The carriage fell into a dead silence.
The wheels rolled over the cobblestones, emitting a light, rhythmic clatter that seemed to beat time for the awkward atmosphere.
Allen leaned back against the soft seat, feeling a pang of unease.
Being alone with the heroine in such a cramped, enclosed space—the pressure was way too intense.
To make matters worse, the innocent school uniform she wore amplified that fatal allure of a pure maiden, making his firm, unwavering yuri-loving heart—the heart of an old uncle—almost unable to hold out.
No, my persona is an irredeemable villainous antagonist!
My ultimate goal is to protect that pristine, untainted Lily Garden!
Allen, steady! You’re a professional!
He took a deep breath, using his love and faith for the Lily cause to barely withstand the indiscriminate fatal charm radiating from Livia.
This was definitely the intelligence-dropping effect that came bundled with the protagonist’s halo.
Livia was basically a walking strategic-class human weapon.
If this were a different female-oriented harem series, she’d easily earn the title of “Siren That Brings Ruin to Kingdoms.”
He quietly glanced up and saw Livia staring out the window at the rapidly receding cityscape.
On her flawless profile was a hint of melancholy, oddly out of place with the bustling noise outside.
“What are you thinking about?” Allen asked, almost against his will.
Livia snapped back to reality, turning those clear blue eyes toward him. “It’s just… this all feels a little unreal.”
She paused, her voice very soft. “After inheriting those nightmare-like memories, coming back to the Academy gives me this surreal, dreamlike feeling.”
“I’ve spent similar times here over and over, like my life is on an endless loop, never seeing a future. Now that I’m back here, it feels like… I’ve willingly locked myself in a cage.”
She turned the question back to Allen. “What about you? You retain memories of every past cycle, unlike me, who only awakened all memories this time. In that boundless despair, how did you manage to maintain basic sanity?”
Allen was silent for a moment.
After thinking, he said in a nearly chanting tone: “Heaven and earth may last forever, but this hatred will never end.”
“Love fades with time, makes you weak, becomes a fatal weakness. Only hatred, like icy, piercing water, keeps you permanently awake in the endless darkness.”
Livia listened quietly. After a long while, she suddenly asked, “If… this nightmare is only the last one, could love replace hatred?”
Allen looked at her. A complex emotion flickered deep in those golden eyes.
With a seriousness he had never shown before, he said, “If love can turn nightmares into sweet dreams, then dying intoxicated in them could be considered a kind of happiness.”
“But unfortunately, the Evil God will never let sweet dreams come true. As long as we’re still on the chessboard, we’ll never get true release.”
“Freedom…” Livia gave a self-deprecating smile. “It’s always been something harder to obtain than death, hasn’t it?”
“Of course,” Allen nodded. “That’s exactly why freedom is worth everyone’s sacrifice.”
Those words struck a faint electric chord in some corner of Livia’s memory.
She always felt that, a long, long time ago—long before she and Allen first met as the people they were now—they had already walked side by side on the same path of blood and fire.
The carriage gradually approached St. Nora Sigil Academy.
By custom, all noble carriages had to stop in a designated area, and students would enter the Academy on foot.
At this moment, that area was completely jammed. Several ornate carriages were lined up, and coachmen were impatiently negotiating with guards.
However, when the guard in charge of stopping carriages saw the Laval House crest, his impatience vanished instantly.
He stood up straight, gave a crisp military salute, and waved his arm decisively.
Pass!
This scene instantly stirred up the students blocked behind, their faces filled with displeasure.
“Why do they get to go straight in?”
A young master from a Sword-Bearing Noble house couldn’t help poking his head out the window to complain; his coachman had just been yelled at by the guards.
“That’s the Laval crest—the son of Minister of Finance Bernard,” someone nearby whispered.
“So what if he’s the Minister of Finance? My house is a Sword Count!”
Why?
Sitting in the carriage, Allen listened to the murmurs outside and put on the smug smile of a petty villain.
No reason at all—just because my old man is the Minister of Finance, the leader of the Reform, and the King’s closest ally.
Not happy? Swallow it!
The carriage stopped steadily in front of the Academy’s magnificent gate. The butler opened the door for them.
“Young Master, Miss, please.”
“Thank you,” Livia replied politely.
Allen thought for a moment. They’d probably be chatting quite a bit today, so he said, “Butler, come pick us up around four or five in the afternoon.”
The butler nodded. “Very well, Young Master.”
Allen and Livia stepped down from the carriage side by side, onto this land so familiar it was practically etched into their DNA.
Today was the day the entrance exam results were announced.
Everywhere on campus, students walked in twos and threes, faces full of expectation or anxiety, all heading in the same direction.
As proud nobles, no one wanted to start from a lower point than others.
But when Allen and Livia walked side by side down the tree-lined path, they attracted almost everyone’s attention.
“Look! It’s Miss Livia from House Stern!”
“Oh my god, she’s even more beautiful in person than the rumors said…”
“Who’s that guy next to her? Black hair, golden eyes… never seen him before.”
“Livia, walking with you is quite stressful, you know,” Allen teased, hearing the buzz. “Everyone must be wondering, who is this guy? Hanging so close to the Stern family’s noble lady.”
“Mm, so I should just openly tell them you’re my fiancé?” Livia asked calmly in return. “As a man, would showing off a close relationship with a beautiful girl like me make you happy?”
Allen immediately feigned great pain. “Livia, see, you don’t get me at all. Am I that shallow a person? In the end, won’t everyone’s hatred still be focused on me, the villainous young master?”
“But with me here, you don’t need to worry about their malice, do you?”
That casual “with me here” caught Allen slightly off guard.
He suddenly realized that returning to this place that had brought him countless wounds—that familiar stomach-churning feeling actually hadn’t appeared today.
In fact, his mood was even quite pleasant. It felt like he had beaten an extremely difficult game and now looked back at his countless save files, feeling gratified that his efforts weren’t wasted.
Indeed, clinging tightly to the heroine’s thigh was the best way for a small fry villain to turn things around.
But… Allen’s gaze unconsciously swept over Livia’s beautiful legs wrapped in pure white stockings.
He couldn’t help but sigh—in this cycle, this phoenix-like heroine’s thighs weren’t as thick as his own.
Now, even without a sigil, in terms of pure combat power, he feared no top-tier Crestbearer in a one-on-one fight.
Of course, if they ganged up on him, he’d still die miserably.
But with Livia supporting him, Allen could simply switch the Black Sword to sigil enhancement mode and sit back to watch this Valkyrie slaughter everyone.
No help for it—the Star Sigil, that cheat granted by the Evil God, was just that unreasonable.
Livia was right. Inside, Allen was indeed feeling a bit smug.
Those jealous, envious, resentful gazes from all around greatly satisfied his villainous young master needs.
Even Livia—once his archenemy, the heroine with the “Allen Slayer King” achievement—had become his number one enforcer and fiancée. This was truly a great turn of fortune.
It felt like showing off a newly acquired cute girlfriend to a bunch of friends who always teased him about being single, then casually dropping a “Guys, remember to pay the wedding gift,” and walking off into the sunset with his girl, leaving everyone stunned.
So this was the thrill of showing off and slapping faces?
Who would have thought a villain like me could also enjoy a protagonist’s joy? Hehehe, freaking amazing.
In high spirits, Allen chatted with Livia as they soon approached the bulletin board area.
In front of the massive announcement board, people were packed layer upon layer, the noisy discussion merging into a buzzing wave.
Some were elated, some were sighing in regret, and many were craning their necks, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of their names through the cracks in the crowd.
But Allen didn’t glance at the surging crowd around the board at all. He just walked straight ahead.
Livia had to reach out and lightly tug at his sleeve.
“You passed it.”
“No, I didn’t. Isn’t the Principal’s Office ahead?” Allen said, as if it were the most natural thing.
“Aren’t you looking at the results?”
Allen shrugged, totally unconcerned. “Miss Livia, I am a staunch ‘never check answers after the exam, never look at results’ person. What’s the point of knowing how I did? If you’re not in first place, what’s there to see in the rankings?”
“But you are first,” Livia’s lips curled into a smile. “Just now I heard them talking about who this Allen de Laval at the top is. I never thought you always scored in the middle on purpose, deliberately holding back.”
“Even a fool, after spending so many years in this Academy, could get a perfect score,” Allen scratched his head a little sheepishly. “This time I didn’t hold back and got first. Isn’t that going to be a huge hassle?”
“Mm, looks like the opening ceremony speaker will be you.” Livia closed one eye and looked at him with a smile in the other. “How wonderful. I won’t have to read that speech I’ve recited until I’m sick of it anymore.”
“Tsk.” Allen looked at the distant teaching building, stroked his chin, and put on a deep thinking expression. “What was it like when you were the top student?”
“Like thorns at my back.”
“Exactly. Everyone staring at your lonely, unsurpassed back—it’d be weird if you didn’t feel thorns.” Allen nodded with great understanding.
“But don’t you want to see Marianne’s score?” Livia reminded him.
Allen’s face immediately lit up with a confident smile. “She definitely did very well. Marianne is a very smart girl.”
“Mm, she is extremely intelligent, only… she lacks a little self-confidence.”
Livia’s gaze drifted into the distance, as if recalling scenes from past cycles where she had fought against Marianne, who had completely become a puppet of the Evil God.
Then she thought about how now she could go to school with Marianne, and her heart swelled with emotion.
“Thank you, Allen. You saved Marianne. I can never repay that alone.”
Allen returned to his cheeky demeanor, waving his hand lazily. “If you want to repay me, then get along with Marianne and make up for past regrets. That way everyone can be happy.”
Livia looked at him. Those sharp blue eyes, now aware of the hidden fragility and pain he carried, easily saw through the lingering farewell hidden in his joking words.
“And you?” she asked softly. “Why… in that world where everyone can be happy, is your figure never seen?”
Stared at by Livia’s gaze, which seemed to see straight through his soul, Allen momentarily lost his composure.
He quickly regained his rhythm, coughed dryly, and tried to change the subject. “Just a joke. No need to be so serious, right? Come on, we should go see the Principal.”
“No.”
Livia stubbornly grabbed his hand, refusing to let him go.
“Why say such heartbreaking things? Do you think that either I or Marianne can accept you facing all that despair alone? Can watch you being consumed by hatred, even willing to sacrifice your life for it?”
“If you leave, I will not live alone. In that world where everyone can be happy, you must be the protagonist.”
“…”
Seeing Livia clinging to him, Allen actually got a little annoyed.
What’s with this heroine? Why is she meddling in my affairs, a villainous young master?
What, do you think I’m also part of your conquest list, that you want to save me too, make me happy too?
This belated sympathy and justice only stirred up the dark emotions suppressed deep inside him.
I barely managed to overcome my negative feelings toward you. Saying things like this makes me seem like an irresponsible bad guy.
How many times have I died? Did I want to die?
Now, my fate is not in my hands. How can I be happy? Tell me!
Allen’s expression instantly turned cold.
“Let go of my hand, Miss Livia. You don’t need to concern yourself with my affairs.”
“No.” Livia’s attitude was equally stubborn, not giving an inch. “Your affairs are my affairs. Didn’t you save me on your own accord?”
Just as the atmosphere was about to explode, a frivolous, completely context-ignorant voice suddenly popped up from the side:
“Yo, lovebirds having a fight? Husbands and wives, you know— quarrels at the head of the bed, peace at the foot. Can’t you just lie down and talk it out when you get home?”