“What do you think you’re doing right now?!”
I had no intention of asserting my presence by shouting like the protagonist of another novel, as seen above.
However, since I had already made up my mind to intervene in this incident, I stepped out quietly from the edge of the building.
But even though I revealed myself, Hailga and the villainous man didn’t notice me immediately.
There had already been someone else who made a much more boisterous entrance earlier.
Naturally, all attention and gazes were focused in that direction.
“Reysir…! How did you know to come here?!”
“I wondered what just popped out, and it’s that freeloader living off Hailga’s family.”
Hailga looked at the original protagonist with eyes that seemed to have found a savior, unable to hide her relief and joy.
On the other hand, the villainous man treated the original protagonist as a mere nuisance, his expression twisted with displeasure as he sneered.
Despite that gaze clearly looking down on him, Reysir looked the man straight in the eye, shielding Hailga behind his back as he answered the question she had thrown at him.
“I was taking a walk with Karbaldr, and I saw you heading behind the building with a man I didn’t recognize. Something felt off, so I followed you.”
Only after my name was mentioned did Hailga and the villainous man turn their heads to look in my direction.
The moment she spotted me, Hailga’s expression brightened even further.
Given this body’s status, she likely judged that I would be of great help in dealing with the villain.
However, Hailga wasn’t the only one who seemed pleased by my appearance.
The nameless extra villain also looked at me with a face as if he had met a reliable ally.
I felt a moment of absurdity at his reaction.
“Young Lord Karbaldr! You understand me, don’t you? You’ve suffered so much because of your fiancée….”
The moment I heard those words, I couldn’t help but realize why this extra villain treated me as an ally.
‘It’s because of what the original owner of this body did to Vigdis!’
He probably thought that his current actions of clinging to and threatening Hailga were no different from how Karbaldr used to be obsessed with and tried to control Vigdis in the past.
Thus, he likely assumed I would empathize with his feelings and take his side.
‘But I’m not the real Karbaldr, you know?’
I couldn’t understand the heart of someone who claimed to love someone while insulting their family, shouting at them, and threatening them.
However, since others were unaware of this fact, I saw the joy vanish from Hailga’s face, replaced by an expression of dismay.
‘Thinking that the original author might be interfering with her emotions… is that too convenient of an interpretation?’
I didn’t know if I was being hypocritical or just cunning for having such thoughts, especially since I usually felt repulsed when Author Senna manipulated the words and actions of characters.
Still, I had to do what needed to be done.
I shook off the thoughts in my head, let out a deep sigh, and spoke.
“If you know that much, then you should also know that because I ignored Vigdis’s feelings and acted coercively, I earned her hatred and became someone she avoids.”
“What? Oh, that…”
Perplexity spread across the triumphant face of the extra villain.
It was a question that was awkward to answer whether he knew or not, making his reaction only natural.
“Why are you following a method that has already been proven unable to win someone’s heart?”
“But… aren’t you on good terms with your fiancée now?”
The villainous man replied cautiously, eyeing me with an uncertain expression.
It seemed he still held onto the possibility that I might be on his side.
Since there was a trace of expectation in his gaze, he might have even been under the delusion that I was about to offer him advice.
It was truly ridiculous.
“That’s true. It’s because I promised not to be obsessed anymore and not to even speak to her first, and I am keeping that promise well.”
If he didn’t want to earn Hailga’s hatred, it meant he should stop clinging to her and never approach or speak to her first again.
But I didn’t say this expecting him to fully accept it.
“…I don’t understand at all. Why is the Young Lord of a Ducal House keeping such a promise?”
Sure enough, the politeness in the extra villain’s expression and voice faded, replaced by a hint of pathetic disapproval.
It was the reaction I had expected.
This man showed an attitude that Hailga’s feelings and circumstances didn’t matter at all, and he even went as far as to casually insult the Bitnir Baronial family.
“If you just crush them with the prestige of your family, making your fiancée submissive would be child’s play, wouldn’t it?”
Inferring that he possessed such a mindset was also child’s play.
Nevertheless…
“I’m not one to talk, considering how I behaved in the past, but do you really think that’s an appropriate attitude toward someone you like?”
There was a reason why I was going on like this.
First, if the original protagonist stepped forward to argue with the villain, it would naturally lead into a heroine event.
I wanted to prevent that by drawing the villain’s attention toward me.
And the second reason—my ultimate goal—was this:
‘I need to polish Karbaldr’s image, even if just a little.’
Karbaldr had gone out of his way to help Vigdis learn swordsmanship, and he possessed looks that made it an insult to even compare him to this villainous man, but… based solely on his actions toward her, he was arguably in the same boat as this villain.
Considering the duration of his obsession and harassment, one could even argue he was much worse.
‘I might end up getting lumped in with this villain and cursed by Senna’s readers.’
That was why I was spinning this self-defense while pretending to talk to the villain.
Once the extra villain before me was dealt with, there would surely be arguments that Karbaldr, who committed similar wrongs, should also pay for his sins.
To show Senna’s readers that Karbaldr was reflecting on his past and to plant the certainty that he would never do so again.
“I’d also like to cherish the person I like if possible, but what can I do? She won’t accept my heart willingly.”
“So? You didn’t hesitate to threaten her to force her submission?”
“Regrettably, if that’s the only way, then that’s what must be done.”
Even though I knew the person before me was a villain, the way he answered so lightly—as if it were the most natural thing in the world without a hint of guilt—was profoundly baffling.
Thus, I spoke with a stern face.
“If the other person has that little heart for you, then there is no way.
Giving up is the right answer.”
“That is truly not something for the Young Lord to say.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I heard your fiancée avoids you so much she even told you not to speak to her.
And yet, that lady is still your fiancée.”
I couldn’t reveal here that I planned to break the engagement with Vigdis.
As I stood there with a frown, unable to offer a rebuttal, the extra villain wore an expression of understanding.
“Aha! Now I get it. I see why you’re humoring your fiancée, Young Lord.”
I could roughly guess what this extra villain was about to say.
But if I hurriedly spoke up to cut him off, it might give the impression that he had hit a sore spot.
So, I just tilted my head, crossed my arms, and gave him a look that told him to go ahead and spout whatever he wanted.
“That lady belongs to the Young Lord regardless of what anyone says, so spending time and effort to eventually win her heart must be a sort of entertainment for you. I’m truly envious.”
Someone reading those lines in text would surely think it was sarcasm.
But having heard his voice while facing him directly, I couldn’t think so.
It was because the trace of genuine envy in his expression and voice was far too thick.
“That’s why I told Hailga that we should just date for now. To announce to others that she’s mine before someone else snatches her away. I figured I could take my time winning her heart after that.”
There were so many points I wanted to correct.
But the problem was that I couldn’t do so because I was currently in Karbaldr’s body.
If I revealed that I couldn’t break the engagement because she would likely be sold off to a man over seventy, it would solve the issue, but…
‘If I reveal that here, it won’t be long before it reaches Count Shalbrady’s ears!’
I had no choice but to swallow a sigh.
Since Reysir had brought me into his circle, Karbaldr had risen to become a major supporting character in this remake version.
I had expected Author Senna to move in a similar direction if I took the lead in rehabilitating my image.
‘Was my judgment wrong…?’
Apparently, Senna’s readers still found Karbaldr extremely distasteful.
Or perhaps they were so dissatisfied with my recent actions that they wouldn’t even allow me to reflect on my past mistakes and show a changed side.
That must be why this extra villain, born from the author’s fingertips, was currently doing this.
Driving me into a corner as “irredeemable trash who is actually the same as before but just pretending to have reflected and changed.”
Otherwise, this wouldn’t be happening.
“…You’re completely selfish.”
“It might feel that way for now. But later, Hailga will be grateful to me.”
The villain said this and turned his head to look at Hailga with a gaze so greasy it was disgusting.
At the combination of such an absurd statement and that look, Hailga finally looked like she couldn’t take it anymore and raised her voice.
“Why on earth would I be grateful to you?!”
“Do you really not know?”
At the sight of the villain asking back as if he genuinely didn’t understand, Hailga stood with her mouth agape, unable to say a word.
She was so dumbfounded that she had lost her speech.
The extra villain left Hailga as she was and spoke to me once again.
And in a very friendly tone at that.
“It would be great if I could talk to my father and push for an engagement like you did, Young Lord, but Hailga’s family is so insignificant that getting permission isn’t easy. That’s why I’m trying to persuade my parents after we start dating.”
Because he was putting in this much effort to marry Hailga, who came from an insignificant family, it was a statement implying that Hailga should naturally be grateful to him.
I’m angry