The Villainesses in the Romance Fantasy Novel Became Obsessed with me

“Bring her. Now. Before I decide to make you a permanent fixture.”

Nadia spoke in a low, threatening tone, demanding I bring the owner of the scent that had stained her painting.

‘But… That’s impossible.’

The woman in question was already hidden within Charlotte and couldn’t be brought out.

When her personality shifts, even Charlotte’s scent changed because human Charlotte disliked perfume.

I couldn’t bring Nadia the ‘owner of the scent’ she was talking about.

The dummy princess who remembered nothing wouldn’t do.

I bit my lip in frustration.

“I’m sorry, Nadia. No matter what you say, I can’t bring her.”

“So what you’re saying is. I can interpret that as you wanting to be turned into a specimen, right?”

{TN:- Specimen in Nadia’s context means to immortalize him in the form of painting. To preserve him in a permanent, unchanging state.}

She looked at me with serious eyes.

Thunk—

Nadia gripped my shoulders tightly.

“You’re choosing to give up on life and become one of my exhibits? That’s not the Damian I know.”

“… Whoever you’re confusing me with, this is my true nature. And I’m telling you the truth.”

I couldn’t bring her.

I mixed a little bit of truth with a lie.

“She’s no longer at the academy. She left far away, and I can’t bring her back. I don’t even know where she went.”

“… She’s gone?”

“Yes. She’s gone. And one more thing… I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but…”

I didn’t do anything with her.

The sweat on the sofa wasn’t from what you’re thinking.

Nadia tilted her head slightly, as if to say, ‘Go on. Let’s hear it.’

She seemed half convinced.

“I was walking when a woman who wasn’t a student here suddenly collapsed with a fever. So, I had no choice but to bring her to your art room and treat her with antipyretics until her fever went down. Saving a life is a given, right?”

“Not necessarily.”

“… I guess not for you. I’ll take that back.”

Anyway.

Nadia raised a natural question from my explanation.

“The infirmary?”

“It was late in the evening, and it was closed. Plus, it was too far away.”

“The clinic?”

“I’d have to leave the academy grounds, which would take too long. The woman’s condition was that severe.”

Nadia scrutinized me with suspicious eyes, trying to determine if my story was true.

‘If I had told a complete lie, my guilty conscience might have shown in my expression.’

Nadia knew my face well enough to distinguish when I was lying.

But what if I didn’t lie and only omitted crucial details?

“… Judging by your expression, it doesn’t seem like you’re lying.”

Even someone as familiar with my traits as Nadia could be successfully deceived this time.

This was a lie that might eventually be discovered, but not immediately.

“Damian.”

“Yeah?”

Nadia pressed harder on my shoulders, bringing her face close to mine.

My vision was filled with her emerald-green eyes.

“You said that woman left the academy. That’s the truth, right?”

“O-of course it is.”

Though she lived inside Charlotte, at that moment, she didn’t exist in the academy.

Nadia stared into my eyes as she continued.

“Even so, that woman and you dared to taint my space. You might not understand how crucial an artist’s space is, but for me, this art room is immensely important. It’s where I complete my assignments and earn good grades. But.”

Flash—

Nadia glared at me with a murderous look as she shouted.

“You. The one I love. You defiled that space with a woman whose name, face, and scent I don’t know. You ruined my precious space.”

One thing was clear.

Nadia was extremely angry.

However, she was trying her best to supress her anger.

‘Even though she can turn me into a specimen in a second… if she’s holding back…’

Given Nadia’s personality, it was safe to say she wass exhibiting incredible patience.

‘Extreme. But she’s holding back. That’s quite the progress.’

I hid my joy in my heart.

To calm Nadia down, I placed my hand over hers, which was gripping my shoulder.

I lowered my eyes as much as possible, trying to look apologetic.

“Sorry. It was an urgent situation, and I misjudged. I promise this won’t happen again.”

“If you hadn’t done this in the first place, it wouldn’t be an issue. I won’t accept your apology. I have something else I want.”

Nadia rejected my apology, shrugged off my hand, and released her grip.

She approached her desk, picked up a sheet of paper, and said.

“I was going to turn that woman into a carpet, but for your sake, I’ll let it go this time, Damian.”

Instead.

“Instead of helping me every other day, do it every day. Clean my studio, which was sullied by that woman, and stay by my side while I paint.”

With as much composure as she could muster, Nadia handed me the paper.

It was for an art contest being held by the academy.

It seemed like a competition where various artworks were submitted.

‘Visiting the studio every day…’

It was bothersome and risky.

If villainsess like Bluebell and Yuri found out, the risk would skyrocket.

Even so, I had no choice but to do it.

Why?

“If you refuse my proposal, I will stuff you. Just as you are now, I’ll keep you alive and have you all to myself.”

I had no choice.

Nadia held the absolute power right now.

‘… I have no choice.’

Maybe the problem started when I brought Charlotte to this studio.

Nadia’s senses were sharper than most.

Probably because she was an artist.

Not understanding her personality was my mistake.

“… Alright, I’ll do it. Not every other day but daily. Until you finish the competition. I’ll come to the studio.”

“Yeah. If you do that, I’ll forgive what happened this time. I’m generous when it comes to you.”

She chuckled at her own words.

“If it were someone else, they’d have lost an arm. You get what I mean?”

“Not really…”

“It means I care about you. So be careful. So I don’t end up killing you.”

If you keep causing trouble, I will kill you.

Nadia’s words sounded like a threat to my ears.

She waved her hand, signaling she was done.

“Now leave. I’m not in the mood to paint today. I want to rest because of the stain on my work.”

Thus, I was abruptly kicked out of Nadia’s studio.

Though the situation was resolved somehow…

‘I feel closer to Nadia’s clutches.’

As time passed.

I felt like I was walking straight into her grasp.

Towards a future that only promises ruin.

I felt like I was walking into it of my own accord.

“… At least I protected Charlotte so it’s fine. Maybe Nadia never really cared about her in the first place… I should just go back and study.”

It was better to keep up my reputation as a genius.

There was still hope.

Time.

The episode where the villainesses were properly marked by the crown prince.

If I could avoid that, the villainesses could keep their lives, and the empire would stay peaceful.

‘If I divert the attention to myself and somehow leash the villainsess.’

I firmly believed that as I left Nadia’s studio and headed to the dormitory.

For some reason, my steps felt heavier today.

***

Stuffing.

Nadia thought of paintings as a form of immortalizing.

Paintings recreate a moment and keep it preserved.

That was why.

Nadia loved painting.

Because she believed she completely owned that moment.

“Today’s Damian. Your flustered expression was amusing.”

Although she said it wasn’t a day for painting and had kicked Damian out, Nadia was sitting in front of the canvas, painting.

The smile on her face conveyed satisfaction.

“Though he tries to hide his fear, I can see everything. I must be the one who made Damian that way. I must be the one controlling his emotions.”

To Damian, I must be someone important enough to change his expression.

Nadia smiled with delight and dabbed paint onto the canvas. She did it to immortalize the moment and claim it for herself.

“Paintings aren’t alive. But in this painting, Damian is alive. At this moment, he’s with me. Though the real thing is much better.”

She wanted to possess every moment of Damian.

She wanted to be the only one to see every side of him, ensuring no one else can even approach him.

Wasn’t that the true meaning of possession?

Nadia believed that at the end of it all, there was immortalization.

“I hate change, Damian. I liked it best when you were my Damian. Cleaning as my attendant by my side, always thinking of me, just like the old days.”

Nadia placed her hand on the still-wet canvas.

The paint smeared, ruining the painting.

The difference between painting and immortalization.

“If I immortalized him… I could touch him. His form would remain.”

Nadia expressed her regret as she wiped the paint off her hand.

Then, looking tired, she sat down on the sofa.

From there, she could see all the portraits of Damian hanging on the wall.

Even her studio was a single painting to Nadia.

However, one thing bothered Nadia.

“I need to erase that mark.”

The mark left by another woman.

Showing her discomfort, Nadia took action.

She could have just gotten rid of the sofa.

But she chose to ‘cover the smell.’

If a completed work had a mark, she could just paint over it.

Nadia spent a long time sitting on the sofa, admiring the paintings of Damian.

Her hands were down, trying to cover the other woman’s scent.

“Ugh… If it were Damian’s scent, it would have been better. But soon, my studio will be covered with Damian’s scent. If he sweats on this sofa, it’ll be covered soon enough.”

During that time, Nadia pondered how to make Damian hers, enjoying her thoughts.

After all, she already believed that Damian was in her grasp.

“Ugh… Damian… Hurry up… Become mine… I’m waiting…”

She just needed to enjoy this moment happily. She firmly believed that time was on her side, unaware that this was a false belief.

From the perspective of someone who knew the future, time was absolutely on Damian’s side.