The Villainess’ Beloved Plan: The Struggles to Avoid a Doomed End

　The ship was rocking violently back and forth, left and right, as the waves gradually grew louder and louder.

Although she breathed a sigh of relief that she could keep up with them, it was a struggle to get up onto the ship and it was not easy to stand without holding on to something.

Sophia regretted a little, thinking that she might be holding them back by following them, but She, Randall and the others set out to search for Marana’s sealskin.

There were five ships in total. Sophia and the others were in charge of the largest Ship. D’Artagno and his fellow pirates searched the remaining four ships.

There was no one inside or outside the ship, probably because of the storm. According to Cyril, Viscount D’Silva placed much importance on his ships, he always had a man on watch on board, even if they were anchored, but It seemed that they had indeed condemned it.

While struggling on the shaky floor and rifles through the cargo, gold coins and jewellery popped out of the open boxes.

Cyril could be heard clicking his tongue when he saw them.

“I knew everything he stole was on the ship.”

“Stole… ?”

“Oh. These were all stolen from the Merchant ships in Saladora.”

“Uh?”

When she was about to ask Cyril what was going on, the ship tilted so much that Sophia couldn’t stand the slippery floor and fell down. She slipped and almost hit the wall, but Randall saved her in the nick of time. Randall helped Sophia up by leaning against the slanted wall, and supported her waist to prevent her from falling again.

A cargo slided on the tilted floor, and two boxes collided in front of Sophia and the contents inside flew out.

Marana, who had been crawling across the floor looking for her sealskin exclaimed. “Ah!”

“There it is!”

With a shrieking cry, Marana picked up the black cloth-like object that had flown out of the box and hugged it tightly.

Sophia breathed a sigh of relief, but just as quickly, the ship tilted heavily again.

“If we found it, we’ve got to get out of here! If we don’t, we’ll capsize!”

Cyril shouted as he supported Manara.

D’Artagno and the others who were searching for the other ships must be notified as soon as possible so that they can evacuate.Sophia was supported by Randall. When they stepped out of the cabin, they realized the rain was pouring down like a waterfall, pounding the deck. Water was pooling on the deck and the undulating waves were coming up on the deck as well, as if they were living creatures.

The rain and wind were too strong for her to keep her eyes open so Sophia shielded her face with her arms. This made it hard to know how to get off the Ship. Without support, the wind and waves were likely to take her body with them.

Karana was right, If the storm continued like this, the town could sink into the sea.

“I have to get to the Dragon God quickly!”

“Idiot! If we move now… !”

The ship’s mast made a dull thud as Manara leapt from Cyril’s arms. Sophia opened her eyes thinly, shielding her face, and gasped.

‘The mast is collapsing!’

It must have been unable to withstand the wind. The mast, which had snapped in the middle, was about to topple over towards the sea, and…

“No, Marana! It’s not safe that way!”

Seeing the mast leaning towards where Marana had jumped out, Sophia shook off Randall’s arm and started to run.

At that moment, a large wave slammed the ship, tilting it heavily.

“Sophia!”

Randall shouted and extended his arm, but his hand did not reach Sophia and cut through the air. Before she could scream, Sophia’s body was snatched up by the waves hitting the deck and thrown overboard.

Randall crawled over the tilting and sliding deck and jumped into the sea without hesitation.

“Randall!”

Cyril clung to the railing of the boat and looked into the sea, but he could not  find them in the high waves.

Slipping past Cyril, Marana grabbed the seal skin and jumped into the sea…

Eventually, the storm subsided like it was never there.

　　　　☆

Feeling someone calling her, Sophia slowly opened her eyes.

Her whole body felt terribly heavy and her head ached.

Apparently, Sophia was on the beach.

She had no memory of what happened after she fell into the sea, maybe she washed up on the beach?

　In her blurry vision, she saw Randall’s face peering at her. Randall looked like he was about to cry, and she thought, with her head still clouded, that this was the first time she had seen an expression like this on his face.

“Ran… dall?”

When Sophia called his name in a muffled voice, he lifted her up and hugged her tightly in his arms.

“Thank God. This time, I made it in time”

What did this time mean?

She didn’t know why, but Randall’s arms were shaking and Sophia felt like crying.

Sophia wondered why her heart ached when she was in Randall’s arms.

As she looked out toward the ocean with Randall still holding her, she saw a clear blue sky, as if the storm that had just occurred never occurred.

Marana must have made it in time.

‘Thank God…’

She was glad Marana made it back to the sea safely… and back to her beloved dragon god.

“Sophia”  Randall called her name in a muffled voice.

　Randall’s face, which was always so neatly groomed, was a mess of seawater and sand. But he was not so bad like this.

Staring quietly at her, Randall reached out and caressed Sophia’s cheek.

The moment she narrowed her eyes because it was tickling, Randall’s face approached her and something warm touched her lips.

By the time she realised she was being kissed, the lips had since parted. Sophia stared at Randall’s face, her mind going blank.

Randall’s face turned bright red, probably because of Sophia’s intense stare.

‘How, how…?’

Sophia desperately tried to think of a reason for his behaviour with her blank mind, but she couldn’t think of anything.

But one thing she was sure of, was that she never disliked his kiss.

Confused, Sophia gently pressed the top of her chest..l

She liked D’Artano. And yet she did not dislike Randall’s kiss. On the contrary, she felt so sad and painful that for some reason she felt like crying.

‘…’

‘I should like D’Artano. What is this I feel for Randall?’

Ahhhh…love potions are no big deal

D’Artagno, who was watching Sophia and the others from a little distance away, scratched his cheek.

Marana’s matter had been settled, and he was going to kidnap Sophia before they got her back, but after seeing what just happened between Sophia and Randall, he couldn’t do anything.

Dartano shoulders slumped and he turned around.

“It was pretty serious.”