The villainess and the chosen champion

"..."

Early in the morning, a tall, white-haired young man with a slightly uncanny feel to him was looking up at the announcement board within the few steps of the door to the main building of the Jade Academy, checking the results of the mid-term exams.

The sound of footsteps betrayed another person coming towards him, but the young man didn't budge. His eyes focused on the two highest scores and the names of the students who achieved them.

"Hmhmhm~ is the esteemed champion of the goddess upset about a humble exchange student taking the first place?"

A girl on the shorter side, with her golden hair slick back, wearing the female uniform's blouse but the male uniform's pants, chuckled mischievously while taking her eyes off the notice board and looking at the silent white-haired young man.

"Maybe a bit… but not at you, young lady Fenrioette. Rather, I'm confused how someone can get more than a hundred percent without there being any questions worth bonus points on our papers."

The white-haired man was none other than Zane, and he let out a short sigh before lowering his head and looking at the cheekily smirking Melinda.

"It was quite simple, really. You would get more points too if you answered the questions but then wrote additional alternative but equally correct answers."

"And you had the time to do that even within the time limit?"

Melinda hummed, giving Zane an upward glance while he raised his brow and asked.

"Honestly… that's what I did, but only because of boredom… Just my luck, learning the curriculum from the whole three years within the first semester might have been an overkill. I finished all of the papers within the first fifteen minutes of each exam."

The gold-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and sighed with disappointment.

"The things I do to kill some time…"

Melinda let out a troubled sigh, raising her hands and creating particles of green light moving between her palms, showing off an advanced healing spell.

"That said, I was hoping for some kind of reward… but I guess your duties as the representative of Perseverance take up all of your free time."

She added, lowering her arms and turning around to glance meaningfully at Zane, readying herself to leave.

"Speaking of my duties… you wouldn't know anything about the increase in monster attacks on the settlements… or the increased bandit activity within the Empire… would you…?"

Zane's eyes slipped down from Melinda's face as if subjected to the immense gravitational pull of the charms that the girl was intentionally presenting, but the young man was somehow able to look back at her face and inquire.

"Perish the thought~! What would be my purpose in doing so…? Alas, I do enjoy that I am on your mind to that degree~"

Melinda chuckled and began to walk away—but she wasn't going out of the building. Instead, she moved towards a hallway leading to a rather serene spot that was perfect for a private conversation.

"..."

Zane immediately understood the assignment and followed the gold-haired girl after glancing to the sides to make sure no one was around to witness it.

After a bit of walking, the white-haired young man turned the corner and found the gold-haired girl waiting for him, leaning against the back wall of the dead-end hallway at an awkward annex spot without a window that could be peeked through.

"Melinda, I'm serious. Only in a game would it make sense for increasingly strong monsters and bandits to show up gradually to allow me and my comrades to grow stronger and learn to cooperate. If it's not your doing, then we might have some bizarre problem on our hands."

Zane pointed out, approaching the girl to face her.

"Alright, fine. I didn't intend to make you worried like that. There is no bizarre coincidence messing with the world. It's me. You got me, officer."

Melinda breathed out and raised her hands as if she was giving up and admitted with a crooked smile.

"Melinda! People are losing homes and livelihoods!"

"And I don't care~ I'm a villainess~ Besides, they're getting all of it back thanks to the restoration events."

Zane gasped in a scolding manner, shaking his head in disbelief, but Melinda shrugged it off playfully, waving her hand dismissively.

"People who experience difficulties gain a new purpose and are filled with determination. They get even better houses and focus on improving themselves while you and your party keep growing organically. It's a win-win situation, no matter how you look at it."

The gold-haired girl continued, moving her hands to the sides and tilting her head adorably.

"Organically? You call that organic… haaa… Melinda, what do you want…? I mean, really."

"..."

Zane scoffed in disbelief before breathing out and taking a deep breath to calm down and ask while looking straight in the golden eyes of the gold-haired girl.

"...what I really want…?"

"...!"

Melinda lowered her head and muttered before stepping forward and getting right in front of the unprepared Zane.

"..."

"..."

Melinda looked up at the speechless Zane and reached up with both hands - before he knew it, Zane leaned down to her and the gold-haired girl wrapped her arms around his neck.

They looked right into each other's eyes with less than an inch between their faces before Melinda climbed on her tippytoes, nuzzling against Zane's cheek until her mouth was right by his ear.

"What I really want is for you to be obsessed with me."

"...!"

The girl whispered and smiled, sensing Zane's body temperature rising.

"I want your love. All of it. I want you to desire so much that you would leave your new comrades to certain death just to be able to spend a little bit more time with me. I want you to do things to me that only the most degenerate fanfic creators could come up with. I want you to be unable to live without me at least half as much as I am unable to live without you. I want you to be jealous of the people I hang out with. I want you to never leave my side. I want you to hurt me because you are unable to control how much you crave me carnally. I want you to turn me into your exclusive plaything who gets unbearably excited at the mere sound of your footsteps, the sound of your voice, a single whiff of your scent, or even just a single glimpse of you in the distance."

"..."

Melinda whispered sweetly into Zane's ear and lowered herself back to examine his flushed bright-red face.

"One of the things on that list might already be happening, too~"

"!!!"

She added and smiled with playful satisfaction as she felt his body tremble when he gulped down his saliva hungrily, unable to look away from her.

"But if you ask me about my reasons for stirring up monsters and bandits, it's very simple."

"...!"

She added, letting go of him and stepping back and turning around, causing him to flinch in distress over the end of the physical contact.

"I am aware that you are your own person, and I don't want you to be merely some toy programmed to worship every step I take. I don't cause all of the attacks either - I observe the situation and plan what to do before and after so a sudden spike of difficulty wouldn't kill off your party members and cause me to step in. I create the opportunities for you to grow, but I am not the one steering the direction of that growth. Each day, I am more afraid that you will get too close to one of your party members and move on from me. Giving you the time and space to think things through and sort your thoughts and feelings is… terrifying…"

Melinda breathed out and admitted while leaning over the corner to make sure that no one was eavesdropping on them…

"Oho~?"

…and she let out a surprised but happy voice when she felt strong arms wrapping around her stomach and picking her up with ease.

"Hmhmhm~?"

"..."

Melinda chuckled, straightened her back, leaned against Zane's body, and looked up into his serious face.

She had to bite her lips to stop herself from grinning like an idiot and destroying the moment.

"...have you ever considered that I already had enough time and space to sort all of my feelings, and I'm just forcing myself to hold back because of some circumstances that need to be addressed…?"

Zane took a deep breath and asked in a serious voice, doing his best to ignore the movement of Melinda's hips and butt as she playfully wiggled her waist while looking up at him.

"And what could those circumstances be?"

"You're smart, so you should figure it out without me telling you, Miss Schemer."

The gold-haired girl asked in a low voice, trying to hide how happy she was, and the white-haired young man scoffed back while squinting his eyes at her.

"But what if I hope for you to give in and do whatever you want?"

Melinda bit her lips a bit more and asked while wiggling in his arms just a tiny bit more vigorously.

"I would be extremely happy for you to do so, but that wouldn't change the gravity of the current situation."

"...?"

Zane smiled sadly, making Melinda stop the teasing and look at him with concern.

"Do you need my help? I realized that once you can rely on brute strength to get you out of any trouble, you start to lose the fear of taking risks and can come up with some great ideas you wouldn't even consider before."

She put her hands over his arms reassuringly and offered.

"That's a valid point, but you were the person who said that too much bloodshed isn't advised. Besides…"

Zane nodded his head, and his smile turned into one of amusement but quickly changed back.

"You might be happy to learn that I'm doing things this way because I am terribly jealous about you and want to keep you all to myself. Preferably forever."

"...I do like that… very much, actually…~"

He added, and the girl in his arms whispered back while gazing at him dreamily.