Reborn as the Villain in a Romance Fantasy

"Ensure you do not enter the room and tighten the door. Did you understand what I asked you to do?"

Layla asked the guard she had hired, but she could tell she had lost his attention quite a while back.

Layla coughed to ensure she had the man's attention again, and the guard turned toward her with a flinch.

"Did you get all that I asked you for? If so, then I should take my leave now. Make sure you keep things under control here."

Layla spoke before she left. She did not give the guard she had appointed a single glance more than she needed to.

The guard was not offended. If anything, he was delighted to be left alone with his would-be treasure. He was waiting for Layla to go as well before he needed to make a move.

"Ha, that girl is a fool! She did not ask me to sign a contract but left me alone with her treasure. A curse? I am not afraid of any curses."

The guard assured himself before he forced the door open. He walked inside, only for the room to be empty.

"Huh? What a weird place this is. I thought this was a treasure room, but it was just a place with nothing. I should get out now-"

The man turned around and started to walk out, but he found a problem—he could not leave the room.

As soon as the door closed, he was stuck, and now there seemed to be no way out of her.

"I-Is this the curse that the noble lady mentioned? No way, right? Curses do not exist in real life. That was just a story told to scare me. B-But I am not afraid-"

The man spoke to himself as he tried to gather his breath and make himself feel better.

But the more that man tried not to panic, his emotions made him panic. It was bad enough that his legs threatened to collapse under him.

Layla stood before the door on the other side, curious. She used her hand to control her magic and the space inside the room.

"Hmm, this is interesting. I have gotten better at controlling my magic. I should also wait to experiment when I have more people to play with. Some more guests have arrived to check this place out."

Layla had spread the rumor that she had some ancient artifacts to see how her spatial magic worked.

It was one of the toughest magics to learn, and Layla wanted to master it before facing opponents she couldn't kill.

This kind of magic had only one goal—to help the user escape. To make that happen, Layla needed people with whom she could experiment.

A party entered the room, and the guard Layla appointed panicked and ran toward the door.

"D-Don't close the door behind yourself. We will get-"

Before the man could finish speaking, the door slammed shut behind the party's back, and any hope of escape left the guard's body.

He was suddenly feeling hopeless when Layla activated the magic transportation spell.

This was bigger than any spell she had ever used, but the strain her body usually felt was nonexistent.

Magic channeled through her body as easily as breathing. Layla's bond marking glowed a beautiful silver before the magic took form, and the people were transported mostly safely.

A few lost their hair or fingers, but that was a small price to pay for a safe visit during emergencies.

"Looks like I need more practice and ways to control my output. I wonder where I sent those people."

Layla might have activated the array, but she had not set a destination for the teleport yet, so she had no idea where those people could have ended up.

She needed to bring them back to experience this feeling of teleportation again.

But as soon as Layla brought the group back, she noticed the difference.

Everyone she brought back was dead, and she knew that this was not because of her spell.

They all had a cross-shaped slice on their body, indicating that they had been killed off in the same way and with the same weapon. But Layla had never used or seen a gun that caused such cross-shaped marks.

"How weird. I should not look more into this. Now, what should I do with these bodies and the residue of blood blocking the floor? Should I get rid of it somehow?"

Layla asked as she looked at the junk parts lying on the inn's floor. Her desire to clean up made her act, and she quickly used her magic to make this place as flawless as before.

She had no idea how these rumors would spread, but she did not want anyone to know that she had been affiliated with what had happened.

Layla had not destroyed the bodies, just sent them elsewhere to be seen. As soon as morning came, people began to walk out of their homes and notice the bloody scene before them.

They all gasped as they watched the dead bodies lying in the middle of the square with cross-shaped injuries on their abdomen and a wave of fear washed over everyone.

"Oh no! He is back! What do we do now? Our order! Our system! Everything we set up would be destroyed because of him and his presence. We are so screwed."

People sounded afraid and freaked out. Layla heard it all from her room in the inn and realized this was a mistake.

"Tsk, I wanted to get the news of my stay out, but it looks like I ended up helping someone else. I do wonder who could have made these people react like this. It makes me curious to find out more about it."

Layla's curious voice made the innkeeper turn toward her and want to answer her question.

"Miss, would you like me to tell you why these people are afraid? I know the story quite well."