“How could I forget the most important thing on my list? Argh…this is already shaping up to be Not My Day.”
“But you got to talk to the boy you like, so aren’t you happy?” Gill asks, an air of maturity in his eye.
That’s not the sort of line you’d hear from the average eleven-year-old boy… Isn’t that more like something an old man would say to his granddaughter when she came of age? Eww…I don’t think I like that.
“The boy I like?” I ask back.
Gill rolls his eyes at me as if to say, “Are you that dumb?”
His beautiful ash-gray eyes glitter, reflecting the sunlight streaming through the window.
“Wait—Alicia, you do like Duke, don’t you?” Gill asks, his eyes wide.
“Of course I like him……but is this love?”
“I’m the wrong person to ask… But didn’t Duke give you that pendant?” Gill asks, pointing at the pendant resting atop my chest.
He has a point… Every day, I wear this pendant Duke gave me. But if you asked me why, I’d struggle to find an answer.
“I like you, too, Gill. Do you suppose my feelings for you and Prince Duke are different?”
“Of course they’re different,” Gill answers without hesitation.
I look at Gill in surprise. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’m a genius.” He smiles, crinkles appearing next to his eyes.
Aw, what a pretty smile… You know, Gill is going to be really handsome when he grows up.
“But lots of people like Prince Duke more than I do. Some of them would gladly give their lives for him, I’m sure.”
“You know, Alicia, when it comes to romance, you’re pretty dense.” Gill sighs in frustration.
I never thought I’d hear that from someone younger than me. For that matter, why am I even going to Gill for love advice in the first place? I don’t think I’m exactly dense—I just don’t know the standards by which romantic love is defined, that’s all! Do I like him as a friend, as a lover, or as family? Or do I like him as an idol? Like the way Liz’s devotees worship her… Agh, the more I think about it, the more jumbled my brain gets.
“Even if some girls like Duke more than you, Duke’s heart is yours, Alicia. When you love somebody…it means you decide not to love somebody else,” Gill says, looking me soberly in the eye.
There is not a shred of youthful innocence in his eyes. He has the look of a grown man, overflowing with intelligence and wisdom.
“No matter what happens, Duke’s feelings for you will never change—at least that’s what I believe.”
“You do realize I’m mean, right?”
“Despite your faults, Alicia…Duke only has eyes for you,” Gill answers firmly, as if to confirm this conviction to himself.
Wait a minute… Does this mean Gill and Duke don’t actually think I’m mean?
“Alicia?” Gill peers curiously into my eye.
“Oh, you say that now…but just wait until I become an even badder bitch than I am now. He’ll run for dear life.”
If he accepts all of me as I am, that means I’m still quite green as a villainess. And Gill can be pretty malicious, too, so my meanness just might have a long way to go.
I can’t let my partner out-villain me… I’ve got to hone my villainess skills much sharper.
“This late in the game…I really doubt Duke’s feelings will waver,” Gill says. “Though at this point, I wonder how long it will take for her to actually notice…”
I am so introspective about my insufficient villainess training that I completely miss what Gill mutters under his breath.
As we sit in the old library, basking in the nostalgic sense of solitude lingering in the empty air, I voice an insecurity that has been nagging at my conscience.
“By the way, Gill, everybody at this school does hate me, right?”
“Yeah…I guess they do hate you,” Gill answers promptly.
“And I—enemy of the student body—have you, Prince Duke, Mel, and Henri as my allies…”
“That’s right. And lately, it seems like Duke’s popularity has taken a dive because of that.”
When did he manage to get his hands on that intel?
“They all think you bewitched Duke and Henri.”
Well, that isn’t so far from the truth. After all, Duke is destined to hook up with the heroine, and now he has a thing for me.
“Even though there’s only five of us, our influence is immense,” Gill remarks.
“We’re, like, quintessential bad guys.” My lips soften into a smile in spite of myself.
Ahhh, this is exhilarating. I used to think I didn’t need any allies, but if they’ll amplify my villainess glory, then I heartily welcome their allyship. I used to think a villainess should be a lone wolf, but with the best, baddest people by her side, her fame can grow even bigger. Then her name will be etched into history.
Besides, Duke is the prince of this kingdom. A villainess who bewitched a prince? That’s got a lovely ring to it.
“Well, in secret, people are calling us a Shadow Organization and a Cluster of Evil,” Gill says.
“What a beautiful plot development,” I say in exaltation.
“Dark Devil.”
“Huh?”
“That’s what they’re calling you, Alicia.”
“What about Liz?”
“Light Angel.” Gill spits out the words.
What…what stupid names. Could they have been any lazier?
“And everything was so cool, up to the Cluster of Evil…”
The corners of Gill’s mouth shoot upward.
Urk—you’re scaring me, Gill. Now, that’s the smile of a Dark Devil. I can even see a pitch-black shadow looming over his face.
“Though a faction of the student body is apparently calling you Dark Angel, Alicia.”
“Dark Angel?” I frown at Gill. “So are these same people calling Liz a Light Devil?”
“That, I don’t know.”
……Why would they call me something like “Angel”? I am not at all angelic. For a start, my facial features lean more toward devilish. Angel is a word reserved for someone exactly like Liz. In personality and in looks…especially that smile of hers.
“This is the worst day of my life.”
I put a hand on my forehead and spit out my heart’s deepest truth.
I was at the top of the world, and now I’ve hit rock bottom. Can I please get that ecstasy I felt one minute ago back?
“By what definition and in what universe am I an angel?” I demand.
“Don’t worry, nobody’s calling you that in the open.”
“How do you know all this, Gill?”
“Anybody can get classified intel if they want it badly enough.”
Only Gill—that’s all I can say about that. Even his devilish grin is perfect.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if war broke out between the Alicia and Liz factions soon,” he says.
“……Why do you look so pleased about that?”
“Oh, the thought of you getting more worshippers just makes me happy.”
A bunch of worshippers of dubious identity don’t exactly do it for me…
“Though I doubt the people in your faction would call themselves worshippers,” Gill added.
“Well, of course. Team Liz membership is overwhelmingly higher… So where are you actually getting this information?” I glare at Gill.
He looks back at me for a little while before sighing in defeat. “Henri.”
“Henri?”
“I won’t elaborate. Just know that I’m doing a lot of work behind the scenes for you, Alicia.” Gill shoots me a meaningful smile.
Why does he look so smug? It’s like he’s scored some victory.
……We spend so much time together, yet there are still sides of Gill that I do not know.
I am standing at the door to my cottage and muttering at the sky: “So we never got any information about that wolf after all.”
The sky sure is cloudy… That always means something bad is about to happen. That must be why I didn’t get a shred of information about wolves today.