After my embarrassing meeting ended, I walked out of the room blushing and dying of embarrassment.
Verónica had regained enough energy to end what she was doing, so my presence would only be an unnecessary distraction. Besides, I had completed my objective, therefore, I had no more reasons to stay in that room.
"Fuck... I can´t believe I did that... Stupid Dominique. Why did the autor never mention how sensible you were?”
My words were devoured by the darkness of the long halls of the mansion. The sound of my steps and the wells of the cart was what lasted longer.
It´s been a year since I reincarnated as Dominique.
I´ve been training my skills and preparing myself for the beginning of the original story.
Today, in this night, the context of Verónica´s personality and reasons to be the villainess will begin.
So today is where everything changes.
"I won´t let you become the villainess"
With purpose appeasing my mind, I fastened my pace.
Something important was about to happen, and I couldn´t miss my chance to be part of it.
*
"Excuse me" I said opening the kitchen door.
A white-haired old man dressed in a butler suit greeted me saying "Good night" as he prepared a cup of coffee.
"You were also asked for a drink, Mister Cort?"
Not stopping his hands the man responded "Master Herion asked for one, so I must obey"
"Certainly..."
His voice was as cold as a corpse, and his sight was as sharp as a knife.
The conversation ended and I proceeded to clean up the utensils in the kitchen sink. Cort ignored my existence and got done preparing the coffee.
"Turn off all lights and close the doors once you´re finished"
"I will sir"
He was gone when the door closed, leaving me alone inside the kitchen.
"I guess now is the time"
After waiting for a little to let him get further away. I walked from the kitchen sink to where all the tea bags and coffee beans used were disposed of.
With the help of hands created from the shadows. I began to pull out everything inside the nasty container.
"It should be around here...... Ah, got you"
When the trash was all around me. I found what I wanted.
Sniff, sniff.
"Ugh, yhea, this definitely smells like something that could kill you"
What I got close to my nose was a tiny empty flask. On its inside, I was able to see slights remainings of a green liquid.
By the smell and my knowledge of the original story, I was able to determine that it was the poison Cort poured in the coffee.
"I can´t let Herion drink that"
After cleaning the flask´s surface I saved it inside one of my suit´s pockets and sunk into the shadows of the room.
Not losing a second, I moved through the darkness of the building to my objective.
"If Herion wanted a drink at this hour it means he´s still in his office"
The mansion where I was looked like a rectangle of 5 floors, the third is where the members of Verónica´s family had their offices, and meeting rooms.
Thanks to my magic I was able to arrive in just a couple of minutes, exactly at the moment that Cort called at the door.
"Master Herion, I bring you your drink"
"Is that you Cort? Come on in"
I jumped out of the shadows and hid behind a wall until he entered the office. When he did, I went to the metallic doors with loud steps.
The guards to the sides got surprised by my sudden apparition and tried to stop me, but I dodged them with the great agility that Dominique´s body had, and kept moving forward.
Bam!
"Hey! You can´t do that!"
I opened the doors with a quick, Cort was about to serve the coffee but he halted with my entrance.
"Master Herion! Do not drink that coffee, it's poisoned! I said blocking the doors with a bind made of shadows.
Thump! Thump!
It won´t be long until those guards break down that door, I have to be quick.
"You damn stray! What the hell are you doing?! Who do you think you are to enter master Herion's office like that while yelling such absurdity!"
"......"
Cort hid his panic with hellish rage. I ignored all his words and showed the poison flask to both men.
"I found this in the trash can. Curiously, it was very well hidden under a mountain of newly used coffee beans"
Cort´s face distorted in disgust, however, he smiled shortly after.
"Oh, now I get it"
He walked to the center of the room and pointed at me with his accusing finger.
"Master Herion! That filthy dog is trying to charge me with his crimes! The one planning on poison you wasn´t me, but him!"
"!! That´s not true!"
"Hah! You´re accusing one of the oldest and most loyal servants of the Fotiadis house of a murderer attempt. How can that not be considerer an evil lie?!"
Cort didn´t say a thing, it was his eyes who told me that he wasn´t going to let me expose him without a fight.
His intelligence was big enough to make him look sure of his words even in a situation like this.
Just like in the original story... This guy is clever...
I was prepared for this nevertheless.
"A lie huh, in that case, let the soldiers empty those pretty flowerpots that you take care of with so much effort"
"Huh?! Why would I let you do that?!"
"I´m not asking you......"
Cort turned to Herion; he was watching us silently but focused on each of our words.
"!!"
His mask fell as quick as his grin; there was cold sweat now covering him.
"What´s wrong? Where is your confidence? Are you perhaps afraid of what we could fin in there?"
"Y-You!"
"Cort..."
"Hik... M-My lord... D-Don´t listen to this brat! I-It´s just a distraction!"
Who limited himself to just observe had finally taken a word.
His robust shape took the sword hanging on one of the walls and walked to where I was.
"Boy. Since you´re the favorite of my daughter, I have been very patient with you, but this has no forgiveness"
My heart rate shot upwards when the edge of his sword was covered in fire and it was now floating right before my chest.
"I´ll kill you if I have to"
That was the warning that the man with golden hair in front of me was more than willing to accomplish.
This didn´t happen in the original story, I´m not sure of what to do, but I can´t fail here, not now!
Gathering all my courage I placed my hand to where the fired-up sword was.
Tssss.
"Hrgh!"
My flesh immediately burned. A torturing pain invaded me with each passing second.
"M-My lord... I know this is hard to believe... And... We both know that I can´t say I´m doing this because I deeply care about you"
Both Herion and Cort stayed silent. The fire in the sword slowly began to fade.
"But you can be sure of one thing..."
I pulled the sword towards my chest, both my skin and clothes burned in consequence.
"If there is something I can do to protect the happiness of Verónica... Then I will gladly do whatever it takes to reach that goal! No matter the place, the people, the cost, or the danger!"
My grip on the sword tightened, a horrendous sound filled the air.
Neverminding my pain I interlocked my eyes with Herion. I wasn´t sure what kind of voice or face I was using, though it must have been quite particular since he never blinked.
Then I let my soul speak.
"I WILL PROTECT HER!!"
Not even breath was left inside the room.
The silence wrapped us with a heavy mantle.
My hand was as black as coal. The pain should have been unbearable, but my mind was clear and my body firm.
Dominique becomes truly unstoppable when it comes to her mistress, doesn´t he?
Dom!The doors fell and a squad of red knights heavily armed irrupted in the room tackling me down in the process.Their spears embraced in fire aiming at me from all directions."Hrgh!""My lord! We´ll deal with this ungrateful dog at once! Just give us the order!"Herion was dragged out of his trance. After a deep sigh, he put away his sword and walked to where the empty flask was."Captain, for the moment, take a look at this"The man whose red armor also had golden colors grabbed what Herion picked up.After watching it closely for a second he put the flask closer to his nose.Snif, snif... "My lord... This is without a doubt poison, I also notice a slight odor of coffee on the surface tough, this must have been hidden with the coffee beans of the kitchen or the warehouse""You idiot! Don´t say that!""Heh..."I could only think of the word 'stupid' when Colt´s mouth let go of h
Since colt won´t talk despite all our stares, I decided to end this once and for all. There was still much to do tonight after all."Hmph. It would have been better for you to say it on your own, but I guess that old brain of yours can´t even figure that out""Huh?! The hell you just said?!"Ignoring his increasing rage I grabbed the piece of paper, and after reading it, I exposed my conclusion."These, ladies and gentlemen, are coordinates. Here is the place and time where Colt is supposed to meet with his associates""??!!"Great doubt was shown in their faces. The idea of these numbers and symbols in my hand meaning what I said was apparently too hard to believe.The discovery was greater than I expected.Right... It is only almost at the end of the story when the author says that the people of this world don´t know about the symbology and numerology of geographic coordinates... It´s no novelty that this would
The sight was undesirable. My lady was going through a whirlwind of emotions and I was here being held by her mother's presence.When I gazed at her she gave me a warm smile followed by a whisper.Just watch.As ordered I stood my ground as I restrained my urge to reach out for her hand.Herion knelt, facing his daughter with paternal air surrounding him."Like any bet, there are times when you win and lose. When you win, a great companion is acquired, when you lose, it's a formidable enemy. The trick to this bet is to know who are you betting with"Instead of being sad, now Verónic seemed confused, a spark of hope began to twinkle within her eyes.Herion's eyes were on me. We were looking at each other, and I was getting unexpectedly nervous."That servant of yours is a good example of what I mean. When you found him at the edge of death, you trusted in your instincts and took him into our home"Flashbacks of what happened filled my min
When everything was settled we departed to the stables.A sword and a pistol were given to me along with light armor."Can I assume you know how to use these?" Asked a knight.In response, I skillfully cut the air around us.Dominique trained every aspect of his body to serve Verónica with the utmost efficiency in any situation. So of course he would know how to use a weapon.His style was similar of those ancient knights of England or Switzerland. But there was also a hint of vague savageness, characteristic of the Vikings or dark age Templars.Regarding my aim, I was not a sniper, but I was good enough to hit a target a couple of hundred meters away.
"Run! Get away from him!""HWAAAAA!""That drake is too fast! We can´t escape!""No! P-Please wai- AAARGH!""Damn it all! Turn around and kill the bastard!"The group of junkies halted their drakes and faced my direction. Their pistols and swords aiming at the air."What? Where is he?!"Confused by my sudden disappearance, the men looked everywhere with cold sweat embracing their necks."Stay together! We can take him down if we strike at once!"Following the suggestion, a ring was made with the bodies of my targets.Taking advantage of their foolish actions, I used the shadows to position myself in the center, where their backs were greeting me.Bang! Bang!I killed the first 2 with the pistol. When they realized where I was, Twilight pierced the chest of another to then chop off the head of the next junkie about to shoot me."I-Irregular""Too late to notice"Krgh."Hrg! W-Who are you?!"After reaching his hearth with the end of my sword he asked me with fear and hatred."Just a ser
When I was delivered back to the Fotiadis, the medic patched me up with magic, medicines, and other medical tools.I was inside my room, covered by the blanket of my bed. The Fotiadis family surrounded me as the doctor spoke with a notebook in his hand."Drink these pills to clean your system from the narcotics. Nausea should wear off after an hour. Also, your leg will be fine after a month of complete rest. Luckily, the blade didn´t cut deeper into your muscle, otherwise, your ability to run would have been gone for the rest of your days"A chill ran down my spine when I heard that.I saved my life and reputation with Herion, but I almost lost a leg.I need to be more careful from now on...The doctor went to Herion and handed him a note saying: "This will be enough for him". The man nodded as he thanked the medic for his services, and his wife followed both while leaving my room.Now I was alone with Verónica, who seemed quite angry.If I was in a better situation, I would be strugg
It's been five days since the offer. I still have two, but my mind still can't come to a conclusion.If I accept, the story will be modified in greater ways than I can imagine.If I don't, then I could still follow the argument of the plot, but that could lead to an irreversible end if I'm not careful.The randomness of my own story, or the questionable path pavemented before my arrival to this world."Which is the correct answer?"With that question floating in my mind, I headed to the stables. I had to take care of Twilight as my new recurrent responsibility.**"My, the black panther is here for another day of work, huh""... Please don't call me that""Haha. You should be happy that your name is now roaming through the Fotiadis house, not everyone can become famous in the land of a duke""Still... That nickname's quite embarrassing"When I arrived, the first person to greet me was the caretaker of drakes. His clothes were covered in mud and blood, distinctive colors of someone who
"My lord, I accept the offer, please let me be part of the Yatra house" Right after leaving the stables, I spent my remaining days planning my course of action for my new role. Veronica blessed me with her company during those days, explaining to me the methods to rise in the hierarchy of the kingdom. Once I was sure of my decision, I went to Herion's office to report my conviction. "Took you long enough boy, I already prepared everything for your transfer to the house, you leave tomorrow" I thought I could see a little more of a response, he was dead at this point in the original story, so I'm quite curious about his reactions. "Seems like in the end, I was only walking the road you prepared" Keeping his eyes on the paper of his desk, he answered with a sigh. "I expected you to say yes right after our come back from the raid, it is a mystery for all of us why you took so long to decide" They are not aware of the events about to happen once Veronica and I enter college, the wh