Struggling as a Villain

Violet was feeling nervous.

She was trained since childhood to be the perfect maid for the Scarlette house. Her father was indebted to Duchess Bellarine and had taken an oath that until his last breath, he and his family would serve the Scarlette house.

That's why, from the beginning, she knew her life goal and what she needed to do to be an acceptable child in her parents' eyes.

That's why when her young master didn't reject Violet from taking her to the academy, she was relieved. After all, her life purpose was to serve young master Richard.

But now, the dilemma was a person and that person was named Hawkbridge Amelia.

From their brief encounter, Amelia discerned that Violet was good at cooking even though, in front of the lady, Violet only served the dishes and told her that she prepared the food. There was nothing fancy in it and every dish was prepared while keeping the nutritional value in mind—as per Lilia's instruction.

Then how did she discern what was her hobby? And why did Lady Amelia say that she would take her somewhere?

'I just hope it doesn't affect my job...'She heaved a sigh while resting on a stool beside Lilia's bed.

She was silently sitting there for a few minutes when suddenly she sensed something jumping from the first floor.

She immediately walked out of the room to check—only to widen her eyes upon finding her young master heading toward somewhere while still wearing his night dress.

The soldiers stationed at the mansion entrance headed towards Richard, and so did Violet; however, despite calling out to him, he wasn't paying attention to them at all.

"Young master, you are bare feet, please wear something."

"Young master, you will catch a cold in those clothes."

"It's not safe to roam at this hour, young lord." They tried to call out to him along with Violet but to no avail. He was just walking aimlessly with his eyes hidden behind a mist.

Violet frowned and tried to grab his hand, only to feel it burning.

"Ah!" She instantly retracted her hand as suddenly Richard began to release a torrent of flame balls around him like he wanted to kill everyone. His eyes and demeanour suggested that he was feeling murderous intent towards the people around him. However, only Violet knew the truth.

"He is under the influence of a spell! Hold him!" She commanded, and instantly, the guards tried to close in—only for Richard to create a lava wall which obstructed them from getting any closer.

Even so, Violet jumped through the flame wall and while her clothes and skin burned she called out to him,

"Young master, it's all an illusion! Please break free!" She didn't care about the attacks she was tortured with and continued to call out to him restlessly. She had a pitiful voice enhancer skill, which she was using to call his name, but to no avail.

He looked desperate and frustrated about something, almost like he couldn't reach to something or someone.

He....he looked extremely sad.

Violet felt her master's condition was worsening and that made her feel anxious to death. It was then when she found numerous guards from the school and even some instructors arriving in their direction. However, before any of them could have reached Richard, someone shot an illuminated arrow in his direction, and in the next instance, Richard fell to the ground.

Violet's eyes widened as she crouched beside her master and checked his condition.

'He is breathing....oh god...' She took a big breath of relief finding that his breath was steady and he wasn't affected by that spell. There was no wound inflicted whatsoever.

"It was a mind-calming spell. No need to react like that." Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice called out, urging Violet to turn towards her...only to find her eyes being greeted by none other than the renowned Princess Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, who just arrived at the academy, saw the eruption of the flame wall from a distance and rushed to the site—only to find Richard going berserk under the effect of some nasty spell.

"What is going on here?" The short-haired instructor who was patrolling around the Academy asked Violet. She was momentarily taken aback by Elizabeth's presence but soon she focused on the matter in hand.

Olivia frowned before crouching beside Richard and checking his eyes. There was still some sign of mist and his ether flow was quite disturbed as well—which means,

"Someone put a spell on him." She turned her attention towards the guards of the mansion before asking, "Did you see someone trespassing?"

Both of them fidgeted and first glanced at each other before one of them hesitantly uttered, "N-No, we didn't see someone entering the mansion."

Olivia heaved a sigh. They were undoubtedly not aware.

All the servants within the mansion are sent by Bellarine but these two guards were recruited by the academy—something that would definitely give a reason for Bellarine to blame them now.

"Carry him for now and bring him to the infirmary." Olivia said, but Violet instantly rejected, "Someone from the academy attacked the young master. I would not let you take him there." She declared as she lifted Richard over her shoulders.

Olivia frowned, "He is a student of Obsidian, and you cannot tell me what I do with my student."

Violet held her gaze firmly on the older before telling her, "He still isn't a student of the academy yet, so don't try to reason with me. The young master will remain under my protection now."

She didn't wait to hear Olivia's following words before carrying Richard back to the mansion.

Olivia kept her eyes on their retreating back before she exhaled an exasperated sigh and told the school guards, "Patrol around the mansion for tonight and don't let anyone enter without asking me, got it?"

"Ha!"

Turning her eyes toward the two who were supposed to guard the mansion, Olivia seethingly said, "You two, come with me."

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

Violet carried Richard to the guest room on the ground floor before slowly laying him on the bed.

The other four servants have also gathered and looked pale in anxiety seeing the young master unconscious.

Suddenly, the seventh person arrived in the room and groggily asked, "What happened?"

Violet turned to look at Lilia with her eyes stained with tears before she approached her and said, "I failed you, Lilia...I wasn't able to protect him."

Tears welled in her eyes as she continued to speak, "Someone attacked young master and under the influence of a spell he-"

"Violet." Lilia's stern voice instantly shut her up as Violet looked up at the brunette before she heard her saying, "Is the young master in danger?"

"Ah no. I just checked and his mind and ether both are stable." The maid who had the healing aspect checked on Richard before informing them.

Lilia heaved a sigh, "Then why are you panicking? Have you looked at yourself first?"

"I don't care about myself, Lilia! I don't want young master to suffer because of my carelessness."

"But were you careless?" Lilia asked while retaining a calm voice.

Violet opened her mouth but couldn't utter a single word.

Lilia patted her shoulder before telling the girl, "First, get yourself healed, or if the young master sees you like this, he will burden himself with guilt."

Upon her mentioning, Violet realised that most of her clothes were burned and her skin was scorched in several places.

Violet turned to look at Richard for the last time before walking out of the room.

Lilia's expression immediately shifted once she left as she approached Richard and sat down on the chair beside the bed. Taking his hand in hers, she checked his pulse and breathing rate.

She couldn't discern how her master, who had established a mental barrier under the Duchess' guidance, could get attacked by mental interference magic.

It could only mean that someone who has a high affinity with the mental interference magic attacked him. But the skill is so rare that, to her knowledge, only one person can conjure such a high-grade spell.

The headmaster.

'But why would he attack Richard?' She couldn't help but feel the matter to be something different.

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

'Ugh...' Richard was feeling a mild headache as he grumbled in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes.

The last thing he remembered was seeing Bella and trying to rescue her before he lost consciousness. However, now that his mind was a lot clearer, he could tell that he might be under a spell. There was no way Bella could have turned so young and appeared in this world.

Then how did he see her? Was it really that intruder who cast the spell?

"Ah!" All the previous thoughts extinguished from his head the moment Richard opened his eyes and looked at the person standing in front.

He straightened his back before calling out to the person,

"H-Headmaster?"

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

A/N:- Thanks for reading.