I Am The Game's Villain

[<I know. But that's why I ask you to please rely on me more. If you don't even speak to me…am I that unreliable for you…?>]

'No…it's not…'

I didn't know how to explain myself.

I was indeed taking things too easily and wasn't really speaking to her before doing something or asking anything else but I considered Cleenah as someone close to me.

'Cleenah…'

She wasn't answering me now.

[She is angry and upset because of your recent decisions.]

I know.

"I don't need them anymore."

I glanced ahead and saw Eric handing the Golden Grasses to Milleia with a guilty expression. He must have felt guilty as Milleia was the reason why we got them and despite that, he didn't even try to listen to Milleia's pleas.

"T-Thanks! Thank you very much Lord Eric!" Milleia accepted and thanked Eric gratefully with a relieved expression. 

"Now…can I speak to you alone?" Eric turned his gaze toward me.

"Yeah." I nodded without hesitation.

We were both Reincarnators and we had sure plenty of things to discuss. 

"Ah…" Milleia seemed to want to say something to me.

"Later." I said. "Just stay with his sister."

….

….

"You are Edward, right?" Eric asked me as soon as we entered another room of his huge mansion.

Well, he saw me using those peculiar purple fire as Edward. Moreover, I seemed to know Milleia so it was easy to guess.

"Yeah." Without the need to hide anything anymore, I removed my mask. My black hair turned to their original grey and my red eyes turned amber.

"So it was really you huh…" Eric said, scrutinizing my face.

"What?" I felt uncomfortable with his gaze. "Are you hittin-"

"Not that!" Eric denied me before I could finish and sighed. "Your face, I'm sorry but it's really stirring my desire to kill you. I also feel extremely sick each time I see you."

"..." My lips twitched at his words.

"Don't take this to heart. It's just you know, I played the Games and you probably had as well so I hope you can understand me. What you have done…is really the act of a psycho."

"I didn't do anything, Eric. I'm not 'that' Edward." I reminded Eric as I also didn't want to be compared to that Edward.

"Yeah, you're right, my bad." Eric apologized and sat on a chair.

I also sat on another chair and spoke. "Then you were a guy from Earth in your past life as well?"

"Yes, I was a highschool student," Eric replied with a look of nostalgia.

A highschool student?

Then he is younger than me since I was 22.

"When did you recover your memories?" I asked since it seemed like it was long ago.

Eric looked at a family picture hung on the wall and smiled. "Ten years ago."

Ten years ago?

I can understand then why despite being a Reincarnator, he seemed just like the true Eric. He was reincarnated long ago and they are like one being now.

"What about you?" Eric returned the question to me.

"Well I think it's easy to guess for you?" I said.

"Right…" Eric nodded and fell in thought. "Something like at the start of the academy? When you suddenly barged in the entrance ceremony with a different appearance, I knew that something was up."

"Seven months ago." He wasn't far off from the right answer.

I entered Edward's body seven months ago and recovered his/my memories six months ago, after I managed to win the Unique Challenge of Miranda in the dungeon.

"Oh…then when they said that Duke Falkrona disowned you and put Simon as the new Heir-"

"Of course it's a lie!" I couldn't help but shout. "That shitty father lied to all of you! I was the one who willingly left the House and abandoned my status as Heir."

"I see…buy why did you do that?" Eric was confused at my decision of leaving the Falkrona Mansion and abandoning my status.

"Well, at that time, I just recovered my memories and my family hated me for crimes that I didn't even commit. I mean, at that time, I still hadn't recovered the memories of Edward so my reaction was a bit precipitous, I agree." My state at that time wasn't really good. That guy from Tokyo told me bulls*it like Ephera was alive in this world and sent me there without any information about her whereabouts.

Anyway, I won't believe him.

"By the way, your sister, Rubina Scarlett." I shifted the topic. "She is a Sub-Heroine of the Third Game, right? I don't remember her being so amicable with others, even less Milleia, a commoner."

"Don't treat my sister like an arrogant and disrespectful girl!"

"She is though? Something must have happened."

Eric scoffed at my words. "If you really need a reason then her sudden curse might be what you are looking for."

As expected it was that.

Her curse which had a great chance of being indirectly caused by me as I interfered with Annabelle and appeared in his dream…

"Then don't you have something to tell me?" I asked Eric with a raised brow.

"Tell you what?" Eric's confused expression put me off.

"I don't know, Eric." I said sarcastically. "Maybe thanks for taking care of Jayden and Milleia. Sorry for having been a useless man for six months while knowing well the story of the Game! Or again thanks for saving your dear sister!" I spat one after another and Eric's expression turned awkward.

"Okay…thanks for my sister but about Jayden and Milleia, I didn't really want to interfere with them. I tried when I was young but I thought it was better to let things go as in the plot. Jayden and Milleia are already close, right? They just need another push. It will happen next week in the Dungeon Event."

"Yeah…but I don't think so…Jayden is currently focused on Carla and her family and also Milleia should have already fallen for Jayden now." I said with a conflicted look.

"It's because of you Edward. You interfered too much with the plot trying to quickly form Jayden's harem. What you were trying to do was obvious to me. Maybe it should have been better to let things go as in the plot." Eric had a point but-

"Nah. There are more than hundreds of different scenarios. How can I be sure that this world is not taking the worst scenario where Milleia dies or didn't end up with Jayden? Moreover I wanted to secure my safety with them. Being friends with them, I should be safe for the next few years when they will become freaks. I am a Major Antagonist of the First Game, remember?" I explained to Eric.

"Right…" Eric nodded but frowned right after. "Ante-Eden still didn't contact you?"

I shook my head. "No. That's what I am worried about because they will now likely contact me…"

"In the Dungeon Event…" Eric finished my words in a serious tone. "If I remember, one of the Heroines is destined to die there, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "There will be plenty of enemies including Ante-Eden. Don't forget Eric, the priority is Milleia so ensure her safety if you are close to her. We need her to beat Delavoic."

"Right but Milleia isn't the only one able to beat Delavoic, you know." Eric shrugged.

Delavoic is the leader of [Ante-Eden] and also the [Main Antagonist] of the First Game.

"She is not the only one with Raphiel's bloodline, you forgot?" Eric asked as he stared at me.

"I know," I replied and sighed in resignation. "But the other one won't awaken her bloodline, you know how she is." 

….

….

….

"T-Thanks for accompanying me, Sir Nyrel."

Inside a carriage heading to the hometown of Milleia, I was sitting with Milleia.

"It's nothing," I replied to her.

Curse you Eric.

After speaking to Eric, Milleia announced that she was directly going to her hometown to heal her mother but there was a problem. The latter didn't know how to use the Golden Grasses. That's why I asked Eric to help her but that bastard using his already healed sister as an excuse threw the ball at me. Of course, I knew how to use the Golden Grasses since I witnessed it in the Game!

"Where did you learn such things, Sir Nyrel? You are really knowledgeable…" Milleia asked with admiring eyes.

"I read a lot of books." I lied through my teeths.

"Oh, I also read books but it's for the children…ehehe." Milleia giggled remembering about the children of her hometown. "I really miss them…" She mumbled before falling asleep on my shoulders but before she could lean, I gently leaned her head on the windows next to her.

….

….

"It's here, Sir Nyrel! Come I will show you around!" Milleia said excitedly.

"No, I'm busy. I will just help your mother and leave," I said to Milleia otherwise, it will never end.

"Ah…I see." Milleia seemed disappointed but nonetheless accepted and led me to her house. 

Seeing her house in the Game and in real-life was sure different things.

"Mom! I'm back!" Milleia removed her shoes and quickly walked toward her mother's room.

Should I remove my shoes?

Lazy.

I followed Milleia and entered her mother's room. 

Another woman was there with her mother. 

"Milleia, you grew so much in a few months…" The elder woman said and caressed Milleia's cheeks.

"Of course, Aunt Dalia! I also became very strong, you know!" Milleia exclaimed before kneeling in front of her mother's bed.

Dalia sighed when she looked at Milleia. "Milleia, I'm sorry…your mother will-"

"It's okay Aunt Dalia! I know how to heal mom!" Milleia said and turned toward me.

"This young man is?" Dalia noticed me at the entrance of the room.

"He is Sir Nyrel, my friend." Milleia said with a smile.

"I am in the kitchen." I said to them and left but Milleia was about to follow me. "No, stay with your mother."

"B-But-"

"Stay with your mother. Don't worry." I said in a reassuring tone to force her.

"O-Okay…"

After Milleia nodded, I finally headed to the kitchen which was also in the living room.

"Now, let's get over it."

I took a saucepan and boiled water in it. Then I put all the Grasses in it. The moment I put them in the hot water, I channeled my mana inside the saucepan. 

A staggering pressure hit my body right after that. I could feel the Golden Grasses' power right in my veins and it hurt like hell but it was nothing compared to the previous pain I had gone through. I continued to channel and activated my First Wing to clear my thoughts. In the Game, Jayden was the one who did that. With his powerful Legacy and his Familiar, he managed to pull it off.

I didn't have Familiars but I had Ruah.

Waiting for the right timing, I stopped channeling mana and transferred Ruah in the boiling Grasses. Honestly I didn't even know what I was doing but strangely I knew HOW to do it.

….

….

….

After half an hour, I brought a cup of golden water and handed it to Milleia.

"Thank you…"Milleia said and helped her mother to drink the water little by little.

With my job done, I started to leave the house with a tired gait.

As I stepped out, the moon's rays sublimely lit the dark roads with myself. 

The silence was sometimes broken with the chirping of birds but it was agreeable. 

"Cleenah…"

I called out but she still doesn't answer me.

Scratching my head, I walked away.

"Sir Nyrel!" But Milleia's voice stopped me.

I turned around and saw Milleia with the happiest smile I had ever seen on her face.

"I-It works! I-It worked! My mother can sp-speak and s-she is already e-eating…sniff…" Milleia said while wiping her tears. "Tha-thank you! Thank you very much! S-Sir Nyrel…wholeheartedly…thank you f-for everything!" 

She walked toward me, grabbed my hands tightly and raised them.

"Thank you!" Her bright smile lit by the moon's rays was enthralling me.