I Don’t Remember the Number of Regressions of the Villainesses Who Have Returned.

“……”

“……”

How many minutes had passed with Mordred and I keeping our gazes fixed on the floor and our mouths shut?

I still couldn’t open my mouth.

-Glance

“Hmm?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Lioness’s soft voice came from beside me where she was sitting.

‘Please, can’t you just curse at me and leave…?’

I’m scared.

—–

Lioness, who appeared in front of Mordred and me without any presence a moment ago.

As soon as she appeared, Mordred’s demeanor changed.

“Uh… Sister. This is, well.”

-Squeeze

Lioness’s hand, which had been on Mordred’s shoulder and felt soft and gentle, wriggled and grabbed his shoulder.

“Ah… Aaaargh! Sister! Sister!”

‘Wow…’

Mordred’s scream was filled with sincerity, without any hint of playfulness or exaggeration.

There were even tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

‘Penalty window. She used the power of spirits, right?’

[It contains the energy of at least a Great Spirit level.]

I saw something that looked green—no, closer to turquoise—rising like smoke from Lioness’s hand, which had no muscles.

That is the spirit energy that only elves can feel and use.

Moreover, according to the penalty window, the energy of at least a Great Spirit level is felt.

And Lioness is using that to…

“Sister, it really hurts! My shoulder is going to break!”

“It’s okay. You won’t die from this. There’s a saint in this class, so tell her to heal you later.”

She’s tormenting Mordred just enough not to kill him.

‘I heard that spirit energy gives unusual pain not felt in an ordinary lifetime.’

There was a description that spirit energy gives strange pain that is neither a burn nor a frostbite.

I guess that’s true.

“Aaaargh!”

“You won’t die. Don’t make a fuss.”

Judging from how Mordred is only screaming in pain without passing out, the pain being transmitted to him is just enough.

‘Hang in there.’

Since he got caught by his own sister while gossiping about her, the responsibility lies solely with him.

I, who haven’t said anything yet, am not at fault.

Leaving Mordred, who was being educated by his sister, I turned my head and looked at his subordinates.

‘Aren’t you going to stop that?’

I sent a gaze with that meaning.

-Shake shake

‘Resignation.’

The elves were just shaking their heads with their eyes closed and a peaceful expression.

‘Isn’t he your superior?’

This time, I pointed with my finger and looked at them with wide-open eyes.

‘The person standing next to him is also our superior.’

Their gaze, glancing at Lioness standing next to him for a moment while nodding their heads, carried that meaning.

I could tell from their serene appearance, without any guilt as subordinates, even as Mordred, whom they could call their master, was shedding tears like chicken poop in pain.

‘I guess that’s normal for them.’

They’ve already tried to stop her before.

“Uh… urgh.”

“I’ll let you off with this for today.”

Mordred, who had become a state where he almost looked like he was foaming at the mouth, and Lioness’s bright smile as if feeling refreshed.

‘By fantasy standards, is this a normal sibling relationship?’

I wish someone would make a quip.

“Aaron.”

Lioness, stretching with a smile, turned her head towards me.

“Yes.”

“So, what were you trying to say earlier?”

“……”

—–

And so, back to the present.

“Aaron.”

“Yes.”

“If you won’t answer me until class starts, could you follow me after class?”

“I’m sorry.”

Perhaps she was getting angry at my appearance of continuously making eye contact and keeping my mouth shut.

Lioness pressured me to answer quickly.

“Then I’ll ask again. What were you trying to say earlier?”

Lioness’s direct question, finally tired of waiting.

If I don’t answer the Elven Princess Lioness’s question twice, I don’t know what the elves watching me beside her will do to me.

I swallowed hard with my burning throat and opened my mouth.

“…I was just dazed and enchanted by the sight of Lioness-nim beautifully harmonizing with the spirit energy that I felt for the first time, and unconsciously called out your name.”

I don’t know if it will work on a human-hater, but I answered with my best effort to flatter her.

“……”

After hearing my words, Lioness just stared at me without changing her expression.

‘Was it too much?’

The moment I thought of raising a white flag, Lioness turned her head and answered.

“Then you should have said it like that from the beginning…”

Fortunately, it seems to have been the right answer.

Her words gradually trailed off, eventually becoming a mumble that was hard to understand.

“”……””

Silence returned.

While Lioness turned her head, I looked at Mordred behind her.

“Ugh…”

As if he didn’t know what to say, his expression was gradually getting distorted with his mouth open.

‘Is that a reaction befitting siblings?’

I don’t know because I don’t have a family.

Mordred’s expression got more distorted as time passed.

“Sister. Please stop now. It’s unsightly.”

Mordred’s voice filled with irritation as if he had seen something he couldn’t bear to watch.

‘What kind of face was she making?’

Lioness, who had turned her head towards Mordred, flinched for a moment after hearing his irritated words, then turned her head with a perfectly fine face.

“That doesn’t help…”

Lioness clicked her tongue and muttered something.

Judging from the movement of her mouth, it seemed like she said something, but I couldn’t hear it because she spoke too softly.

At that moment

-Creak

The classroom’s front door opened, and a man staggered in with tired footsteps.

It was Aslan.

‘I guess he went for a morning exercise.’

Judging from the long sword hanging from one side of his waist, he must have practiced using different swords.

“Oh. This is an unexpected combination. Nice to-”

Aslan, who was walking to his seat, sensed a presence, turned his head, and met eyes with me. He was about to greet me with a wave…but stopped?

“…Ahem.”

Closing his mouth hurriedly, he cleared his throat and sent me a gaze.

Shaking his head slightly to the side and moving his eyes together, he warned me to look to the side.

‘Ah.’

I had forgotten for a moment because I was having a normal conversation.

Lioness, the elf who hates humans.

“What the? What’s with that guy?”

Lioness tilted her head at his sudden appearance, followed by his strange behavior.

‘Does she not know it’s because of her?’

Mordred’s gaze towards Lioness, as if to say that, was a bonus.

At his strange signal, I finally pushed my chair back and moved slightly.

“Aaron?”

“I’m sorry.”

I apologized for now, even though I didn’t do anything wrong.

“Why are you suddenly doing that?”

She asked as if she really didn’t know the reason.

After thinking for a moment, I finally decided to speak.

“Well… I remembered that you have a hatred for humans…”

“Ah.”

“I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.”

I bowed my head and apologized again.

But Lioness’ reaction was strange.

“That… Aaron.”

“Yes.”

She was looking at me, fidgeting like a baby trying to hide a mistake.

“You can forget about my hatred…”

“What?”

What does that mean?

What are you supposed to do when the wicked woman who is a lump of hate tells you to forget about that in front of her?

A strange order to forget her identity.

“Well… it got better.”

‘?’

“What did?”

“I don’t hate humans.”

“???”

What?

Who got better at what?

The human hatred that had formed like trauma because her mother was killed by elf hunters who were after her…

“Got better?”

My head went blank, and the question came out like a monologue, even forgetting honorifics.

“Yeah.”

As if to mock my head that thought she might have really misspoken, Lioness affirmed it lightly as if it was no big deal.

‘Does a mental illness usually associated with trauma get better that easily in a situation like this?’

I can answer without any hesitation.

Absolutely not.

Mental illness doesn’t get cured just by taking medication, and even more so if it’s associated with a traumatic event that had a big impact on one’s life.

‘There’s something.’

Considering her past, it’s not something she can say, even as a joke.

“Aaron. Did I hear that wrong just now?”

“No. I think you heard it right.”

Even Aslan, who had walked up to my side before I knew it, looked at Lioness and me alternately with a dumbfounded expression, asking for confirmation.

I felt the same way too.

“You… aren’t you Lioness Grinner?”

Aslan, unable to hold back, spoke first.

“I am, but,”

The soft tone she had been speaking in with a smile until a moment ago was gone, replaced by a very prickly voice with a stiff expression.

“Do you know… that you are famous among elves as a human-hater?”

Even though he knew it was rude to the Elven Princess, Aslan spoke clearly without beating around the bush.

Although his status as a duke is indeed at the top, it doesn’t mean he is on equal footing with Lioness, who is like an imperial princess to the elves.

To the elves, Aslan’s current behavior could be judged as openly disparaging the imperial princess in front of her subordinates.

In fact, the elves watching from afar approached us with a changed gaze, as if organizing their momentum.

“Everyone. I’m watching.”

Mordred’s command implies whether the subordinates will not follow his judgment even when he, another heir, is watching and staying still.

The elves who heard those words stopped moving.

Still looking at Aslan with sharp eyes.

Mordred also stopped them, but he showed signs of discomfort.

What followed was silence.

Everyone focused on Lioness, who had lowered her head.

“I know.”

A confident answer.

“Does someone like that utter the words that her hate has disappeared?”

Aslan put strength into his voice.

He was judging Lioness right now.

How would she act upon hearing a question filled with this level of disregard?

Lioness’s answer to Aslan was simple.

“Well… is there a problem with that?”

Simply put, it meant something like, ‘I said I got better, so what are you going to do about it?’

“Hmm… it does seem like it really got better.”

The arrow returned to me.

Everyone’s attention was focused on the question that naturally came to me.

Swallowing, I asked Lioness a question at the risk of danger.

“Lady Lioness. I know it’s not my place, but could you allow me to ask a rude question?”

“Ask anything.”

Lioness answered without hesitation, even though she didn’t know what kind of disparaging remark about her might come back.

She probably wanted to prove that her human hatred had disappeared.

“Then, Lady Lioness, What do you think about humans?”

The best way to determine a person’s thoughts is to ask them.

No matter how much you package your words to match the atmosphere, one or two of your deep-seated inner thoughts will inevitably mix in.

Moreover, if negative emotions like hatred were the main ones, that number would only increase further.

After thinking for a moment, she answered as if stating the obvious.

“Humans are… just humans.”

“What does that…”

“Even if you ask me to describe humans, they have characteristics naturally seen in other races, too. It’s not my place to say, but just as humans hunted elves, there was a past where elves also hunted humans.”

Lioness’ answer was hard to believe coming from an elf, a race with sky-high self-esteem.

Mordred is unusual, but usually, elves look down on humans or force them to use honorifics, evaluating themselves highly to that extent.

Lioness, who is at the pinnacle of that race… said that their entire race is on equal footing with humans.

“…It seems like it really disappeared.”

“…I agree.”

Aslan and I could only nod our heads after hearing Lioness’ answer.

Mordred, who was behind her, was so surprised that he couldn’t even speak and could only look at his sister.