I’ll Become a Villainess That Will Go Down in History

Ceres paused for a moment before replying to Marius.

“He was initially favored by the king. Of course, the prince would be interested in him as well.”

“He’s a strange boy, isn’t he? At his age, he is not intimidated by anything and completes the tasks assigned to him without hesitation. I wonder how he was brought up to become such a child.”

“His life must have been much harsher than we can imagine.”

“It must be a far cry from the luxurious life of an aristocrat~.”

“But I heard he didn’t seem surprised to see the inside of that castle.”

“He appears to be a very adaptable person.”

They came to a halt in the middle of their conversation.

They noticed a staircase leading down. It was pitch black, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t see what was down there.

“What do we do?”

“We have to go.”

Ceres said, to which Marius immediately replied.

They descended slowly, with determined expressions on their faces.

***

“What the?”

I squinted as I heard Victor’s voice.

My vision brightened all of a sudden, and it took some time for my eyes to adjust.

What was this light? We were in the water, but light…anything was possible. I felt as if I were being held up against a flashlight.

“I guess we’ll just have to walk towards the light.”

Victor said, undauntedly moving forward more and more.

I should be more cautious from here… He really didn’t know what to be afraid of, did he?

Step by step, the path narrows. The light’s intensity increased as the path narrowed.

…It’s a good thing Captain Marius and the others weren’t on this side of the road.

They’d never be able to make it through.

We made it through a path that only one person could pass through at a time. A massive waterfall appeared in the distance. The water was gushing down with a great force. It felt like a big open space, and I could breathe a little easier than before.

Lots of ivy, moss, and even small flowers cover the walls. It is a very beautiful place, and I admired it for a while.

This place looks like it belongs in a book about beautiful ruins. Who would have thought that there would be such a beautiful place in the middle of that filthy lake?

“What’s that?”

I looked at the place where Victor was looking.

There was one place in the middle of the waterfall where there was no water flowing. The water is flowing in such a way that it avoids that section of the waterfall. There had to be something there.

I desperately strained my eyes. Perhaps the image was still a little blurry because my eyes were covered with a cloth. If there was anything I could make out, it was something shaped like a person.

A doll? How could there be something like that in a place like this?

I wish they would stop trying to cram in horror elements all of a sudden. At least make it human. …Well, a fat middle-aged man standing in the middle of a waterfall would also be scary.

“I finally found you.”

Victor muttered quietly next to me.

“Is that the source of the lake?”

“Yes. That fairy is the source of the lake.”

He said it with certainty in his voice.

A fairy? Is that a fairy? There are fairies in this world?

That’s new. I was embarrassed that despite having read so many books, I didn’t know anything about fairies. I need to find out more about them.

More than anything, I was glad that it wasn’t a doll.

“So, if you acquire the fairy, will you become king?”

“Yes. I can surpass my brother.”

“… The second prince’s scheme?”

I said something nasty on purpose because I knew he would not be angry.

I haven’t said anything nasty since I started wearing men’s clothing, so I had to say something nasty here.

“Is that bad?”

Victor replied in a rather low voice, perhaps offended.

“Is the first prince not good?”

“I don’t know, that guy is just…”

He answered my question in a depressed tone, and then began walking toward the waterfall.

I’d seen the first prince in that arena before; he was a calm-looking man with long, blond hair, like Victor.

Victor seemed to dislike his brother a lot, based on his attitude. Disagreements between brothers are probably common in any family, including mine.