I’m a Villainess but So Popular

Editor : Aru

“What’s your name?”

“Ye, Yerine.”

“I see.”

A boy with golden eyes resembling the sun said with a stony smile.

“My name is Cassius.”

I thought it was a good name.

“Why are you covering one of your eyes?”

The boy asked in a clear voice.

At his words, gently pressing my ankles neatly together, I said.

“……it’s ugly.”

I heard the maids whispering.

They said the Duke’s daughter looked different from others.

Unlike her father, who was born with fine eyes, she has creepy red eyes.

“It feels a little reluctant to see it.”

The maid who said that no longer stayed in my house.

Because she was fired after my father heard that she was talking about my appearance.

But to this day, her voice still vividly pressed against my ears.

‘And because I don’t want to hurt anyone.’

How many people have been hurt by these eyes?

Not only did my father and mother get small burns, but I also got big and small wounds.

With my head down, I looked only at the ground.

Long bangs pierced my eyes.

It didn’t matter, though.

“But isn’t it frustrating?”

“It’s bearable.”

“But, ah, are you worried that I might say it’s ugly?”

At first, I covered my eyes to prevent the use of magic.

‘Isn’t it natural to worry about that?’

But by the time I found out that I was different from others, I was afraid of their chattering.

“You don’t have to cover it in front of me.”

Cassius said, tilting his head.

“I won’t say it’s ugly, so it’s okay, Yerine.”

Cassius clenched his fists in both hands and said in a steady voice.

“No, I said no.”

I turned my head to the side and snapped back. I’m sure he’ll say it’s creepy when he sees my eyes.

“Wait, excuse me, but let me–”

“Hold, hold on, what are you doing……….”

Before I could finish speaking, a bright light shone in my left eye.

The cool wind touched my eyes and gave me a chill.

“…….”

Cassius sat still with his mouth open, without saying a word.

It was as if he was shocked.

“See. This is why I told you not to look.”

In an irritated voice, I pulled down his arm and raised my hand.

But at that moment, Cassius muttered an unknown word.

“Pretty…”.”

I didn’t know what he was talking about.

But somehow, I felt like crying.

“I’m sorry, Mom, Dad.”

I swept the bangs that were covering my left eye to the sideways.

In front of my eyes was a large, huge winged snake flapping its tongue.

It was Caracas, famous for its ferocious poison.

“Ye, Yerine, run!”

Cassius pulled the sleeves of my right arm and shouted with a tear-stained face.

But I couldn’t.

If he runs away like this, he will die with a leg injury.

I pulled my sleeve out of Cassius’s desperate grip on me.

And with flame magic in both hands, with vertically torn yellow pupils,

I went towards the snake looking at me.

Then my left eye was getting hot.

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“Huh, Ye, Yerine…….”

When I came to my senses, Cassius was holding me up and shedding tears.

I wanted to tell him not to cry, but my mouth couldn’t move.

My eyes were aching heavily.

My body was as heavy as watery cotton.

“What do I do, I’m sorry, I, I don’t know how to use healing magic yet…….”

Big drops of tears fell from his golden eyes.

“I’m sorry, please, someone help me!”

My eyes closed again.

It’s not his fault. I also agreed with the suggestion to explore the forest. There were many things I wanted to say, but my mouth couldn’t fall.

“Yerine!”

The last thing I saw was the blurred figure of a man running from afar.

“My, please, help me. Please save Yerine!”

Everything felt into the darkness with a blurring voice.

***

It was not the golden eyes with tears that greeted me the moment I opened my eyes.

‘What is this?’

As I jumped out of bed like a spring, I caught sight of familiar scenery.

“Ha.”

Sighing with my hand in my sizzling left eye.

Now I have a rough idea.

Why Cassius first saw me and said I was his saviour.

‘I didn’t expect that to happen.’

If I had remembered this from the beginning, I would have understood Cassius’ strange behaviour.

‘It looks like I suffered and was uncontrolled in the process of saving Cassius.’

I had a complicated mind.

The left eye was burning hot.

Anxiety came upon my mind.

The anxiety that I may be as uncontrolled as Yerine was.

***

“Cassius”

“Huh?”

While working on data sorting in the study, I caught a chance to talk to Cassius.

“How’s your bed?”

“I think you’ve asked me that last time.”

It’s already been a week since Cassius lived in my mansion.

He didn’t say anything, but because of my request, he might be nervous about staying here.

“Just because it’s not easy to be away from home.”

Academy’s dormitory was one of the highest quality, but I was also more comfortable in my own mansion than the dormitory.

“It’s alright. It’s rather comfortable here.”

Cassius said with a big smile.

I was a little relieved because he was definitely not acting.

“Really? I’m glad to hear that, but….”

“I like it here better.”

Cassius gave an immediate answer without hesitation.

He certainly seemed to like this place.

I don’t know why.

“However, the Duke’s mansion can’t be as good as the Prince’s Palace.”

Then Cassius shook his head.

“No, it’s great here, too.”

Then Cassius, who was about to say something, stopped in the middle and shut his mouth.

His eyes were filled with difficulties.

“What’s wrong, Cassius?”

“Oh, nothing.”

I asked Cassius, who’s tilting his head, to try to avoid the answer.

“Why? You can say it.”

“Oh, no, just…”

Cassius, who was answering like that, sighed deeply and spoke in a slightly weak voice.

“It’s so lonely there.”

Cassius’s eyes, bringing up the words, looked lonesome.

It was the eye that held the light, but at the same time cast a shadow.

“Because there’s no one to talk to.”

“Really?”

I asked, with astonished eyes wide open.

It was the place where the prince of the Empire lived, and management could not have been done without people.

Since it’s the place where the prince lives, he should be taken care of by many people.

“Aren’t there so many people working in the Imperial Palace? There are probably some maids and servants that I’ve seen since I was a child.”

“Eum………..”

In my words, Cassius put his finger around his mouth and agonized.

“Surely there are quite a few servants. But everyone really does what they have to do. They don’t talk to me very much.”

Then he looked me in the eye and smiled at me with a broad smile.

“So I don’t think there’s anyone I can share my mind with.”

“Well, what about your family member…….?”

“They won’t come.”

Cassius didn’t think for a second about the answer to my question.

Somehow I felt sorry for him.

“Because I’m the Second Prince, and I’m not the one to be the Emperor. There’s no reason for them to look at me.”

Cassius said in a sweet, crude voice as if nothing had happened.

He has already got used to loneliness.

So I didn’t know what to say.

“Well, so I like this place better.”

Cassius said with a smile.

“Because you really care about me.”

It was a different smile than before.

It was not an awkward smile, trying to hide the loneliness.

It was a subtle smile, like a floral scent, that expressed deep sincerity.

“I’m glad you thought so.”

“Really?”

Cassius’s eyes bent like crescents, drawing lines.

On second thought, there was no more loneliness in his eyes.

His eyes were soft as if to embrace a lovely presence.

“Well, not just for that reason, but in fact, I’m fine wherever you are.”

I seemed to be dizzy in the enormous lines Cassius uttered out of his mouth.

‘Wow, that’s a little strong.’

Somehow my ears were burning red.

I was afraid of this part of him.

Every time he said something embarrassing without any notice, my heart thumped.

In my previous life, I snorted when I read that the male lead of the novel spits out such lines.

But when I heard Cassius express his feelings with his whole body and say such things, my face was so hot.

‘This, I have to turn the topic somehow~’

When my head was spinning, Cassius called my name.

“Oh, Yerine, I think you can refer to this book.”

In that way, Cassius pulled the book with the green cover off the shelf.

“I’ll leave it here on the desk.”

Only then I could calm down myself a little.

The heat dissipated when the mind calmed down.

So with a nonchalant smile, I could thank Cassius.

“Thank you.”

The moment I opened the book and tried to write down what I needed, I suddenly remembered the dream I had last night.

It was so vivid that I felt like I was going through everything myself.

‘I know roughly what happened.’

But the dream was incomplete.

It seemed quite a long time ago that Yerine and Cassius had been friends, but I didn’t see all the memories of that period.

Also, the memories before and after the accident were not complete as if it has holes in some parts.

“I think I should talk about it.’

I coughed loudly, tried to clear my voice.

When he heard that some of my memories of it had returned, it was clear that Cassius would react violently.

He would have been eager for me to recall the memory of it.

“Well, Cassius.”

“Yes, Yerine, why?”

Cassius, who was browsing through the title of the book on the shelf, turned around and said,

“Any other questions?”

He asked, trudging his steps toward the desk where I was sitting.

“Oh, yes.”

“Yes, ask me anything.”

Cassius replied with a quiet face…

His face overlapped with the young Cassius’ face that I saw in my dream.

‘The face still remains from that time.’

Thinking inwardly, I carefully took off my words.

“Well, Cassius.”

He nodded and listened to me.

“In the past, when we first met……..”

It was just that moment.

The necklace on one side of the desk gave off a strong light.

“Huh?”

In the glare of great momentum, Cassius had a surprised look on his face, and I hurriedly snatched the necklace and put it on my hand.

When I tapped the necklace with my left index finger, the light calmed down, and the writing appeared in the air.

‘There’s something urgent in broad daylight on holidays..’

The contact came from the Duke of Ale Club.

And when I checked her hurried letter through the necklace, I froze on the spot.

“What did you say…? ”

The contents of the writing in the air were like this.

[Postade Mother and Son, sudden death in the Wiltern Prison.]

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