The streets of the academy were enveloped in dim lamps, deep into the night, when most in the academy was asleep, but at this time, players were still able to roam around. Of course, the borders between the lower and higher years were still guarded and inaccessible, but Xian's destination wasn't there.
After handing Miri over to the student stationed at the girls' dormitory, he left with Carmillia at his side. The flustered student could only mutter meekly that what they were going to do was forbidden, her cheeks flushed red. Xian paid no mind to whatever misunderstanding is in her head.
He knew the academy grounds well enough from the game. He walked ahead of Carmillia toward a secluded fountain in a walled garden, its stonework half-hidden beneath tangled vines. If Carmillia chose to use magic here, Xian would be unable to stop her.
Xian thought about what happened earlier. By delaying Carmillia's death, he now questioned what his regression point would be if she died. Less than a day had passed since his last regression in the examination grounds, and he had no desire to repeat those events. Deep within him, an aversion to such a situation stirred, like an instinct. Yet he couldn't pinpoint the reason.
For now, he managed to salvage the situation, and Carmillia's affection level had stabilized at [Black Heart: 2]. The follow-up quest remained silent and unchanged, meaning Carmillia could still change her mind at any moment and kill him—or herself.
Upon their arrival, Carmillia briefly surveyed the area. Xian let her be and silently awaited her instructions. Seemingly satisfied with the place, she faintly smiled at him as if nothing had happened at all.
That smile was mesmerizing as usual, tinged with her distinct temptress expression, showing just how well she wielded her beauty. Xian fell for her face once again.
The desire to possess her surged within him. However, in Carmillia's eyes, his empty stare and silence were proof that her beauty held no sway, and she misunderstood entirely—believing him to be a man with exceptional facade.
"You're really willing to accept my brand? No questions?" Carmillia asked, tilting her head, her faint smile daring him.
She leaned slightly forward, hands behind her back like a playful child, as if she hadn't just attempted suicide and blamed him.
"I am," Xian said evenly. "Though I would appreciate any warnings my lady has kept from me."
"Hm. You can accuse me of hiding things now. Is it because Serika and Lucinelle aren't by my side? Such an arrogant butler." Instead of answering, Carmillia circled him with unhurried steps. Xian's eyes flicked to the ground beneath her, just in case, but Carmillia noticed and chuckled.
"Calm down. I won't kill you, nor myself." She backtracked her steps and gazed at him. "I admit, the prolonged absence of my trusted subordinates was rather unsettling. I thought they would be by my side until the end for the sake of my 'peace'."
'Peace? Peacefully sowing discord in the protagonist's group until their bonds shattered?' Xian scoffed inwardly. There was no way she led a peaceful life in the academy—he had already faced enough trouble back when he chose to go along with Carmillia's wishes, desperate to find her route.
A sadistic villainess, evil for the sake of her role, manipulative for the sake of hindering the player. That was Carmillia, thus, Xian didn't believe a word of what she said. Not one bit.
"If that is so, then please proceed with the branding. Tell me what I need to do, young miss." Xian didn't want to waste time. The earlier she placed her branding, the sooner her can see the result if this decision affects the quest.
"You're quite eager. Its a shame you're not my type, or this might almost feel like a romantic situation." Carmillia teased. To her, it was a harmless jab, but Xian felt a sting inside. "One where I'm marking something to be mine." That line reminded him that the Carmillia he once pursued in the game could be far more unpredictable now that she was real.
"But you know, I'm curious why you'd go that far to keep me alive." She stopped, her reflection rippling against the fountain's moonlit surface.
"My continued stay in this academy lies in the safety of your life, young miss. Thus, I cannot and will ano allow any harm to you like a true butler. At the same time, I have a goal that needs to be achieved in the academy."
"That goal… must be so important to you, to tie your life to mine. Involving the higher ups academy perhaps? The students parents? Or maybe… involving outsiders?" The villainess had recovered from her earlier distress and was now probing his intentions. Xian much preferred her shaken state.
At the mention of an 'outsider', Xian's fists tightened. By that, she meant the other power trying to compete with the academy. The imperial power.
It was a dangerous speculation, but he can only let her mind wander about right now. After all, his goal was a ridiculous harem ending, something the game famously punished the player for.
"All that I can assure you, young miss, is that my goal will not undermine you." He lifted his gaze to meet hers.
Trying to hide information would raise suspicions, but it's not like his goal were believable. Who would believe that he's only in the academy for such a selfish reason? He chose instead to 'leak' fabricated intentions.
"Is it really too much to know at this point? Aren't you pledging your life to me?"
"…" Xian only had silence as an answer.
"But it's curious, how you're so fearless of death and the brand. Perhaps you have a countermeasure I don't know about?"
'Did I talk too much?' Xian frowned, his mind racing. Unlike the game where choices appeared on a screen, here, decisions have to be made in real time.
"That's a good expression. Unpleasant as your face is, it finally betrays your thoughts." Carmillia had a slight smirk as her eyes lingered on Xian's furrowed brows.
'This girl…' Xian's frown eased, his apprehension slipped as a annoyance bubbled inside him. He almost felt like trying to regress right this moment.
"Oh? Are you annoyed? Angry?" Carmillia chuckled softly, seemingly pleased. Her butler's stern mask didn't seem so unreadable now.
She enjoyed pushing buttons to draw out reactions. It was a act she excelled in, most loathing that attitude and some fanatically admiring her more. For a while, neither of them spoke, only the rushing waters of the fountain and rustling leaves can be heard.
Finally the villainess broke the silence with a sigh. "You can go now."
"Young miss?"
"The brand takes time and effort. A few weeks at least, since I'm in the academy and not in my personal manor. Your willingness to follow me without hesitation have already shown me enough." While it wasn't a wise move, Carmillia preferred her pawns that way anyway. Obedient and reckless.
Xian stared with slight disbelief. Just moments ago she had blamed him, nearly killed them both, and left Miri unconscious. Now the matter was simply postponed?
"Or what? Did you think I could conjure a brand at will?"
'That's how it worked in the game…' He remembered Gumin, who engraved brands instantly at the cost of practically negligible mana.
"Hmph, It's a complicated magic." Carmillia said, reading his expression. "If improperly scribed, it could explode and reduce us both to bits." She smiled faintly. "Though, I do have some ideas on how you serve your purpose in the meantime."
'I still need to regain those lost affection points…' Xian thought grimly, the ninety points lost because of a matter he didn't know about. "Which is?"
"You'll find out first thing in the morning." Amusement glimmered in her eyes as she turned and left, leaving Xian nervous for the next day to come.
'The orientation starts tomorrow…' Xian glanced toward the distant clock tower. He had plenty of time yet, time he'd spend organizing his thoughts until sleep came.
In just one day, far too much had happened.
First, they encountered a dangerous heroine who regressed—something he thought impossible due to her story's nature. At least her regression could occur only once, unlike his own repeated cycles. Yet dread bubbled in him at the thought of regression.
He wasn't used to relying on instinct, but this time the feeling was undeniable. Regression was too powerful to be without a catch.
Then came Carmillia's assassination attempt. He had used items to prevent her death, thinking it an opportunity to erase a troublesome heroine, only to discover her killer was a pawn.
It was his sixth regression since coming to this world. If Carmillia died again, it would be his seventh.
'Is there a consequence after all?' Something that the entities purposely didn't mention?
'They did say I'm going to be punished, doing what I love again and again.' He recalled the entities that brought him here, telling him to reach 'the proper end'. Perhaps, regression as a power was the result of that condition.
In novels he read, it usually ends in finding happiness in life. But for Xian, happiness was making all the heroines his. A tried and tested route that leads to bad end in the game.
'Is this how they'll break me?'
For the first time, he glimpsed the madness that lay ahead. A life of endless loops and past blurred until he didn't know whats what anymore.
"Regressing doesn't seem so overpowered now, sigh."
That day, Xian woke up particularly late with just enough time to prepare and tend to himself. He didn't get to visit Carmillia and that was a failure as a butler.
'But I only need to keep up the pretense. Attendants will be dispatched to her anyways and Miri… Miri has no choice but to go.' He wondered if the maid had been properly healed and is ready for work. Highly trained personnel like her, despite belonging on the 'Mortal' class, recover quick, because they are trained hinder opponents that can use Aura and Mana.
Xian suddenly had a thought and wondered how they classified the normal folks and people who can use magic and aura in this world. In the game, it was never questioned and power seemed to exist as a tool for every character to use. Although, he'd seen some cases, where overuse led to consequences.
During Gumin and Fahna's runs, they both had moments where they overexerted themselves in a life or death situation. Gumin became a drooling idiot and Fahna aged rapidly, becoming a wrinkled woman.
Xian stopped his thoughts, not wanting to remember those unpleasant failed runs. First, he had to check up on Carmillia to escort her. Servant's who studied in the academy still acted like one for as long as they are employed of course. It's not like they can pay for the remainder of their stay at the academy, which is most servants main goal.
On the way to Carmillia's quarters plenty of students were already on their way to the lecture halls. Most of them eyed Xian who donned the academy's uniform. He tried his best to appear as presentable as possible but anyone who met his gaze would flinch and turn away.
Most who did, were probably first new in the academy. As for some of the students, they stared with piercing gazes and hostile expressions. Probably those who failed and had to repeat their classes.
Thugs and common bullies were comprised of such students in the game. They served as a farmable exp source and random encounters during some scenarios in the map, and even when players went to higher level grounds. In every fight, they could be defeated and grant exp, but in Xian's first experience of gaining exp in this world, he absorbed it straight out of the coachman after killing him.
It still served him well, propping him up to Level Fourteen, almost 10 levels ahead to regular students and mobs.
'Do I need to kill them? Or is the act of defeating them enough?' Xian wanted to test the waters to see what else the game had changed in order to fit reality. Unfortunately, there weren't any thugs in sight anymore so it will have to wait for later.
Xian stood in front of Carmillia's quarters and knocked but there wasn't any response.
"Young miss, are you awake?"
Only then he heard some clacking on the doors handle.
"You're late." What appeared is Carmillia with a vexed expression wearing the academy uniform. Just like in the game, nobles who attended had their uniforms tailored to their taste, while commoners all wore similar ones. After all, wearing the same thing as the commoners would be looked down upon even if there was to rule against it.
Thus, Carmillia wore a white fitted uniform similar to her signature black dress. She was as beautiful as ever, even when making an angry expression.
Xian ignored her words and held out his hand, then beckoned for Carmillia to go ahead. "Shall we go, young miss?"
"Hmph, I swear when Lucinelle or Serika comes back…" Carmillia spat in a whisper, but for now, she went along with the butler.
'It seems our villainess woke up on the wrong side of the bed.'
Xian followed suit. Along the way, Carmillia garnered attention, practically making people stop on their tracks. Many similarly had good looks in the academy, but like a natural force, Carmillia effortlessly stole the gazes of such students indifferently.
'And that's even when she's in a bad mood. Imagine if she smiled instead.' Xian mused internally while walking by her side, just half a step behind to maintain a polite distance.
Unfortunately, mixed with it is the stares from her family's enemy. But Xian wasn't worried, there's only a handful of people who can contend with him right now, what more if Carmillia made a move?
"Ah! P-please wait!" Just then, among the crowd an innocent voice emerged. Carmillia, not one to stop or bother kept walking ahead, so did Xian.
"L-lady Montagne!"
Until an infamous name echoed in the halls. Not everyone in the academy knew of Carmillia Montagne's appearance.
But her family name is different. Everyone knew what kind of acts their faction did throughout the kingdom under the pretext of following the old kings orders.
Instantly murmurs spread and people's expressions stiffened. Xian, with a soured expression looked who the loudmouth was with increasing familiarity at the voice.
And the person who emerged, slightly out of breath, was none other than Adrian Wylert.