Reincarnation: I am the Villainess and Love Target?!

Chapter 21: One Small Step

A/N: OMG A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE UPDATE AFTER... YEARS?!

It's been three years since I met Haizea and the rest of the love targets of 'Hera: Captured Hearts'. That fateful day, when the country of Ogygia celebrated the current sovereign's ten years of successful reign, was full of so many events and flags that I knew it heavily impacted on what I've known about this world's otome game plot from my previous life. One of the biggest changes is the newfound friendliness and closeness that I've somehow achieved with those characters.

Within those three years, I became a part of Prince Kai's formally recognized entourage which therefore made it easier to become close friends with every love target from the otome game. I was also acknowledged before the royal family as the youngest person to ever cause the Magic Manifestation phenomenon to occur, which of course became widely known news all over the country.

Once my potential as a water elementalist spread, my official magic instructor hastened their arrival. It turns out that the instructor was my mother's aunt who was born and raised in one of the Four Great Kingdoms, the archipelago of Ae-aea, which was ruled by a royal family of water elementalists and known to have the best there are when it comes to water magic users. She was a lady who exuded a scholarly atmosphere, a person who contributed to the world of Gaia's advance in healing techniques and she wasn't afraid to show it. My aunt and instructor's name was Vera, she was given the noble name of Lazuli as recognition for her groundbreaking work and research.

Although my first impression of her had me feeling intimidated, she was a gentle aunt and astute instructor, so our relationship progressed and developed well. As such, I felt minimal pressure and was able to more comfortably ease into my education as a noble and future head of the Imitheos family. Having said that, with my education as a future head going smoothly, I seemed to have reached a rough patch with my brother Virgil who is now fifteen and prepping to go to the academy next year.

My classes had significantly increased. While I did accompany Prince Kai along with Dmitri and Zephyr for some of their studies, the five year gap between Virgil and I lessened the time we could spend together. Even though I was sure that Virgil still held me in a positive light, now that it's less than a year before he has to leave for the academy, I'm stumped as to why he's suddenly acting like he's avoiding me.

I was currently sitting in my room with a warm cup of honeyed milk. Staring out into the night sky that showed a starry road that could put my previous life's 'milky way' to shame. I couldn't help but notice how even such a view wasn't able to stop the nagging feeling in my chest. The drink in my hands tasted sweet but my mood was sour.

"Why is he being so difficult all of the sudden..." I grumbled to myself.

"Who's being difficult?"

I whipped my gaze towards the source of the intruding voice. Standing by a previously closed and locked glass door that lead to my bedroom's balcony, a tall figure clad in a form-fitting cobalt uniform casually leaned on the doorframe.

Unimpressed, I turned my gaze back to my drink. "You need to stop sneaking in like a thief. Is it really that hard to visit me in a normal and civil way, Cain?"

Sitting on the matching pearly settee in front of me, Cain made himself comfortable. With his chin resting on his palm, I felt his eyes leisurely study me. Cain graduated from Yohso Academy two years ago and is officially one of the Imitheos family's agents. It's been a while since I last saw him so it wasn't hard to guess that he had just come back from a mission. Within three years, I hadn't expected him to grow even taller and, as much as I wanted to resist saying so, Cain had noticeably become more attractive. Despite his languish attitude, there's a weird sense of capricious maturity from him now.