I Am The Game's Villain Chapter 804: Jeanne SS [2]

Soon enough, the limousine arrived at Royal Eden Academy. Because one of its passengers was a royal princess and the other a Hero worshipped almost like a divine figure, the vehicle was allowed straight through the gates and into the academy’s private parking grounds without the slightest delay.

When the car came to a stop, the driver stepped out at once and opened the door for them. Aurora descended first with her usual grace, and Jeanne followed after her, greeted immediately by the sight of the campus spreading out beneath the morning light.

Strangely enough, that kind of treatment was not entirely foreign to her.

It was excessive, yes, but not unfamiliar. Both her parents came from a prominent family, and because of that, Jeanne had grown up around a level of comfort and privilege most people would have considered abnormal. There had been cars waiting for her on certain occasions, private arrangements made without her asking, precautions taken in the name of convenience and safety. Even then, she had always tried to avoid that sort of thing whenever possible. She preferred doing things on her own, preferred not being displayed or handled like some delicate daughter of influence.

If it had been entirely up to her parents, she would never have gone to an ordinary school at all. They would have put her in a private high school without hesitation, then a private university after that, all with the best protection, the best education, the best image. In the end, he had relented and allowed her to choose for herself, though not without making it obvious that he believed he was giving up what was best for her.

Her biological mother had been even stricter.

If her father belonged to a prominent family, then her mother could almost be described as a modern French noblewoman. Her side of the family literally owned a castle in France, and she carried that heritage in the way she moved through life, with pride, exacting standards, and an iron certainty that she knew what was best. Between two people with that much pride and force of personality, things had perhaps always been destined to go badly. And because Jeanne’s mother was, if anything, even more prideful than her father, their marriage had eventually ended in divorce.

Jeanne loved her mother.

That had never been the issue.

But love did not erase how suffocating her mother could sometimes be. She hated the way her mother tried to shape every decision in her life, guiding too much, correcting too much, controlling too much. That was one of the main reasons Jeanne had chosen to stay with her father in the end. Not because she wanted to cut ties with her mother, never that, but because she needed air and distance. The right to be her own person.

And yet, since arriving in this world, she had missed her mother more than ever.

Perhaps that was the cruel irony of separation. It stripped away all the smaller frustrations and left only the deeper bonds behind. Jeanne could see more clearly now how much of herself had been built under her mother’s influence: her discipline, her strength, her refusal to bend easily, even the edge of her pride. So much of what made her who she was had come from the woman she had spent years resisting. But no matter how strong she had been raised to be, being torn from her world and dropped into another was still too much.

Far too much.

"Today you have Mana Beasts with Professor Almona, and then practical class with Professor Seiptor," Aurora said as they began walking. "As always, you only need to listen during the first class. It’s only been a week since you started attending the academy, Jeanne, so you don’t need to worry about grades, exams, or any of that."

Jeanne glanced at her and gave a small nod.

Even though she had joined the academy, she was obviously not being treated like an ordinary student. Her presence there was not really about education in the same way it was for everyone else. More than anything, it was meant to help her adjust to this world, to give her structure, routine, and something outside the castle walls. Once again, no one had forced her into it. Aurora had only suggested it, gently and with that same thoughtful understanding she always seemed to have, believing Jeanne would feel better attending classes than wasting away alone inside the castle.

And she had been right.

There were still moments when Jeanne felt detached from everything around her, like someone sleepwalking through another person’s life. She still understood barely half of what was said in certain lessons, and much of the academy’s world remained foreign to her. But just having somewhere to go, something to do, a schedule to follow, made all the difference. It kept her mind occupied. It gave her days shape. For a few hours at a time, she could focus on lessons instead of the impossible fact that she had been dragged into another world.

And truthfully, she did not hate the classes at all.

If anything, many of them fascinated her.

History, geography, mana theory, even the strange rules governing beasts and magic, all of it was new, all of it was strange, and all of it pulled at her curiosity despite herself. She had not asked to come here, had not chosen this life, but if she was trapped in this world for now, then learning about it felt better than remaining ignorant inside a gilded room.

"As for practical class, I know you’ve never fought before, and I do not wish to push you into anything uncomfortable, but—"

"I’ll do it. It’s fine," Jeanne said before Aurora could finish.

It was true that she knew almost nothing about fighting. The idea of wielding a sword, of standing in a combat class as though any of this had become natural to her, still felt foreign. But she also understood by now that this world was not some harmless fantasy where beauty and magic existed without consequence. There were real dangers here. They had made that clear from the start.

If there had not been dangers, then she never would have been summoned in the first place.

Nor given this much power.

That alone still left a bitter question in her mind. Why her? Why tear her out of her life instead of choosing someone else better suited to it? Someone trained. Someone willing. Someone who belonged more easily to this kind of story.

But if Jeanne had to guess, the gods had not simply wanted strength.

They had wanted a symbol.

And what could inspire faith more than a person literally brought from another world by some kind of divine magic? To the people of this world, that was not merely unusual. It was sacred. It was the sort of event that could shape belief itself, a miracle made flesh. Jeanne knew that was how many saw her now.

As a messenger of the divine.

As expected, that was exactly how they treated her.

And however much she disliked it, however much part of her still resented the role forced upon her, Jeanne also knew one thing with clarity: she needed to become strong. Strong enough to protect herself, if nothing else. Strong enough that if danger truly came, she would not simply stand there helpless while others bled for her sake.

And perhaps, too, strong enough to protect the people she had begun to care appreciate.

She still held a grudge over what had been done to her. That had not vanished. Being treated kindly did not erase the fact that she had been taken from her home without consent. But Aurora, at the very least, had apologized. More than once. She had even promised Jeanne that she would search for a way to send her back in exchange for her staying with them for now.

Jeanne knew very well that this was Aurora’s personal promise, not necessarily the will of the entire kingdom.

Even so, Aurora had proven herself sincere.

And Jeanne appreciated that more than she could easily put into words.

Aurora had also made it clear from the beginning that Jeanne would not be forced to fight. She would not be thrown onto a battlefield against her will, not while Aurora had any say in the matter. That reassurance had mattered. But even with that promise in place, Jeanne still wanted to become stronger, if only for her own peace of mind.

Because what little she had heard of this world’s enemies had done nothing to soothe her.

They spoke of demons.

They spoke of Evil Gods.

That was not the kind of thing a person heard lightly and then forgot.

Beside her, Aurora smiled faintly after hearing Jeanne’s answer.

"Thankfully, Lord Lumen has blessed you," she said. "I can assure you that even without training, you are already stronger than most students in this academy."

Jeanne glanced at her. "Stronger than you?"

Aurora considered it for a moment before answering with disarming honesty.

"For now, experience still matters," she said. "But in the years ahead, I do think you will become stronger than I am."

Jeanne absorbed that quietly.

In the past year, Aurora herself had undergone a remarkable growth, much like Alfred and many others their age. Jeanne had already learned that this period of life was when people in this world often advanced rapidly, especially those with talent. So if even Aurora, already so capable, believed Jeanne would one day surpass her, then the blessing she had received must truly be extraordinary.

Though of course, that was obvious enough already.

It was a gift from gods.

Or perhaps a burden wrapped in one.

Still, hearing it put so plainly eased something in Jeanne. She had felt the change in herself from the beginning, the strange current of power moving through her body, the sharpened senses, the unnatural strength, but she still did not understand the full extent of it. Knowing that it was real, that it was not all in her head, brought at least a little reassurance.

After a brief silence, Jeanne asked the question that had become almost routine for her by now.

"Did you find out anything about the other summoned Heroes?"

Ever since arriving in this world, she had asked almost every day.

Her last memory of Earth was of being with friends, simply spending time together, living through one more ordinary moment that had turned out not to be ordinary at all. So she could not stop wondering whether they too had been caught up in whatever had happened. Perhaps they had been summoned elsewhere. Perhaps they were in another kingdom, just as lost as she was.

Aurora had once told her that other kingdoms might also have received Divine Summoning Spells, and Jeanne had clung to that possibility ever since.

Aurora’s expression softened with regret.

"I’m sorry," she said. "The kingdoms that received Divine Spells are being extremely secretive about their Heroes, if they did successfully summon them. I did hear that the Hero of the Arvatra Empire has appeared, but I was unable to obtain any real information about that person."

Jeanne looked at her in surprise.

"Even though you’re engaged to the Crown Prince there?"

She knew enough by now to know that Aurora was engaged to Rythvel Arvatra. Because of that, Jeanne had assumed Aurora would have easier access to such information, at least compared to most people.

Aurora gave a small, wry smile.

"Old mistrust and political caution do not disappear just because of an engagement," she said. "And to be fair, we are doing the same thing ourselves. We are hiding as much about you as we can." Her gaze flickered ahead, thoughtful. "Though I suppose your attendance at the academy has already made your identity rather obvious."

Jeanne slowed slightly. "You mean I could be in danger?"

Aurora did not answer immediately, and Jeanne appreciated that more than a comforting lie.

"I do not want to deceive you," Aurora said at last. "Your presence here likely did not please Ante-Eden for example. You are, after all, a powerful symbol of Eden itself." Then her expression gentled. "But you are very well protected here. And if anything does happen, I will be there to protect you."

Jeanne looked at her for a moment.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"Please try not to worry too much," Aurora replied. "If there is anything you need, anything at all, you only have to ask. We will provide it."

Jeanne nodded, but in truth she had no idea what she was supposed to ask for.

Comfort? Time? Answers?

None of those were things anyone could simply hand her.

What she wanted most was still impossible. If she could not yet be sent back to her own world, then at the very least she wanted to know whether her friends were here too. Whether somewhere in this large and unfamiliar world there were other people from Earth trying to make sense of the same impossible fate.

Even just knowing she was not the only one would have been a comfort.

Even that would have made this world feel a little less lonely.