A Regressed Villain: Heroines, Villainesses and Me?

"By the way, does anyone here know how marquess looks like?" one of the professors inquired while running toward the gate as several cars halted in front of them. They were just ten steps away from the gate, while the director had already caught up with them with his speed and was even outrunning them.

The question arose from the fact that no one had seen Marquess Avendial before, given that the laws of the free cities weren't applied to the Kingdom of Thaloris or the Royal Kingdom, making it impossible for just anyone to enter those countries without valid proof.

Therefore, no media permissions were granted for anyone to capture images or for reporters to write articles about what was happening in the Aristocracy.

It was as if all three countries had separate architectures, and the laws were too strict for any citizen to enter Thaloris or the Royal Kingdom without permission.

Moreover, it was impossible for Avendial Croceaus to visit free cities. Consequently, no media had ever published his photos because they were unable to capture his image.

"I know it!" Professor Rihane said as they all finally halted near the gate. She sprinted toward the car at the front, already recognizing the presence of silver and white hair visible through the car window, belonging to none other than Avendial Croceaus.

Naturally, while undergoing training with the Sertsul family, the programs were separated after one year of previous teachings. In those teachings, all the classes were solely focused on making women aware of their strengths.

For women who had no knowledge or talent, the first month involved learning how to use their bodies as weapons against others, followed by psychological manipulation, acting, and similar subjects.

A total of twelve classes were taught over the course of a year; each topic took one month.

At the end of the year, all the women received a probability list of their most fitting fields of expertise, which included categories of occupations such as seduction and quick decision-making.

Having a list mentioning occupations involving the sale of their bodies could easily be considered disgraceful. However, for a woman who was a rape victim or one who had experienced domestic violence with no support, this was often the only option available to them.

Even within those categories, there were subcategories where students were assessed based on their physical appearance and other tests conducted over an additional six months, providing them with exact occupation choices and scholarships to pursue those professions, including opportunities for graduation and work-from-home jobs, as well as those of courtesans.

The opportunities depended entirely on the student's capabilities, with those lacking talent, social skills, language proficiency, or even the mental capacity to understand things often being given the least favorable options. Nonetheless, most women were able to secure good lives.

In this context, Rihane was placed in the subcategory of mind tactics and geopolitical understandings. After a year, coupled with six months of focused study, she was able to gain insight into how the Royal Kingdom and the Aristocracy functioned.

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She learned that each noble with a pure bloodline possessed signature physical traits, such as the main blood of the Sertsul family having golden eyes and black hair, while the Croceaus family, on the other hand, was characterized by silver-white hair and blue eyes.

"Greetings, Marquess!" Rihane, arriving just a few steps near the car, bowed as the door snapped open, and then Avendial himself came out of the car. His eyes first fell on Rihane, who was bowing, before following her actions. The other professors and the director also arrived and greeted him.

'She recognized me,' As Avendial stepped out of the car, he had expected that no one would recognize him, given his efforts to maintain a low profile in social circles and his lack of published photographs in the media.

However, seeing the woman in front of him identify him took him by surprise, albeit just a little. With a slight lift of his gaze, he turned toward the academy and began walking past all the individuals who bowed in respect.

"Yawn~" Causing the professors and the director, who were going to pull out of their nervousness, was a yawn. They slowly lifted their gaze and found that Avendial wasn't in front; instead, it was Aecilia who was stretching her body and yawning.

"This?" The director was looking at her, even though he found her appearance familiar, but before he could remember it, Professor Rihane intervened.

"Greetings, Miss Aecilia Sertsul!" Rihane lifted her head once again and bowed 90 degrees as her eyes widened with happiness at finally meeting these two individuals. Even though it was most likely that the decision-making could not be in their hands, they belonged to families that had taken steps to help normal citizens.

Rihane had been able to recognize this woman, given that there were some articles published in the media about Aecilia Sertsul since she normally visited free cities to keep an eye on the progress of the investments that the Sertsul family made. Whenever she visited, it was a trending topic considering she was a noblewoman.

"Hm....you must be Rihane, right?" Aecilia, after stretching her body, folded her hands as her eyes fell on the woman who just greeted her. Seeing that curly brown hair with round glasses, Aecilia instantly recognized her due to having seen this woman's resume and photo a few weeks ago, where Aecilia herself had recommended her as the military strategist inside the Royal Kingdom.

Though, of course, it was her own skills and hard work that had made her pass the test and get selected as the military strategist.

"Huh?" Professor Rihane, for a moment, was taken aback. The moment someone of nobility, especially Aecilia Sertsul, had recognized her, caused her mind to race as if she was trying to understand where she had met or how she had caught the attention of Aecilia.

Her eyes moved rapidly under the cover of her round glasses before she swiftly lifted her gaze, looking toward Aecilia, and said, "Thank you for recommending me to the Royal Kingdom for the position of military strategist."

After taking a moment to reflect, Rihane reached a single conclusion: her performance had likely led Aecilia to recommend her for the role of military strategist.

She dismissed the idea that the royal family would have recognized her talent independently, particularly since the two highest positions were typically reserved for nobility, providing a clear image that royals preferred nobles instead of ordinary citizens.

Rihane understood that if a citizen were to be considered, it would certainly be due to a recommendation from a noble—and the only noble family she could think of that would recommend her was the Sertsul family. After hearing her name from Aecilia's mouth, it was most likely Aecilia herself who did it.

'....' Aecilia gazed at Rihane's face, who just adjusted her glasses while looking at Aecilia with shimmering stars in her eyes, making Aecilia feel a twinge of awkwardness as she observed this woman—whom she regarded as intelligent and insightful—react in such a childlike manner.

Nonetheless, Aecilia felt a sense of satisfaction in knowing that Rihane had figured out she was the one who had recommended her, reassuring Aecilia that she hadn't chosen the wrong person.

'Where to find her,' Avendial, standing in front of the academy while observing a few of the students glancing in his direction, saw the expanse filled with several buildings and departments. This made him realize that it would be a hassle to search for a single person here.

Before turning toward Aecilia, he heard the conversation between those two women and then glanced toward the director and three other men who were bowing until now.

Naturally, he didn't recall seeing any of their faces, making him realize that either they had not survived the tower's first floor or must have never gotten a chance to meet him.

Hearing about the recommendation from that woman's mouth, he approached her before standing beside her while resting his hands in his pockets, inquiring of Aecilia, "What recommendation?"

Avendial's minor goal was also to collect talented individuals before the tower's arrival. Though of course, his priority was set on awakened individuals instead of normal ones. However, seeing how Aecilia herself had recommended this woman as military strategist, he became curious.

"I had recommended her as military strategist to Royal Kingdom due to her performance, Marquess," Aecilia casually relayed the information, standing and stealing a glance at Avendial and Rihane, noticing how Rihane's body slightly betrayed a hint of anxiety as she looked up at them.

"...Military?" Avendial had already heard her being recommended as military strategist, but to be truthful, in the present world where everything was peaceful, there wasn't any need for such a profession; it was just a position by name. But the value of this position would astronomically increase when the tower arrives.

Then the first floor was a battleground in itself, making Avendial glance toward Rihane. While though he hadn't ever seen her in a previous life, he decided for now to take her in.

"I will pay you ten times what the Royal Family offers. Join the Croceaus estate," Avendial, noticing how the CEOs and their assistants were also standing nearby while in conversation with the director and professor, directly offered a big deal in front of everyone to Rihane with two intents.

First was simply to secure her talent, and second, if she isn't of any help to him in the future, he could easily sell her back to the royal family at an extravagant price.

Given how this news of him hiring her on the spot with such a big offer would soon reach them through various people, the Royals would view his offer as an investment and automatically consider this woman to have potential talent.

So it wasn't a loss for him to offer her such an amount since he could simply sell her back for more profit.

"I would like to reject." Rihane lifted her hand and outright rejected.

"...."