Struggling as a Villain

*knock* *knock*

"Come in."

Hearing the voice from the other side, Richard pushed open the door, and while holding Amelia's hand, he walked inside.

"Hmm?" Richard was surprised to see another person other than the Headmaster in the office.

It was Ethan.

"Come inside, you two."

Richard nodded to that and stood beside Ethan before asking, "If you don't mind, headmaster, then can Amelia stay here as well?"

The older one nodded, "I expected her to come along and not like any of the words we would be exchanging here wouldn't be shared with her." There was a sense of amusement and teasing in his voice which made Richard embarrassed.

Damn, the whole Academy knows about them, it seems...yet, until now, Richard hasn't confessed to her.

"Anyway, please tell me whatever you know about the person who illegally entered your property last night and cast that spell on you, Richard."

Since the Headmaster never told Ethan to leave, Richard assumed that the old man wanted the Protagonist to hear it.

Richard nodded, and after taking a deep breath, he began, "The person who entered my room was wearing a wooden mask, sir. And once they realised that I wasn't sleeping they threw a tear gas bomb to blind me."

Taking a pause, he hesitantly added, "I don't know if you would believe me when I say this headmaster, but the person who entered my room and put me under that spell wasn't a normal human." Lifting his eyes to fix them on Marcus', he added,

"That person was an elf."

Amelia's grip on his hand became firm as she instinctively asked, "Princess Nora from the North?"

Richard glanced at the girl before slowly nodding, "Since there is no other elf in the academy, I assume she was the one who attacked me last night."

Silence ensued in the room after that.

Ethan, with his arms crossed on his chest, clenched his fist with his eyes turning narrow.

He knew that girl was a criminal, but she would attack Richard for no apparent reason...?

Truly despicable.

Marcus remained silent and assessed the reaction from the three before he finally asked, "Richard, do you have proof?"

Richard raised his hand before suggesting, "You can read my memories of last night. And in the first place, I have no reason to accuse the elven princess falsely."

Marcus raised his brows in surprise as he extended his hand and held Richard's before asking, "You are aware of my skills?"

"To some extent, yes." He didn't lie. Even in the canon, the full prowess of the Headmaster was never described.

The older one closed his eyes for a moment as he pried inside Richard's head.

Naturally, Richard has lifted his mental barriers to allow the old man to see the necessary evidence.

It took not more than ten seconds before he released Richard's hands and opened his eyes.

With his eyes slightly stretched Marcus looked at Richard before affirming, "Indeed...it was an elf who attacked you."

"I knew it!" Suddenly Ethan voiced his opinion, "I knew it was that girl who must have attacked Richard."

Marcus and the other two turned their attention toward the silverhead as he continued, "She even trapped me back in the capital and used me as an experimental subject."

With his eyes turning red, he spat, "Because of that girl so many people died. I will never forgive her."

It would be a blatant lie to say that Marcus didn't know about the incident that took place in the capital a few days ago, before the enrollment of these students.

The very foundation of the royal council was shaken because of that incident where numerous clones were sent to destroy the capital. Because of that incident, the true face of many nobles was brought to light. Marcus as well, was asked to come there and help in interrogation, but the man withheld his motto of not involving in politics and didn't co-operate.

Yes, if those people try to risk the academy and citizen's safety then Marcus might intervene.

And now, through Ethan, it seems Marcus has to be involved in this matter.

However, the person Ethan was accusing and so was Richard, involved a person who came here after a lot of diplomatic discussion and could prove to be a crucial thread that joins Eldoria and the continent situated in the North.

Making a rash decision might become a source of great collision and future friction, but...

"I will call student Nora here-"

"Wait, Headmaster." Suddenly, Richard called out, surprising the other three.

Richard glanced at the system screen once again, before calling out, "I think we shouldn't get hasty here."

Just when Richard thought that the case was reaching its conclusion, the system sent the notification;

[Ding!]

[Quest arrived!]

[Catch the trickster: The one who casts the spell on the host and the one who has sworn to harm the host, needs to be unveiled.]

[Reward: 20 QP, 20 SP, ???]

(A/N: QP= Quest Points, SP= Stats points)

Richard suddenly had a very strong feeling that the system was indicating something here. Something like...he has reached the wrong conclusion. Nora wasn't the one who attacked him last night. After all, if the offender was Nora, then the system wouldn't have issued the quest.

And based on that instinct, he called out to the headmaster, "We should think about this, or the relationship between two races might end up in an unrecoverable state."

Once he gained their attention, he added, "The elven chief has trusted this academy for Nora's safety, and if we end up accusing her of a crime, which she might not have committed...then think about the consequences."

Ethan frowned hearing that and so did Amelia, as the former asked, "Then what can you say about her tricking me back then? She is a criminal and a mastermind."

Richard sighed before telling him, "If you want to know the truth about the incident then I think you should ask Princess Elizabeth about it. From what my mother told me, it wasn't Princess Nora who trapped you but her twin sister."

Richard couldn't reveal that he was the one present at the time when Yulan was captured, given it would cause many problems. Foremost, the murder of the Prime Minister.

Ethan was rendered speechless. He trusted Richard, and as such, he couldn't argue with him, saying that he was wrong or something.

But if Elizabeth knew the truth then why didn't she tell him about it before?

"Then what about last night? Didn't you see an elf attacking you? Not to talk about Princess Nora is a master of illusions."

Amelia looked baffled about why suddenly Richard was protecting Nora.

Richard calmly held her hand before telling her, "But there is a possibility that someone else with the same skills was using an illusion on themself to appear as an elf. Considering Nora is the only elf in the academy the suspicion would become concrete on her."

Taking a pause, he added, "And do you think there is any reason for the Princess to attack me out of the blue?"

Now even Amelia was forced to doubt her previous judgement.

And to make things more complex, the headmaster added, "There are few artefacts and magicians in the academy who could achieve disguise and cast nightmare spells. So yes, there could be more than one suspect."

Richard raised his brows and glanced at the old man, only to find him looking back at Richard with a knowing look.

After a brief pause, the Headmaster said, "Ethan, Amelia, you two leave for now and report to the examination halls. You both have reassessment today right?"

Ethan's eyes widened as he suddenly cursed, "Shit..." Only to cover his mouth in realisation.

Looking at the headmaster he bowed his head before leaving hurriedly.

Amelia didn't show haste. Rather, she looked at Richard with a worried look and told him, "After school, wait for me. I have something to say."

Richard nodded before suggesting, "I will, but before that, you have to promise me that you won't let all this become a hindrance during your assessment. Do your best and gain some decent points so we can share the same desk."

That was probably the best way of motivation for her as Amelia nodded with a determined look. After saying, 'Excuse me' she left the office as well.

Once they left, Richard heard the older one asking, "So...what made you change your opinion on student Nora?"

"My mother."

Marcus raised his brows before urging the teenager to continue.

Heaving a sigh, Richard added, "If we blamed Nora, the Northern continent might retaliate, and then the collision would occur, which possibly can lead to a war between the two empires. And if the situation for war arrives, then Mom would need to stay on the battlefield for several months. And I didn't want to needlessly stress her out, so I thought, why not investigate the matter carefully first?"

Marcus slowly nodded as he voiced, "There are definitely things that you didn't inherit from Bellarine, Richard."

Richard tilted his head in confusion before asking, "And that is?"

The older one responded with a chuckle, "The art of lying."

--------**-------

A/N: Trust me, not all heroines are trash. Trust me, I repeat.