The Villainess Wants To Be A Sidekick - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: One Litre Of Tears For Lumins

“…”

“…”

Both Lumins and Velkina fell silent at the sight of my tears, and only the sounds of my sniffling were heard in the hall.

Ah, I’m screwed.

I had been so thrilled to meet Lumins in my dream that I briefly lost control of my emotions. Now that he and Velkina were staring at me, I wondered how I was going to escape this awkward predicament.

Surely they would have also found it strange if I were to stop crying all of a sudden, so I forced myself to keep weeping.

“Hic, huaah, hic!”

I cried and cried like I had just lost everything, and then I heard his voice.

“Hey, Velkina…” Lumins turned to the girl beside him. “What did you do to Miss Senephin?”

“What?” she looked back in surprise. “Don’t get me wrong, Lumins. We didn’t talk about anything that would have brought tears to our eyes.”

“Really? You didn’t sneak around and secretly take a jab at her?”

“Ay, Lumins is a meanie.”

Maybe I was crying because I realized I was inside a game. Regardless of the reason for my tears, this was not the right time for me to stand around admiring these two characters who were in the middle of strengthening their friendship. I contemplated what I should do next.

I did my best to finish weeping and dried my tears. As I peered closer at Velkina, I noticed that the clothes she wore were part of the “Magic Researcher” costume. Her wearing that set meant I was somewhere near the beginning of the game.

However, I also recognized that it was possible we were not following the game’s original timeline accurately since we were inside a dream. As a result, the events unfolding before me might not be happening as I expect.

From what I recalled, Velkina had been introduced at the start of the game as an orphan who was scouted for her special skill in magic. Her talent led her to enter the kingdom’s Magic Research Institute as a sorceress in training.

Anyone who had ever observed Velkina’s interactions with others knew that there was one particular individual who thought of her as nothing but a thorn in their side. That person was Senephin Cromwell, who had also happened to be the previous owner of this body.

Despite this known animosity between them, I was surprised to hear Velkina address me as “Miss Senephin” instead of just Senephin. Were we already past the part of the story where Velkina started adding “Miss” to her name?

“Miss Senephin, why don’t you calm down first and then go back to your quarters? Please wipe your tears with this…”

Velkina held out a white handkerchief to me and looked at my tear-streaked face with worry.  Her ability to respond so kindly to Senephin, who constantly harassed her, demonstrated that Velkina was indeed such a magnanimous, kind-hearted female lead.

Anyway, before my mind had gone off on a tangent, I remembered that Velkina had said, “I was talking to Miss Senephin before you called me.” Additionally, Lumins was still present, and I noted that he had not yet glared at me with contempt…

Putting all the pieces together, I surmised that I must have been somewhere before the event where Senephin calls out Velkina and slaps her face before telling her to leave the Magic Research Institute.

I sighed with relief. If we had been passed that point, Lumins would have certainly glowered disdainfully instead of showing me such a soft, concerned face. Oh well, I wouldn’t have blamed him even if he did look upon me with disgust, since I was supposed to be exceptionally cruel to his precious friend, after all. Lumins, it’s not your fault for hating me, and you know that, right?

After organizing the situation in my head, I figured that I needed to come up with an excuse to explain my previous, peculiar behavior. I decided that I would speak carefully while wiping my tears with the white handkerchief given to me by Velkina.

“How sweet of you, Lady Velkina…” I began slowly. “Thank you very much. You’re so kind.”

“Mi-, Miss Senephin?”

“Don’t call me that. I’m just a lowly person. From now on, just call me Senephin. You don’t have to be so polite to me.”

Velkina fidgeted unsurely. Her uncertainty was to be expected. If I were her, I would have also felt confused and anxious over the fact that the person who had been bullying me thus far suddenly started weeping and pretending to be a changed person.

But this was my dream, and there was no merit or benefit to me becoming a wicked woman here! Moreover, how could I act that way in front of Lumins?

I pushed forward with the last-minute explanation that my brain had just made up on the spot. My alibi would be that I had eaten something wrong yesterday, and the discomfort had caused me to act maliciously toward her. For now, I told myself I should apologize to Velkina.

“I’m so ashamed of it, but I want to tell you that I…”

“Velkina.”

Before the word “apologize” could even leave my mouth, a certain young man’s voice interjected and caused me to stop mid-sentence.

I belatedly realized that I had forgotten to wipe my tears with the handkerchief. As I raised my head, Lumins gazed down at me with a smile. Velkina also turned her attention to him.

“I think Miss Senephin is very tired, so I’ll escort her back to her quarters. You had work that you needed to finish today, right? Don’t worry about her and just go on ahead.”

“But…”

“Why don’t we talk about what happened next time, once Lady Senephin feels better?”

Though the expression on his face was pleasant, his tone was forceful and demanded unconditional obedience. No objections or further discussions were allowed.

Of course, when he speaks to me with that smile, how can I possibly say no? There was no way I could disagree with him.

“Yes… ♡”

Oh, I had just unknowingly responded to him with hearts in my eyes. While thinking about my actions, I made up my mind to do as Lumins said and bade farewell to Velkina. Afterward, I followed him to my quarters.