Chapter 37: Accepting The Villainesses

"Dead bodies...? Reyn, what do you mean?"

Anna started to tremble the moment I asked, as if her entire reality had just shattered. But that was the point; someone like her wouldn’t want me to know.

She wouldn’t want the most precious person in her life to know she was crazy, that she was murderous, that she was obsessive.

But...

"There were no dead bodies. I mean... that shouldn’t even be possible, like—"

I stopped her before she could continue, pressing her head more firmly against my shoulder. I looked at her as if I didn’t care about her confession, giving her the same smile she’d always seen from me.

"R-Reyn...?"

"What you did was for me. I could never hate you for that. But maybe tell me when you’re planning something like that next time, okay?"

Anna’s mind began to crack even further with my acceptance. To her, this felt like a dream. She had just committed the worst sin imaginable, done something she should never have done, something someone like her could never possibly do.

And yet...

Her ’childhood friend’ didn’t care.

The person she loved didn’t care.

Well, didn’t care in the places that actually mattered morally.

Before Anna even knew it, she was leaning into me even more. Then she began to subtly giggle.

"Y-You’re fine with what I did?"

"I already said so, didn’t I?"

She giggled even louder at the confirmation.

"Thank you... thank you, Reyn..."

She breathed the words against my chest, her fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt like I might vanish if she let go. The trembling didn’t stop. If anything, it got worse, but its quality shifted, less like fear, more like release.

I let her cling.

"Trish knows everything."

She said after a long moment, her voice steadier now.

"She walked in while I was..."

A pause, then a small, almost embarrassed laugh.

"While I was dealing with the last one. I thought she’d scream or run. Instead, she asked if I needed help."

"Sounds like Trish."

"It was... surprising. But also a relief. She helped me move them. She knew places, Reyn. Old tunnels under the academy, forgotten storage rooms. Places I’d never heard of."

I filed that information away. Trish hadn’t just been complicit after the fact; she’d been actively useful during the cover-up. That meant her involvement went beyond cleaning up a friend’s mess. She’d brought resources, knowledge, and initiative.

Two villainesses, already coordinating.

"What about the official story?"

"Trish suggested I tell your father what happened, just with a slight alteration, of course. So I did. I told Lord Cain that you were about to be attacked and killed, and I used lethal force to stop it. Trish told her House the same, and I did the same with mine."

Anna sounded almost proud as she said the last part.

"It didn’t take long after that. Honestly, it was satisfying, watching three noble houses coordinate a cover-up."

Now that was interesting. My father and Trish’s house helping wasn’t a surprise. But House Rose getting involved? The novel never gave me a complete picture of them, and this definitely filled in some gaps. They weren’t just healers and politicians.

They were willing to bury bodies when the cause suited them.

"So about Trish saying the five transferred academies..."

"That wasn’t the full story. But don’t worry. People far more powerful than the two of us handled most of it"

She said it with a soft, knowing smile, as if the entire affair had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

"In case you were worried."

Anna planted a kiss on my jaw soon after. Then another. And another. And she didn’t stop.

The shock of being caught killing after carefully cultivating her saintly persona, then being accepted for it immediately, had fully snapped whatever restraint she’d been holding onto.

She wasn’t embarrassed about anything anymore. Not when her beloved had already seen the worst of her and told her to stay.

After that, nothing else could ever feel like a scandal.

"Reyn~"

Her voice was all honey and heat, her lips trailing lower.

KNOCK!

KNOCK!

"Reyn? Anna? It’s Trish. I brought dinner."

Anna’s lips stilled against my neck at the knock, her breath warm and uneven. For a moment, she didn’t pull away.

If anything, her grip on my shirt tightened, like she was genuinely considering ignoring the interruption entirely.

Then the door creaked open before either of us could answer.

Trish stepped in carrying a silver tray, steam rising from covered dishes. Her eyes swept over the scene: Anna practically draped across my lap, her face flushed, lips parted, and she didn’t even blink.

"Ah, I see you two are... comfortable."

She set the tray down on the bedside table, movements unhurried, deliberate. The corner of her mouth twitched in what might have been embarrassment.

"I hope I’m not interrupting anything important."

Anna pulled back, but only slightly. Her fingers stayed tangled in my shirt, her body still pressed against my side. She made no move to adjust her disheveled hair or smooth the wrinkles from her dress.

"Unfortunately, you are."

The teasing lilt in her voice was undercut almost immediately when her ears perked at the mention of dinner. In a blur of motion, she was on her feet, snatching her bag from the foot of the bed.

"I almost forgot! I had to talk to my mother about something!"

Despite everything, Anna was still Anna.

"See you later, Reyn! And Trish, don’t forget our agreement!"

She stormed out of the mansion in the most sudden mood swing I’d ever witnessed. I honestly couldn’t help but be impressed.

She would have made a great spy back in the empire I came from.

The door clicked shut behind her, leaving Trish standing frozen near the tray, fingers twitching at her sides.

"I-I’m guessing you know everything?"

"Yeah. Anna told me everything."

Trish shifted her weight, her gaze dropping to the floor. She looked bashful, unsure, even. The confidence she’d shown when she first entered had evaporated the moment we were alone.

While context clues had surely led her to believe I’d accepted Anna, she didn’t seem certain whether that acceptance extended to her.

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.

"Then... you know I helped her. With the bodies."

"I know."

"A-And you’re not...?"

She couldn’t even finish the question. Her violet eyes lifted to meet mine, wide and searching, like she was bracing for rejection.

I let the silence stretch just long enough to make her squirm before patting the empty space beside me on the bed.

"Relax, will you?"

I smiled.

"Sit, everything’s fine."