Villain Simulator

In an instant, Charlotte’s eyes widened in surprise.

For a moment, she even forgot to speak, but when she came back to her senses, she realized her blunder and quickly tried to divert the topic.

"Master, hahaha, what are you..."

"..."

But when she saw my stoic face, her words stopped midway, and she couldn’t say anything else.

Charlotte and I looked at each other without blinking.

It was a silent confrontation between us.

To see whose resolve was stronger and who would give up first.

The weight of the atmosphere grew with each passing moment.

My stats were way lower than Charlotte’s, which meant that my eyes turned a deep red much more quickly than Charlotte’s did.

Veins etched their mark upon my sclera.

But despite the burning sensation in my eyes, I kept a blank expression on my face.

Witnessing this, and not wanting to see me suffer anymore, Charlotte’s pupils trembled, and...she blinked.

Her head went down, but she quickly brought it back up, looked back into my eyes, opened her lips, and spoke in a low voice.

"Then, if I really want to leave, will you stop me?"

"No."

I shook my head, and my eye remained unblinked as I added.

"If that’s truly what you want, I will not stop you."

That was a lie.

But it was an unexpected answer to Charlotte, who was taken aback by it for a second.

"But... I want to know your desire? If not for my consideration, will you allow me to leave?"

Charlotte, a villain whose end was predestined to be bad, was, because of her disposition, not even given a proper funeral.

A silly girl who, as a result of her past, had a twisted, innocent, yet ruthless personality.

Someone who had been with me for the last two weeks, following me and obeying me without any malice or bad intention, even becoming my personal cuddling pillow.

’I will not allow you to leave, never.’

Thus, came my answer to her.

"No!"

"Why?!" She cried.

For the first time since I met her, a despairing look appeared on her face.

Nonetheless, looking at her, my expression remained unchanged, though my voice became more authoritative.

"Because you are a part of me."

My bloodshot, golden eyes were looking into hers.

"You’re my shadow, I gave you existence, and you’re destined to stay with me until I become a corpse, wither, then turn to dust and cease to exist."

Hearing those words, Charlotte’s eyes turned misty, and her fists clenched involuntarily, but before she could say anything, I opened her fist, and interlocked my fingers with hers.

Feeling my touch, she looked up at me again.

Her eyes were waiting for a consoling response, but all she got was another unkind fact.

"A shadow without its master is a fading memory, a ghost of connection severed, a mere echo of existence, a silhouette adrift in solitude... You have nowhere to go without me."

This time Charlotte finally couldn’t hold anymore, her fists clenched my interlocked fingers tightly, and while gritting her teeth, she spoke word for word.

"Yes, my existence depends on you, I know, Master... I don’t know what was wrong with me, I will not cross my boundaries next time."

"Before I answer that, are you trying to break my fingers?"

My words appeared to have jolted Charlotte out of her reverie, and she then realized that she was actually hurting me.

She immediately released my hand and got out of bed, bowing her head.

"I am sorry, Master."

"Doesn’t matter."

I then flicked my hands in her direction to signal that it was not a big deal.

Then, I completed my earlier words.

"Anyway, if you want to leave, you can, I will not stop you, but I, in truth, do not want you to leave."

"Master, let’s put the jokes aside, I think you’re just getting late. You also have to do close door training, so I will not disturb you anymore."

Looking at Charlotte’s face, I knew that she was only superficially agreeing with me.

"Good night, Master."

She wanted to leave, and so, I didn’t stop her.

However, just as she was about to exit, I spoke, and my subsequent words stopped her in her tracks.

"From dawn’s first light to the stardust night, each other’s unwavering anchor, in joy and in plight.

Masterless, Shadowless, our path loses its way, like a ship unmoored, yearning for its bay."

"Good night, Charlotte. Take some rest, because you mean a lot to me."

"..."

Silence!

A heavy silence shrouded the room, which was only broken when Charlotte took a deep breath, as if trying to calm her feelings.

Phew~!

Then, her legs moved.

Step! Step!

And finally, Charlotte exited the room as if running away.

She didn’t turn around until the very end, but before she left, she left a message for me that was chock-full of her most sincere and honest feelings.

"I—Charlotte—will never leave you, Master."

Clang!

The door closed, and I was left alone in the room.

"It looks like my finger broke."

I looked at my hand, with a deep look in my eyes.

General POV:

On the other side, Charlotte closed the door and walked into her room, which was just beside Adrian’s.

But as soon as she got inside, she slumped down on the floor, somewhat dazed and thinking back to what had just happened.

....

"Charlotte, do you want to leave me?"

When he suddenly asked why she wanted to leave him, for a second, Charlotte’s heart sank to the bottom.

’Does he know the truth?’

She couldn’t help but ask herself.

Nonetheless, when she gave it some thought, the question soon became meaningless.

That secret was only known to her, and he could not have known it.

’Then why?’

Charlotte kept trying to understand, but she was unable to.

’Does he still not consider me his equal, and think I am not someone even worth touching?’

She thought, but soon shook her head.

’It can’t be, he’s different... He’s not the old Adrian.’

From the day he was completely assimilated into his character that night, Charlotte knew that he wasn’t the old Adrian anymore.

It was too big of a change to just be a mere character assimilation.

The following days only confirmed her doubts even more.

And when he asked her to sleep with him and always hugged her to sleep like a baby, she knew he wasn’t Adrian Vaiself, who used to hate touching commoners like her.

But since the contract was there, she had to believe it.

She was his shadow, and her loyalty to him was unbound.

’Anyway, it’s a happy thing, the life with him is good, no abuse, no overwork to clean up the mess.’

The old Adrian was a master Charlotte had always regretted becoming a Shadow of.

But it was different with him.

’Maybe if it’s him...?’

A seed of hope sprouted in her heart, but then a wry smile appeared on her face.

’It’s still too soon.’

Only the patriarch of the Vaiself family knew about her past, and Charlotte had already learned her lesson.

Therefore, she had to take her time before she could open her heart to him.

So she tested him and asked if he would allow her to leave.

"No... If that’s truly what you want, I will not stop you."

At first, Charlotte thought he was lying, but he wasn’t.

Charlotte’s keen senses picked up on the sincerity in his eyes, and she knew that the depths of those eyes were not a source of malice.

Though she still had some reservations, she put him to the test once more to see if he was telling the truth.

"But... I want to know your desire? If not for my consideration, will you allow me to leave?"

"No!"

But when Adrian stated his desire without reserve, Charlotte’s heart couldn’t accept his words.

Which led to her crying out loud.

"Why?"

However, his response to this was one that enraged her.

"Because you originate from me."

"You’re my shadow, I gave you existence, and you’re destined to stay with me until I become a corpse, wither, then turn to dust and cease to exist."

Charlotte was furious when she heard those words.

She had so much hope for this new Master of hers, but he too was trying to cage her.

Nonetheless, she was his Shadow, and he was her Master.

Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t do anything to him.

Therefore, after saying good night, without hesitation, she turned around and wanted to leave.

There was a smile on her face.

A smile that hid deep sorrow and pain.

But as she opened the gate and prepared to leave the room, she heard his familiar, calm voice.

It was a cold voice, but the words it spoke to her sent shockwaves through her heart.

"From dawn’s first light to the stardust night, each other’s unwavering anchor, in joy and in plight.

Masterless, Shadowless, our path loses its way, like a ship unmoored, yearning for its bay."

"Good night, Charlotte. Take some rest, because you mean a lot to me."

’Am I that important to you, that you consider me a part of you?’

’Why?!’

’We knew each other for only two weeks?’

’You say you will be Shadowless without me?’

Charlotte cried in her heart, and wanted to ask, but she knew some things should never be said.

In addition, she merely wanted to understand why, and she never questioned his words.

At least her instincts were telling her that he wasn’t lying.

Furthermore, she knew that he was a straightforward man, and that if he wanted to use her, he wouldn’t try to trick her with words now that she was bound to him.

Therefore, she asked no more questions.

They weren’t needed.

Because in the end, she was content.

His attitude and words, were enough for her.

Hence, she replied back with all her sincerity.

"I—Charlotte—will never leave you, Master."

’As long as you continue to treat me like your shadow, a part of yourself.’

Of course, Charlotte didn’t say the those words to him.

There was no need to.

And she just left directly.

However, now that she was by herself, she had to admit that this event had greatly changed her opinion of him.

If trust could be calculated, Charlotte’s trust on Adrian could be seen as [+70].

"At least I know that he wouldn’t stop me."

Without his permission, she was powerless, so this was good enough for her.

It was then...

"Wait!"

She suddenly recalled a crucial detail.

"Now that I think about it, how did I hurt his finger? I clearly remember that I had almost broken it."

Immediately, Charlotte went back to that scene in her mind and noticed a detail that she had, in her rage, missed at the time.

"He let me hurt him... Why?"

Once again, Charlotte couldn’t understand.

Her new Master was really an enigma to her.

At the end, with nothing coming to her mind, she just took a bath and laid down on the bed.

That night, she slept peacefully for the first time in a very long time, and she did so with a genuine smile on her face.