Chapter 4: The Day the Villainess Made a Comrade

“…Sir Cain.”

The head servant, who had been standing as still as a statue, called out to me in a somewhat stiff tone.

“Yes.”

“Is Lady Lia… perhaps committing an impropriety?”

The way he said it, it almost felt like he was adding, ‘If so, I’ll have to reprimand you.’ Or maybe that’s just my imagination?

I glanced at the head servant before turning to Lia von Elevess.

The girl who, in a few years, would become the empire’s most notorious villainess, looked back at me with eyes that seemed desperately pleading.

After a brief moment of thought, I spoke.

“…No, it’s nothing like that. In fact, the lady was trying to help me.”

“Help? Lady Lia, helping you, Sir Cain?”

The head servant raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth between Lia von Elevess and me.

He didn’t say anything outright, but his skeptical gaze suggested he wasn’t convinced. To lend credibility to my lie, I pointed to the homemade cookies on the plate.

“Yes, you see, I was eating the cookies the lady gave me and accidentally dropped some crumbs. They fell into my pocket, of all places, and wouldn’t come out easily. I was struggling with it when the lady kindly offered to help me remove them. I was about to accept her help, despite the impropriety.”

Once I decided to spin a lie, the story flowed smoothly without hesitation.

“But if that’s the case, why was there such a loud commotion…?”

“…Ah, my apologies. That was my fault. The lady’s gentle touch tickled me, and I couldn’t help but make a loud noise.”

“Oh, is that so…?”

The head servant blinked slowly, his expression still dubious.

His lips twitched as if he had more questions, but he didn’t press further and instead gave a slow bow.

“Very well. I apologize for causing a scene. Lady Lia, Sir Cain, please continue your conversation at your leisure.”

With that, the head servant led the other servants out of the reception room.

Creak, thud.

The door closed. Lia von Elevess, who had been visibly tense, let out a deep sigh of relief.

“Phew, thank you, Sir Knight. You saved me.”

“…”

To think I’d receive thanks from the empire’s future greatest villainess just for coming up with a flimsy excuse.

Feeling a bit uneasy about the situation, I moistened my lips and asked Lia von Elevess.

“So, is the head servant someone you’re afraid of, Miss…?”

“Um, yes, a little. Zieg is usually kind, but when I break etiquette, he gets really scary. I got scolded a lot when I was younger.”

“I see…”

So, even the empire’s future greatest villainess can’t escape the fear instilled in her childhood.

As I entertained that silly thought, something struck me as odd.

Wait a minute. Wasn’t Lia von Elevess supposed to be a spoiled noble lady who mistreated everyone around her, including servants?

According to the original story, even before she fully became a villainess, she was notorious for her outrageous behavior—so infamous that everyone who mattered knew her as a brat.

But based on how she’s treated me and how she just acted with the head servant, Lia von Elevess doesn’t seem villainous at all.

How should I put it? Rather than a villainess, she feels kind, innocent, and maybe a bit lively—like a typical noble lady.

What’s going on? The Lia von Elevess I read about in the original story and the one I’m talking to now feel like completely different people. It’s almost as if someone else has taken her place.

“…”

Could it be… no, it’s unlikely, but what if the Lia von Elevess in the original story wasn’t a villainess from the start?

Like the cliché often used for male leads in romance fantasies, where a childhood incident causes them to darken and turn villainous—could something similar happen to Lia, making her the empire’s greatest villainess?

My thoughts reaching that point, I instinctively looked up at Lia von Elevess.

“…Sir Knight?”

What kind of catastrophic event could possibly turn this youthful, innocent-looking girl into the empire’s most notorious villainess?

If I could just figure out the incident or trigger that turns Lia von Elevess into a villainess, I’d do whatever it takes to prevent it—for the sake of my peaceful life as her escort knight.

Unfortunately, How to Tame an Obsessive Male Lead is written from the third-person perspective of the female and male leads.

Since it barely touches on the backstories or side stories of characters other than the main couple, I have no way of knowing what that incident or trigger might be…

“Hey, Sir Knight!”

“…Yes?”

A high-pitched voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

Coming back to my senses, I saw Lia von Elevess looking at me with a pout.

“What were you thinking about so deeply that you didn’t respond when I called you?”

Damn, I got too lost in pointless thoughts. To lose focus in front of a girl who’ll become the empire’s greatest villainess? I bowed my head respectfully.

“My apologies. I was momentarily caught up in old memories.”

“You don’t need to apologize like that… What kind of old memories?”

If I said, “I was thinking about a novel where you’re the villainess,” I’d definitely be labeled a lunatic, so I deflected with a vague story based on my childhood.

“Well, back at my family’s estate, we had someone like your head servant. He was in charge of my education and was very strict. If I made even a small mistake, I’d get scolded or disciplined.”

“Oh my, really? Even someone like you got scolded by adults?”

“Yes, of course.”

As I mentioned before, the Reinhardt family’s training policy is practically child abuse. From the moment a boy can walk, he’s made to hold a sword, study academics, and by the age of ten—like me now—go out into the world to prove himself.

It goes without saying, but a ten-year-old is just a kid. For a kid to prove himself in the outside world, normal education methods won’t cut it.

I’m not trying to complain, but I went through incredibly rigorous training. I got scolded a ton and disciplined even more. No exaggeration—I probably got hit ten times a day.

“…So many times I can’t even count.”

“Oh, wow. Even a mature knight like you got scolded that much…?”

I thought I was sharing a painful story, but for some reason, she’s snorting and looking pleased.

Is this… could it be because Lia von Elevess is a villainess? Does she get some sadistic pleasure from others’ suffering?

Trying to gauge her intentions, I stared at her. Then, she extended her hand.

Unlike before, her palm was empty this time.

“So, we’re comrades, then?”

“Comrades…?”

“Yes, comrades. Fellow victims of scary head servants.”

“…”

What kind of comradeship is that? I thought, but I didn’t say it out loud.

Instead, I gently clasped Lia von Elevess’s hand.

“Sir Knight, let’s get along as comrades.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best as your escort knight.”

“Not ‘Miss,’ call me Lia. I’ll call you Cain, too.”

“Alright… Lia… ma’am.”

“No, Cain, not ‘Lia ma’am,’ just Lia!”

Lia von Elevess, who will become the empire’s greatest villainess in ten years, scolded me sternly, insisting I call her just “Lia.”

The absurdity and surrealness of it made me chuckle.

…Alright, fine. Since it’s come to this.

I don’t know how or why Lia von Elevess grows into the empire’s greatest villainess.

But if possible, I want to try preventing her from becoming one.

It’d be such a waste for Lia, who could grow into a beauty surpassing even the original story’s female lead, to fall into ruin as a villainess due to some tragic incident.

And since I’ll be by her side as her escort knight for at least a few years, wouldn’t it be better for the lady I serve to be a kind, lively tomboy rather than a villainess?

Yes, that’s right. After thinking it over, it’s definitely more advantageous for Lia not to become a villainess.

That’s what I was thinking when—

“Oh, right, Cain. I forgot to ask.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“That red potion from earlier—you’ll give it to me, right? Hm?”

“…”

If possible, let’s also work on curbing that greed a bit.

Nighttime.

After finishing dinner, I followed a servant’s guidance to my room in a corner of the mansion.

It’s smaller than the room I had at the Reinhardt estate, but it has everything I need. If I need anything extra, I was told to ask a servant, so it’s not inconvenient.

I unstrapped the sword sheath from my waist, leaned it against the wall, and sat at the desk. Pulling a notebook from the bookshelf, I opened it wide.

“…I need to organize.”

Human memory is fleeting. Even if I remember everything now, in a year, two, or more, I might forget parts of it and never recall them again.

To prevent that disaster, I first jotted down the flow of the original story as I remembered it in the notebook.

It took about twenty minutes due to the sheer volume, but thankfully, there were no gaps in my memory.

“That’s done…”

Next, I’ll organize the information that’s “different” from the original story.

The biggest difference is Lia’s personality. The notoriously bratty noble lady, Lia von Elevess, is, for some reason, far kinder than in the original story.

I don’t know why. My guess is that this kinder personality might be her true nature, and some incident or trigger later changes her, turning her into a villainess.

It’s not certain, but it’s likely for now. Since I don’t know the exact reason, it can’t hurt to be cautious.

So, moving forward, I’ll closely monitor everyone who approaches Lia and eliminate anyone suspicious.

As her escort knight, I can use her safety as an excuse, so it’s not impossible.

“…Okay.”

I circled “eliminate under the pretext of safety” several times for emphasis and turned to the next page of the notebook.

With my plans set, I decided to briefly record the events starting today in the notebook. The reason is simple.

I want to review what I know and cross-reference new information with what I already have.

It’s redundant to say, but as the saying goes, preparedness prevents worry.

So, in a way that only someone from 21st-century South Korea would understand, I wrote the heading in Korean.

Below it, I wrote down my honest feelings about meeting Lia, filling the pages of my diary.

[Imperial Year 434, May 17]

[The villainess in this romance fantasy is strange.]