Became the Villainess’s Guardian

It is said that if a bear and a tiger diet for 100 days on mugwort and garlic, they will become human.
And while better off than them, the diet of the poor in this era was unified as bread and oatmeal porridge.

Sometimes they would add a bit of variation with cheese and butter, and a cup of tea to suppress the dryness to some degree, but
as the story of even a mere beast like a tiger unable to endure it and deserting shows, it was not exactly a pleasant experience.

In any case, there was no need to distinguish likes and dislikes. The primitive tastes of saltiness and sweetness were the true cuisine transcending time and culture.
If I brought a basket of chocolates or snacks, goodwill would roll in just from breathing.

Or so I thought.
In the end, Freugne didn’t even get a proper chance to try the snacks.

After scampering back to the professor’s lab, I found a sunny spot and reflected on the previous situation.

“Um, could you… hold my hand for a bit?”

Upon hearing those words, I became convinced.
This is a lack of affection. The professor was right, as always. He knows everything.

I took that hesitant, awkward hand in mine.
No matter how many times I replayed it, I don’t recall gripping it forcefully. And if I had hurt Freugne, she would have reacted in some way.

But as soon as I held her hand as requested, she suddenly opened her eyes wide, her body trembling slightly, before whispering,

“Sorry. I think I need to go for a bit.”

And then she scurried away from me.

I was certain I had done nothing wrong.

I didn’t commit the faux pas of treating her like a slum tour attraction.
No, more importantly, we didn’t even engage in proper conversation to begin with, so there was no room to argue right or wrong.

Could it be that Freugne dislikes sweets?
If not, was there perhaps some other issue?

“You seem deep in thought.”

“Ah, Professor.”

That’s right, that’s what happened. The lab really is the best place, isn’t it?
As the professor slithered over to console me, extending his serpentine influence in an attempt at graft inoculation, I fended it off.
But no matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t find the answer.

“She didn’t seem out of the ordinary.”

“Yes, indeed.”

“Could there have been an explanation I missed?”

“Hey, there are few people as honest as me.”

If I start buttoning it up like this, I’ll never get anywhere.
Half the purpose of taking the donor position was to lower Freugne’s guard, but at this rate, continued monitoring would be difficult.

As for the other half of the purpose? Obviously, to make Freugne’s childhood a bit more comfortable and reduce her chances of falling into the Black Veil, however slightly.

“Well, it could be the innate wariness and shyness of children.”

“Usually in such cases, they don’t initiate hand-holding first. And she seemed quite lively when I saw her last week.”

“Are you absolutely certain you made no mistakes?”

“It’s not like I’ve only dealt with children once or twice. They’re always seated in the front rows at my demonstrations, you know.”

I know there’s a way to blow off all these concerns at once, but
at least I’m not the kind of person who pulls the trigger just because a middle schooler ignored me.

That should only be reserved as an absolute last resort, not used as an easy way out.

“So, why don’t you try capturing their interest with what you’re best at?”

“Aggro tactics…?”

“You’re unemployed now anyway, with no work. It wouldn’t hurt to kill some time there if it’s really bothering you, would it?”

“I suppose you’re right.”

While I still don’t know why she avoided me, I have no choice.
It’s Freugne’s fault for running away without any explanation…!

“Professor.”

“Yes?”

“Since I’ve shown my sincerity all this time, even though I’ve resigned as your assistant, I can still use the lab facilities for a bit, right?”

I fired the gun.
Without any hesitation at all.

The series of motions pulling the gun from my coat, placing my finger on the trigger – there was not a shred of hesitation to be found.
That lucid, chilling fact momentarily froze Freugne’s thoughts.

It wasn’t the first or second time she had seen a future where she died, but those were always within the category of ‘accidents.’
Separate from finding them unreasonable, she could accept them and find ways to avoid them.

But today was the first time she had seen a future where someone tried to kill her.

Unknowingly fleeing the scene, Freugne slowly replayed that moment in her mind.
There was almost no guarantee that holding his hand again would show the same future. She had to commit it to memory before it faded.

‘He clearly… didn’t seem to be expecting it.’

It meant she had trusted Edan right until the moment he pulled out the gun to kill her.
Moreover, what did that gentle tone mean? His face slightly brightening in anticipation of the response to follow.

And then,

‘Just close your eyes, and say this one line. Join me.’

What did “join me” mean?
It could be interpreted as joining some organization, or simply sharing the same intentions.

Whichever was true, it was a proposal only made between particularly close relations.
Up to this point, these were easily reached conclusions.

But her head started hurting from here on.
The way her future-seeing ability worked was to show the ‘future that would come if she didn’t know about it.’
To explain it more simply, it meant that if she hadn’t seen the future of Edan shooting her, then she would have been shot after time passed.

If she hadn’t known of that future, she wouldn’t have been overly wary of him.
So based on her experience of diligently avoiding death until now, it made sense to avoid Edan.

‘But then, what is the cause?’

Surely there had to be a reason to shoot someone she had known for years, right?
Of course, she didn’t know if they had actually known each other for years, but judging from their conversational rapport, it seemed they had built up some connection to a degree.

‘If there is a cause, who is it directed at? And if I’m responsible, why?’

With a bit of thought, she arrived at the conclusion. Freugne shook her head.
Since it was at least 5 years in the future, it was ultimately information she couldn’t know right now.

However.
If she continued meeting Edan, she might be able to find out.

Then the possible courses of action she could take here were two.
Freugne sensed this moment would become one of the pivotal points in her life. And it was an important choice directly linked to her survival.

One.
Cut off all ties. The phrasing of ‘severing ties that were never formed’ was a bit strange, but in any case, make a fresh start in another city.

‘But he knew me and came to the orphanage.’

There was no guarantee he wouldn’t pursue her further.
Moreover, she knew absolutely nothing about Edan, even though he seemed to know about her to some degree.

Even if she left the orphanage, the fate awaiting her would likely be harsh.
She would need to find a new job, have no proper place to live, and surviving in a foreign place without knowing a single person was tantamount to a death sentence.

And two.
Learn a bit more about Edan.
While overly optimistic predictions can be poisonous, perhaps… there was a way to maintain their connection while preserving her life.

Tossing and turning on the bed with sleepless eyes, Freugne only ceased her thoughts when it was time to leave for her factory shift.

Fortunately, the factory Freugne had transferred to was not a coal mine, but rather a textile mill next door.

Moreover, thanks to a recent accident that drew regulatory scrutiny from the Londinium authorities, working hours were reduced by a whopping 3 hours to just 9 hours a day.
Of course, breaks and meal times were separate, and the stench of dyes was foul, but it felt like her quality of life had been elevated a notch.

And after completing her work shift and newspaper delivery without incident,
At the time when the sun peeked over the mountains and the morning shift workers began trudging to their workplaces one by one,

Freugne crossed the street back to the orphanage alone, savoring the thrill of getting off work while others were just starting, and sensed a bit of commotion.

It was an unfamiliar sight, but she could well guess the cause.

“Mister, show us something else!”

“Very well. Lightning Squirrel!”

“Waaahhhh!!”

The claim of being a magician was indeed no lie, as sparks crackled from his fingertips.

Magic.
The proof of a well-educated intellectual, and an uncharted realm still actively researched.

The children had surrounded Edan, gawking at something.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Freugne peeked through a gap in the curtains to see a squirrel-like doll moving on its own.
After scampering about, the squirrel soon raised its arms skyward, emitting sparks.

While its movement patterns were simple and mechanical, to the children of the orphanage for whom ordinary machinery meant dangerous workloads that occasionally even devoured humans, such a small intricate device moving autonomously was a rare spectacle.

“I heard he often appears at Londinium University’s demonstrations to showcase things like that.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Good or not, one would normally need tickets to be able to see such shows.”

That was the response when I asked the orphanage director out of curiosity.

To be honest, how could one resist such a thing?
It went beyond intellectual curiosity into the realm of primal enjoyment.

In this era, magicians were ultimately entertainers and idols.
Masters skilled in the methods of drawing aggro to secure research funds and attract investment.

While Edan, this era’s grown man who suffered heartbreak from being ignored by a middle schooler, was still a renowned magician capable of substituting for Professor Magni in at least this field.

‘…No, I can’t.’

And yet, Edan would try to kill her in the future.
Perhaps it was the right answer not to forge any deeper connection.

She had certainly reached that conclusion, but emotions often seemed to divorce from reason.

…So, in other words.
The fact that she dies in the future is proof that she’s alive until then.

“…Um, mister.”

“Hm? Freugne?”

So taking that as consolation, she mustered some courage and approached him cautiously as he was showing magic to the other gathered children.

“Can I watch too?”

“Of course, come on over.”

This was solely for the purpose of getting to know him better.
She may not have known military strategy well, but the common wisdom was that knowing your opponent and yourself increased the chances of victory.

Absolutely.
Absolutely not because she found it fascinating.

She told herself that, but Freugne was ultimately just a girl of that age too.