Never Die Villain

"This must be the place..."

Ilya stopped in front of a decently sized home and checked the address one more time to make sure he had come to the right place.

He hadn’t originally planned on doing this, especially with everything else occupying his time, but after what happened with Charles and everything Gustav had told him afterward, he figured he owed Angela at least this much.

This was Angela’s home.

Coming from a small noble family, Angela had always been somewhat better off than most of the others in their group, even if her family was nowhere near influential enough to compare with the great houses of the Empire.

Still, that status had done little to protect her from what happened at the academy, and if anything, it narrowed down the kind of people who could have driven her out in the first place.

Angela wasn’t a commoner whom some noble student could threaten without consequence. For someone to pressure her family badly enough that she ultimately dropped out, whoever had gone after her had to possess enough status or influence that her own family couldn’t simply tell them to go away.

Ilya walked up to the entrance and knocked.

It didn’t take long before the door opened, revealing a middle-aged woman dressed in the neat, modest uniform of a household maid.

"Good afternoon. May I ask who you are?"

"Ilya." He paused before remembering that probably wasn’t enough. "Ilya Valentinovich Belozersky. I’m a friend of Angela’s."

The maid froze. "...Belozersky?"

"Yes." Ilya gave a small nod. "Is Angela home?"

"Uh, um... Lady Angela isn’t home at the moment, my lord. She’s helping her father with the family business today."

"Family business?"

"Yes. The family operates a provisions company."

The maid seemed uncertain how much she should be telling a stranger, but the Belozersky name apparently made refusing him equally difficult.

"They purchase grain and other goods from the surrounding territories and supply them to estates, inns, and several institutions under contract. Lady Angela has been helping with the accounts and deliveries recently."

"I see."

That explained what Gustav had meant.

Angela came from a noble family, but only barely when compared to the people she had been attending the academy with.

They had neither enough land nor enough political influence to stand against the higher-ranking Houses, leaving them in the awkward position of being expected to participate in noble society without having enough power to protect themselves from the people above them.

Her father’s business only made that weakness worse.

A large portion of their income depended on contracts that had to be renewed, and contracts could disappear remarkably quickly when the right person applied pressure.

A duke or marquess didn’t even need to directly threaten Angela’s family. A few words to the right people could be enough for buyers to reconsider their agreements, suppliers to become less cooperative, or contracts that had been renewed for years to suddenly go elsewhere.

And apparently, someone at the academy had made sure Angela understood that.

"Do you know when she’ll be back?"

"Likely sometime this evening, my lord. Although if the young master wishes, I can tell Lady Angela that you visited."

"No, it’s alright. I have enough time today, so I can wait."

"Then... would you like to wait inside?" The maid opened the door a little wider. "I’m certain the family wouldn’t mind accommodating a guest while you wait for Lady Angela to return."

"I wouldn’t want to impose when they don’t even know I’m here." Ilya shook his head and stepped away from the entrance. "I’ll find somewhere nearby and come back later."

"At least allow me to prepare some tea while you wait, my lord."

"There’s really no need." Ilya gave her a small wave as he turned away. "I showed up without notice in the first place. I’d feel worse making you work because I decided to wait around."

The maid blinked at him, apparently not expecting that response.

"Then... I’ll inform Lady Angela that you’re waiting for her when she returns."

* * *

After waiting for quite a while, Ilya eventually returned to Angela’s home, although he looked somewhat different from when he had first arrived.

Rather than sitting around doing nothing for several hours, he had found a nearby park and spent most of that time training, leaving his clothes disheveled and his entire body drenched in sweat by the time he came back.

Niflheim quickly began to freeze the sweat clinging to his skin and hair, but Ilya circulated the Ring of Fire before it could become too uncomfortable.

Warmth spread throughout his body, gradually melting away the traces of frost as he walked up to the entrance and knocked on the door again.

A few seconds later, the same maid from earlier opened it.

"Ah, Young Master Belozersky. You’ve returned."

"Yeah. Sorry, I took a little longer than I expected."

Before the maid could answer, a familiar voice came from somewhere deeper inside the house.

"Who is it?"

Ilya immediately recognized it.

The maid glanced over her shoulder. "Lady Angela, it’s the guest I mentioned earlier."

"Guest?"

Footsteps approached from inside, and not long afterward, Angela appeared behind the maid.

She looked toward the entrance with mild confusion at first, only for her expression to change the instant she saw who was standing there.

"...."

Ilya raised a hand. "Hey."

"Ilya...?"

Ilya had half expected her to drive him away the same way Helene had. To his surprise, however, Angela’s face immediately brightened, and before he could even say anything else, she stepped forward, grabbed him by the hand, and pulled him inside.

"Come, come. Don’t just stand out there!"

Angela practically dragged him past the maid, looking far happier to see him than Ilya had prepared himself for.

"Oh, my. It’s been a while, it really has! You could’ve at least told me you were coming."

"...I didn’t exactly know whether you’d want to see me."

"What? Why wouldn’t I?"

Angela glanced back at him as though he had just said something ridiculous, still refusing to release his hand.

"I’m the one who disappeared without telling any of you anything. Honestly, I thought you’d be angry with me."

"I’m not."

"Well, good, because that would’ve made this really awkward."

Angela smiled as she continued pulling him farther inside.

After they settled down, with the maid preparing tea, snacks, and far more food than Ilya thought was necessary for a simple visit, Angela finally got down to business.

She sat across from him with her hands over her lap, looking slightly sheepish now that the excitement of seeing him again had worn off.

"So, you’re probably here demanding an explanation, right?"

"No. I’m actually here to apologize."

"Eh—"

Before Angela could even figure out what he meant, Ilya had already lowered his head. Her eyes widened immediately, and she nearly stood from her seat in panic.

"N-No, no, no! Raise your head!" Angela frantically waved both hands at him. "A Grand Duke’s son shouldn’t be lowering his head to someone like me!"

"I’m sorry I never came to see you, even though we were in the same building." Ilya ignored her words and kept his head lowered. "I didn’t even realize you had stopped coming to the academy until someone told me. I won’t make excuses for that."

"Ilya..."

"I was busy, but so was everyone else. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that I could’ve visited you once, asked how you were doing, or at least noticed something was wrong before you disappeared."

Angela’s expression slowly changed, and the longer Ilya continued, the more confused she seemed to become.

Eventually, she raised one hand as though she wanted to stop him before he apologized for something else.

"W-What is this really about...?"

"I heard you were being targeted," Ilya said as he finally raised his head. "Gustav told me about it. That you dropped out of the academy because of what happened."

"Eh? Dropped out?" Angela blinked. "I didn’t drop out."

"Huh."

"Huh?"

"...."

"...?"

The two just looked at each other across the table.

"I thought you dropped out."

"I took a leave of absence."

"...There’s a pretty big difference."

"There is!" Angela immediately exclaimed. "Who the hell told Gustav I dropped out? I only filed for leave because things at home got complicated and Father needed help with the business. I’m still enrolled."

Ilya slowly leaned back in his chair, feeling somewhat stupid after everything he had just said.

"So you’re going back?"

"That’s the plan." Angela nodded. "I don’t know exactly when yet, but I never intended to quit altogether. I just needed to get away from the academy for a while and help my family until things settled down."

"...."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"...Then, is it true you were being targeted?"

"Targeted?" Angela tilted her head. "I mean... there were some mean kids, but there are mean kids everywhere. It wasn’t anything bad enough that I’d actually drop out of the academy because of it."

"...."

"I’m a noble, you know?!" Angela pointed at herself, sounding almost offended that he had forgotten. "Sure, my family isn’t particularly powerful, and there are plenty of students whose families outrank mine, but that doesn’t mean anyone can just do whatever they want to me."

"...I guess."

"You guess?" Angela narrowed her eyes. "Just how pathetic did Gustav make me sound?"

"Pretty pathetic."

"Ilya!"

"I’m just telling you what I heard." Ilya raised his hands defensively. "He made it sound like some higher-ranking nobles threatened your family and forced you out of the academy. No, that’s literally what he said."

Angela blinked at that before slowly shaking her head.

"Nothing that dramatic happened. There were people I didn’t get along with, sure, and a few of them liked reminding me that their families had more influence than mine, but it never went as far as anyone threatening Father’s business or forcing me to leave."

"Then Gustav was wrong."

"Or he heard some exaggerated version after I disappeared." Angela sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I left pretty abruptly, so I guess people started filling in the blanks themselves."

Ilya fell quiet again.

That changed things.

If Angela had never been driven out in the first place, then the connection he had drawn between her disappearance and what happened to Charles had been built on something that wasn’t even true.

Ilya looked up at her.

"...You’re telling me the truth, aren’t you?"

"Of course I am." Angela looked at him strangely. "Why would I lie to you about something like that?"

Ilya scrutinized her expression, but there was nothing about her answer that made him doubt her. Angela seemed more confused about why he had come here at all, while Ilya had arrived expecting some terrible story.

After talking for a while longer and catching up on what the other had been doing, Ilya eventually reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

He placed it in Angela’s hand, then clasped her fingers around it before she could unfold it.

"This is my schedule." Ilya looked directly at her. "If you come back this semester, try to match mine as much as you can. We’re both in the Magic Department anyway, so there should be at least a few classes you can move around."

"Eh?"

"And if those people bother you again, tell me." Ilya kept his hand around hers. "I’ll protect you, even if I have to use my family’s name to do it."

"E-Eh...?!"

Angela’s eyes widened, and a flush quickly spread across her cheeks as she looked down at their hands.

Ilya, completely unaware of how his words and actions might have sounded from her perspective, merely gave her hand another firm squeeze as though he were sealing an agreement.

"I’m serious."

"I-I can tell!" Angela stammered, her face turning even redder. "That’s exactly why you need to stop saying it like that!"

"Like what?"

"Never mind!"

After Ilya left, Angela stood by the entrance and watched until he disappeared from sight before finally closing the door.

The moment she was alone again, she released a long breath and leaned back against it, looking down at the folded schedule he had pressed into her hand.

"Protect me, huh...?"

She unfolded the paper and looked over his schedule once more. A faint trace of the earlier redness still remained on her cheeks, but the smile she had worn while seeing him off gradually disappeared.

When Angela returned to the sitting room, the maid was already clearing away the cups and plates they had left behind.

She gathered the dishes for several seconds before glancing toward Angela, having apparently waited until their guest was well out of earshot before speaking.

"My Lady, may I ask you something?"

"Hm?"

The maid set one of the empty cups onto the tray and looked at her.

"Why didn’t you tell Lord Ilya the truth?"

Angela merely scoffed.

"What good would that do?"

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