I’m a Villainess but So Popular

Editor : Aru

“I’m surprised it ended earlier than I thought.”

Iker, who was sitting cross-legged on a terrace on one side of Noble State Field’s central square, muttered.

Wearing a uniform of gold and red, he looked relaxed and sly.

Like a lion pretending to enjoy a nap, hiding his claws and then snatching his prey.

“Is that so?”

But I couldn’t afford to be so relaxed.

If he was a lion, I was an eagle owl.

I had to be the one who constantly searched around and created the opportunity to escape from that troublesome Crown Prince’s beast.

“Yes, I thought the meeting would end much later because the appointment ceremony was delayed.”

Seeing that he had to bring that up again, it was clear that he was thinking of using the help I received today as an excuse.

“Yes, well, it’s over early because there’s not much on the agenda.”

“Congratulations more than that. So, should I call you Duke of Spade now?”

There was some conflict before the appointment ceremony, but the meeting ended without a hitch.

Thanks to this, I was caught by Iker in broad daylight.

I would have been napping in the carriage back to the Academy, liking that the meeting ended earlier than expected.

“The Housekeeper should be treated like a Housekeeper.”

I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t know what to say to him.

“Do you think other family members treat you well as family?”

“Yes, I was treated properly as a Housekeeper.”

This would have made him speechless.

Iker told me to become a palace wizard under his direct control to press down on the Housekeepers who don’t admit me.

“Well, it didn’t look like that to me.”

Then he spoke, glancing at me gently with his golden eyes burning like the sun.

“You’re not lying to the royal family, are you?”

I didn’t answer on purpose.

It was obvious I was going to get caught after putting on a word.

“You can be honest since you and I are the only ones here.”

Iker held his chin and bent his upper body, and said, tapping his fingers on the table.

“Or did I ask too sensitive a question?”

In front of him asking, gently bending his eyes like a moon, I kept silent.

‘Why would you ask if you knew?’

While I was cursing inside, Iker, who was staring at me, met my eyes.

“I don’t think it’s a question that’s going to last that long.”

Iker said with a big grin.

Eyes of the same colour as Cassius.

It was an eye that devoured all the darkness and resembled the sun shining alone.

I always thought I’d be sucked in if I looked into Cassius’ eyes, but so did the eyes of this man.

But I wasn’t afraid to look into Cassius’s eyes.

It was often comforting to look into Cassius’s glistening eyes as if guiding the one in the dark.

The moment I was fascinated by Iker’s eyes, I knew there would be a black hole at the end that would devour me.

“Anyway, if you accept my terms, you won’t have to get involved with them.”

Iker narrated in the middle of his forehead.

“And I will not treat you openly or ignore you.”

“You don’t have to worry so much.”

It was true that I left a bad impression on some of my Housekeepers from the first day, but not all of them ignored me.

The Housekeeper of the Ale Club, who had an alliance with the Spades, was in full support of me.

The Duke of Jacqueline and the Duke of Diamond are also said to have been in favour of the promotion of my family from the beginning.

I don’t know why, but I heard the Duke of Joker didn’t like those who opposed the promotion of my family to the end.

In conclusion, it wasn’t a rosy future, but it wasn’t desperate enough to get Iker’s help.

‘If it was that much in the first place, I would have sought help from Cassius first.’

Iker tilted his head if he didn’t understand what I said.

“Why do you have to go back when there’s an easy road? The more they do, the more they laugh at you.”

I answered the remark in a subdued voice.

“They’ll laugh at me even more if I try to press them on with the help of the Crown Prince.”

Turning my head, my eyes met with Iker’s, who was looking at me with an expression of interest.

“They’ll say I didn’t even have the strength to go through it alone, so I dragged the royal family in.”

This meant indirectly that I would no longer seek Iker’s help.

When Iker heard that, he also lamented whether he thought it would be really impossible to persuade me.

“You really don’t listen.”

I was offended by the attitude of shaking his head over as if handling a stubborn kindergarten child.

‘Because I just don’t listen to you. You think I’m stubborn like you.’

I think I’d be better at listening to others than Iker.

“You don’t think working under me is an investment or an opportunity? If it was other successors, they would have accepted it.”

“Well, I think a little differently. Other successors may have made the same choice as I did.”

“Unlike the rest of the family, you are not the only palace wizard. The treatment will be a little better when you enter the palace.”

That’s what Iker said, putting his hands around his mouth and delivering in a low voice.

“Especially Trump’s treatment. Because Duke of Ace values position and ability very much.”

“No.”

I opened my mouth in a determined voice to the torrent of conciliatory remarks.

‘Oh, that’s very annoying.’

“The Duke of Ace will look down on me, even if I become a wizard under the Crown Prince.”

I spoke in a clear voice, scanning over the hem of the cape with my fingers.

“Because he’s already the Emperor–”

Because he’s already the Emperor direct wizard.

That’s how I was going to end it.

In any case, the best wizard in the Empire is not the Prince’s direct wizard, but the Emperor’s direct wizard.

The moment I raised my head to turn it around, I froze.

It was because Iker was staring at me with a crumpled forehead.

Did they say Iker’s eyes resemble the sun?

Frankly speaking, Iker’s eyes at that moment had a cool glow that seemed to rip open the prey before him.

It was not the light of the sun.

It was a light of anger and murder.

I looked at him casually, with a feeling of hair standing all over me.

Suddenly, Iker, too, seemed to be conscious of my face, and then opened his mouth with the same smile as when he met me.

“……Well, I see what you mean.”

Then he changed his legs that were twisting casually and continued his slow voice.

“But am I not the next emperor? The Duke of Ace can’t play Trump forever.”

Let’s not panic.

So I retorted and clenched my fist.

“Yes, you’re right.”

Of course, his words were not wrong.

But the present emperor was still too young to die, and wizards, moreover, had a long life span.

Therefore, it was better to go through formal procedures and become an emperor’s direct wizard from the beginning than to wait until Iker becomes the emperor.

There is no need to work in a lower position by holding hands with the reluctant Iker.

However, Iker responded roughly because of the flesh on his face, thinking that he had to fold his hands now.

“If you become my direct wizard, I’m willing to guarantee you a seat in Trump. What do you think?”

I thought to myself, thinking for a moment about Iker’s question.

‘Then, if I work under him with a bad personality and he doesn’t guarantee that position, there’s no reason to do it.’

But the answer was fixed.

In fact, I didn’t have to worry about it.

“I’m sorry, but I’m still not good enough to be there.”

“Huh, really.”

Iker seemed to know that now he had to let me go.

As if dumbfounded, he opened his tongue and twisted his legs, and spoke with his fingers around his mouth.

“Okay. I don’t think I can keep you any longer.”

“I’m sorry. Thank you for the good offer.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. You may go back now.”

“Thank you for your time, Your Majesty.”

It was finally liberation.

Now I could go back to the Academy and rest well.

I wanted to scream like a high school senior who finished the college entrance exam, but I bowed politely to Iker after enduring the rising excitement.

“Good-bye, then.”

“Wait, let me ask you one more thing.”

I gnawed my teeth under my lowered head.

‘Oh, really, why are you dragging my feet?’

However, I asked with a smile as much as possible because my neck could not be cut off for insulting the royal family.

“Yes, please tell me.”

It was full of thoughts to answer quickly and go back.

So waiting for his question, Iker rolled up the corners of his mouth slightly and looked at me with his golden eyes.

“Does Cassius treat you well?”

The question was totally unexpected and I was unknowingly embarrassed.

“Yes?”

“Looks like you’re calling each other by name.”

Iker stood up with a grin showing his white teeth.

His red hair shook slightly whenever he moved his steps with his boots on.

“I can treat you that well.”

A low and deep voice flowed through Iker’s red lips, looking down at me.

“Then can you call me by my name, too?”

‘Ah.’

Don’t tell me, you’re betting on me.

As I looked up at him, his golden eyes greeted me with a smile.

‘Casius’ eyes don’t look so insidious.’

Same brothers, same eye colour, but so different.

Thinking so, I looked at Iker with a look of complete ignorance of what he was saying.

Of course, it was all acting.

“Your Majesty, how can I call you by your name, not just by your name? How can I be so rude?”

Iker frowned at the remark.

“That’s not what I’m saying—”

“I don’t want to, Your Majesty.”

“I think you misunderstood something—”

“Your Majesty.”

As I called him in a voice that seemed deliberately urgent, Iker kept quiet and waited for my words.

Of course, I could see that he looked stuffy inside.

“Wouldn’t the Crown Prince deserve to be treated like a Crown Prince?”

“…….”

After a period of silence, his words fell.

“Go.”

That’s how Iker and I ended our conversation, and the sun was in the middle of nowhere when I left the Noble State Field.

—————