The Guidebook for Villainesses

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The second banquet Nicholas prepared for Lara began at midnight. The venue was a theater in Dandelion and the guests were very few nobles amicable to the East.

As soon as Lara received the invitation, she informed Acerus of the matter. Then, she overpowered Valac who had initially refused to attend, and dressed him in a fancy coat.

“Why should I go to a banquet with a saintess?”

“To drive a wedge.”

“Between whom?”

“Nicholas and Paimon.”

Valac looked at Lara with his mouth open.

Lying and causing hostility were a demon's specialties. Throughout their lives, they always had lies in their mouths. It was their hobby to mock and annihilate humans with deception, it’s what they do best.

“A human is going to play a trick on a demon? It’ll be a relief if you don’t get caught lying and arrested.”

“You don’t know how good I am at lying…”

After trying to persuade Valac, Lara closed her mouth and stared at him. Then, she spoke to him with a cold smirk.

“Don’t say anything and just obey me.”

“Damn…”

“If you do as I tell you, I will make you stronger than you are now.”

“How can you do that? You’re just a saintess!”

“A sip of Paimon’s blood should be enough, right?”

Valac stopped grumbling and suddenly opened his eyes wide. The blood of a demon lord candidate was on a different level from the blood of a demon like Lilith.

“I mean, what can I do for you?”

“What you have to do is very simple.”

Lara continued to explain slowly.

“Paimon wants me, the saintess. And since you will be standing next to me, he will find you very irritating. Don’t just wait without doing anything, you should approach him first.”

“I will die then!”

“Just tell him the truth as it is. About the story of Prince Sidhar. The story of how you tried so hard to seduce the saintess from Hautean but she did not fall for it. After being captured in the Empire, you gave up eating the saintess and were enjoying your life next to the Crown Prince.”

“Will he believe that?”

“It’s all true so he has no choice but to believe it.”

Lara did not think Nicholas would have just waited for the Emperor’s answer in Dandelion. He would have looked into the relationship between the Emperor and the saintess and would have also investigated the relationship between Acerus and Barbarians.

What Nicholas wanted was to drive a wedge between the saintess and the Emperor, ultimately making the Barbarians and the Empire turn their backs on each other. That way, he could turn the arrow of the conflict at the border to the Empire’s direction.

Lara decided to teach him a better way than that at this banquet.

“I heard that Nicholas’ father is the King of Lafort but he has no intention of handing the throne over to his son. His mother was a Princess of Sias, but she hated her husband, so she divorced him and went back to her hometown.”

Nicholas devoted everything to the union to solidify his unstable position. He could not become a King, so he decided to become the head of the union.

“Then, what if the Eastern Union becomes a kingdom? With the Empire at its back, if the once-abandoned Prince turns the union into a kingdom, then the Prince will not just be the head of the union, but the King of a new nation.”

Lara muttered.

Valac could not close his open mouth.

Who’s the real swindler here now? Nicholas? Definitely not.

God’s vicegerent in front of him now looked much more sneaky.

After finishing her preparations, Lara wore a blood-red necklace and said.

“What if I tell Nicholas to stop his pathetic act of sticking to a demon and seducing the saintess? What if I tell him to just lie down and cry in front of the Emperor and ask for help in unifying the East? What if he could receive my support as the saintess, along with His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and the barbarians’ support, who are currently at the border?”

“Do you think Paimon will just stay quiet if you say that?”

“That would be even better. Nicholas will get more anxious if Paimon does not listen to him.”

“What…do I have to do?”

“Be a double-agent.”

Lara opened the door. She walked out wearing a fancy beaded dress that made a clinking sound.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Lara appeared at the banquet hall with Valac. She sat in the reserved seat for honored guests and listened to Paimon’s performance. He was playing a huge harp on the stage and was barely covering himself with a smoothly flowing cloth like the Gods of legend.

He wore a see-through black cloth on his head and thin rings were worn on his ten fingers. With makeup on, Paimon’s lips were as red as his eyes.

Eunice and Ximena sat with Nicholas on the honored guests' seats opposite to Lara.

Nicholas was a smart man. When Lara did not show any significant reaction, he decided to target her friends.

Nicholas especially put a lot of effort into Eunice. Knowing that she had been Acerus’ lover until recently, he acted as if he would do whatever she wanted, just like a kind uncle.

“This is driving me crazy.”

Valac’s hands trembled. He did not know what to do whenever Paimon’s gaze reached Lara and him.

“I’m sure he has already figured it out. A demon will recognize a demon after all.”

“Shut up. If you keep getting distracted, I can just throw you at Paimon as bait.”

“Damn it, damn it!”

As Valac’s tension reached its peak, Paimon’s performance also built up to a climax. Lara still looked sour to know that he was a demon but the other guests were amazed and were all in a state of trance. After the performance, Paimon approached Lara.

Lara glanced at Valac and said.

“He’s coming.”

Valac was staring at Paimon with a pale face, just like a prisoner who was punished to death by hanging.

The two demons’ eyes met. Lara watched the scene with an exciting face.

“Look who’s here.”

Looking at Valac, Paimon’s red eyes shone as if they were oiled. There was a mixture of madness and ridicule in them.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Valentine!”

Konny narrowly came down the stairs and appeared underground. She stacked up a lot of food on a big tray, there was so much that it was hard to think that it was for one person.

“You starved yourself again, didn’t you? I checked everything. Let alone bread, you didn’t even drink the milk!”

Konny’s powerful voice rang loudly in the underground secret hallway. Even though it was a maze-like complex road, Valentine had already memorized and told Konny how to easily find her way inside, so she walked in without hesitation.

“I have warned you. Now I’m really going to tie you up and feed you. Don’t you know you look like a pinwheel when you move? Milady is so worried…”

Konny arrived at the place where Valentine was researching the magic circle for long-distance travel. Recently, he was always there so she thought it would not be different this time.

But there, the magic circle was shining by itself.

“Huh?”

Konny was surprised and hurriedly put the tray on the table. When the magic circle was active even without Lara and Valentine, she suddenly got scared,

What if a ghost comes out? I hope it’s not a demon. What if the dead high priests become vengeful ghosts and chase after me because we searched the basement as we liked?

Konny became scared and muttered Valentine’s name.

“Valentine… I’m scared. Where are you? You stupid ass. I’m really…”

Light exploded on the magic circle. Konny closed her eyes tightly and flopped down on the spot. At that time, she heard a familiar voice.

“What are you doing there?”

It was Demian. Konny looked at Demian with an incredulous look on her face. She pointed her trembling fingers at Demian’s face and screamed in spite of herself.

“How can you just come out like that? I was so surprised that I almost died! I haven’t even been in a relationship yet!”

“Am I at fault for your poor dating skills, Konny?”

“Why don’t you tell me beforehand? If it weren’t for you, Master Demian, I would have stabbed you with a bread knife!”

Demian smiled and came down from the magic circle. His gaze went to the tray that Konny put down, he pointed to it.

“Can I eat that? I haven’t eaten good food in a while.”

“Help yourself.”

“Thanks, Konny.”

Demian looked a little thin. His hair grew a little and there were wounds everywhere. Before leaving, he looked a little relaxed by Lara’s side, but when he came back after a long time, he looked like a sharp beast. Demian smiled and talked to Konny, who was quietly reading the room while still giving food to him.

“I’m not going to eat you up.”

“I’ll tell milady about this.”

“Lara would be on my side.”

“No? My lady is on my side, you know? Do you know who she’s seeing right now? A very erotic-looking man came and invited her to a nightly banquet. I have never seen such a pretty man in my life. His lips are so thick like a…”

Tap.

Demian put down the bread he was holding. He did not even eat much but he already lost his appetite.

“Erotic man?”

His atmosphere was unusual. His blue eyes subsided in a dark sense.