I Became Close to the Villain - Chapter 3

Translator:Zimming

Editor:Nox

“….”

“Thank you.”

He told me out of the blue.

“…pardon?”

“Thank you for your help.”

His words stunned me. I was embarrassed and stunned speechless at his comment.

As a matter of fact, I had never seen Idris say such a thing in the novel.

It’s amazing how innocent and gullible he was in his younger days.

“Don’t worry about a thing, I’ll secretly get you a little bit of this and that. My family’s rich, so it wouldn’t be too obvious.”

“…you’ll help me to that extent?”

“We’re friends now aren’t we?”

‘Right?’ I looked at him again for confirmation.

He gave me an indescribable look.

“Then how about this! If you’re grateful, you can pay me back by playing with me.”

I felt that this was the right time to say that again.

Idris smiled, this time his expression was far more relaxed.

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

I cheered inwardly when I heard his affirmation.

That day was the day I befriended Idris, not Idris the villain, but Idris the little boy next to my house.

My first step was a success.

***

It was a few days after meeting Idris.

Mother called our family and announced, “To expand our business this time, me and your father decided to stay in the capital. It won’t take a long time, but we need you to stay here and safe, the capital is dangerous. We’ll leave a lot of servants here.”

‘Does this mean I can act out as much as I want for the time being?!’

“Yes, mother. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll see you guys later,” I replied as I restrained my smile.

‘I’m free!’

***

After my parents left, I began to bring Idris over to my house.

My parents went to the capital city leaving some of my trusted servants. With no higher authorities in the house, it was an easy feat for me to silence them.

We had an agreement. As long as Idris didn’t come inside, the servants wouldn’t utter a word.

At first, Idris was awkward and out of his comfort zone, but slowly over time, he got used to me and Liliel.

We would sit around in the garden, eat snacks, and play together.

Sometimes we would find beautiful wild flowers in the meadow and play hide and seek among the trees.

Even though the long summer had passed and autumn came, the three of us kept playing together.

‘Come to think of it, we’re a very unusual combination. The heroine, the villain, and an extra.’

The character Vianne Astahilt was an extra in the novel <It’s dangerous! Run away!>

Perhaps, Vianne was one of those dead extras in the scene where Idris wiped out all of the villagers.

But now, I was caught up in a relationship with the main characters.

But this was only the beginning.

‘I’m going to change the villain’s childhood in the novel. Let me apologize in advance, writer. Although I must admit, I do enjoy your novel.’

“Vianne.”

In the afternoon, Liliel gave me her craft she had been fiddling with.

It was a ring made by tying both ends of the grass.

I smiled jubilantly and slipped it on my finger.

“Pretty.”

“Vianne.”

This time Idris called me. On his hand was a flower crown made of grass and flowers.

“Yes, Idris?”

To be honest, Idris made it much better. He’s great at these kinds of things.

Idris came to me and placed a flower crown on my head.

“You didn’t buy it, did you?” I joked, subtly praising his crafts.

He grinned, “You saw me make it.”

“That’s true. Thanks anyway guys.”

That afternoon, I was in a good mood. I got a present from the heroine and the villain at the same time.

“But why only me? You guys should make one for each other too,” I suggested.

I wanted them to get along well to prevent them from becoming enemies in the future.

“Oh no, it’s a little hard.”

“I’m not good at making things like this.”

‘… are they fighting behind my back?’

Even though the seasons had changed and we had spent quite some time together, the two of them still hadn’t got close. This was my biggest concern these days.

At that time, I thought I had successfully gotten close to Idris, and I thought I had pulled the death flags from everyone. But I wasn’t so sure anymore.

“Oh, come on. We’re friends with each other.”

“Not really.”

Liliel clung to me while saying so. Idris’ expression quickly darkened.

“Get away from Vianne.”

“I’ll think about it if you take this flower crown off her.”

“You…!”

“Hey, guys? What are you doing…” I moderated them weakly, but to make it worse, both of them had a stubborn personality.

“What is wrong with both of you?”

I shook my head as Liliel answered quickly.

“Idris started it first.”

“Me?”

Idris asked back.

“Yes! You’re jealous of me and Vianne.”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense, it’s the truth!”

“……why don’t you stop?”

Idris looks really angry now.

‘What’s going on here? Have they been fighting behind my back? But why?’

I have no idea what happened, Idris reached out to me and to Liliel.

At that moment, I suddenly recalled a scene in the novel.

The scene where Idris Schneider, the ruthless villain who held Liliel a hostage, flashed before me….

I reflectively hid Liliel behind me.

“…Vianne.”

I was startled to hear his trembling voice.

We’re in trouble. This felt like I was protecting Liliel from him. It seemed like I treated him as a threat.

“Idris, this…”

I looked into Idris’ eyes as I searched for an excuse. I regretted my action immensely.

Idris was crestfallen, his sadness was apparent to all of us.

“Did you think I was gonna hurt her?”

“No, you guys are fighting, I was a bit surprised.”

“Do you think of me like how others think of me?”

“….”

‘Oh my goodness, I just made a huge blunder. How do I fix it?’

While I was agonizing inside my mind, he already turned away before I could even formed an explanation.

I tried to catch up to him but he had gone back to his house.

The atmosphere became cold. Liliel looked towards Idris’ house with a shocked face.

“I didn’t mean to be like that. I was wrong.”

“I made a mistake too. He obviously didn’t mean to attack you, but that just reminded me of the wrong thing at the moment…”

“Vianne, what should we do?”

“I’ll apologize first. Let’s solve your misunderstanding afterwards.”

***

I sent Liliel back after dinner.

When I came out again, the sun was long gone into the horizon. I informed the servants that I would take a walk in the backyard.

When I was out of their sight, I went straight to the corner and passed through a hole.

Idris’ house was very quiet, the grasshoppers’ chirping could be heard clearly over the silence.

Even if he hung out with us often, he would inevitably feel lonely and scared when he came back to this house. I should’ve been more considerate of him.

“Idris? Can you come out for a second.”

He had a sharp sense, he’d know I was near his house even if I called him from the outside.

“It was my fault. I’m sorry.”

Still the silence remained while the small figure I had been expecting didn’t show up.

I entered the building cautiously.

The darkness on the inside was apparent as soon as I came in. All the lights in the mansion were out.

I hesitated for a moment, however, soon I gathered my courage and kept walking.

“I have a secret that I haven’t told you yet. And your appearance reminds me of my secret, that’s why I got a little confused. But I never regard you as a bad person.”

There was no one on the first floor.

The wind blew heavily through the mansion as I stepped up the stairs leading to the second floor.

Creak. The sound resounded in the still silence.

Honestly, it was a bit scary.

‘What’s he doing with the lights off?’

“Idris, Liliel didn’t say that because she didn’t want to be friends with you. I guess it’s because your personalities just didn’t match.”

My heart was pounding.

If I had known this would happen, I would’ve brought a candle.

“I think you guys would get along well with time.”

Even so, no reply came. The stillness and gloom in the mansion started to frighten me. I was starting to get paranoid, afraid a ghost would come out. I shifted around nervously.

I arrived on the corridor of the second floor. There seemed to be something at the end.

“Idris, can you come out, I’m scared…”

I said so not to bait him out, but because I was truly scared witless.

I took another step.

Just then,

Something behind me passed like the wind,

“Agh!”

Goosebumps ran throughout my body.

‘Is it a ghost?’

My legs gave out as I fell down in fright.

My head was spinning and my vision was dimming. I felt suffocated.

‘What’s happening? My body won’t move.’

“….Vianne, breathe!”

I barely came to my senses at the shout.

‘It hurts so much!’

“Vianne!”

I laid on my stomach, I couldn’t breathe, but my condition was gradually getting better.

“Hah… I-I just came back from death….”

It felt like when I was running for an hour on a hot summer day. Suddenly, I could feel someone touching my shoulder.

‘Who?’

I looked up and saw the owner of this hand.

It was Idris.

His eyes were gleaming with undisguised worry.