The Villainess With A Heroine Harem



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If the words hadn't made it clear enough, the contempt in Danielle's tone made her attitude towards Dolly quite obvious. And even if Dolly didn't care much about the other girl, it was impossible for her to face such ridicule and not be incensed.

"How dare you!" She slammed her fist on the table furiously, then turned to Sylvia. "How can you stay silent after listening to her talk to me like that?!"

Usually, Sylvia would have already jumped out to defend her friend when she saw her being 'bullied' without even caring about what could have led to that situation, but this time, she remained silent even after the less-than-gentle reminder.

The way Dolly had mocked Emilia just moments before made her realize that maybe the girl she'd been thinking of as a friend had long since stopped being who she used to be. Or maybe… she never existed in the first place.

'I always thought that nobody could be a saint, and if Dolly was mocking someone, she must have had her reasons.' Sylvia frowned.

Maybe they deserved it, or maybe they provoked her first. Either way, the yellow-eyed heroine always considered it her duty to stand by her friend's side, just as the other girl had for so many years.

But… she couldn't ignore how Dolly mocked and tried to ridicule Emilia.

If she recalled correctly, the two of them had only met for the first time during the 'trial' for the vanguard position in the 'Crimson Witches', and had never seen each other since.

Sylvia suddenly shook her head in denial. 'No, although I've been paying close attention to Emilia, I can't be sure about Dolly. She could have been watching Emilia's news and thinking that it could have been her all this time…'

With the veil of friendship now no longer clouding her vision, the yellow-eyed girl quickly started becoming more and more suspicious of Dolly's behavior. 'In fact, now that I think about it, she seemed to hate Emilia from the start. But… why?'

"What are you frowning and shaking your head for, Sylvia? Say something!" Dolly fumed.

She thought that even if Sylvia wasn't drowning in guilt, she must at least be remorseful for 'abandoning' her. But watching the usually 'valiant' girl remain silent even as she was openly mocked by Danielle made her feel that something was wrong.

Dolly didn't want to 'keep' this best friend, but that didn't mean she was okay with being the one who was 'abandoned', not again. Only she could kick Sylvia away, and decide if and when the girl must be forgiven for her transgressions.

Unfortunately, the response she got from her ex-'best friend' wasn't one she was expecting.

"Dolly… you're the one who provoked Emilia first, so don't try to bend the truth." Sylvia sighed. "Danielle's words may be harsh, but she doesn't lie."

Dolly was shocked, but so were the rest of Sylvia's teammates.

"My eyes must be deceiving me… did Sylvia just defend our captain?!"

"Robin… you use your ears to listen, not your eyes." Nico corrected her absentmindedly.

The waitress arrived at this moment to serve everyone tea, but Dolly just looked down at her cup silently, her aura radiating gloom.

'Arguing against all these idiots will be pointless… I never should have come here.' She thought wistfully. 'My time is precious, I will be a rising star in the future! A remnant of the past like Sylvia really isn't worth it…'

At first, she'd just wanted to mock and ridicule Emilia and bring her down a notch, and even Dolly couldn't deny that there was a bit of envy that clouded her feelings.

Just because that slut's face was a little better, how come all the good things that were supposed to belong to her could so easily be taken away?

She wanted to see Sylvia pick her over the crimson-haired bimbo, and watch them argue and fight each other. Though she had no intention of 'forgiving' Sylvia for her betrayal, Dolly would have at least never sought revenge against her if she made the right choice.

Now, however…

"One day, you will regret it."

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While everyone else had been arguing, mostly with Emilia as the main subject, the crimson-haired beauty herself had been lost in thought for quite a while.

"Well, this is pointless."

"Hmm."

Dolly left after flipping them off, but Emilia just sipped on her tea absentmindedly.

Sylvia and the others thought she must be a little sad after hearing Dolly's 'harsh words', so they could only rush to comfort her.

"That… I didn't realize she was like that. I'm sorry for what she said." Sylvia frowned guiltily.

Danielle hummed. "She's not a part of our team, and we know how good you are better than anyone else. Don't let the opinion of irrelevant people bother you."

Nico also nodded. "She's just jealous."

"Yeah, don't listen to her, baby! You're the cutest and the most adorable creature in existence!" Robin gushed, inwardly lamenting the fact that her seat wasn't right next to the crimson-haired beauty. Such a perfect opportunity to 'comfort' her was missed!

Crystal also pretended to console her, not having the heart to reveal the 'truth' to everyone else. But Emilia just hummed and continued thinking about their 'failure'.

'The hero's team must be making good progress right now.' She sighed. 'But the boss is making things difficult for us, and we can't just keep bashing our heads against a wall.'

Cynthia hummed in agreement. "So? What do you plan to do next? Follow Danielle's plan?"

Emilia didn't expect the hero's team to fail or face unexpected misfortune, and knew that they might be able to 'conquer' the dungeon well within the time limits. If they really waited too long, all their advantages so far would have been for nothing.

However, with the dungeon boss himself obstructing their path, she just couldn't figure out how to proceed.

It wasn't hard to guess the motivation behind his actions. As an embodiment of wealth and beauty alike, even Emilia had to admit that Cynthia was right.

Because their team was full of pretty girls, the boss must have taken a 'liking' to toying with them and watching them struggle. Once he was satisfied, he would clear their path and 'gobble them up' as he liked.

Obviously, that thing never even considered the possibility of losing, and while the likes of the hero's party weren't ignored, they weren't taken very seriously as threats.

For the dungeon boss, maybe the other teams were just appetizers before enjoying the main course, which was unfortunately Emilia's team.

The moment she had this thought, the crimson-haired girl couldn't help but be stunned. 'That's it!'

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