[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess":3,"chapter-i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-17":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","I'm in Love with the Villainess!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},894953,1171,"Chapter 17: A Generic Challenge In The Courtyard","i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-17",17,"\u003Cp>D-Did that really happen?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did she actually just kiss me?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Am I hallucinating?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Has the demonic energy finally made me lose it!?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My mind was a complete and utter mess, and before I even realised it, I was already on my hands and knees, crumbling like paper under her gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was pathetic... but Evelina absolutely loved it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I were the original Cael Arden, then she would absolutely despise this sight, but the current me? capable of handling chaos energy from a demon prince himself, but is also weak enough to crumble from her simple kiss?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was quite literally the perfect tool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Keep up the good work and you might even receive more...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Evelina leaned into my ear and whispered, further breaking my composure. Her tone was soft, gentle, but it still held her signature coldness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And to be frank, it made it a lot better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It didn’t take long before Evelina wanted privacy in her own room, leaving me free in the meantime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since I was still a fresh student, I was given the entire day off to give me time to prepare my dorm room, and it wasn’t just something that applied to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost every other fresh student also had the same privilege, making the academy more lively than usual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most were making conversations, already making friends to make the entire year much more manageable, while the rest were quite literally just using it to prepare their dorm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for the vast majority, they spent it on training their magic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eryndor Royal Academy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, it wasn’t really just a purely magical academy; by its name alone, it was a school purely meant for royals or nobles, including someone like me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a mixture of swordsmanship, literature, economics, magic, and every single subject known to mankind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was as over the top as it could get.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But good thing for me... I’ve got every single thing handled; my only job was to ensure I maintain my position as the strongest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hey... Cael Arden, right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A random student randomly called me out while I was strolling through the courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah? What is it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked at him, and my photographic memory already began to work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the son of a Duke, Tristan Fan Mede.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dark hair, dark eyes, the most generic person you can think of, but he wasn’t really bad-looking either. The simplest way to describe him was that he quite literally looked like every other bland protagonist if he were in any other world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t really a character in the novel, but since this world was now real, it meant I was also now able to meet and see the characters within the world who were barely mentioned as footnotes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do you want?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re an S-Rank, right? I challenge you to a fight.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There it is, the classic power move a son of a duke would make, trying to beat one of the high-ranking students to quickly build a reputation, and luckily for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eryndor completely endorsed the competition between students, because in the academy’s eyes, nobles and royals must always be ready once they inherit their parents’ title.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fine...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I answered, but I could barely give a damn. Evelina wasn’t even spectating; this fight served me no purpose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dark Fireball]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Straight to the point, eh?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tristan smiled, amused at my actions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Fire Whip]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He deflected the dark fireball with a simple flick of his wrist, looking proud himself the entire time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s the best you can do?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yeah... I’d rather not listen to his bragging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chaos magic would be far too deadly for someone like him, so I guess... the easiest thing to do is just to overwhelm him with the most basic dark spell I know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nope.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dark Fireball]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dark Fireball]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dark Fireball]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dark Fireball]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dark Fireball]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A halo of fireballs began to swirl behind me, each one being condensed further the more I repeated the spell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Good luck.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tristan’s eyes widened; he had just realised how screwed he was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"W-What...?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And with a simple snap of my fingers, every single one of the fireballs behind my back unleashed all at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it seemed like Tristan still had some confidence left in him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Firewall]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PFOOSH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Fire Whip]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>FWISH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And to my surprise... he actually managed to deflect every single one, albeit looking far worse than when we started.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t blame him; he did just cast two high-level spells in less than five seconds, which would be enough to completely tire someone’s brain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s it!?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tristan yelled out; it seemed he was under the impression I was just as tired as him after casting that many fireballs all at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And it seemed like the crowd, which had just recently begun to gather, also thought the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Aren’t those two students, S-Rank?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hey, isn’t that Tristan!? But... who is he fighting?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Apparently, he was the reason the examination crystal had cracks in it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Goddammit...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I can’t help but get irritated. A crowd was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t really mind the attention, but it was better if I got popular after finishing my preparations, in keeping my demonic energy in check.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once again...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All that completely went out of the gutter when I spotted a familiar figure in the crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Evelina was spectating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It looked like it was Tristan’s unlucky day, because now I don’t plan to hold back if I have someone I want to impress present in the crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I have more where that came from...\" I smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dark Serpent]\u003C\u002Fp>",929,"2026-06-03T05:52:53.471Z",1,"novelbin.me","71878411e7f24288fffbd5513eb11772222a79f790e49d5766a7f282f265313d","i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-18","i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-16",324,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-cover.jpg"]