i became the villainess twin sister

Part 10

"...what if I killed him?"

"That would be treason."

"What if I only killed him a little?"

Roksu couldn't help but feel a bit intrigued by the manic reaction Cale was having to a simple invitation. The fearsome villainess she'd come to know wasn't the sort to panic over a mere invitation. She had responded to an aberrant existence in her own home with a razor sharp ferocity that still made Roksu nervous to think about.

And then there was the disrupted chain of events to consider.

The invitation was supposed to go to Choi Han.

Roksu couldn't but feel just a touch agitated on that front. Choi Han, clearly, was best girl.

But even setting Roksu's miffed bias aside and looking at the situation logically it still didn't make all that much sense. Sure, they'd skipped a few random introductory scenes between the prince and Choi Han but weren't they supposed to be destined for each other or something?

And all of that aside, why would the invitation go to Cale instead? According to Cale's bordering on hysterical rants and Roksu's memory of the novel, Cale and Alberu had no connection.

Cale was a villainess who harassed Choi Han. It could have been speculated up to the reader what her motivations were, jealousy, hatred, whatever else, but that's all she was to the protagonists.

And Roksu was relatively positive at this point that Cale had no special feelings towards the prince. In fact, she appeared revolted at the prospect of accompanying him to the ball. Well, that certainly eradicated the possibility that she'd been bullying Choi Han out of feelings for Alberu.

"This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me." Cale growled out melodramatically, throwing the invitation to the ground and stomping on it for good measure. "Who the fuck wants to be that stupid prince's partner at the ball?! Fuck that!"

Roksu was starting to feel a bit bad for the male lead of the novel. He hadn't felt especially strong about Alberu but he seemed to be an upright person with a good head on his shoulders. And yet all the women Roksu had consulted about him had looked greatly displeased at the prospect of anything romantic involving him.

'Who knew he was so unpopular.' Roksu determined that there were aspects of the female mind that she had yet to fully unravel.

Or perhaps Choi Han and Cale were just unique individuals with unique tastes. That was also fairly likely, all things considered.

"Is it really that bad?" Roksu asked, apparently suicidally.

Cale gaped at her and Roksu marveled at how much more open Cale had been ever since their trip to the temple. She felt like she was getting to know a completely different person. "...are you dumb?" She asked, kicking the offending letter away from her.

Roksu shrugged, figuring that was the safest response.

Cale sighed, running a hand through her hair as though deciding where to start with this fool.

"You at least understand that being the Crown Prince's partner to any event is going to glue everyone's eyes towards you, right?" Cale asked. She had the long-suffering look of having to explain very basic facts to a moron.

Roksu felt a bit wronged. Of course she understood that. "Don't you always direct eyes towards you at an event?" Roksu pointed out, failing to see the issue.

Cale opened her mouth to retort and then recoiled, as though remembering something. The black dragon, who had been watching Cale's fit in fascination, piped up. "Is it that thing about public perception you were talking about?" He asked, perking up at the opportunity to join the conversation.

Cale's eyes darted towards Roksu and she gave in.

She'd already told the black dragon enough that he pretty much knew her and it wasn't like Roksu wouldn't figure it out on her own. She'd been so flustered over the letter that she hadn't censored herself at all.

Roksu was just unusually easy to talk to.

"I choose when to have the attention directed towards me." She explained with a glower, folding her arms over her chest. "I want the public to have a certain perception and I choose my actions from there."

Roksu nodded undaunted. She'd already guessed similar after seeing Cale's twofold assault on Venion Stan. It was too perfectly calculated to just be a drunken incident.

It was surprising for Cale to admit to it honestly though.

"So what happens if I'm stuck next to the damn prince?"

It dawned on Roksu. It wasn't that complicated honestly, if she hadn't been thinking within the frame look of 'romance novel' she would have put it together easily already.

Cale never did anything that would damage her family. However, if she maintained her persona at the crown prince's side, she could inflict damage to her family. If she dropped the persona for the night then that would create a public perception she found undesirable.

And rejecting the prince wasn't really done. Theoretically she could, but the act could, again, do harm to her family.

"You're not totally stupid." Cale said, seeing the understanding dawning on Roksu's otherwise stoic face. She flopped down onto the couch, somehow managing to look elegant while doing so and glared at the abused envelope. "What the hell is he thinking, offering to escort me?"

Roksu was pretty tempted to ask why Cale's public persona was so important to her but decided pretty quickly that she didn't actually want to know. Clearly the invitation was causing her enough agitation that Roksu wouldn't hear the end of it if it wasn't dealt with though.

She tapped her cheek thoughtfully, picking up the invitation and reading it over.

Slowly, a devious smile overtook her face.

"...I have an idea."

It would turn into an idea that absolutely no one liked. But Cale liked the alternative even worse so she agreed with feelings of disgust boiling in her guts.

Choi Han looked strangely crestfallen when Roksu explained the situation to her but still agreed to take part in it.

The invitation, although very clearly intended for Cale, had used unfortunately ambiguous wording.

If all they needed was a lady of the Henituse household, Roksu more than fit the bill. She could also use this as an opportunity to figure out what was going inside of that failure of a male lead's head. Really, who ignored Choi Han, it was criminal.

Choi Han, now ignored by Roksu, was left to escort Cale so that she could protect the prince.

It would prove to be quite the spectacle.