Villain's Odyssey: Enslaving heroines, Conquering Villainesses
Chapter 58: Nora

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Nora

"Hey! What do you think you are doing?!"

Their intimate moment broken as the loud scream echoed through the area. Asher quickly pulled away from Natalia and turned to find a girl with blonde hair that had an odd mix of red streaks, which seemed to be spreading through her locks by the second. Her fierce red eyes burned with intensity as she stared at Asher, her ether surging.

’Nora,’ Asher thought in recognition.

This was Austin’s troublesome little sister, the so-called friend of Natalia. A girl who would, in the future, be revealed to have quite the secret.

"Nora," Natalia said, clearly uneasy about this dramatic turn of events.

"What do you think you are doing to my friend?!" Nora strode toward them, and with every step, Asher felt as though gravity itself was conspiring against him. The ground beneath his feet trembled under the pressure of her barely restrained power, and even though he coated his body in ether, he could barely remain standing upright.

’She’s stronger than I thought,’ he analyzed, genuinely impressed despite the circumstances.

<You do realize she’s not doing anything yet, right?> the voice in his head observed with amusement.

’Of course I do,’ Asher thought back, now preparing for what one would consider a Grammy-deserving performance.

"Who are you?" Asher asked with perfectly crafted annoyance, positioning himself protectively in front of Natalia’s wheelchair.

"Nora, stop! He’s not doing anything to me!" Natalia tried to reason, but this only made Nora more agitated. She could feel it deep in her gut—something wasn’t right with this... weirdo. Why was he even that good-looking in the first place? It was obviously abnormal! He was clearly using his appearance to get close to her friend. Why else would Natalia, the most introverted person she knew, not only hug some random guy in public, but actually defend him? Hell, she even seemed happy and was blushing like a lovesick fool!

’I can’t do anything drastic now or the authorities would notice,’ Nora gritted her teeth, recalling the professor who had interrupted her brother’s and that idiot’s shenanigans earlier, whisking them away from the cafeteria for punishment.

"Fine," she said after a moment of internal struggle, "just get away from her, or I will really make you regret it."

But instead of backing down, Asher crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "No. Tell me who you are first. From your actions, you’re clearly an uncultured lady without any self-control whatsoever. I can’t leave Natalia with someone like you."

A vein visibly popped on Nora’s forehead.

’Did he just call me uncultured?’ she thought, her smile becoming so obviously fake that even a blind person could tell it wasn’t a smile.

"Haha, you sure are funny for someone so weak—even for a first-year," she said, stepping closer until she was directly in front of him.

Natalia, who had been trying to stop the brewing conflict, found herself frozen by Asher’s words. ’Did he really care about me that much?’ The thought sent warmth spreading through her chest despite the tense situation.

"Natalia, who is she?" Asher asked without turning back, his voice carrying a note of genuine concern.

"Nora, m-my friend," Natalia stuttered, flustered by his protective stance.

"See? Now get lost before I disfigure that face of yours," Nora threatened, her patience wearing thin.

’It seems not everyone is affected by my charm,’ Asher noted with clinical interest.

<Of course. Children of destiny naturally have defenses against such superficial attacks... at first,> the voice explained.

He also noted the word ’first’—it meant that even if they had natural defenses, there were limits. The effectiveness would probably vary based on the importance of the person. To get Nora to the level of Natalia’s trust, he would have to invest considerable time in ’coincidences’ and calculated actions that would lead her to lower her defenses around him and subtly fall for his charm.

Perhaps the reason she was so hostile was due to the instinctual hatred a hero would always have for a villain—a feeling that, no matter how small initially, would grow due to said villain’s eventual actions. But that didn’t matter anymore. Through his time with Natalia, he had come to understand something crucial: he didn’t need the main characters. He didn’t even need Anna or any other heroine he had initially planned to ensnare. All he needed was to find villainesses like Natalia—women just as talented as the heroines—and make them his.

Thinking more deeply about it, each villainess would eventually grow to a level of strength that would require the combined effort of the hero and his entire group to take them down. So what if he formed a group of these villainesses instead?

"Oh? So that’s it..." Asher said with a knowing smirk, "you just don’t like my face. Don’t tell me you’re just paranoid about Natalia and me possibly becoming an item."

More veins popped up on Nora’s forehead like a roadmap.

"Yeah right. You’re overestimating yourself. Who would want to go out with your frog face?" she asked with an awkward laugh that fooled absolutely no one.

"I-I wouldn’t mind," Natalia suddenly said, her voice soft but clear.

The effect was immediate and devastating.

"NATALIA!" Nora screamed, whipping around to glare at the traitor who had just thrown her under the bus.

She stomped past Asher and grabbed the handles of Natalia’s wheelchair possessively. "Stay away from us, or I will report you for harassment," she said, glaring daggers at Asher, who just smiled in response.

’This bastard obviously did something to his face! No one should look this cute just with a smile! No one! This is complete nonsense!’ she bit her lips in frustration, her logical mind warring with her instinctive reaction.

"I expect no less from a liar," Asher said with infuriating calmness, then waved at Natalia. "See you around."

Natalia nodded with a blush that made Nora’s eye twitch.

As Asher walked away with an almost lazy confidence, Nora finally exploded.

"You ugly, disgusting bastard! What did you just say?!" she screamed in pure rage, but he didn’t turn back—just kept walking away with that insufferable swagger.

’How is he more annoying than me? This makes no sense!’

This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om