Reincarnated As The Villainess's Best Friend

As the sound of the owl pierced the night, I opened my eyes again. Perhaps for the fifteenth time. Or was it the twentieth? I wasn't sure anymore.

My eyelids were heavy, but I had long made up my mind not to sleep. No... It wasn't because we weren't safe here. The queen herself had directed me to one of the many bedrooms in the castle and assigned a few maids to take care of Lucy.

She lay on the bed in front of me, now dressed in a thin robe, her long black hair flowing in all directions. She looked peaceful, like she was merely asleep.

But I was well aware of the danger she was in.

She had used up her mana, which was fatal to a wielder, just like losing blood was fatal to a normal human.

Unlike a wound, mana depletion wasn't something that could be healed with magic. All I could do was wait, for her body to recover.

I was afraid that she might drift off to the afterlife while she was asleep. So I stayed awake, listening to her breathing, sensing her mana. Ready to act if there were any signs of danger.

I sighed, regret gnawing at my heart. I was the one who brought us to Greehold to get a wand. Somehow, we ended up having to battle a Wyvern, and Lucy, being the brave hero she was, was paying the price for our victory.

In return, I had to be there for her. It was the least I could do.

So, I stayed awake...

Flashes of memories – Rin's memories – drifted in my mind, keeping me company.

To keep my eyes open, I let his old memories flood in, one catching me like a hook.

It was summer, in Erentha, which was no different from their Winter, Spring, or Autumn. An endless blanket of pristine white.

I remembered it like it was yesterday. The air was cold. Very cold. The kind of cold that bit through your bones, and made you chatter while you spoke.

We were just kids back then, maybe seven or eight, bundled in big white cloaks that trailed behind us like defeated flags.

*****

Lucy and I had snuck out from magic lessons, or to be exact, I had convinced Lucy to sneak out of magic lessons with me.

Her cheeks flushed pink against the chill, her eyes wide with that quiet curiosity she always hid behind silence.

Once again, we found ourselves knee-deep in the snow. We were building a fort, or trying to. My hands were numb from packing snow, and I kept grumbling how unfair it was that the older elven kids in Lucy's home got to use spells for everything.

"Watch this," I said, more to impress her than anything.

I focused, like the elven instructors had droned on to the older children. "Channel the mana... feel the air shift..."

A swirl of wind gathered in my palm, pulling snowflakes together into a perfect, compact snowball. It hovered there, glistening, as if I'd willed winter itself into submission.

"Ha! Beat that," I said, proud of myself for making my first spell.

Lucy's laugh was soft, almost swallowed by the wind, but her gaze sharpened.

She reached out, her small fingers trembling just a bit, and touched the snowball I had just created

A faint warmth bloomed from her hand, dark tendrils of shadow flickering like smoke.

In an instant, the snowball melted, dripping through my fingers into a puddle at our feet. Steam rose lazily into the wind, and for a second, the air smelled like wet earth mixed with that eerie, metallic smell of her magic.

Her eyes went wide, mirroring mine.

"I... I didn't mean to ruin it," she stammered, pulling back like she'd done something wrong.

I wiped my hand on my cloak, grinning to hide the awe.

"Ruin it? That was awesome."

Her lips trembled slightly, but finally gave way to a smile.

"Now we can play with our magic," I said, moving back to the fort. "I will be ice boy, and you'll be fire girl."

"Fire girl," she repeated, beaming with smiles.

After hours of boring lessons, we had unlocked our magic in a moment that seemed all too playful.

Little did I know, it'd bind us through worse storms than snow.

*****

I woke up with a start.

"Fuck," I said, under my breath. Despite my resolve to stay awake, I had fallen asleep, lulled by Rin's memories.

Cracking my neck, I turned towards the bed.

Lucy was gone!

"Lu..." I almost yelled her name, when I spun around and found her staring out the window behind me.

Here I was, afraid that she might pass away in her sleep. How she managed to wake was beyond me.

The full moon was out tonight, and its faint glow pierced through the window, illuminating Lucy's figure.

Her nightgown, despite its looseness, clung to her body, easily revealing her perfect curves. The moonlight bathed her skin in a soft glow, and her hair blew freely in the wind.

I swallowed. Lucy was beautiful, but this night, it seemed her beauty had been elevated to a new level.

"You need to rest," I began, walking toward her. "You used up your mana. I thought you wouldn't wake."

Lucy ignored me, her gaze locked onto whatever was out there. After a moment, her voice cut through the silence.

"Are you afraid of me, Rin?"

"What?"

She turned to me, eyes staring at me as if she'd been dreaming about me. "Are you afraid of me?"

"N.... No," I stuttered. "I'm not."

"You're lying."

Her words hung in the air. Inwardly, I debated whether she'd found out something about me.

"I saw your eyes," she said, her voice going even lower, "when I summoned the Hellspires. I saw the same look in your eyes. The same look everyone has."

In that moment, I was genuinely scared of Lucy's hyper-observance.

"Before Viridale, I always saw affection in your eyes when you looked at me. But... It's gone now. Something's changed."

I sighed. "Lucy, I'm not afraid of you."

"Then prove it," she said, stepping forward until her breasts were pressing against my chest. "Prove that you still have affection... for me."

She closed her eyes, her red lips gently parting as they awaited mine.

I swallowed again. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, and a slight tension emerging in my groin. For some reason, the air around me suddenly felt cooler.

Lucy was offering herself up to me, again. All I wanted to do, was carry her to the bed, kiss her soft lips as hard as I could, and feel the wet warmth between her legs.

But not like this.

Part of me knew Lucy was emotionally drained, and making love to her to prove my affection for her, just didn't seem right.

"Lucy..."

She opened her eyes to look at me.

"I care about you, Lucy. I always have. I always will."

That was all I said to her.

Lucy retreated from my side. Without another word, she slipped back into the bed, curling beneath the sheets.

With the heat of the moment faded, my thoughts began to flow properly again. And deep down, I could sense that Lucy was no longer the same.