The Legendary Villainess Who Vanished on the Guillotine, in Her Second Life She Wishes for Peace as

Chapter 10: Whim of the Goddess (Camilo/Leticia)

❂❂❂

“Camilo Cervantes. First of all, let me congratulate you on a job well done.”

In a pure white space, a beautiful woman dressed in pure white cloth stood before me. Her hair was white, not from age, but clearly a color imbued with a natural transparency.

I met her mischievous smile with a cautious tone.

“You said you are the Goddess of Time?”

“That’s correct. I am the Goddess of Time, Sheila.”

It was a name I had never heard before. I didn’t believe in gods, but at least I knew the most popular religious deities as part of my education.

Is this a dream? Am I creating a delusion in the realm between life and death?

My gaze wandered aimlessly, and I opened my eyes wide when I saw the blood that had stuck to my body in a deep crimson color.

The clear bloodstains were obvious even on my knight’s uniform. These were the results of me burying those two and getting pierce myself.

“This is not a dream. You’re dead. Wishing for the happiness of your beloved, aren’t you?”

As if singing, the Goddess Sheila spoke. While I still couldn’t fully comprehend the situation, I looked at her eyes once more, straight on.

“It was such a beautiful way to die that it impressed me. It was so pitiful, so I decided to turn back time for you.”

“…What?!”

I ran over to the goddess without hesitation and looked up at her with a brazen distance. Upon approaching her, I realized that Sheila was several tens of centimeters taller than me.

“Turn back time? Can you really do that?!”

“I am the Goddess of Time, after all. I rarely do it, but I can.”

“Really…?!”

If time were to go back, would that mean I could see Leticia once again…?

I never even imagined such good fortune would come to me.

Even though I thought it might have been a nasty dream I had when I was dying, my head was filled with a sudden glimmer of hope.

“Please! Let me meet Leticia once again!”

I shouted in a desperate voice that even I found ridiculous, and the Goddess Sheila showed a serene smile.

❂❂❂

Camilo’s story went like this.

In other words, it was thanks to the sympathy of the goddess that time was rewound for Camilo.

I had been feeling nothing but doubts about having memories of my first life, but just knowing the reason behind it made me feel as if a weight had been lifted from my chest. However, at the same time, I began to feel a constricting pain in my chest.

(The goddess felt so much sympathy to make time rewind for him…?)

Every time he spoke, it made me realize just how much he cared for me.

And my own selfishness that led me to live selfishly and die, and the guilt that came with it.

I was holding my aching chest and looking down, but I felt a small exhalation coming from ahead and raised my head.

Camilo was smiling, as if to say there was nothing to worry about.

“And the goddess gave me one caveat. By turning anything back in time, we can naturally keep a lid on the memories of our first life.”

“A lid on the memories?”

“Yes, and it seems that the individual’s magic power is used to create this lid. Normally, the lid remains closed until death, but it can open when two specific elements are fulfilled.”

“There are two things: one is to receive a strong stimulus from someone with whom you have had a deep connection in your first life. The other is to surpass the magic that has been closing your memories.”

“A stimulus that surpasses the magic? No way.”

I could only guess what was coming next. I watched as Camilo’s face lit up with a sly smile, while mine turned pale.

“That’s right. Seeing Leticia’s true face helped me regain the memories of my first life. The gap when you take off your glasses was so shocking.”

Wait, hold on.

Camilo is said to have the strongest magic power of our time. What kind of shocking face could surpass that?

And to think that my well-meaning glasses became the cause of my upheaval.

This is no good, I feel dizzy. If I had heard this right after fainting, I might have fainted again.

“That’s ridiculous…”

I muttered in disbelief, but even Camilo seemed to be smiling wryly as he told this story.

“It sounds like a joke, but it actually happened, so there’s nothing we can do about it… By the way, the goddess said this as well. Leticia must have already regained her memory before anyone else.”

“So, in summary of Camilo’s explanation, because my magical power is too weak, it will be easy for me to regain my memories, right?”

“It’s a bit difficult to say, but that’s the gist of it.”

In other words, because I have significantly less magical power than others, my memory was like a sieve.

In reality, I slowly regained my memories from when I was a child. I probably didn’t even realize that seeing a portrait of His Highness somewhere triggered it.

“Now that I’ve explained this much, let’s get to the point. Leticia, your true identity could be a trigger for memory retrieval. Especially with Agustin and Miss Yserra, who you had close ties with, there’s a high possibility.”

“That’s certainly true.”

“Leticia, you don’t want to have anything to do with Agustin, do you? If we announce our engagement, it will inevitably lead to a scene where you take off your glasses, and you’ll also need to show up at the royal palace. It may just end up postponing the problem, but I want to at least protect our peaceful Academy life.”

Camilo’s face had an affectionate smile, and I had to calm down my racing heart and remind myself of that.

Truly, Camilo is always so kind. He thinks of so many things for me, yet I’m always only thinking about myself…it’s embarrassing.

Certainly, as Camilo said, there doesn’t seem to be any advantage to exposing our true selves. I should just quietly follow his suggestion and keep things under wraps until graduation.

But, I don’t want to just be protected. I want to be of help to him too. I should think of something I can do.

“Well, even so, I think there’s a possibility that my face could also be a trigger.”

“Huh? Did you say something?”

“Oh, I just said, leave it to me.”

Camilo pounded his chest as if to show his reliability. Seeing his joke-like gesture, I forgot my confusion from hearing the important conversation and burst out laughing.

“Fufufu, thank you, Camilo.”

Then Camilo stopped in his tracks as if he were bewildered. As I tilted my head wondering what was wrong, his rugged face slowly turned crimson.

“If Leticia wasn’t wearing glasses, I might not have been able to remember. But still, it’s a shame that I can’t see your rose-colored eyes.”

“Oh, are my eyes really that beautiful?”

I thought it sounded a bit conceited when I said it, and I expected him to laugh, but Camilo nodded as a matter of course and smiled, squinting his pale green eyes.

“They’re really beautiful. Hey, would you mind taking off your glasses when we’re alone together?”

“Wha…! What are you saying?”

His candid words and gaze left me blushing uncontrollably.

Take off my glasses? Now, here…?

I glanced at Camilo’s eyes briefly. His face melted into a joyful yet blissful expression, but it made me feel like I didn’t know him and made me uneasy, so I quickly looked away.

“I can’t calm down without my glasses, and…”

“And?”

“Well, it’s embarrassing, so no.”

…Huh? What am I even saying?

I didn’t want to take off my glasses for Prince Agustin, but now I can’t do it because it’s embarrassing for Camilo? Isn’t that weird…?

“Hehe, I see. In that case, someday.”

Even with his unappealing attitude, Camilo didn’t stop smiling happily and seemed to be in an even better mood.

Ugh, isn’t this a bit too sweet? I really can’t calm down.

“Hey, Leticia. We’ll keep the engagement a secret, but be careful.”

Camilo, who had just erased his smile, said with a serious expression. I also straightened up and nodded clearly in response.

“You mean Yserra-sama? It’s about time for her to transfer in.”

It’s June now. I don’t remember the exact date, but I do remember that Yserra-sama transferred into my class around this time.

“No, that’s not all. Leticia is cute, so I’m worried that if we announce our engagement, I won’t be able to keep the other guys at bay.”

“Eh?!”

I let out a silly voice at his killer line. What is he going to say now?!

“S-Sorry for saying something weird again…! Don’t worry, I won’t take off my glasses. I’ve never been approached by anyone before, and I’m not even sure they even know I exist!”

“Even so, your glasses might come off at some point. Actually, I’ve seen your face when that happened.”

Camilo laid out a sound argument, and I moaned softly and fell silent.

It’s true that something might happen due to my carelessness, but I can only ask him to trust me on this.

“Um, well… I’ll be careful enough.”

“Yeah, please do.”

Camilo nodded in satisfaction as I replied obediently.

I wonder where this overprotective behavior of his comes from. I think he’s worrying too much.