Villainess X Villain: They are obsessed with each other!-Chapter 32 -: 31 Pretend to be kind.

Julius let out a long sigh as he walked side by side with Rosalina toward the academy.

"Her cuteness is really hard to resist, right?" he asked.

His hands were in his pockets. They walked close together.

Rosalina stayed quiet. Her face looked blank and cold.

But inside, her mind was a mess.

’I never thought I would let her call me mommy,’ she thought.

’When I said I wanted to meet Rosel, it was only to make sure the girl wasn’t really Julius’s daughter by blood.’

’But the moment I saw her... I couldn’t say no. Just looking at her face made my chest hurt so much.’

’And now it’s even worse. I need to find a good excuse to explain this to everyone,’ she thought with a small frown.

’My father, that old fart, if my excuse is weak, even a little, he will explode with anger.’

’But if I give him a solid reason, he won’t dare push me out of the family succession fight.’

’He knows I could take revenge on the whole family if he tries.’

’And the elders too. Before I left for the academy, some of them were already loyal to me. I can still cover my tracks.’

"Rose?" Julius’s voice suddenly broke her thoughts.

He had been talking the whole time, but she wasn’t listening.

"I know you still don’t trust me," he said softly.

He thought her cold silence was because she was still suspicious of him.

"But you won’t regret choosing me," he continued.

His voice became firm and honest.

"I will stay with you for the rest of my life.

I will support you in everything."

Rosalina’s lips moved just a tiny bit. She didn’t look at him. She kept staring straight ahead and stayed silent.

’Haa... our situation is so messed up,’ she thought bitterly.

’If things were normal, we would already be a real couple.’

’We could have enjoyed these academy days together, laughing and being close.’

’I swear... that old man will pay one day. And his whole family will die by my hands.’

She kept walking, face still blank on the outside. But inside, her anger burned quietly.

Julius glanced at her from the side. He didn’t say anything more.

He just smiled a little, happy to walk next to her, even if she was quiet.

After walking in silence for a while, Julius spoke again.

"I heard you’re running for student council president," he said.

Rosalina nodded once. "Yes."

"Are you sure you can win?" Julius asked.

He remembered clearly from the original TST : Rosalina had lost the election to Alia Ruth.

After that, when the hero entered the academy, things got even worse for her.

By then, the hero had already charmed Alia and turned her against Rosalina.

Rosalina stayed quiet for a moment.

Then she answered honestly.

"To be honest... I’m not that confident," she admitted.

"That girl is kind. Everyone likes her.

I’m not kind. And I can’t pretend to be, either. It’s not who I am."

Julius clicked his tongue inside his head.

’She really sucks at being evil,’ he thought.

"Then learn how to pretend," he said out loud.

Rosalina turned her head and looked at him. "What do you mean? Do I really need to pretend?"

She looked uncomfortable. Julius understood why.

’This is her biggest weakness as a villain.’

’In the original TST, Rose was smart and very powerful. But she had no talent for scheming or faking emotions.’

’That was exactly why the past me, the villain Julius, was able to kill her.’

He gritted his teeth at the memory.

’In TST, the hero had tricked me in his 40th regression.’

’Because of that trick, Julius of that time ended up killing Rose himself.’

’It was partly his own fault for falling into the hero’s trap. But the truth was deeper.’

’The hero had regressed 30 times before that point.’

’In every single loop, Julius had broken the hero’s plans and killed him.’

’The hero only won once he learned how to scheme better than anyone.’

’Scheming was the key.’ His thoughts continued.

’If Rose could learn even a little of it, if she could pretend, act kind when needed, hide her true thoughts....’

He looked at her seriously.

"You don’t have to become a completely different person," Julius said.

"But if you want to win this election, and if you want to stay safe later, you need to show people what they want to see."

"Smile when you don’t feel like it. Say nice things even if you don’t mean them. Act like you care about everyone. Just for a little while."

Rosalina frowned.

"That sounds... fake. Weak."

Julius stopped walking for a second.

He turned to face her fully.

"It’s not weak," he said with a serious expression.

"A good person doesn’t need to pretend.

But a bad person? They need it every single time."

Rosalina’s face turned serious. She glanced at him with cold eyes. "Are you saying I’m not a good person?"

Julius didn’t look bothered at all. He met her gaze straight on.

"Yes. You and I are the same.

In one way or another, we would both do bad things."

He paused, then asked a question. "For example... imagine the worst situation.

You can save the one person you love most in the world."

"But to do it, you have to kill a million people with your own hands. Would you do it?"

Rosalina didn’t answer right away.

Inside her mind, the truth came fast and clear.

’For me... my most beloved is you, Julius.’

’Even if it were a billion people... I would kill them all without blinking.’

’In the end, nothing matters more than you.’

She looked back at him. Her voice was calm and steady.

"Yes. I would."

Julius leaned a little closer. His eyes softened, but his voice stayed firm.

"But a hero wouldn’t. They would let their beloved die to save the million. That’s the difference."

He gave a small, honest smile.

"Believe me... my most beloved is you.

I would do anything, everything, to save you."

He straightened up again.

"So in this way... we are similar."

Rosalina’s cheeks turned a light red from his bold words.

She quickly pinched the back of her left hand, hard, to calm herself down. The small pain helped her keep her face steady.

Julius kept looking at her gently.

"In the end, what matters most is that you love me for who I really am," he said quietly.

"But right now... you don’t love me like that yet.

"And that’s okay. Because I love you with my whole being."

Her cheeks turned even brighter red. She looked away, trying to hide it.

Julius continued in a soft but sure voice.

"And if you think your most beloved person can accept you exactly as you are...then everything in this world will be fine."

He paused for a second, then spoke with full confidence.

"So, pretend.

Pretend to be kind starting from today.

Leave everything else to me."

His eyes shone with determination.

"Because in the end... I will make you win this election."