A Regressed Villain: Heroines, Villainesses and Me?

"...."

"Think about it yourself; this makes more sense this way, doesn't it?" Avendial observed how Aecilia seemed clearly confused while trying to make sense of what he revealed just now.

He closed his eyes as he tried to give her time to digest the information.

Normally, if someone told another that they came from the future, the most common reactions would be to take it as a joke or to think that the person is mentally ill.

However, luckily, this wasn't the case with the women inside this room.

Not particularly because they were smart, but instead, it was due to both being aware of the supernatural abilities present in this world.

If, for instance, Avendial told Aecilia that he awakened an ability that brought back memories of his future, then he could easily convince her.

Though he wasn't going to just use that fact, considering Aria could at any time reveal his stats, leading to even more confusion and doubts.

So he needed to create a story that was believable and free of loopholes.

"That's…",

Aecilia, who was looking at him with the intention of seeing if he was joking right now, felt the probability of all this being true was high, given the possibility that the Marquess had awakened some abilities.

And if this was indeed the case, then it was believable, considering it was really an overpowered ability where he was already aware of the future.

This realization caused her to close her eyes as she thought about it deeply.

She was acknowledging that his planning and the way he was doing things were clearly different from how she remembered him, proving his words.

'It must be then,'

Aecilia took his words as true for a moment, which was hard to believe, yet she knew this was possible.

She thought about January 13th, the night when he first showed such a difference after the aphrodisiac event.

That night she had noticed how he was acting strangely.

Initially, he made an excuse about poisoning and diverted everyone's attention there, but that same night, the Sertsul family was able to get the information that it was an aphrodisiac.

Naturally, Aecilia herself just considered that his behavior—flirting and acting in such a way—was just his natural behavior under the effect of the aphrodisiac.

She didn't pay much attention to it until today, now that he revealed this information.

It was making more sense that it was that night when he would have first arrived in the past, maybe possessing the memories of the future, not technically transferring his body.

After all, he appeared the same as before—not an old man arriving from the future.

Her hypothesis became even more firm as she thought about how today, on the 18th, five days had already passed since the several changes he started to show in this time.

He was flirting here and there, predicting things accurately, and preparing for something big.

Initially, Aecilia, being unaware, had thought that he was preparing for a war against the royal family, given the aphrodisiac event caused by the Prince.

But now, after his revelation regarding possessing memory of the future, it appeared he was preparing for something greater, not just going against the royal family for some revenge.

"You get it?"

Avendial inquired, his eyes fixed on Aecilia as he observed her body language to understand if there was any hint of her showing disbelief or taking his words lightly.

As she opened her eyes, looking in his direction, he could clearly see the reflection of himself in her golden pupils.

"Yes… so, is she also?"

Aecilia looked at him, nodding.

Once again, she held her hands, giving a sidelong glance toward Aria, inquiring if his sudden approach to this woman was also due to his future memories.

Though she was definitely curious about her own future, she felt there was time.

Given that she was in his place, she knew that crucial information wouldn't be revealed in front of more than one person, as it could lead to leakage.

This was why she didn't inquire about herself in front of Aria.

"Indeed, Leo, Dr. Etrinia, Ravan Family, and that plan against the royal family; you were correct," Avendial replied, nodding and trying to appear as nonchalant as possible.

He was slowly guiding her toward the story he wanted to tell—what she should believe to happen in the future.

"Huh?" Aecilia raised an eyebrow, feeling bewildered.

She had just ignored the fact that he was trying to go against the royal family and was preparing for something big.

But now he confessed that he planned everything from the meeting with her, Leo, and others who came in his way in the free city.

This made her realize that all this time he had been targeting the royal family, as she had anticipated.

"Ahem," She cleared her throat, realizing that maybe he didn't have some big master plan as she had anticipated.

It was really just thr royal family against whom he wanted to work.

She nodded, also realizing that even if he was from the future, the only thing that could threaten someone like Marquess would be the royal family.

Given that they had Empyreals with abilities, it was possible that in the future the Royal family had tried to do something malicious.

"Aria, are you okay?"

Avendial, whose gaze was fixed on Aecilia for a moment, noticed how Aria seemed lost in her thoughts, prompting him to call her name, as he began to doubt whether she was considering something that could ruin the flow of their conversation.

"...Yes, I was just curious about the things you told me about the future," Aria glanced back at Avendial, her expression revealing a clear hesitation, though her eyes betrayed the jealousy that she assumed was not evident to both Avendial and Aecilia.

This made them understand that she was trying to position herself as more knowledgeable than Aecilia regarding the things he told her—showing how he confided in her more than in Aecilia.

'That was fast,' Avendial thought, as he had initially expected that Aria, given her state and the insecurity she had felt throughout her life due to Amrita's presence around Lin, would inevitably show her jealous side now that another heroine had arrived to claim her man.

Although it was unexpected for her to reveal such a side this soon, it was clear to him that her mental state wasn't as recovered as he had thought, still a mess from the events of last night, while her memories created a haze in which she compared him to Lin—a comparison he had sought.

'.....' Aecilia, seated there and clearly noticing that this woman was somewhat jealous of her, felt like putting her in her place but stopped, considering that she also wanted to know what had happened in the future.

So it was technically confirmed that his claims about possessing future memories were true; however, given that she didn't know what had happened, it was possible he could easily tell her anything, leaving her with no choice but to believe him.

Aecilia was clearly weighing the pros and cons of blindly believing what he was about to tell her, prompting her to glance towards the man she was head over heels for.

Her mind and heart seemed to be in a battle at that moment.

She wasn't naïve enough to ignore that he currently held the advantage, as he knew she loved him.

Additionally, if his claims were indeed true and came from the future, it was likely that, considering how he had appeared in present time and immediately sought her embrace, he wasn't in love with her in the future.

Given his personality as a businessman, which would likely never waver regardless of how harsh the future might be, he would probably try to use her while ensuring her loyalty.

'Uggh! It's frustrating!'

Aecilia's hand rested on her head, brushing her hair as she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, indifferent to their gazes, overwhelmed by the entire mess of her situation.

Not her hair, but this whole situation was messed up.

Everything had been normal.

She thought that he most probably needed a resourceful family for information and could not do whatever he wanted, giving her time to think about how to break his marriage with Princess Katheria.

Then he confessed to her about how they would do it after a year, clearly raising her hopes.

Now, suddenly she hears from Billie that he was sleeping with another woman, prompting her to come here and try to calm her mind while seeking an excuse for why he was so desperately clinging to a woman and acting like a rabbit all night.

But now?

He reveals that he has memories from the future.

This made her feel overwhelmed and clearly doubt whether all of this was his plan to use her and the Sertsul family, making her feel foolish for expressing her love for him, complicating everything since he had a clear hold over her.

"Are you okay, Aecilia?"

Avendial narrowed his gaze, noticing that Aecilia was going through some emotional turmoil.

Feeling confused for a moment, he didn't understand why she was reacting this way.

However, noticing Aria's attention shift to Aecilia, he used this moment to inquire about her emotional state, just as he had done a moment ago with Aria, aiming to trigger a small rivalry between the two of them.

And as he anticipated, his eyes clearly noticed Aria's hands gripping tightly as her surprise turned into a cold glare towards Aecilia.

'Is she really a noblewoman?'

At first, Aria was taken aback by the sight of Aecilia, who seemed to be feeling a mix of emotions as she clutched her hair in confusion.

However, when she finally heard his words, she realized that Aecilia's true intention was to demonstrate to Aria how much he also cares for her.

This childish behavior from Aecilia, where she tried to act in such a way out of jealousy, clearly shattered the image Aria had of noblewomen, who were considered to be highly educated and well-mannered.