Who Made Me a Villainess

Lumiere stared at me in disbelief. After several seconds of gaping like a goldfish, she finally shut her mouth and massaged her temples.

“Listen, I acknowledge your skills and am aware that you’re gifted in magic. I’ve personally witnessed you dismantling several spells, including a royal-grade geas and the high-level curse cast upon my father. All said and done, though, you’re the same age as I am. How are you qualified to be my magic tutor?”

“Given that you’re currently incapable of casting even the most basic of spells, any mage is qualified to tutor you.”

“Father!”

Lumiere spun as Damien Ombre stepped into the reception hall, a grin spreading across his face.

“Besides, he is the only mage outside of the family who I trust at the moment.”

His daughter’s gaze sharpened. “What do you mean?”

“The curse placed on me…” Ombre sighed. “I have no evidence, but I suspect a royal mage cast it under the guise of a protective charm.”

I suddenly recalled the royal mage approaching Ombre after his wife’s funeral. The one in his memories. Could it be…?

“Also, given how none of the priests and mages I hired have ever uncovered the cause of my malady, I suspect the conspiracy runs far deeper than we can ever imagine.” Ombre’s jaw tightened. “Under such circumstances, I am wary of allowing any mage into our household, save someone who has proven himself.”

“And since Sir Trevor is the only one who successfully lifted your curse…” Understanding dawned on her.

“Exactly.” Her dad nodded. “He is currently the only mage we can confirm who is not our enemy.”

“Fine.” Lumiere folded her arms and glowered at me. “Then, how will you teach me magic? A note of warning…I have tried repeatedly to muster my mana and cast spells, but somehow, I am unable to. I don’t know if it’s a disability, or if there’s something causing it.”

“There are no known magical disabilities,” Ombre mused. “I’ve already consulted priests. Of course, as I said, I currently don’t trust them, given what happened to me…” He paused and stared at me. “But perhaps you can find the root cause for Lumi, just as you did for me.”

“I’ll do my best,” I replied. But I was already recalling Diane’s ominous warning from over a week ago. She had mentioned Lumiere was also cursed. Could that be what caused her inability to use magic?

“If it’s you, I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah, shall we begin?” I looked around awkwardly, wondering if we could leave the reception hall already. Despite his friendliness toward me, for some reason, whenever I was near Lumiere, her dad started behaving strangely. Whether it was that twitching vein in his temple, a forced, crooked smile, or a crinkling of his eyes as he did his utmost to conceal his killing intent.

This guy, does he want his daughter to learn magic or not?

“Fine. Father, do you mind if we use the library?”

“Not at all.”

“Uh…” As I walked past him, I glanced over my shoulder anxiously. He was still quivering ever so slightly, and when I drew close enough, I realized he was mumbling.

“He’s better than his highness Prince Leonard. He can be trusted. He’s better than his highness Prince Leonard. He can be trusted.”

My lord, you’re creeping me out.

“What are you waiting for? This way.”

Fortunately, Lumiere remained oblivious to her dad’s eccentricities, and bade me to follow her. I hurried, relieved that we were leaving him behind, and less than a few minutes later, I found myself inside a large library, surrounded by dozens of shelves. Desks were arranged neatly within, with soft, couch-like chairs to maximize reading comfort.

Lumiere strode toward a desk in the middle, where books were strewn in several messy piles. From a glance at the various titles, I could tell they were all manuals on how to cast spells. The owner of those books dropped into a huge chair, sinking into the cushions, and crossed her arms. Instead of resuming her reading, she glowered at me.

“Last week, what did you do to my father?”

“Uh, I lifted the curse placed on him.”

“You turned him into an idiot.”

Recalling his strange mumbling from earlier, I discovered that I couldn’t deny that.

“Well, it’s fine. Father was always an idiot before Mother’s passing…and I much prefer him this way. A drop in IQ is a small price to pay for getting rid of his heartlessness.”

Was there a note of delight I heard in her otherwise caustic words?

“I’m glad then,” I said dryly.

“So..um…thank you.” She looked away, embarrassed. “I realize I have yet to express my gratitude.”

“I only did what anyone else would have done.”

“No.” Her ruby gaze sharpened. “Father is correct. He consulted lots of mages and priests over the years, and none of them realized he was cursed? Something’s not right here. You were the only one who found the cause of his malady and eliminated it. It’s certainly not something ‘anyone else’ could have done.”

“Uh…” I was feeling uncomfortable. To ease the awkwardness, I forced a chuckle. “You know, I thought you were going to berate me for changing events and disrupting whatever plans you might have.”

“Normally, I would,” she conceded with a wry smile. “And you’ve altered events so much that I have no idea how this life will unfold any longer. But…I suppose I can live with unpredictability if it means having my father return to normal. Again, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me just yet. Wait until you can start using magic first.”

“Believe me, I’ve tried.” Lumiere picked up a tome and flipped through the pages. Stopping at a specific instruction, she placed the book back on the desk and raised her hand. There was no mana reaction, nothing. A few seconds later, she lowered it in frustration. “I simply can’t…feel it.”

“Allow me.”

I approached her, kneeling beside her couch and in front of her desk, and reached out with a hand. She smacked me.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Reading. Analyzing.”

“Do you really have to come this close just to analyze me?”

“Uh…yeah?”

“You didn’t get this close to my father!”

“The curse on your father was a lot more powerful and visible. However, the curse on you is much subtler. I’ve yet to detect it.”

Lumiere glared at me suspiciously for a moment before she frowned. “Wait…are you saying I’m cursed? Is that why I can’t use magic?”

“Yeah.”

“And you came to this conclusion…how, exactly? Because my father was cursed, you deduced that I must be, as well? Even though you admitted that you haven’t detected anything?”

“Actually, there was a brief…uh, flare when I was lifting your father’s curse, which resonated with something inside you.”

I couldn’t exactly tell her that I met her mother in a dreamlike meadow and received the information from her. She would think I had gone crazy.

“Fine. But keep your distance.” Lumiere squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. There was a slight reddening of her face and ears, and I didn’t blame her. Any normal young lady wouldn’t be comfortable with some random guy being in such close physical proximity with them.

Alas, I didn’t have a choice. If I didn’t get a closer look, I wouldn’t be able to locate the curse that Diane mentioned.

My fingers trembled as I tried to poke the air around Lumiere. There was a floral fragrance that wafted, and I breathed it in subconsciously. My face burned, and my pulse quickened, accelerating the closer I leaned in. Despite her harsh words, Lumiere was undoubtedly beautiful, her features flawless and her figure curvaceous. Any guy would be attracted to her.

Leonard was an idiot for dumping her.

“What did you say?” Lumiere’s eyes snapped open. I wondered if I had accidentally said my thoughts aloud.

“Nothing. Just trying to find the curse…eh?”

There was something resonating near her bosom. My eyes wandered downward naturally as I attempted to piece together…

“Stop being a creep!” Lumiere smacked me before covering her chest. I rubbed my reddened forehead, though I didn’t know if the burning was from a bruise or embarrassment.

“I’m not! It’s just that… I sensed mana there!”

“Huh? Maybe you mean this?” Lumiere produced the pendant that I saw previously, sliding it out of her blouse and bringing it to the open. It was glowing faintly, and though it emanated mana, it wasn’t exactly what I was searching for.

However, it gave me direction. Runic rays were projected from the pendant toward Lumiere’s chest, where her heart would normally be located.

“I’ve found it.”

“Huh? Wait, what are you…?”

I didn’t wait. I reached out. Fortunately, I didn’t have to make physical contact, as threads of mana rose from her chest, coalescing into a runic circle that glowed a vicious violet. My fingertips brushed against it, causing purple embers to erupt.

“What the hell is this?!”

“The curse.” I was sure of it. With a flick, I expanded the runic circle and studied it. The verses were familiar, composed from the same rhythm of the curse placed upon her father. Both malicious enchantments on father and daughter were clearly crafted by the same individual.

The memory of the royal mage from after the funeral flashed across my mind again.

“Well, given I’ve done this before, I can do it again.”

Same patterns, same solution. I wove my own runes, disrupting the rhymes and flow. I dismantled semantic meaning and rendered metaphor meaningless by adding alliteration to break down sorcerous stanzas visible only to me. Time ticked past, shadows surged, and esoteric energies erupted, but I controlled them as I would edit an errant paragraph, replacing its meaning with my own and triggering a chain of words that would lead to its eventual destruction.

The circle shattered to purple fragments, the sparkling gems dissipating like shooting stars. Lumiere watched in wonder, mesmerized by the scene, before her hands returned to clutching both pendant and bosom.

“Huh, I don’t…” She stopped, her eyes widening briefly. “No, I feel…I feel it.”

Crimson currents of mana swirled around her hands, and she stretched them out, watching the fiery energies coalesce. With a snap of her fingers, she ignited a spark, meticulously composing it into a flame.

“T…Trevor.” She turned to stare at me, her voice trembling and honorifics forgotten. Given what was transpiring, I had every reason to excuse her dispensing decorum. “I…I can feel mana now. I can cast spells now!”

“Congratulations, Lady Lumiere.” I beamed, sinking to my haunches as I felt both pride and weariness wash over me. “You’ve taken your first step onto the path of magehood.”