A Regressed Villain: Heroines, Villainesses and Me?

Tring~

Inside the car, the driver\'s hands moved skillfully, guiding the vehicle with precise control.

The car suddenly veered off the highway, taking an exit that connected to another road.

Though the transition from high speed to a sharp turn seemed reckless at first, the driver quickly regained control, bringing the car to a steady pace after a brief skid.

"Have you found anything about her?" Aecilia asked, her eyes locked on the road ahead.

Her voice was calm, but her focus was sharp.

One hand rested on the steering wheel while the other interacted with the car\'s built-in receiver, ensuring her attention never wavered from the drive.

:: Yes, my lady. The woman in the photo is Aria Williams, daughter of...

The voice on the other end of the call belonged to a woman, calmly detailing the background of the person Aecilia had been investigating.

After Aecilia\'s meeting with the Marquess, she had sent the photo for identification, and now the information was being relayed back to her.

Aria Williams, it was revealed, was the daughter of a well-known businessman from Sector 15, primarily involved in the textile industry.

Following her mother\'s death, Aria had become increasingly isolated, falling into depression as her father buried himself in his work, neglecting the emotional needs of his daughter during her most vulnerable years.

Their last public interaction, outside the confines of their home, had been over the arrangement of her marriage to Lin Diego, the son of her father\'s close friend.

While such personal details might seem difficult to access, in today\'s world, where everyone carries a phone, it is all too easy to obtain information.

Phones, even when switched off, still contain data that can be extracted if one knows the right channels—and has enough money to grease the wheels.

No matter how secure a device claims to be, everything is run by a company somewhere, and companies sell data if the price is right.

With teams of people working on a single lead, it didn\'t take long for them to uncover Aria\'s details.

"I see... what about Amrita?" Aecilia asked, smoothly pulling her car into the hotel\'s parking lot.

She tossed her keys to a waiting valet as she switched her attention back to the phone, inquiring about another person—the one whose background the Marquess was particularly interested in.

:: About her...

This time, the voice on the call was different, hinting that the task of gathering information had been split between two team leaders, both now reporting back to Aecilia.

The second woman explained Amrita\'s troubled past.

After her mother had abandoned them, leaving behind the responsibility of raising two children, Amrita and her younger brother had been forced to fend for themselves.

Amrita turned to her studies, taking on part-time jobs to support her brother and securing scholarships that eventually got her into an elite academy.

Her brother, however, had chosen a different path—one filled with scams and deceit.

Working in call centers, he targeted elderly and gullible individuals, exploiting them for money.

Interestingly, both siblings kept their true history hidden, always telling people that their parents had died in an accident.

This lie had helped them maintain a certain image, masking the uglier truths of their lives from the outside world.

"I see... is there anything noteworthy about both of them?" Aecilia inquired, trying to understand if there was any kind of relation between Amrita and Aria.

Given their present relations weren\'t in perfect sync, it seemed plausible that what she had heard from the information was due to them having feelings for Lin Diego.

:: Not particularly in these two cases, but there is a relation between the man named Leo and Amrita\'s brother. ::

"...What is your name?" Aecilia asked, instead of further inquiring, seeing how the woman providing the information seemed well aware of her needs.

Instead of answering only what was asked of her, she had gone beyond to research something that could be helpful, making it slightly convenient for Aecilia to know at least the name of a potential member inside the group who at least needed some kind of salary hike.

:: Huh? Oh, it\'s Moni. ::

"Continue," Aecilia instructed, remembering the name and expecting something worth giving her an upper hand for making the second deal she would do with the Marquess using this particular information as a bargain.

:: The company\'s owner where Leo worked got scammed by Amrita\'s brother; he had targeted the old man given his kind personality...

The way Moni provided all the details seemed to prove the competence of the members of the Intelligence Department in Sertsul Family, given how she was prepared with even the old man\'s information about his personality and characteristics, which were hard to obtain from someone who wasn\'t very active on social media but still shared vague and accurate information.

"I see. You can wait for further orders," Aecilia said as she ended the call, placing her phone in her pocket before entering her room.

Upon closing the door, she patiently sat on a sofa, which appeared to be part of a presidential suite large enough to resemble a hallway.

She then looked towards a large window in front of her, revealing a night sky filled with the moon and stars. She thought about how Lin Diego was from a Ravan family, which Marquess was already aware of, and that he had most likely helped that man named Leo, after knowing about the clear grudge he held against Amrita\'s brother. (*misunderstanding)

It all felt as if everything was moving precisely as Marquess wanted, making her think for a moment, \'Marquess, have you come from the future?\'

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Far away from the hotel room, inside the elite academy\'s department of medical science, even though the long auditorium was completely empty, the whole academy was illuminated due to artificial bulbs and lights.

Inside a room in that department, the lights were still on, revealing two people seated nearby.

"Professor, you can leave... if you want," Aria, seated on the bed, even though she felt her legs were numb, glanced towards Avendial, who was seated nearby, with hands folded and eyes closed, as he opened one of his eyes looking towards her.

Naturally, as he did, he noticed that subtle hint of hesitation in her voice, clearly showing her state, being aware she wanted him to go away, but not with her heart.

She wanted someone nearby, and given he was here, it was clearly giving rise to a sense of closeness in her.

At the end of the day, no matter how strong the connections between people may be, it is only those who rescue them from dire circumstances—when they are surrounded by darkness—that they genuinely appreciate as their saviors.

So, right now Avendial was playing the role of a savior.

"Are you not going to your home?" Avendial inquired, noticing her sitting on her bed and looking towards the window, as she pursed her lips with visible tension, appearing very vulnerable.

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"Home? I live alone, Professor," Aria managed a slight smile, remembering the house where she lived.

As a child, she would wait for her father to come back from work, falling asleep while waiting.

In the morning, she would wake up with her blanket over her body, often contemplating the care he had for her neighbor back then.