Struggling as a Villain

The reassessment went smoothly and somehow Ethan was granted a spot in the Hunter's group despite him failing for the first time.

It was said that since Ethan has the physical attributes of a knight and knows enough magic to be called a mage, he would be best suited for the hunter's group.

However, truth be told, it wasn't the instructor's decision to keep him there; the Headmaster has suggested that to keep the boy in the Hunter's group to gain better results from him. Now, why did he suggest something like that was not in their knowledge but since the wisest man on the campus gave the idea, then it must have some kind of motive.

There were about thirty students in the examination center and the rest were in others. However, only three students were chosen to be in the hunter's group—Elizabeth being one of them.

The third participant was the son of Duke Aeromore—Brendon Aeromore.

Naturally, having the skills, looks and status, he was the only person in the examination hall who could have approached the apple of everyone's eyes—Princess Elizabeth.

Elizabeth looked extremely adorable right now with her hair tied in a twin tail and wearing a white shirt with high-waist trousers for comfort during assessment. Her appearance extruded an innocent charm.

Just as she was about to leave,

"Hello, Princess. Are you returning to your dorm?"

Aermore had grey hair just like his father and an ideal height of 6'2 ft. Possessing sharp features and confidence, he stood before the girl when he asked her.

However, in response to that, Elizabeth frowned before telling him, "Yes. Now bye."

"W-Wait a minute, Eli, I just-"

"Don't you dare call me that unless you have a death wish." The girl hissed in annoyance and made Brendon step back reflexively.

The growing tension between the two was noticed by the others when suddenly a third person entered the scene,

"Eli, can we talk?"

Brandon's eyes widened hearing a commoner calling out to the Princess in such a friendly manner...and the most astonishing part,

"Yes~let's go, Ethan." She instantly changed her demeanour, and after hooking her arm with his, she dragged him away.

Brendon scratched his head as he mumbled, "What the heck is wrong with that girl?"

Outside the training hall, Ethan didn't wait to ask her what was on his mind, "Did you know that the one who trapped me wasn't Nora but someone disguised as her?"

Elizabeth's expression sobered hearing that. She felt irritated that Ethan was now aware of that incident; cursing Richard inwardly for revealing the secret.

'That fake Nora created the perfect scenario for Ethan to hate that elf....tch,'

Suppressing her annoyance, she nodded, "Yes, I knew, but since we both saw Nora in the academy just this morning, how could I have cleared the misunderstanding? In the first place, you never asked me about it as well, no?"

Ethan blinked and soon realised that, indeed, it wasn't Elizabeth's fault. He didn't know that the person who bewitched him was the twin sister of Princess Nora and when he saw her today, he just got furious for no valid reason.

Heaving a sigh, he apologized, "Sorry for the outburst. It's just...whenever I think about those dead people who got preyed on by my clones...I just lose my cool."

Elizabeth felt her heart becoming heavy hearing that as she wanted to comfort him but no word came out.

In the end, Ethan walked away to sort his emotions out. He needed to move on from his past mistakes and has to remember one important lesson.

In this world, it's taboo to trust anyone blindly.

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When Amelia returned, she found Richard standing near the notice board, waiting for her.

When he spotted her, a smile bloomed on his face as he asked, "How did it go?"

"The reaction from the instructor was positive, so I think I will get into the survival group."

Her words released the weight from his shoulders as he said, "Congratulations."

Soon the duo were walking together toward Amelia's temporary dorm. The students will get their rooms tomorrow, so for today, they have to stay at the same place.

Amelia was naturally silent like she usually remains, and Richard also didn't say anything, given he was waiting for her to ask whatever she had in mind.

After waiting for some more time, she finally asked, "Is there any reason for you to change your opinion so suddenly? About Princess Nora?"

Richard was expecting that question that's why he didn't take much time to respond, "Yes, I have. Somehow I knew that it wasn't Nora who attacked me last night."

"And how do you know that?"

Richard raised his brows, "You don't trust me?"

Amelia's grip on her bag's strap became firm as, while retaining her gaze on the front, she muttered, "It's not like that...I just don't want the one who hurt you to roam freely. They have wounded you, Richard, and for that sin, they deserve death."

Richard smiled at that before telling her, "Don't worry, Amelia. I am not going to leave that person even if it turns out that, indeed, it was Nora who attacked me. I am well set on taking revenge for the hell I have experienced in those minutes."

With the flames of agitation burning in his eyes, he added, "I'll make them understand—death would be a mercy compared to what's coming."

"You look hot."

"Eh?" Richard's expression immediately sobered up hearing that response as he turned to look at Amelia in astonishment.

"I mean, with that fierce expression, you look hot."

Richard was truly baffled by this switch of topics as he nodded with a 'Thank you'.

The duo walked in silence after that for a few minutes before Richard laughed aloud, startling Amelia.

"What happened?"

He shook his head, "N-No it's just...you are really strange, Amelia."

"I get that a lot."

His laughter slowly subdued as he extended his hand and fondly held hers before voicing, "But I like strange people."

Amelia didn't turn to look at him, but her reddened ear tips were enough evidence to show that she heard him.

------------***-----------

After returning home, he didn't have dinner right away, rather, after checking on Violet and spending some time with Lilia, Richard went to his room.

He needed to find out the culprit who entered his room last night; as such, he first checked a few things.

His room was just above Lilia's and in Lilia's room, there was Violet stationed last night. So if someone had jumped from the ground floor to his room, then Violet would have surely noticed. He had enough trust in her senses.

That concludes that the person entered his room but not by jumping from the ground floor.

'Then what? They jumped from the nearby building to the mansion top?' The nearest building was approximately a hundred meters away, which was something a superhuman could achieve if they had a strong command of body enhancement.

'But the school security would have surely noticed...' Richard thought. The patrolling unit was responsible for keeping an eye on these things, so if they had spotted someone jumping over the roofs, they would have called them out instantly.

Then...was the school security involved in this?

'Or was it someone from the teaching unit who had the patrolling duty last night?' Olivia had a solid reason to harm Richard, and that was to hurt Bellarine through Richard. And considering last night, she was on guard duty...

'Haah...I can't be sure.' Plopping down on the chair he heaved a sigh.

Because of the sudden movement, the books piled up on his table suddenly fell over.

"Fuck man..." Richard cursed before crouching down to pick up the books and files he brought from his home.

He was arranging the files when his eyes landed on the report he received from his mother regarding the investigation they had on the Prime Minister.

Richard frowned, confused as to why he hadn't read it until now.

He left the other books back on the floor, brought the document to rest it over the desk, and flipped the cover.

[The cloning experiment.]

The first topic, which was detailed there, was about the experiment, which was supposed to happen later in the story.

Richard began to read about it in detail and most of the things were within his knowledge...until he reached a certain part,

"....was a way of injecting more than one ether signature in the clones and availing them to wield the attributes of more than one human. The clones were made in such a manner that they could become the ultimate weapon against any danger which the Empire might face...."

"Wait...multiple ether signatures?" Richard's frown grew deeper as he read the line and thought back on what he knew about the clones.

*Knock* *Knock*

His reverie was broken when suddenly Lilia knocked on the door.

"Not now Lilia, just leave m-"

"I apologize, my lord but this is urgent." Hearing her voice he detached his eyes from the document before looking at her, as she said,

"The elven princess Nora has arrived and she wishes to meet you urgently, master."

"..."

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A/N:- Thanks for reading. Check the author's thoughts.

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