Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though?

I frowned deeply and shot back in disbelief, wondering what on earth he was talking about. I couldn’t even properly understand the sentence itself, and somehow it felt like not understanding it would be better for my mental health.

But Kyle’s gaze slowly dropped from my eyes downward. Without thinking, I followed his line of sight and lowered my head, then flinched in shock.

It was because I could see the front of my shirt, which I hadn’t fully fastened. I hurried to pull it closed, but Kyle’s eyes were faster.

“What’s this? There’s something strange on your chest.”

Kyle noticed the mark on my chest and reached out as he asked. Startled, I slapped his hand away and quickly pulled my collar shut.

“It’s nothing.”

I tried to sound deliberately unbothered as I moved to button my shirt, but Kyle was much faster than I was. He grabbed my clothes as if seizing me by the collar.

“What is it? Why are you trying to hide it? That’s suspicious.”

“Can’t you let go?”

I tried to pry his wrist away, but it didn’t budge easily. When I tried to shove him away instead, my foot tangled, and I fell straight over.

Crash, thud, the two of us rolled noisily across the floor. A brief scuffle broke out between Kyle, who was trying to strip my shirt, and me, who was trying to resist.

“I’m telling you, it’s really nothing, so let go.”

“You said you didn’t want to show your body even when bathing. Don’t tell me it’s because of this?”

His instincts were annoyingly sharp, and anxiety crept in that my identity might be exposed.

No matter how much I resisted, a hero was still a hero. I couldn’t use magic, and I had no confidence I could beat him barehanded.

“It’s not like that…!”

“Then why are you hiding it so desperately? That just makes me more curious!”

Kyle climbed on top of me and pinned both my wrists flat against the floor. Trapped under his weight, I couldn’t move at all.

Kyle looked down at me quietly with a suspicious gaze as I struggled and panted beneath him.

“I’ll ask one last time, Lysian. Is there something you’re hiding from me?”

His voice was heavier than usual, with all the playfulness stripped away.

I had no intention of telling him the truth. I was busy trying to think of an excuse, any way to get past this situation.

“…I’m asking if I can trust you.”

But Kyle’s voice that followed trembled faintly. If I closed my eyes and listened, it almost sounded like a plea.

“……”

When I didn’t answer at all, Kyle lowered himself a little more and looked deeper into my eyes.

Our faces were so close our noses could almost touch. If I breathed out too hard, it felt like our breaths would mix.

“I’m asking because I want to trust you. If you promise me I can trust you, I won’t ask anything else, and I’ll believe you.”

Kyle had instinctively realized that I was hiding something, yet he still wanted to trust me.

Being trusted like this, when all I could think about was deceiving him, made me feel pathetic and cruel.

But I couldn’t confess the truth to him either, and it was an incredibly difficult situation.

Kyle was a hero burdened with the mission to defeat the Black Flame Dragon, and I was that very villain.

If I revealed the truth I was hiding from him, he would have no choice but to kill me. Either way, my fate was to die by his hand.

“So you’ve decided to remain silent? Then can I judge things however I want?”

Kyle gathered both my wrists into one of his hands and placed his now free hand on my chest.

The moment he slowly started to pull my shirt down, I took advantage of the slack in his grip to wrench my arm free. I grabbed his shoulder with force and shoved him to the other side.

In an instant, our positions reversed, and I was on top of Kyle. Just like he’d done to me, I grabbed both his wrists and pinned them to the floor.

Kyle’s eyes, looking up at me from below, were still clear and transparent. His gaze, tinged with moisture, stared up at me without wavering.

“…You’re right. I was deceiving you, Kyle.”

At my painfully forced confession, Kyle’s eyes widened very slowly. Since I’d already spoken, I carefully chose the words that would follow.

“Derek realized that I’m the Great Sage. That’s how this came up while we were talking.”

I slowly lifted my upper body and released the hands restraining Kyle’s wrists. Still choosing my next words in my head, I deliberately undid more of my shirt buttons.

The shirt, now completely undone, slipped back and hung over my arms. Kyle’s widened eyes carefully traced over my chest.