Reincarnated As The Villainess's Best Friend

The castle's corridors were a maze of stone and marble, but I found Lucy's room without hesitation, as if I had a map of it at the back of my head.

I paused at the door, my hand resting on the handle, my heart pounding with the weight of the decision I was about to make.

Fumiko's words echoed in my mind, urging me to tell Lucy the truth, but I pushed them aside. She didn't need to know. Not yet.

I knocked twice, the sound muffled but sharp in the silence. "Lucy?" I called softly.

"Come in," her voice said from within, faint but steady.

I pushed the door open, and the room unfolded before me. It was warm, and the windows had been completely covered by long thick drapes

A fire crackled in the fireplace, casting flickering shadows across the stone walls. Lucy lay in a narrow bed, her dark hair splayed across the pillow.

She turned to me, her pearl-black eyes meeting mine as I stepped inside. She looked fragile, and her skin was pale against the white linens, but there was a quiet strength in her gaze that made my chest throb.

"You're still awake," I said, pulling a wooden chair to her bedside. The legs scraped against the floor, and I winced at the sound. "How are you feeling?"

She shifted slightly, propping herself up on one elbow.

"I don't know," she said, her voice soft but clear. "I feel strange. Like something's pressing against my chest, but I can't see it."

The demon's mana, I thought, but I couldn't say it. Instead, I forced a smile.

"King Jirel's worried about you," I said, choosing my words carefully. "He thinks you're… ill. Something to do with your mana. It's why you've been feeling off lately."

Lucy frowned, her brow creasing. "I don't feel sick. Just… heavy."

I swallowed hard, my throat tightening. She was closer to the truth than she realized, and it took everything in me not to spill it all. Instead, I reached for her hand and squeezed it gently

"The King knows a spell that can help. It'll balance your mana and make you feel like yourself again. We're going to do it at dawn."

Lucy furrowed her brow. She tilted her head, studying me with narrowed eyes. "A spell? What kind of spell?"

I hesitated, my fingers tightening around the arms of the chair. The truth stuck at my throat, but I pushed it down, burying it beneath a lie.

"It's a healing spell," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "Something to strengthen you, to take away that pressure you're feeling. It's simple, but it needs to be done at dawn for the mana to align properly."

Lucy studied me for a long moment, as if she could see through the cracks in my facade.

"I've never heard of that before," she said.

"Well, that's what the king told me, and I believe him. We just want you to get better."

My chest tightened, and I wondered if she'd press me more. But then she nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Okay. I trust you, Rin."

Those words hit me harder than any spell.

Trust. I didn't deserve her trust, not when I was hiding so much from her. But I forced myself to smile, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

"Just get some rest, alright? I'll be here when you wake up."

She smiled faintly, settling back into the pillows. "Thank you for looking out for me."

"Always," I whispered, my voice cracking slightly.

I stayed until her breathing evened out, her eyelids closing as sleep claimed her. Her face was soft and innocent, but I could feel the demon's mana raging beneath her.

I rose to my feet, my movements slow. With one last glance at Lucy, I slipped out of the room, closing the door gently behind me.

"You didn't tell her."

Fumiko's voice cut through the silence, and I turned to find her standing a few paces away, her arms folded beneath her bust.

The burning torchlight in the corridor cast shadows across her face, making her look older, and angrier.

"I told her what she needs to know," I replied, my voice low. "She's ill, and there's a spell to fix it. That's enough for now."

Fumiko stepped closer, her gaze unyielding. "You're wrong. She needs to know the rest of it."

"No, she doesn't." I straightened, meeting her gaze. "She's been through enough."

"That's not your decision to make."

I scoffed. "She cannot handle the truth. Have you forgotten how long it took to make her recover from Thorn?"

Fumiko kept silent, her chest heaving as she recalled the memories.

At the start of our journey, Lucy had cried for days, burdened by the guilt of Thorn's murder. To make Lucy recover, I had convinced Fumiko to wipe the memory from her mind.

"Telling her about the demon will only make things worse," I continued. "This is the only way to keep her safe."

Fumiko's eyes flashed with frustration. "Safe? You're lying to her. You're deciding her fate without giving her a say. How is that making things better?"

I clenched my jaw, my voice rising a bit higher than I expected it to. "Do you even understand what you're asking me to do? Telling her will complicate everything — her life, her trust, her dreams. I can't do that to her. I won't."

Fumiko stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"You'll regret this one day, Rin. One way or another, she's going to find out the truth, and when she does, she's going to remember that you had many chances to tell her, but you refused to. She won't see you as a protector.... No. In her eyes, you'll be nothing but a liar."

Her words hung in the air, heavy and unyielding. Without another word, she turned and vanished into the shadows, leaving me alone with the echo of my own doubts.

Maybe she was right, maybe she wasn't. But it didn't matter to me, so long as I was able to keep the world safe.

I sighed, heading for my room to get some rest. Tomorrow, we had a demon to seal - and I needed all my strength to face it if anything went wrong.