Reincarnated As The Villainess's Best Friend

Fumiko stepped out from her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

"How is she?" I asked as she returned to her seat at the dining table.

"She's... shaken," Fumiko replied, reaching for the jug the sleeve of her white dress caressing the table. "She refused to eat anything, but she needed to rest, so I put her to sleep with a mind spell."

She grabbed the jug. It was empty.

"I'm sorry for bringing her here," I said. After what Lucy had been through, I wasn't going to leave her alone in the girls' dorm.

Fumiko's gaze returned to me, a short smile appearing on her lips. "We're way past that point, Rin. This is your home too."

I sighed, turning to the open window, the warm rays of the evening sun bathing my face. Closing my eyes, I inhaled, as I tried to relax my aching nerves.

I had spent the entire day walking back to the school through the winding paths, with Lucy on my back the whole time. Freya assisted me in intervals, despite her enmity with Lucy.

I turned to her. She sat in a corner of the room, staring blankly in the direction of the bedroom, her face devoid of any emotion. Our journey to rescue Lucy had brought out a side of her I never knew existed, and she had long ceased her banters and sassy remarks.

I wondered how she felt about watching Lucy kill Kyro, but I soon dismissed the thought. All I could think about, was the last moments of Kyro's... Thorn's life.

His last words echoed again in my mind.

"...Send the demon back to where she belongs."

"How did you get out of the Blackthorn forest?" Miss Fumiko asked, interrupting my train of thought.

I pulled out the mimic ring from my pocket and dropped it onto the table.

"This was Kyro... Thorn's way out," I glanced at the ring. "I used the mimic of Kyro's teleportation spell to get us out."

I stared at the ring. I'd used it to teleport us out of the forest, but right after, I was hit with a powerful headache, and a nosebleed that made me fear for my life.

Fumiko picked up the ring, turning it in her fingers. "This is a cursed artifact. You shouldn't use it again."

I nodded. "Don't worry. I wasn't planning on it."

She set the ring down on the table, her eyes shifting to me.

"Did Lucy really kill Kyro?"

I swallowed, the memory flashing back. Kyro's neck snapping, his body crumpling.

"She killed Thorn. But it wasn't her. Not really. The Shadow Queen awakened and took over."

Fumiko leaned back on her seat. "You were supposed to stop that from happening."

"It's not my fault," I retorted, my voice rising higher than I anticipated. "The circumstances were far beyond my control."

The room fell silent for a while, the scent of cinnamon still thick in the air as usual.

"When I put her to sleep," Fumiko said, "I sensed them. Two different sets of mana, twisting inside her. Just like you."

That didn't sound right.

"She's reincarnated?"

"You tell me. Is she?"

No. The theory didn't sound right to me.

"Is it normal for House Daevalia?"

"I don't know," she replied. "But I doubt it. Lucy's magic isn't just from her bloodline. She has something in her. Something darker. I have no idea what it is, but I know it's unlike anything I've ever sensed before."

I clenched my fist under the table. Perhaps Lucy's magic was far more complicated than we thought.

"When Kyro took her," I recalled, "He kept calling her a demon. Does that have anything to do with it?"

Fumiko raised her brows. "To be honest, I don't know."

Freya stirred in her corner, her blank stare finally breaking. She stood up and walked over to the table with slow steps. When she spoke, her voice was low, but sharp.

"What the hell is going on?" she demanded.

I closed my eyes, scratching my forehead. "I don't think you'll get it."

She slammed both palms on the table, "I just watched Lucy float in mid-air like she was possessed. I watched her try to choke me to death while staring at me with blood red eyes. I watched Kyro get his neck snapped and turn into a complete stranger. I deserve an explanation, and you're going to give me one, now!"

I sighed, meeting her eyes. She was right. At this point, she'd seen enough to know the truth.

At least, not all of it.

"Lucy is..." I began, carefully selecting my words. "Strong."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"No, you don't get it... She's not just strong. She's powerful, more powerful than anything I've seen. Powerful enough to destroy this world."

Freya's eyes slowly widened. "So the prophecy is true?"

I creased my forehead. "You know about the prophecy?"

"The House of Daevalia will destroy the world," Freya said, "Yes, everyone's heard about it."

I guess I didn't have to hide it from her.

"It's true, I said. Kyro... Thorn... he was sent to kill her because of it."

Freya crossed her arms, her face hardening. "If the prophecy is true, then we have to kill her."

"No... "I cut in. I was afraid she'd say this. "We can't kill her."

"Why? You saw what she did to Kyro, she's dangerous."

"She doesn't know what she did," I yelled out, raising my voice. "You saw her... She wasn't in control. She's not evil. She's just... changing. We have to help her."

Fumiko nodded.

"We've been observing her for a while," she added. "But now, we need more than guesses, The dark mana within her is growing. If we don't understand it, we can't control it.

Freya kept mute, her eyebrows furrowing. She stared at Fumiko for a while, perhaps wondering how long a tutor was involved in this.

"So what now?" she asked, her eyes flicking between us. "We sit here and wait for her to snap again?"

My mind raced as I pieced together the fragments. Kyro's words, the noble war, and House Daevalia. There had to be answers somewhere.

Then it hit me.

"We need information," I said. "Real information. And I know where to get it."

"Where?" Fumiko asked.

I took a deep breath. "From the same people who kept her alive all these years."

Freya stared at me, her eyes narrowing in confusion. Fumiko leaned closer to her desk.

"We need to go to Erentha."