Villain's Odyssey: Enslaving heroines, Conquering Villainesses-Chapter 80: Dangerous Attraction

"The groups have now been allocated. You can check them up on the notice board when class is done. Also, you all should be prepared... an event is coming up, and it would be in your best interest to be at your very best condition," the professor announced after wrapping up another tedious history lesson about the last war between realms. His voice carried that familiar drone of someone who’d delivered the same warnings countless times before. Wars where entire worlds were literally destroyed, and the possibility of ours suffering the same fate if we weren’t ready for when the ’GODS’ decided to have their fun again.

The classroom buzzed with quiet murmurs as students exchanged glances.

’An event? Hmm... it seems something really happened. But what exactly could have brought about that butterfly effect? I literally kept to the script to the very end... well, except for keeping Anna in that Legacy world. Wait, could the meeting be related to Albion? Could be, but if that’s the case, why does it have to bring about an event?’

"Hey," I heard a voice and turned to find Tracy with squinted eyes looking at me suspiciously.

She had her elbow propped on the desk in front of her, supporting her chin as she studied me with those sharp blue eyes. Her white hair with blue tips cascaded down one shoulder in loose waves, the light from the tall academy windows catching the subtle highlights she’d gotten recently. She wore the standard academy uniform, but somehow managed to make the plain white blouse and navy skirt look effortlessly stylish. The way she’d rolled up her sleeves just slightly and loosened her tie gave her that perfectly disheveled look that seemed natural but probably took her twenty minutes to achieve.

"...Yeah?" I responded, turning to look at the professor who was still droning on about something related to the event, though he was intentionally avoiding throwing more light on what exactly it was going to be.

"Just look at me for a sec," she said, and I complied, meeting her gaze directly.

"What’s wrong?" I asked, and she sighed, her expression shifting to something more serious.

"That’s what I wanted to ask you. What’s wrong?" she asked with genuine concern creeping into her voice, to which I shrugged.

"Nothing. Why do you ask?" I threw the question back since I really didn’t want to talk about it.

To my words, her eyes squinted even more. She looked like an annoying cat at this point, the kind that knows exactly where you’ve hidden something and won’t let it go.

"Fine, I’ll say it," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper that somehow carried more threat than a shout. "Why do you keep looking at that bitch?" she asked with a smile that even a blind man would notice wasn’t actually a smile.

Damn, she’s pissed.

Have I been overdoing it?

Tsk.

But I thought I hid it quite well.

Sigh.

I have a problem. A very big problem at that, and it’s sitting three rows ahead of me with perfect posture and an infuriating ability to ignore my existence.

I can’t concentrate on anything. I literally can’t get my thoughts straight. It started when I walked into the class with Jenny this morning. Everything was okay at that point – normal, even. I was genuinely relieved that whatever Maria had done to me the previous night had worn off. That relief turned to something else entirely when I saw her.

She was too beautiful for some reason that defied logic. I just froze looking at her. Maria sat there in her usual spot, her long white hair falling in perfect waves past her shoulders. She’d styled it differently today – pulled back on one side with a silver clip that caught the morning light. Her face had this natural elegance to it, high cheekbones and full lips that seemed to curve into the slightest smile even when she wasn’t actively smiling. Even the way she crossed her legs under the desk seemed calculated to drive me insane.

When she noticed me staring, she even smiled and waved – a casual, friendly gesture that sent my heart racing. That simple wave prompted a hateful glare from an idiot I hadn’t seen in so long I’d almost forgotten he existed: Ansley.

But that was beside the point. The point was that the moment I set my eyes on her, I wanted her. I couldn’t explain it, couldn’t rationalize it away. It was worse than yesterday. The sensation returned in full force and crashed down on me like a tidal wave. I literally had to use every single bit of willpower I had not to rush up to her at that moment.

As though the reasoning-scattering sensation wasn’t problematic enough, I started to feel that parched feeling again. I was becoming thirsty, and not for water. It was horror in its purest form. My eyes instantly went to her lips, and in that moment she became the only thing I could see in the entire classroom. The subtlest movement of her lips was turning me on, driving me absolutely crazy.

Good thing a nudge from Jenny woke me up – or rather, an unnecessary elbow attack disguised as a nudge. My grudge aside, it worked enough to get me moving, though Jenny’s intermittent glances between Maria and me told me she was suspecting something had happened yesterday.

And yes, something did happen. Not that I’m telling her what.

Why? Because I have a feeling this is all part of Maria’s elaborate scheme. Perhaps she wants me to tell Jenny, and that would lead to a chain of events where I’d screw myself over without even knowing when I did it. I think this feeling comes from the fact that I myself am a manipulator who likes to plan several steps ahead, so I can see the likelihood of that being her angle.

Anyway, after settling in with Tracy, I kept finding myself looking back at Maria. She was either talking to her friends or listening to the professor with that focused expression she got when she was genuinely interested in something. She never once looked at me, never glanced in my direction, and that... that was doing something to me.

Was I feeling jealous? I didn’t even know. I just wanted her to look at me for some reason. Why won’t she just look at me? Why is she looking at that bastard instead? She has to look at only me and me alone—

Wait, it’s getting worse. Why am I becoming the yandere here?

DAMN IT!

"...Asher~?" I heard a silky voice and realized I was once again looking at her.

GOD! WHAT THE HELL HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?!

"Huh?" I blurted as Tracy suddenly cupped my face, totally ignoring that classes were still in session.

"...Asher," she said, smiling. I didn’t like that smile or where this was going. "Why do I feel like something is going on between you and her?" she asked, her fingers pressing slightly into my cheeks.

What the hell?

I think I made an error in my calculations. Tracy might not be as controllable as I predicted. She’s not even my girlfriend and she’s already acting this possessive? That’s not a good sign.

Oh well, I have to get control of this situation. Letting her continue down this path is bound to screw me over at some point in the future.

"Can I kiss you?" I asked out of the blue, and her brain short-circuited.

"...N-no," she suddenly pulled back, her hands dropping from my face like I’d burned her. "Why would you ask that? There are a lot of people here," she said, her face bright red from embarrassment.

Oh, so now she knows there are a lot of people here.

I glanced around to notice the professor still talking, this time answering a question some student had asked, so his attention wasn’t on us. The other students were either taking notes or looking half-asleep. Perfect.

I decided to go all out. Let’s completely break her composure.

I suddenly moved closer to her, closing the distance between us. She tried to escape, leaning back in her chair, but I took advantage of her confusion to reach out and pull her closer. What looked like an innocent hug to any casual observer was actually something far more calculated.

I went for a certain pleasure point at her nape, biting it gently. She held back a moan, her body tensing against mine. Then I moved to her ear, my breath warm against her skin.

"Calm down, Tracy," I whispered, my voice low enough that only she could hear. "We still have that date, right? Stop getting so worked up."

She breathed hot air against my ear in response, her body trembling slightly. I bit her earlobe gently, then moved back as if nothing had happened.

This was a method I’d used back when I was Noel to calm down that lunatic Emilia. I’d learned that someone like her – someone I’d termed a yandere due to her behavior – when triggered, would try to assert dominance due to a high level of possessiveness. They’d try to oppress their object of obsession into submission, and if that object fell into submission, they’d impose themselves even more until their target was in a state that satisfied them.

So I’d learned to stop it in the first stage by diverting their attention with something unexpected, something that shifted the power dynamic back in my favor.

The object of obsession itself.

The fact that this worked on Tracy meant one thing: I had another yandere on my hands.

Tracy sat there, stunned, her face flushed and her breathing slightly uneven. Her earlier aggression had completely evaporated, replaced by confused arousal and embarrassment. She touched her ear where I’d bitten it, her eyes wide with shock.

"You..." she started to say, then stopped, seemingly unable to form coherent words.

I turned my attention back to the professor, acting as if nothing had happened. "We should pay attention to class," I said casually. "This event sounds important."

From the corner of my eye, I could see Tracy struggling to regain her composure. Her possessive anger had been redirected into something else entirely – something I could work with.

But even as I congratulated myself on handling the Tracy situation, my eyes drifted back to Maria. She was taking notes, her pen moving gracefully across the paper. The sunlight streaming through the windows highlighted the curve of her neck, the elegant line of her profile.

And she still hadn’t looked at me once.

The professor’s voice faded into background noise as I found myself completely absorbed in watching her again. This was becoming a serious problem, and I had no idea how to solve it.

What exactly had Maria done to me last night? And more importantly, how was I supposed to function like this?

The event the professor mentioned suddenly seemed like the least of my worries.