. It seemed this man genuinely despised Raul de Garcia.

Did the two of them share some kind of history that led to this much hatred? Fufufu~ Let's dig a little deeper into my future husband. Time to gossip, just like the noble wives do when they gather together.

"You're right, Brian. Just the day before yesterday, I found him enjoying himself with a prostitute," I told them, recounting how I'd first met Raul. "I never imagined he'd rather spend his time with a another woman than welcome his future wife, hic."

I put on a fake, sorrowful expression. Brian's face twisted with renewed irritation at my words.

"Damn him! Even after I beat him in a duel, he still hasn't changed a bit!" Brian said, revealing an unexpected piece of information.

Hoo~ So he'd defeated Raul before, had he? Judging by Brian's mana aura, it was clearly far stronger than Raul's, which felt almost imperceptible by comparison. Still, Brian was a bit unusual—his mana aura felt significantly stronger even than mine as a mage.

"Tch, what a useless man," Brian muttered. "Princess Alisha, what if I challenged him again, to call off your engagement?" Brian offered.

Hmm... bold, reckless, and a little foolish—this man had quite a distinctive character. This Brian was actually rather interesting. Why don't I test him a little?

"Brian, you want me to call off my engagement with Raul de Garcia, is that it?" I asked, wanting to confirm.

"Of course! A man like him doesn't suit an elegant woman like you, Princess Alisha!" Brian answered enthusiastically.

"Alright, how about this," I said, looking straight into Brian's eyes. "If you can defeat me in the main tournament, I'll call off my engagement to Raul de Garcia. What do you say, Brian?"

At my challenge, Brian fell silent for a moment, as if he couldn't quite believe what he'd just heard.

"But Princess Alisha, why would we need to fight? Wouldn't it be enough for me to just beat that scoundrel?" Brian asked, looking confused.

I let out a small laugh at his question. He clearly understood nothing about how this world worked—like a frog in a pond who'd never even heard of the ocean.

"Of course it matters, because I happen to be a powerful mage myself," I answered confidently. "My family is the one who arranged this engagement. If you can't even defeat me, how could you possibly hope to change their decision?"

Everyone looked stunned at my words. Had they assumed I was just some weak woman incapable of fighting? How terribly naive. They truly had no idea how vast this world was, full of people far more capable than they could imagine.

"Fine, if that's what you want, Princess Alisha! I'll definitely beat you at the tournament!" Brian declared, looking fired up.

Even though this wasn't an engagement I'd truly wanted, at least I could have some fun here, toying with the naive minds of students like Brian, making them confront just how immature they still were.

I often did this to Leon, taming him until he never once defied my orders. Leon used to have a personality quite similar to Brian's, actually.

"Princess Alisha, so this is where you've been."

Suddenly, I heard a voice from behind, calling my name. Turning around, I saw the black-haired man with the flat expression walking toward us.

"I've been looking everywhere for you to discuss something, but here you are, enjoying yourself talking with another man."

Emmm... for some reason, this situation felt oddly familiar.

"No, Raul, this isn't what you think," I answered him, not wanting him to misunderstand.

Wait, why was I reacting like some wife who'd just been caught cheating behind her husband's back!?

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Hold on, what exactly did he want to talk to me about?

"Could I borrow Princess Alisha for a moment?" Raul asked the four of them.

They all agreed, except Brian, who suddenly stepped forward to shield me from Raul.

"You have no right to force Princess Alisha to go anywhere with you, Raul!" Brian shouted, trying to intimidate the man in front of him.

Seeing Brian's attitude toward him, Raul simply sighed. He then looked to me for an answer.

"It's fine," I told him. "Leon, wait here and chat with our new friends," I instructed.

"But Princess—"

I shot him a sharp look before he could finish. It seemed he was worried about leaving me alone with Raul.

The two of us then left the cafeteria to talk somewhere more private. I had no idea where he was taking me—it seemed he didn't want this conversation overheard by anyone else.

"Where are you taking me?"

"We'll be there shortly," he answered casually.

We soon arrived at a building, with plenty of students bustling about.

"This is the Student Council building. We'll talk in the disciplinary committee office," he explained.

Before long, he opened the door to a room. Several students inside were reading through something.

Their attention immediately turned to me.

"Keep at it, everyone. We just need to talk privately in my office for a bit," Raul told them.

He then opened a door labeled "Captain" and stepped inside. I followed him in, and saw a desk covered in stacks of documents.

What exactly was he doing to end up with this many documents?

"Sorry the place isn't tidier. Have a seat," he said, sitting down in a chair. I did as he asked.

"So, what did you want to talk about, Raul?" I asked him again.

"It's about the details of the partnership between my father and yours," Raul answered, his expression noticeably different this time. "He never told me the details of the marriage agreement between us. Do you know anything about it?"

I see. So he had no idea at all about the agreement between us and Duke Alvaro. Still, would it really be alright to reveal this without his father's knowledge?

"We're going to be partners, Princess Alisha," Raul said, his voice lower than usual. "At the very least, I'd like to understand why I'm expected to marry someone I don't know at all."

"Alright, I'll tell you," I answered him. I supposed there was no harm in simply informing him. "Duke Alvaro is building production facilities in our country. He's also sending his people to carry out the work."

Hearing my answer, Raul seemed to think for a moment. "Your government has absolutely no involvement in this construction at all?"

"That's right... we're only providing the land and letting them build it themselves."

Thinking it over again, for some reason, I felt a nagging sense that we'd made a mistake, letting Duke Alvaro build something in our country without any oversight.

"I see..." Raul murmured quietly. "Could I get a map showing the locations of these construction sites?"

"I can't do that. I'd need my father's permission before giving you something like that," I answered. We couldn't just hand over the locations of our nation's important assets to anyone.

"I understand," he said casually. "I suppose I'll have to visit your country myself sometime."

Visit my country, huh? But... right now, my country still lay in ruins from the relentless waves of monster attacks. Thinking about it made my heart grow heavy again, leaving them behind during such difficult times.

[Raul PoV]

The next day, qualifying rounds for the year-end tournament began. Students would compete every afternoon to determine who would advance to the main tournament.

At the moment, a second-year Brawler-class student was facing off against a first-year Knight-class student.

"Tch, look at that idiot! He's going to embarrass our club again!"

"So humiliating, getting beaten black and blue by a first-year!"

The students gathered at the arena watched as the first-year kept pressing his attack against his senior, never once giving him a chance to strike back.

The second-year's entire body was already covered in wounds—he looked like he was nearly at his limit.

—Bam!

With that final blow, the match ended. The first-year had defeated his senior in the very first round of the qualifiers.

A Priest-class girl rushed over to treat the wounds of the defeated second-year student.

"Weak little Thomas is dragging the Brawler club's reputation through the mud, losing to a junior!"

"We need to teach him a lesson after this."

Several students from the Brawler class then followed the recently defeated student as he left the arena. I left as well, following to see where they were headed.

Before long, they forced Thomas, the student who'd just lost, toward a certain location.

I continued trailing them silently from behind, using the Featherstep technique to keep my footsteps completely silent.

They headed into Eldwood Forest—the same forest where Brian, Ariel, and Sephira's younger sister had once fought the monster that killed my attendant.

They stopped and threw Thomas against a tree, the poor boy's face contorted in pain.

I quickly hid myself up in a nearby tree.

"Ughhh... why do you all keep tormenting me? What do you even want!?" Thomas cried out, on the verge of tears.

"Listen up, idiot," one of the bullies said, stepping on Thomas's head. "Your loss to that junior tarnished the Brawler club's reputation, you know that?"

"That's right. So it's only fitting we teach you a lesson like this, isn't it?" another bully said, kicking Thomas in the stomach.

He groaned in pain, tears beginning to soak his face. Such a pitiful fate—first humiliated by a junior in combat, now being tormented by his own clubmates.

"I'm sorry! Please, stop all of this!" Thomas cried out, prostrating himself without a shred of dignity left.

"Tch, just leave our club already, you weakling!"

Leave the club? With abilities as poor as Thomas's, there was no way he'd pass his exams relying on his skills alone. He needed a club to teach him how to properly master his chosen class.

"Please! Give me another chance! I'll prove myself useful this time! I'll do anything, just don't kick me out of the club!" Thomas begged, utterly desperate.

He seemed to come from a family without much wealth. Some students from outside the capital sometimes got in through recommendations from local elementary schools, but those schools were far behind the quality found in the imperial capital's elementary schools.

"Look at this pathetic fool with no self-respect at all," one of the bullies said. "Just looking at him makes me sick!"

"From now on, you're our servant if you don't want to get kicked out of the club, understand?"

At their words, Thomas could only nod. He had no other option but to obey them if he didn't want to be expelled.

The bullies then unzipped their pants and began urinating on Thomas's body.

"Wahahaha!"

"Gyahahahah!"

They laughed at him, degraded him, making absolutely certain Thomas understood his position was far beneath theirs.

Once they'd finished thoroughly stomping on the poor boy's dignity, they left him alone in the forest. Thomas sat there, hugging his knees, crying over his miserable fate.

But then, something surprising happened. A student suddenly appeared, walking toward Thomas, who was still crying.

"Hey, want me to teach you how to become strong?" the man asked.

"Huh? Wh-who are you? I've never seen your face at this academy before," Thomas asked, his voice trembling.

"Of course you haven't seen me before," the man said, smiling with a sadistic edge. "That's because I only just enrolled at this academy."

Yes... the man who'd appeared before Thomas was none other than Prince Vlad mel Dracus. The student who'd just transferred into Grunbelt Academy a few days earlier.

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