I Don’t Want to be a Villainess

Anyway, since things ended up like this, I decided to take a closer look at the powers of the vice president for now.

Since I might end up becoming the vice president, I thought it would be wise to see what kind of power I could actually hold.

And the conclusion I came to was simple. There really wasn’t much a vice president could do alone.

Basically, the vice president’s job is to assist the chairwoman.

Some might think, “Well, how powerful can a student council be if they only have high school kids with self-governance?,” but I’d like to point out that this school has ridiculously high tuition fees.

And that tuition isn’t just invested in school facilities; it also goes into clubs, field trips, sports days, and festivals.

Surprisingly enough, despite the student council’s presence, they actually have the authority to take charge of all of this.

Of course, regardless of the council’s power, most of the kids in this school’s student council are just names on a list, and the budget seems to be distributed pretty haphazardly. Well, not to mention, there are plenty of club members who also just get their names on the roster, so there’s no way the budget could flow normally.

In the end, the places where the budget is mostly spent are field trips and festivals. And in these cases, it’s not just the student council handling everything; teachers get involved and manage it pretty strictly. Just because the council has a budget doesn’t mean they can spend it however they want.

Anyway… despite everything, it’s safe to say that the student council had more power than one might expect given their presence.

Most of the work is coordinated by the committee and the chairwoman, while the vice president supports whatever the chairwoman is doing in case anything goes wrong.

Naturally, the vice president is often a close associate of the chairwoman and just acts as a gofer, moving along with whatever she wants to do. Since I’m technically an important person in the student council, I don’t have a tremendous amount of power since I’m not the head of any committee.

“But in my case, it’s different.”

As I mumbled this, Son Ah-reum nodded.

To discuss how to accept the current situation, we gathered at my house with Son Ah-reum.

With no one left in this household for me to feel awkward around, we didn’t need to search for a secluded café. If it’s for discussing something important, this place would suffice.

Of course, excluding me, Ha Neul, Sohee, and Sua, others might feel a bit uncomfortable.

At least right now, the atmosphere was somewhat serious, so it wasn’t like anyone clung to me, but if there was an opportunity, it was clear they’d rush in and shower me with kisses. It wouldn’t matter who was in front of us. Or maybe, they’d cling to me even more with someone there just to mark their territory.

“If the chairwoman comes at me like that… what would happen going forward? Let’s assume I’ve become the vice president.”

In fact, thinking of stepping back now would be a bit odd, so I contemplated such a scenario for the time being.

“Hmmm… First, your influence would significantly help fill the vacant chair positions.”

Originally, the vice president’s role didn’t carry much weight, but ironically, since I flipped the hierarchy in this school, the chairwoman wouldn’t be able to properly resist me.

If the chairwoman really appointed me as the vice president, I could end up as a de facto ruler without any voting.

…There was this one American drama where the main character, now vice president, casually stated, “Democracy is overrated,” and that’s precisely the situation.

Unwanted, even with other people not fully recognizing it, power was falling right into my hands.

“How many chair positions are still vacant?”

“Among the art, sports, volunteering, lead, and library committees, three are empty. Originally, the lead chair went to a member from the student council, and I entered that spot.”

“….”

I held my head in my hands.

“Well, let’s think positively! If we just fill the positions properly, we might get things running better than before.”

As I glared at Son Ah-reum, who said this, she quickly zipped her mouth.

“… How about you just take the vice president position instead?”

“M-me?”

Son Ah-reum looked a bit flustered at my words, stuttering before replying, “I’m… not that capable yet.”

…Well, I couldn’t force someone who didn’t want to be vice president into that position.

“Can’t you just be a nominal leader and hang back?”

Sohee, who had been quietly listening, chimed in.

“I’d do the same if I were vice president. After all, it’s not like the chairwoman is absent.”

That’s right. Theoretically, it wouldn’t be a huge issue to pretend to work at the start and then just hang back later. Since the chairwoman’s position wouldn’t be vacant, the title of vice president could serve as just a fancy name while really having little power.

However, there was one problem…

“But, that position will likely be filled by those who were invited to birthday parties.”

Ha Neul countered Sohee’s remark.

Indeed. That was my plan.

No matter how much I might seem to be in a position to act without minding anyone’s business at school, if I handed the chair positions to kids without invitations, it might be interpreted as me forgiving them all.

The very reason I solidified my push for the vice president position was to threaten that I could do such things, but doing that would undermine the very reason I sought it.

So, of course, I couldn’t help but fill any vacancies with at least someone who had a bit of goodwill towards me.

“But wouldn’t that ultimately fall back to Sara’s plate?”

Sua tilted her head thoughtfully, resting her chin on her fingers.

That’s true.

Even if the chairwoman remained in her position, once I filled the lower positions with my close associates as the vice president, those kids would end up ignoring whatever the chairwoman said and report directly to me.

Given the chairwoman’s personality, surely she wouldn’t be able to voice any proper complaints about it.

So, in the end, I’d have to take on at least some of the work.

I shot another sharp look at Son Ah-reum. She awkwardly laughed while avoiding my gaze, and I could see the goofy hair on her head quivering.

“…Well, what can we do? This is how things turned out.”

In the end, I sighed and said that.

“For now, let’s just roll with it and see where it goes.”

That was the conclusion I reached.

…Which means, it didn’t yield much of a gain.

*

“I’ve put your name down for the vacant vice president position. The teachers won’t oppose it.”

“Umm…”

The next day, after class, I went to the student council room and heard that.

Wait, I never actually said I would…?

“No, I never actually said I would…?”

Oops! That thought slipped right out of my mouth.

“Um…? You said you would yesterday, right?”

“Uh, no, that’s not it.”

What was I supposed to answer from here?

Certainly, considering my actions yesterday, I probably looked really interested in the vice president role. I basically threatened the chairwoman openly and she said she’d hand over the position.

…But I didn’t realize things would move this fast.

At least, there should have been someone among the teachers who would oppose or drag their feet… but that couldn’t possibly happen. All the teachers who had concerns ran away by now.

It’s not to say the remaining teachers didn’t have their own concerns, but there was clearly no intent left to oppose me.

No, more importantly, shouldn’t we get a new teacher soon?

And preferably one who doesn’t have an eye on the students’ money.

…Should I bring that up since I’m now the vice president?

“…Well, it’s nice to see how quickly things are being handled.”

Regardless, since I couldn’t suddenly refuse in this position, I decided to go along with that comment.

Well, since this was happening, I’d just have to pretend to be busy at the start and then quietly hang back afterward.

If I got any opinions thrown my way, I’d just let the committee heads handle it.

But will it really go as smoothly as I think?

Sara teased lightly.

…If I ended up becoming vice president and got busy, I’d need to hug and kiss Ha Neul, Sohee, and Sua one after another until I passed out, then hand over control of my body to Sara.

…What a horrifying thought.

So, I should pray that I don’t get buried in work.

“Fine…”

The student council president seemed slightly enlightened by my words.

“Then… let’s start by filling the vacant committee positions. As of now, the only committees we can say are active are the lead and library teams. Let’s schedule a date for the student council meeting soon.”

“…That sounds good.”

In the end, I half-heartedly replied, murmuring.

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