Second Female Leads' Playbook

"Not that I am complaining, but can you stay here for such a long time?" Yves, who was standing behind the armchair I was sitting on, leaned down and whispered into my ear. 

"Can you talk properly!" I shifted a bit away from him. 

He chuckled and then finally settled down on the seat next to me. 

"And they won't care, as long as I return in the end." I waved dismissively. 

He continued gazing at me with his all knowing red eyes, he looked like he was expecting some kind of farce that would happen in a moment to entertain him. 

"Why are you looking at me like that? You made me second guess myself!" It's always been like this, I disappeared, maybe going on a shopping spree around the country, Father wouldn't say anything. He didn't care as long as I returned.

"I gave you plenty of hints already. Don't come hating on me when you face difficulties." He shrugged, the all knowing smile still hanging on his face. 

Hints? What had I missed? I thought back to my previous lives. At this time point, I would have already died in both my second and fourth lives. While I was still alive in my third, I was in hiding. So that left my first life. I remembered at that time, I had already been dumped by Henri in front of all my family members. And my hatred towards Rachelle intensified. I was always thinking of ways to beat Rachelle. The final choosing of wind temple was in a few weeks and that's where I met my final downfall. 

I remembered around that time, even worse scandals and gossips about me began to circulate. Like the fact that I had several lovers, that's why Henri dumped me. Like how I had beaten my servants to death. On the other hand, Rachelle was described as an angel, a goddess who had descended and graced our country. This had of course angered me even more at that time. 

The final choosing of wind temple for priests and priestess. My final downfall. Those gossips. My stepmother's involvement in my death. Now I suspected those gossips were also my stepmother's doing. 

But I hadn't been hostile to my stepmother and Rachelle in this life. I was keeping to basic politeness. Not too close, yet not too hostile. She wouldn't plan to kill me this life too, would she? 

"My stepmother might do something to harm me?" I asked hesitantly. "She might be worried I would threaten Rachelle's position in the wind temple?" 

Yves didn't say anything, but just continued feeding Blake leisurely. 

"That's stupid, I am bad at magic. Everyone knows that. There's no way I can defeat her goddess of daughter!" 

"But you have reborn." 

"Wha..." 

Because I had already lived out four lives, my ability to do magic had greatly improved. I was not excelling every subject, but I was proficient. That's because I spent more time studying in magic after my death in my first life. I knew I shouldn't even be hating on Rachelle when I had never even spent time on studying. Granted, Rachelle could just do every spell pretty well after observing the spell once.

"Even though my magical ability now isn't as bad as I have originally thought, that doesn't mean I can beat her daughter. Rachelle is a genius." 

"Your stepmother is a moron from the countryside." 

She's a shortsighted, narrow minded moron from the countryside. All she had in her mind was the welfare of her daughter. She wouldn't have understood the logistics of the choosing or my magical ability. She simply knew that Father hadn't scolded me as much as she expected on my studies. Then she feared I would threaten Rachelle in some ways. 

Why would my Father choose such a wife? I heaved a sigh. It's such a disgrace to our family.

"If she's really such a narrow minded woman from the country side as you have said, bad gossips of me will have circulated by now now that I left home for such a long time." 

"How would I know?"

"Isobel, I need your help. When you return, I will cook a huge meal for you. Ok?" I smiled dotingly at Isobel and ruffled its fur. Isobel meowed and then disappeared. 

"A huge meal." Yves raised his eyebrow. "And the guy who helped you got nothing. That's how the world has turned into after a sleep. What an unfair world."

"You're a priest of darkness, what do you know about fairness?"

"Contrary to popular beliefs, the god of darkness is a god that put a lot of emphasis on equality and fairness. And I'm friend with the god of order." 

I rolled my eyes at him. 

"And don't forget you're now a visitor in the temple of darkness." He smiled at me. 

"What do you want? Macaroons? Maybe my stepmother isn't as bad as you have said! Then I would be worrying over nothing."

"Want to bet?" He leaned over and his face was only an inch from me. 

I had actually believed him about my stepmother. I was just saying out of spite. If my stepmother was involved, a lot of things could actually be explained. From my experience with dealing with Rachelle, Rachelle was someone with not a single drop of evilness in her heart. So it boggled me that her suitors, who were like mindless creatures that followed every command of hers, came up with such a cruel plan just to get rid of me in my first life. But if it's her stepmother? 

I'd rather not bet with him out of spite. I avoided his glance.

"Scared?" His lips quirked, his face was still just an inch away from me. 

Finally I decided to just close my eyes to await punishment to befall me.