The Villainess's Guide to Winning the Male Lead

Chapter 36

Surprised by his words, I turned to face the manager again.

Contrary to his stern tone, there was a hint of concern in his expression.

“You’ve been wearing yourself thin, I’ve noticed. But continuing like this, with no end in sight, do you really need to keep going?”

“.......”

“You’re essentially performing for them, reincarnating over and over. With the assassin around, you’re not making any progress with the points. Do you want to keep doing this indefinitely, or wouldn’t it be better to give up sooner?”

His words stung, and I retorted, feeling a surge of defiance.

“And if I don’t reincarnate, then what?”

Was he suggesting that I just fade away? After everything we’ve been through, how could he say that so casually?

“I will survive, no matter what.”

I had to survive, by any means necessary.

I didn’t plan on giving up. I wanted to live as myself, not borrowing someone else’s body.

The manager sighed.

“I knew you’d say that...”

“And it’s not my fault.”

“...What?”

The manager furrowed his brow.

“It wasn’t me. I was enchanted by magic.”

“Magic, you say...”

I calmly recounted what had happened.

The manager mulled over my words. After a moment of deep thought, he ventured a guess.

“Could it be, the crown prince is behind this?”

“...What?”

Why was the crown prince being brought into this?

But the manager seemed sure of his theory.

“Except for the first poisoning, it’s all been magic. He’s been getting too close to you, suspiciously so.”

“That’s true but...”

Now that I think about it, he did directly ask how I came back to life after dying.

And he was indeed a prodigy in magic. Narrowing down the suspects, Irmin was indeed the most likely candidate as the manager suggested.

The manager was in deep contemplation. As brusque as he could be, the only angel who truly pondered over my issues with such seriousness was the manager.

Realizing this, I felt a bit guilty for my earlier outburst. He had every reason to be upset with me, and there I was, behaving childishly.

I looked at the manager and, feeling a sudden urge to tease, I called his name.

“Hans.”

“......?”

The manager’s eyes widened, startled by the sudden use of his name.

But that was only for a moment. Soon after, he frowned.

“Who told you that?”

“I wonder. Some stranger.”

The manager probably thought I was making it up, but it was indeed a stranger who had told me. Not a lie at all.

The manager scowled and said,

“...Don’t call me by my name.”

He put up a strong front. It was no different from when he pretended to be Bates.

“Why? We’re colleagues, after all.”

“Being called by a human name feels weird,” I remarked with a flick. As if tears had never welled in my eyes, I smiled my usual grin.

“But you know, I’m seriously in debt with points right now.”

“What?”

The manager looked at me with an expression that screamed, ‘So what do you want me to do about it?’ I spread my thumb and forefinger with one hand, and with the other hand, I extended my index and middle fingers and said,

“I think I need to receive about one hundred and twenty thousand points. Can you pretend to like me just for once?”

“Now you’re resorting to scams?”

“Well, I do have a loyalty to the viewers.”

“Human...”

The manager swept his face with one hand, his demeanor returning to normal. After heaving a sigh, he relayed the situation.

“For now, I’ve handled it by reporting to the temple that I brought you in with just a minor scratch.”

“I fell from the fifth floor, can that really work?”

“There were no witnesses, so I lied that it was from the second floor.”

A world without CCTV is quite convenient. In the current situation, it was rather a relief.

I wondered if it was really necessary to go that far, but it was a relief that I could satisfy my curiosity thanks to him.

“Attention was diverted.”

“Huh?”

I couldn’t understand what that meant.

Whose attention? It was incomprehensible.

Davi, perhaps having held it in for a while, poured out a flood of words.

“The saintess, like me, can communicate with Venecia. Moreover, you have better abilities to communicate with gods, so it’s natural for the priests’ attention to be directed towards you.”

So, it was jealousy.

It must have been a serious concern for her, but to me, it seemed rather cute.

Being the only saintess, she would have received a lot of attention in the temple, but the appearance of someone like me must have been an eyesore.

I decided to be understanding of Davi’s feelings.

“You’re free to hate me as much as you want.”

“You really are strange...”

Davi seemed to find me peculiar.

Then, she straightened her posture and, with a serious expression, started to speak.

“Now, can I ask something I’m curious about?”

Davi’s interest in me? That was rather welcome. I nodded in response.

“Is the engagement for real?”

That took me by surprise.

The news of the engagement should only be known to the people of the duchy, not even to the Duke of Erpeso. I shuddered at the thought that the news might have already spread in the social circles.

“...How did you know about that?”

“Venecia told me.”

I glared at the chat window, wondering why even such detailed information had been shared.

[Ian: ;; What am I supposed to do about this now]

[Poppopo: What do you mean? It’s just a chat]

[Gold2: Anyway, it’s your fault]

[Ian: This is ridiculous]

Since the other viewers had already given Ian enough flak, I decided to let it slide.

Davi, still full of curiosity, kept throwing questions at me.

“Why would you do something like that suddenly? Did you fall for him or something?”

“That’s unlikely.”

There was no way I had fallen for Kabir. After all, it was Kabir who had made the proposal first.

After some thought, I replied.

“I received an oracle.”

It was true, considering I did it because of Ian. It wasn’t a lie.

The points I just received were much more than the acceptance points, but still, I was supposed to receive ten thousand points, so maybe it turned out to be a good thing after all.

“What?!”

As expected, Davi was shocked.

The idea that the engagement between the Duke and the saintess was due to an oracle was enough to turn the empire upside down.

[Ian: Hey]

[Stress: Well, it’s not a lie lol]

[Something: So who’s betting points now lol]

[PleaseShakeACarrot: lololol]

[Ian: Now I have to clean up this mess]

[Manager: You think you’re the only one?]

[Ian: Sorry]

They were partners in crime, both suffering together. It seemed like they were reaping what they had sown.

Just then, one of the priests approached.

“Oh, Shailo.”

It was a familiar face, the priest I had exchanged greetings with before.

Shailo was still keeping his eyes firmly closed. He approached with a somewhat urgent demeanor.

“What’s the matter?”

Davi asked Shailo.

Shailo calmly began to speak.

“His Grace, the Duke, has come to take the saintess.”