I, The Villainess, Will Seduce All The Heroines Instead
Chapter 51: Late To Class

Chapter 51: Late To Class

Verena sprinted through the empty courtyard, her boots barely touching the ground.

Shit, shit, shit! She was going to be late!

Correction - she was late.

The academy’s grand iron gates had already closed with an ominous clang, signaling that tardy students would have to go the long way through the official disciplinary checkpoint.

But Verena wasn’t about to subject herself to that nonsense.

No, she had a plan.

Her eyes darted toward the east wall. The perfect place to climb over.

She had scouted it before because obviously, she would need an escape plan at some point in this hellhole of a school.

There was a sturdy-looking tree nearby, a few footholds on the stone surface, and the angle was just right.

She was going to pull a full-blown intruder move and sneak in like an elite assassin.

Or, well, like a desperate student avoiding detention. Same thing.

Rubbing her hands together, she approached the wall, ready to execute her master plan. But just as she took a step forward.

She froze.

Because someone else was already climbing the wall.

"...What the fuck?" Verena blurted out.

There, clinging awkwardly halfway up, was another student.

Their uniform was slightly disheveled, and they were wiggling like an uncoordinated squirrel, trying to hoist themselves over the ledge.

For a moment, they made eye contact.

A long, awkward silence stretched between them.

Then, as if this was the most normal thing in the world, the student casually nodded. "Oh. Sup."

Verena squinted. "Sup?? Sup??? What the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I’m climbing."

"Yes, I can see that, you absolute dumbass. I mean, why are you climbing?"

"...Same reason you are?"

"...Fair enough."

The two of them just stood there for a moment, contemplating their life choices.

"Ugh, hold on, I got this..."

They shifted, trying to get a better grip, only for their foot to slip.

"Ack—"

Verena watched as they flailed, desperately clawing at the wall before gravity finally won, and they dropped like a sack of potatoes.

With a thud, they hit the ground, groaning in agony.

Verena slowly walked up to them, looking down with an unimpressed expression. "So. How’s that working out for you?"

"Shut up."

"...Need help?"

"I said shut up."

She rolled her eyes before cracking her knuckles. "Move over, amateur. Let me show you how it’s done."

With sheer determination, Verena and the other student finally hauled themselves over the academy wall.

They tumbled onto the grass on the other side, landing in a heap of limbs and dust. For a moment, there was only silence.

"HAHA! WE DID IT!" Verena fist-pumped the air, still lying on her back. "I told you we’d make it!"

The other student groaned but grinned, rolling onto their side. "Damn right we did. We are criminal masterminds. Absolute legends."

They high-fived, reveling in their genius.

"Ahem."

The sound of a throat being pointedly cleared made Verena’s soul practically eject from her body.

Both of them stiffened, heads whipping toward the source.

Standing there, arms crossed, face set in a deadpan glare, was the Prefect of Discipline.

Verena swore she could hear funeral bells ringing in the distance.

The other student gulped. "...Maybe if we don’t move, she won’t see us?"

The prefect sighed. "Get up."

Verena and her fellow fugitive sighed in defeat as they slowly stood.

To their dismay, their victorious escape became a round-trip ticket back to the disciplinary office.

The mood inside the Prefect of Discipline’s Office was... tense.

Verena sat slouched in the chair, arms crossed, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

Meanwhile, the other culprit, her accomplice in crime, sat stiff as a board, hands neatly folded in her lap, like a model student who had simply stumbled into trouble by accident.

The prefect sat behind her desk, flipping through some papers, her expression unreadable.

"Good to see you again, Verena," she said without looking up.

Verena groaned. "Can’t say the same, chief."

The other student slowly turned to look at her, betrayal written all over her face.

"You’re a regular here?!" she whisper-hissed.

Verena shot her a side glance. "What, you’re not?"

The prefect, completely ignoring their side conversation, finally turned her attention to the other girl.

"And you are...?"

Silence.

The prefect squinted.

"You don’t recognize her?" Verena asked, raising an eyebrow.

The prefect studied her face for another second. "...No."

A pause.

Then, with an odd gasp, the prefect suddenly flipped through her papers, eyes scanning the top sheet.

Her brows lifted. "Oh. You’re the new transferee."

Verena frowned, glancing over at the girl again.

Then, as if the heavens personally smacked her with divine realization.

Her eyes widened.

The realization hit her like a runaway carriage.

Cassandra Taliahart.

Verena choked.

Of all people to be caught climbing the school walls with... it was her?!

Verena barely contained the urge to physically recoil.

She had climbed a goddamn wall with Cassandra Taliahart.

The seventh heroine.

The "I’m Not Like Other Girls" darling.

The girl who probably thought owning one (1) pair of pants made her superior to every other woman in existence.

The one who grew up on a farm and somehow used that as her entire personality.

The one who’d say things like, "Ugh, noblewomen only care about dresses and gossip. I’m different. I like—" (insert the most mundane, normal hobby imaginable).

And the worst part?

She unknowingly collected a whole damn harem of simping male leads who worshipped her "pure," "down-to-earth" nature.

Meanwhile, she’d scoff at other girls for being "fake."

Verena wanted to scream.

Cassandra, oblivious to Verena’s internal meltdown, just smiled at the prefect. "Yes, that’s me! I was actually on my way to class, but I, um... got lost?"

Verena whipped her head toward her, incredulous. Lost?!

THEY WERE CLIMBING A WALL.

The prefect raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. "Well, welcome to Irasios Academy. I hope your first day is... enlightening," she paused. "Because you will be punished accordingly for not only being tardy, but for trying to climb up a wall."