Villain's Odyssey: Enslaving heroines, Conquering Villainesses

"What do you think?" asked a girl with a smirk, gesturing toward a designer display.

"I like the Louis Vuitton more. Have you seen their latest collection?" another girl replied, examining her perfectly manicured nails.

"Oh, come on! Harizel is a new brand. Why can't you try something fresh? Aren't you tired of the same overused labels?" the first girl countered with exasperation.

"Hey, bro," a voice broke through the reverie of the young man who had been staring at the group of girls discussing fashion.

"Yeah?" Noel turned back to face the black-haired young man who was looking at him with an exasperated expression and a disapproving head shake.

"At this point, she's going to think you're a creep," Luke said flatly.

"Sighs... it's not what you think. I just—" Noel tried to explain but was immediately cut off.

"Just what, Noel? Look, you don't have to throw those flimsy, overused lines at me whenever you're caught staring at her. I understand she's gorgeous—I mean, I stare sometimes—but that's it. You should know your limits." Luke gestured emphatically with his spoon.

Noel looked back at his tray: the disappointing combo meal he had to eat every day. It was all he could manage on his budget.

"Sighs. Damn it, don't tell me you want to cry," Luke feigned an expression of frustration, though his concern was genuine.

"Shut up," Noel muttered, flicking a pea at his friend. He leaned back in his chair and let his head fall back, staring at the ceiling in defeat.

"Look, man, I don't mean to be a downer, but life's a bitch. I've had so many disappointments that I know the worst thing someone at the bottom of the food chain can do is dream big," Luke said, his voice carrying hard-earned wisdom.

"Shut up. You're not the only one who's had it rough," Noel rolled his eyes, throwing another pea with more force.

Luke dodged this time, wearing a grin. "You say that, but I keep finding you staring at her like a creep every single day. She's NOT on your level. She already has her whole life planned out, and if people aiming to get in a relationship with her see you as a threat..." he trailed off meaningfully.

Noel squinted his eyes. "Tch, big talk. Last time I checked, you were all over Lisa's case."

Luke immediately rolled his eyes. "Don't even bring that up."

"Huh? What happened?" Noel asked, his expression turning serious with curiosity.

"Sighs... Sometimes I don't know if you're just stupid or just dense," Luke replied, which prompted a barrage of peas to come flying his way.

"Hey!" An attendant's sharp voice made them both freeze mid-throw.

"Tch, rude bastards," Noel clicked his tongue under his breath.

"Well, they can spot broke kids from a mile away," Luke observed dryly.

"Yeah, like you're any better," Noel said, returning his attention to his abundance of peas.

"Well, you're right on that one," Luke admitted, also focusing on his meal.

After a moment of silence, Noel looked up from his tray, his gaze lingering on Luke's identical disappointing meal. "So? What happened with Lisa?"

"Sighs... How did you guys meet?" Luke asked in response, deflecting.

"Hey, I asked first," Noel protested, almost continuing his pea attack until his instincts screamed. He tilted his gaze to find the attendant staring at him with unnerving intensity.

What a weird-ass bastard, he thought in irritation.

"Well... it was through you I got to know her," Luke said reluctantly.

"Huh? That doesn't sound right," Noel frowned in confusion.

"Dude, look... if you're not telling me how you guys met, then forget it," Luke said with finality. He still couldn't understand Lisa's behavior, knowing it had something to do with Noel, but they barely spoke. In fact, Noel seemed to have an instinct to avoid her whenever they crossed paths.

"Fine... Well, it was second semester, during a practical—a combined class," Noel muttered, looking up thoughtfully. His fork traced lines in the air, a pea attached to its sharp edge. "It was a practical chemistry class. We got paired in the same group. She was... well, should I say a bit too confident for her own good?"

Luke leaned in, genuinely interested now.

"Anyway, what happened was she knocked over a vial of undiluted acid without even knowing it. Luckily, I was, um... attentive, yeah. So I spotted it before it could spill on her and pulled her out of the way. However, since she didn't know she'd knocked over the acid, she thought I was taking advantage of her and... well, slapped me." Noel shook his head as though trying to forget an embarrassing memory.

"Wait... really?" Luke asked, barely suppressing a laugh.

"Yeah. I mean, she did apologize after she realized what happened. That was it. Coincidentally, we were taking the same course, so we just... started talking." He resumed eating his peas with renewed focus.

"Now tell me... what happened with you and Lisa?" Noel pressed.

Luke sighed deeply. "I tried. I won't lie. But she's interested in someone else. Made me swear not to tell the 'idiot' since she'd already given up, but she still loved the weirdo and couldn't stop thinking about him... so she's transferring."

"Really? That's sad. No wonder I haven't seen her around lately. What sort of idiot is that? Tch, some people are worse than trash," Noel said, shaking his head in disgust.

Luke stared at him blankly for a long moment.

"Yeah. Guy's as dumb as he is broke," Luke said carefully.

"Hmm... why do I feel like you're talking about me?" Noel frowned, suddenly on guard.

"Shut up and eat," Luke deflected.

"Sure... but about..." Noel stole a silent glance across the cafeteria, then turned back. "'Her.' What do you mean by 'my level'?"

Luke set down his spoon and leaned forward seriously. "You really should take a break from all those games and try to look around you. Don't you see who she hangs out with? In the first place, this institution is only for the wealthy elite. We only got in because we were lucky." He gestured at them both with his spoon.

"Everyone else is the son or daughter of some bigshot. Don't you see who she hangs out with? Don't you see the guys trying to court her?" Luke's expression was deadly serious now.

"I do. They all look loaded," Noel admitted, forking a pea and bringing it to his mouth.

"Good. Well, let's just say she's the biggest fish of them all," Luke said quietly.

Noel dropped his amused expression entirely. This wasn't a joke anymore. He had promised himself to stay away from all these rich kids, knowing just one mistake could ruin his life. He had no safety net, no family connections.

"But that can't be. I... she... she..." He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "This is messed up. It can't be... she seemed normal. She didn't seem like... any of them." His voice was barely above a whisper as he bit his nail anxiously.

This was exactly why he had avoided getting close to Lisa. He'd been cautious from the very start, determined to always stay at arm's length, not to end up destroying himself.

"She said she lived in Mortella. Only broke kids live there," he said, as though he still couldn't believe he'd just entangled himself with everything he'd avoided all these years.

"Wait... say that again," Luke said with a sharp frown.

"Say what?" Noel asked, confused.

"You said something... that 'she' told you..." Luke trailed off, pieces clicking together in his mind.

"Yeah," Noel replied. "We go home together every day." He added this casually, and Luke leaned back in shock.

"Bro, you don't have to lie to—" Luke started, sounding disappointed.

"No, it's not a lie," Noel insisted, turning on his phone and showing Luke a photo. Luke instantly froze, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"No way. Isn't that her?" he asked, his voice barely audible.

The photo showed a young girl with blonde hair and light blue eyes, a petite figure dressed in an extremely expensive outfit, smiling close to a dense idiot who couldn't see the clear writing on the wall.

"Yeah, took it last week. She actually made me set it as my lock screen background," Noel said, then kept eating as if this was perfectly normal.

"But... that's not possible. It can't be. She has guards 24/7. Even now, guards are probably watching her. She's literally escorted in a limo every morning, so how the hell is this possible?" Luke wanted to strangle his oblivious friend at this point.

"What?" Noel stopped eating, finally sensing the gravity in Luke's voice.

"She's... the daughter of the Prime Minister," Luke said quietly.

Noel's fork clattered to his tray.

He turned, and just then their eyes met across the cafeteria. She smiled that same warm, genuine smile he'd grown to love. She waved enthusiastically, completely unaware of the bombshell that had just been dropped.

Her friends followed her gaze. They looked at him. They frowned in obvious disapproval.

Noel looked back at Luke, panic beginning to set in.

"That can't be..." he said, feeling something he hadn't experienced in a long while: pure, unadulterated fear.

He was here on a scholarship—something he'd barely earned after working his ass off. He knew how messing with people who had connections could destroy someone's entire future.

Luke wore the serious expression he rarely displayed. "You have to stop seeing her. Avoid her like your life depends on it. Or one of two things will happen: her father destroys you, or her numerous admirers do."

Noel took a deep breath, the reality crushing down on him. It seemed his ignorance and stupidity had just landed him in the hottest water imaginable.

"I just hope those rich bastards haven't taken notice of you yet... If they have..." Luke trailed off ominously.

But the implication was crystal clear. Noel's life was about to go to complete shit, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.