17

"Kalypso always envied the calm behind Ceasaria's countenance."— Prologue, The Lovely Villainess.

...

Cain and Aramus bickered about having teachers but in the end, it was decided that it would do well to have someone educate me in the mere basics. The inquiry about as to why I was being adopted had yet to be answered. Aramus told me that he would tell me when I decided if I wished to join their family—he apologized for his shifty answer, but he wanted me to have a permanent decision and didn't want his answer to sway me.

Mina or Cain often sat in during the lectures, quietly doing their own work as I listened to the education that I had somewhat familiarized myself with the Lovable Villainess.

"There are two Duchies," The teacher instructed, pointing at the Valentine sigil of a black wolf. "The Valentine Duchy and the Damarius Duchy." The other Duchy was where Kalypso would pick up one of her male leads.

He was the young son of the Damarius Duchy, the one that would swear his loyalty to her. His undying love and affection would be given to her as he promised to be her sword. From the description that I remembered, he had touseled black hair and forest green eyes: the colors of his sigil seemed to rival the Daramius sigil. He was tall, looming behind Kalypso as if he was her shadow. At first, he was disquieted for Kalypso had wanted him after seeing his prowess with the sword. He stood loyally by her side despite disagreeing with her actions. Once seeing her change, he fell for her.

He repledged his loyalty to her, taking a knee and acquiring a new-found sense of justice as his eyes bore into her own. Kalypso smiled, taking his hand and urging him to get off the ground. He would get himself dirty and for her, that was a needed task.

Lachlan Damarius, the loyal sword of Kalypso.

"I see," I answered back, "Is there any chance we'll meet them?"

The Valentine Duchy and the Daramius Duchy were the cornerstones of the Empire.

Cain looked up from his work, "Maybe?" He said, tilting his head to the side. "The heir of Damarius should be a couple of years older than you are, so I don't think you'll see him."

I nodded.

I didn't really want to meet any of Kalypso's lovers.

"The Damarius Duchy and the Valentine Duchy are known to be the Emperor's greatest strengths. Relying on the power of the two defenders of the Crown, the Empire..." The teacher rambled as I tapped my fingers against the table. To meet someone else from the novel felt strange, it felt odd to know that he existed, along with the other male leads.

Leonidas was the Crown Prince, the male lead of the novel. With blonde tresses that looked sunkissed and sky-blue eyes, I remembered that he was popular amongst women. He was the man that was originally my fiancee and Kalypso had tried to get his attention, angrily snapping at everyone around her because of the lack of love that she received. She tried to use devilish techniques to ensnare him, but after she had changed—the prince was charmed, curious as to why she didn't try and entice him.

The man who was supposed to love me ended up realizing that his feelings for Kalypso had never been negative, they had always been buried deep down inside of him. He always loved her, and thus, he broke up the engagement with me. Sentenced me to death by having my tongue ripped out and the vultures plucked at my corpse.

Leonidas Heliot, the first Prince of the Empire.

I listened to the teacher talk about the Crown Prince and the Imperial family. "Is Leonidas not the First Prince?" I inquired, catching what the teacher had said.

The woman shook her head, "The First Prince is Valdemar Heliot." She corrected me and I blinked. That was another deviation from the plot that I had originally heard of. Then again, there was no mention that Leonidas was the first Prince, only that he was the Crown Prince.

"The Crown Prince is Valdemar Heliot," She said, "As I stated before," she turned back to her speech talking about the Crown Prince. That was interesting. The Crown Prince is Valdemar, but why wasn't he in the original work? It was mentioned that Leonidas did have a brother, but Leonidas often sneered that he was a good-for-nothing useless individual that wasn't worth a grain of sand.

Kalypso didn't even interact with him.

Was this another aberration to the original work? I couldn't imagine what had happened. Then again, I had come earlier. When the Lovable Villainess started, I had already debuted which meant that I was older than sixteen. It was hard to pinpoint an age since Kalypso never mentioned it. The ages of the male characters were also never mentioned.

Those two were of love interests, the third was the archmage. The magician that she didn't know was the most powerful man in the Empire. I remembered Kalypso laughing at him and with that, he fell for her playful and laid-back personality. She wasn't like the tightly-laced woman that I had become. She wasn't like other noblewomen who had been taught to hide their emotions.

Mohan.

Class was dismissed as Cain asked if I wanted to eat dinner with him. I nodded and he offered to take my hand. I had been learning a lot, about the environment around me along with different foundational educational things. They came easily to me as if I knew them. I hadn't ever been taught anything though.

Then again, I was starting to question how I knew such things as speech and this book. My mother never socialized me, I should have been stunted in my growth.

The days were filled with more education, eating, sleeping, and conversing with Cain. He always made time for me. No matter how busy he was, somehow, he put aside his work to prop me on his lap and explain what I wanted to know.

I was grateful for him. I asked if he could teach me magic, to which he patted my head.

Cain also came in the middle of the night, sitting in my bed and reading me any book that I asked him to read.

"Cain," I said.

"Ceasaria," he echoed back.

"Why do you treat me so well?" I inquired.

"Is there a reason I shouldn't?"

"We aren't..." We weren't siblings, but I didn't want to say it. I clutched the sheets.

"Don't tell Father I said this," Cain said, bumping my forehead with his fingertips, "But, I want you to be my sister. You know, you can be my twin. We can have the same birthday and everything since you don't know when your birthday is."

"Twins?" I questioned.

Cain nodded, "We'll be closer than average siblings."

I chuckled, "You really think so?" I questioned.

"I do," He said, yawning.

"People will be confused."

Cain shrugged, "Let them be. They already are and we're Valentine's. They'll have no choice but to listen."