For a split second, Gilles just stares at me, stunned. But thereafter he brings his hand up to stroke his chin and a wrinkle forms between his brows as he gets lost in thought.
He mutters to himself as he thinks, though his voice is so low that I can’t pick out any of the words. After a seemingly long while, his hand suddenly drops and he turns his gaze back to stare at me.
“I think you should be able to use it again after about a week’s time,” he says very gently.
“Why do you think that?”
“I read it in a book once. That your eyes are one of the epicenters of your magic power…. so to suddenly lost one, it makes sense that it would be difficult to use magic for a while after that, right?”
“Will my level stay the same?”
“That… I don’t know,” Gilles says, a slightly troubled expression drifting onto his face.
If my level did fall, then I’ll be removed from my position as Liz Cather’s monitor….
But, before I even worry about that, I need to be able to make it through this week without anyone discovering that I can’t use magic.
“Hey… What about Gramps? Shouldn’t he be able to use magic?” Gilles asks with a strange expression on his face.
…..Huh. That’s right. Grandpa Will belongs to the Seeker family. So of course he should be able to use magic.
But he’s never shown any indication that he could before…. And if he could use magic, doesn’t that mean he could have left the impoverished village any time he wanted? So why would he stay? Or rather, why was he there in the first place? He’s part of the royal family! The king’s older brother! So why….? Ugh, I really don’t get it. His identity makes this whole situation just that much more confusing.
The more I try to think about it, the more my mind feels like it’s running in never-ending circles.
“Duke would probably know,” Gilles whispers expressionlessly.
That’s true. If it’s Duke-Sama, he really might know. However, I don’t think he’d tell us even if he did.
“Anyway… what are you going to do? About your magic?” Gilles asks me, his tone low and serious.
“Hmm. Well, there’s nothing much I can do for the time being. So, for now I’d like to go to the academy and verify what the situation is like there.”
“Hah? You’re gonna go to the academy?” Gilles demands, his expression both surprised and confused.
Hm, was that so unexpected? I didn’t think it would be that surprising of a decision.
And here I was thinking that verifying Liz-san’s current state and circumstances was quite the logical first move. Evaluating your opponent’s strengths is a must. A villainess can’t allow herself to just dive in blind and bumble around.
“Wait…. Do you seriously want to continue monitoring Liz Cather in your current state?” Gilles continues, incredulously.
“……So is it true that Henry-Oniisama and Father aren’t speaking to each other at all?” I say, completely ignoring his question.
Gilles lets out a little sigh as if he’s given up.
“Yes. Henry one-sidedly hates him.”
“Poor Father.”
Henry-Oniisama doesn’t know anything about my role as Liz Cather’s monitor. So when he heard about those conditions that Father foisted upon me, of course he’d be mad. Even fully knowing the situation, Father’s conditions were nonsensical. And to force meaningless conditions on his daughter for no apparent reason…. In Henry-Oniisama’s eyes, Father must be a complete failure as a parent.
For someone who’s being kept in the dark, his reaction is natural. At least, it’s natural for an ordinary brother who actually cares about his little sister.
Unfortunately, in my case, my goal is actually to be hated by all of my brothers, so this sort of response isn’t exactly ideal.
But I guess it can’t be helped. Henry-Oniisama is just being a good big brother. It’s not a bad feeling, knowing he’s still on my side but…. I’d prefer it if he turned his back on me now rather than later. Since eventually…. he’s sure to betray me. It’s my fate as a villainess after all.
If I let him in now, it will only make it that much harder for me to stand upright and alone later. My aloof and independent image is at stake here!
“Alright! Let’s go to academy!”
“Right now? No way…. Are you planning to avoid Arnold until your magic comes back?”
Oof. He really hit the nail on the head with that one. I knew he’d eventually catch on, but I didn’t think I’d be seen through this quickly.
But what other options do I have? If I see Father now, he’s sure to want to test my magical level right away. And that is not something that I can afford in my current state.
Wait…. did he just call my father, Arnold? Just how close did those two get while I was gone?
“Exactly. For the next week, I’ll just have to avoid him like the plague. I have no intention of seeing him until I get my magic back. But, anyway, I need to change, so please wait for me outside for a moment. I’ll be right out.”
“Okay… But, first I have one last question. Why do you want to be a villainess so badly, Alicia?”
That’s the first time anybody’s ever asked me that.
Which is actually rather surprising. Any normal person would probably be wondering the same thing.
But if I tell him that it’s because I admire villainesses, that probably won’t be enough. Merely admiring them is one thing, but wanting to become one is another thing entirely. So, if he once again asks me why, I don’t know what I’d say after that…
But, I really do want to become one.
….They’re just so cool! However, I wouldn’t be caught dead admitting that as the reason. It sounds much too shallow and immature.
It’s a reasonable question, but it’s hard to come up with a good answer. I’ve wanted to become one for so long, and never really tried to put my reason into words before.
“Because it is my destiny,” I finally go with, smiling broadly in satisfaction. I think that answer should do for the present!
T/N: We have some smart… cookies… in the comment’s section I see! (XD) I see you Ame cla, Sky Zenith, F_J, and Anonymous! All y’all that suggested mana depletion aren’t wrong either, but these three actually connected it to her missing eye!
Also, am I the only one a little disappointed with Alicia’s answer? I really would have liked to hear her reason after she thinks long and hard about it. But then again, that was a very Alicia answer XD Maybe I’m just asking for too much haha.
Carnation Scans 
That’s a bit shocking. Also I like her one brother and hope she will eventually let him in more.
We’ve had hints throughout at the possible underlying reasons, but our heroine is the queen of avoidance in many ways, so that answer is inline with her character
Unfortunately, although the first chapters suggested saner reasons for her choice via contrast with the shallow heroine of the game, making her motivation back then sound quite reasonable, at times she’s regressing painfully and she gives the most ridiculous and immature arguments(at least mentally)…plus, at one point she actually annoys me by doing 1 thing she’d been berating the heroine for in the very beginning. While she often claims she admires villainesses, she also implies that she’s going along with what she believes it’s been preset for her and she can’t avoid(the same ol’ trope with transmigrated/reincarnated girls who don’t want to be the bad guy or get the bad end).
All the while doing small things she tries to argue as selfish vilainnessy things, even as they are normal teenage slip ups for a girl who apparently does want a loving family, friends and even the guy she thinks will end up falling for the Flower Head and betray her.
She’s adorable in her awkward stubbornness and pile of quirks, but also so very frustrating…
Okay, this was one place where I got intensely pissed off at our little villainess and at Gilles. She absolutely should be laying low for a week now. She’s been gone for two years, so another week can’t change a thing, and now she’s handicapped. At the very least, wait until you confirm that your magic will come back.
I have already have this bad feeling about this king guy… maybe, he was the reason as to why Will-gramps was blind and stuck to the impoverished village.
I feel like Alicia is just afraid because deep down she believes that she’d never be able to avoid her horrible fate of being alone and hated. In the face of that fear, she’s decided to go all out in the opposite direction and be the best villainess she can be. That way it won’t be a disappointment but a triumph. So in this way her answer of because it’s her destiny is truly why she’s trying so so hard.
Thanks for the new chapter!
Thank you 💕
I have learned patience and how to wait patiently, oh so patiently, for what I want… Let’s go to the academy RIGHT NOW!!
huuh what kinda reasoning is that… i am disappointed at how uncool that was lol