Ascension Of The Villain

The weather was so lovely it could have made ev the grumpiest of cats purr in delight. It was the kind of day that made you believe the universe had a sse of humor and a taste for romance.

And what better way to spd such a day than on a date in the lush, picturesque gard of the Ashstone Estate?

Ava placed her cup of tea on the table and looked at the man in front of her. "Your Grace, what do you like to do in your free time?"

"I don't like to have free time," Vyan answered, trying to sound all mysterious. "You see, I am a really boring person," he added, letting out a laugh that was faker than a three-dollar bill.

Ava's eyes sparkled with admiration. "I think it's a lovely thing to like being so productive," she said with a sweet smile.

"Haha, is that how it came off? What I meant was, I probably won't have too much time to spare for you," he said, hoping she would catch the hint and run for the hills.

"That's alright. I like to have some time for myself," Ava replied, clearly unfazed.

Clyde, who had tak on Vyan's appearance, clched his fists under the table.

'This girl is so undefeatable! Vyan, save me!' Clyde cried out internally through telepathy.

The actual Vyan was chilling behind a bush overseeing the sce for some tertainmt. 'You brought this on yourself. So deal with it.'

'But she has her mind made on you being a perfect being! How am I supposed to deflect that?' Clyde retorted, panic evidt in his mtal voice.

'Not my circus, not my monkeys. Get her to reject you—er, I mean, me,' Vyan responded, clearly joying the show.

'But—'

'Conctrate on your date, Clyde,' Vyan ordered, before cutting the telepathic link.

Clyde was left sighing, wondering to himself why he agreed to this.

———

Two days ago.

Vyan leaned back in his chair, a dark smile playing on his lips. "Care to explain what this letter is, my dear frid?"

Clyde, sweat beading on his forehead, glanced nervously at the assortmt of "weapons" pointed his way—fountain ps, a few vases, a sword, and ev a small dagger.

"I will explain, I will explain," he stammered. "But can you please lower all these weapons?"

Vyan's sinister smile didn't waver. "They will only be lowered once I receive a proper explanation for your deeds," he said and clasped his hands under his chin.

"But... ar't you afraid that Lady Iyana might walk in on you using magic?" Clyde attempted to reason, hoping to divert the conversation.

"The door is locked by a spell. Not a soul can ter nor leave," Vyan clarified, his eyes narrowing.

"Which means, there is no escape," Clyde deduced, his hope withering away.

"Since you are so eager to escape, it also means you have no proper explanation," Vyan uttered. "So I guess, this is it. I hope I can find a better aide than you after this."

"No! Hear me out first!" Clyde exclaimed, waving his hands dramatically.

Vyan raised an eyebrow. "I have be waiting to hear from you, to begin with."

Clyde took a deep breath, launching into his explanation. "First of all, I am sorry for not thinking this through. Secondly, the reason I did it was because I was worried about you dying as an old maid."

"What?" Vyan's eyebrow twitched.

Clyde nodded earnestly. "I was worried that Ashstone would never find its Grand Duchess. While I did like to pair you with Lady Iyana, she wasn't seeming like a good choice to be with you at that time. I wanted someone kinder who could bring you in line, you know?"

"Is it related to that colony incidt?" Vyan inquired.

Clyde nodded vehemtly. "I got too much into my head and thought that I should find some good noble ladies for you, and that's wh I recalled seeing Lady Ava sneaking glances at you during your ascsion party."

Now that Vyan thinks about it, he had be too busy with keeping his impression right in front of the imperial family that he never noticed any girl sparing him a look.

"I am sure she was intrigued by your looks but didn't approach you because of the cold air you were exuding that day," Clyde added.

"So that's why you chose Lady Ava," Vyan let out, th looked up at Clyde with another sharp look. "That still doesn't justify you sding a love letter under my name."

"It wasn't a love letter!" Clyde protested, his voice rising comically.

"I just st her that letter asking if she was up for a meeting with you. There was no mtion of you being interested or anything! It was just going to be a harmless meeting, trust me, Vyan."

"You dumbass, why would I sd her the letter if I wasn't interested in her, huh?" Vyan questioned.

"Oh, right, that does make sse." Clyde's eyes wided as realization dawned on him.

"I am really sorry, though. I took the matter too lightly. I just thought if Lady Ava st a reply, I could convince you to meet her, which is something you can still do. I mean, there is no harm, righ—"

"What made you think I would make up for your stupidity?" Vyan tilted his head innoctly.

Clyde blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"

Vyan's sinister smile returned. "You are going to meet Lady Ava, Clyde."

———

Prest.

Why did I let Vyan bully me into this mess? Clyde wondered, forcing a tight smile as he chatted with Ava.

Ava seemed like a nice girl, who was inexplicably smitt with Vyan. So what was Clyde, masquerading as Vyan, doing here?

Well, maybe he should try to break this off for the sake of the poor girl. She definitely deserved someone better than Vyan.

Hmph!

Clyde was now on a mission: to make Ava dislike Vyan, ev if it meant acting like the biggest crackhead on the planet.

"Your Grace, why don't you tell me one of your memorable experices?" Ava asked with curiosity.

Getting the perfect opportunity, Clyde launched into a tale so grandiose that ev the birds stopped their chirping to list.

"Ah, yes, my memorable experices. I have be to the far reaches of the kingdom, where the sun never sets, and the moonlight dances on the waves. I have fought dragons, rescued damsels, and ev had tea with a talking squirrel."

Ava raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. "A talking squirrel, you say?"

"Yes, she was quite the conversationalist," Clyde replied, trying to keep a straight face. "We discussed the merits of acorn tea versus the traditional leaf variety."

"Pardon?" Beads of uncertain sweat formed on Ava's forehead as she heard Clyde speak of the weirdest made-up experices.

On the other hand, Vyan let out a dramatic sigh.

"I should have never swapped with Clyde," he muttered to himself with the regret of someone who just realized they left the stove on. "Now Lady Ava is going to think I have got a few screws loose in my head."

Straighting his back, he decided it was time to abandon this circus and get back to work.

"Enough of this sideshow," he muttered, patting imaginary dust off his sleeves. "I have had my fill of tertainmt for the day."

Just as he tiptoed away, hoping to escape unnoticed, fate interved with the grace of a drunk elephant. He found himself nose-to-nose with Iyana, the last person he wanted to see right now.

"Oh, fancy meeting you here, Iyana," he blurted out, attempting nonchalance.

But any hopes of slipping under her radar were dashed quicker than a sandcastle at high tide.

"Um, Your Grace," she began with a raised eyebrow, eyeing him suspiciously, "why do I feel like I am seeing two of you?"

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