Ann barely got enough rest when the next morning greeted her.

“Morning already?!” It was Ann’s first words upon being woken up. It was apparent from how quick she woke up that she didn’t have enough and good sleep.

Yes, the night before, Ann was tossing around in the bed like a pancake. She wished time would stop that night or that tomorrow won’t ever come so she’d be able to enjoy the long night.

Of course, that remained her wishful thinking, for she was no time bender.

 

Due to the amount of stress she received, Ann went on autopilot all the way up to the time when her first session with the heroine was going to begin.

She didn’t really catch what the people around her were talking about, but she snapped out of it when she heard the words, “Alright, you can start now, we’ll go.”

Right. Just when Prince Kiehl and Allen were about to stand up and leave the room…

Ann quickly grabbed the hem of Allen’s clothes. Allen stopped and turned to her. He showed a gentle smile as he patted her head and said, “Don’t worry. It will be okay.”

 

“Can’t you stay?” Ann asked with a low voice that only the two of them could hear.

This was the first time Ann pleaded and acted pampered, so it was understandable that Allen almost gave in, but…

“Allen and I have things we need to do,” Prince Kiehl explained as he tapped on Allen’s shoulder, reminding Allen who was about to relent to Ann’s request.

“…Yeah. Faye and Birdie are there. If anything happens, they can help you to look for me,” Allen snapped out of Ann’s puppy-eyes spell and decisively said.

Birdie and Faye nodded in sync.

It was at that time that Ann felt despair and resentment towards Prince Kiehl.

She felt as if another guy was snatching her man away…

Wait, why does it sound so wrong?

 

The object of Ann’s resentment, Prince Kiehl, turned to look at Miles.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect Laura,” Miles quickly answered as if he could tell what Prince Kiehl was thinking about.

“I am not worried about that, I know you’ll do it. Just… put aside your bias towards my friend’s wife here and be objective, can you?” Prince Kiehl asked very seriously.

Hearing Prince Kiehl’s request to Miles, Ann’s favorability rating towards Kiehl that had just dropped steeply finally regained the lost points.

“…I will try,” Miles sincerely answered.

There was no sugar-coated words from Miles, but from this sincere and honest answer, Prince Kiehl knew that Miles would uphold his words, so he left while taking Allen with him.

 

Thus, Ann was left alone with the heroine, along with each of their ‘guards’: Miles and Faye-Birdie duo.

In terms of the ‘guards’, it was clear that the heroine was winning!!

All the villainess had were two little cute birdies…

Have the two little cute birdies fight against the crossdressing knight… It was clear who would win!

Ann’s expression was now twisted, but not in a twisted villainous way, but the kind of expression that screamed ‘help me!’, but there was nothing that she could do.

As soon as the two figures left the room, silence washed over them.

 

The one to break that silence was Laura who got up and approached Ann as she said, “Let’s hurry and get it over with.”

Her tone and words indicated that she reached out to Ann just so they could be done sooner and she wouldn’t have to be with Ann anymore.

Ann detected Laura’s dislike towards her and cowered into the corner as she weakly said, “Uh… Can you be gentle with me?”

“…First, I am going to try and infuse your body with my holy magic. I will start slowly with a lower power at first, so let me know how you feel,” Laura said as she extended her hand towards Ann.

Ann remembered the painful sensation she received before and had a chill run down her spine, causing her to shrink into the corner more, distancing herself further from Laura’s extended hand.

 

But then, Ann remembered about the previous incident and about how Laura was in a panicked self-defense, so perhaps she went offensive in a go and put on quite a lot of magical power in that attack towards her. So, perhaps this time won’t be as hurt as before.

Finishing her train of thoughts, Ann nervously put her hand on Laura’s hand. Her hand was sweating and trembling, but she managed to muster up enough courage to land her hand on the heroine’s soft—okay, not too soft—of a hand.  

Laura didn’t comment on Ann’s condition and quickly focused herself on putting a small portion of her holy magic through Ann’s hand when…

“OUCH!!” Ann suddenly yelped in shock and retracted her hand in a speed faster than a lightning’s.

 

The mini Ann quickly went on a screaming spree inside big Ann’s mind.

HOLY MOLY, IS THE HEROINE GOING TO KILL ME OR IS SHE SERIOUSLY TRYING TO HELP ME?! IT HURTS LIKE HELL, IT FEELS AS IF MY WHOLE BODY’S BEING ELECTROCUTED!

It was like when her elbow hit something and the pain was transmitted throughout her whole body. Or when her foot’s pinky hit the cupboard real hard. Or when a static electricity ran through her body. In short, it was uncomfortable and felt quite surprisingly painful.

 

“…Don’t exaggerate. I am only putting a little of my power,” Laura said with a frown, clearly feeling annoyed due to Ann’s reaction.

“It hurts… Are you sure you put the lowest amount of power for starter? Can you be gentler?” Ann asked, still frowning due to pain that was still lingering in her senses.

“……That’s practically the lowest…,” Laura’s face twitched, trying to hold in her annoyance towards Ann.

“……,” Ann was clearly scared.

It seemed that the heroine was thinking the villainess was exaggerating and making things hard for her… Meanwhile, the villainess was thinking that the heroine was clearly pulling her leg…

 

“Come, give me your hand. Let’s get you used to it. If you can’t withstand this little magic, having the original soul exorcised from the body you’re occupying is nothing but a pipe dream…,” Laura paused as she took in Ann’s expression of horror before continuing, “Are you sure you’re not the evil spirit? Your reaction is so exaggerated towards the small dose of holy magic.”

“…I AM NOT EVIL!!! I AM NOT THE VILLAINESS!!!” Ann roared, feeling like she wanted to run away to a faraway corner of the room to just cry.

She was indeed not evil, nor was she the villainess.

However, because she wasn’t the original owner of this body, could it be that the light magic found her soul to be vile and guilty of the crime named as snatching this body from the original owner?

But she didn’t even wish for it to happen!

When she came to her senses, it already happened!!

It was like being born into this world. You didn’t even know how this happened in the first place, but since you were already here, all you could do was live to the fullest!

How nice would it be if her situation was like other transmigrated heroines or villainesses where the original souls had died the moment the transmigrated souls possessed the body?

If that was the case, she wouldn’t be facing this troublesome matter!!

Ann felt like cursing her fate and whatever force was behind her transmigration.

 

“Hand,” Laura demanded, her hand was demanding Ann to put hers over Laura’s.

“…,” Ann feigned ignorance, unprepared for another occurrence of pain when the previous one hadn’t left her memory yet.

“You, give me your hand,” Laura gave her hand aggressively to Ann, repeating her words in a tone one would use to a pet.

“I am not a dog. I have a name!” Ann protested, but she still tried to deflect the heroine’s hand.

“As long as you know I am talking to you, it doesn’t matter. So hey, give me your hand.”

“…”

By this time, Ann knew that Laura was purposely not calling her by her name.

Under the heroine’s aggressive urging combined with Miles’ sharp gaze, and knowing that she had no other way, Ann finally gave her hand again although she felt like a dog for obeying Laura’s command.  

 

“…kh,” Ann already expected the same kind of pain, so she was more prepared to it and could endure quite well.

“That’s good. I will slowly increase my power, then,” Laura said.

Ann’s hand was trembling, but Laura’s hand grasped it firmly. She was clearly intent on not letting Ann go.

 

Three…

Two…

One…

“OOOOOUUUCHHH!!”

Ann’s scream echoed throughout the whole room once again.

She was feeling faint, but her hand was trapped by the heroine’s hand.

The two girls were holding hand, but there was no ambiguous vibe of the lilies blooming among them.

There was clearly a torturous air between them…

 

What Ann couldn’t make sure of was the fact that the heroine was genuinely trying to be gentle and take small steps with her…

While Laura couldn’t be sure if the villainess was overreacting or not…

Due to it, their favorability rating didn’t improve at all. Instead, it might only decrease…

And thus, the villainess’ suffering in the heroine’s hand had officially begun, literally…