Title: Clever Girl

Summary: Leon always did think the protagonist was cunning.

Walking into the Academy, it was hard not to notice the decadence the girls luxuriated in: personal pleasure slaves, rich fabrics, and men catering to the girls' whims. It was paradise.

Unfortunately, it came with the caveat that one needed power and influence. Something these girls were born with by virtue of hereditary nobility. As a lowborn, I did not have the privilege of taking advantage of my sex.

That was something to correct. It was a simple enough a solution. I need only claim a suitably well-off boy.

"It's the crown prince and his friends," a girl squealed in the background.

Looking over, I saw five gorgeous men walking down the hallway with a trail of simpering girls.

They would do nicely.

Standing at the edge of the auditorium, I carefully listened to the crown prince's speech. So he wanted to be treated like any other student. It sounds to me that someone doesn't want to be recognized as the crown prince.

It was a silly notion. Not the desire itself since wanting to be free of responsibility and obligations was understandable, but all the implications that came attached. The boy did not know what it meant to be a commoner. He did not know what it meant to be born without privilege.

It also meant he would be clueless to anyone feigning basic friendship.

Feigning illness, I quietly exited the auditorium. The backstage exit should be simple enough to find.

There was a girl frantically looking around the hallway. It seems someone had a similar idea as me. At least I knew I was probably in the right place.

Placing my hand on the small girl's shoulder, I emitted a jolt to her system. She instantly collapsed. Without much fanfare, I used magic to toss her behind a nearby bush.

As I 'admired' the architecture, I bumped into the crown prince. Rather than play the perfect prince, he coldly told me to watch where I was going. So much for princely charm, but it would work well with my plan of feigning ignorance.

Plus, it would not do to have him think he could run roughshod over me.

"How rude! You shouldn't treat a girl so brutishly," I said with a slap.

The slap, while probably an overreaction in most normal circumstances, was a necessary element. It added shock value and highlighted my 'ignorance'. Having likely had all his interactions curated, he probably never had someone lower than him talk back at him, let alone strike him.

Most importantly, it allowed me to subtly feed my light magic into him.

"Do you not know who I am?" he asked in awe as my magic pulled on his.

"It does not matter who you are. I shall not tolerate such rudeness," I said defiantly.

His soft smile told me I had him hooked.

Julius was a good first target. Aside from being such a simple mark, his excitement for finding me had him constantly seek me out. A subtle touch here and there kept him emotionally dependent on me. His neediness made it impossible for him to separate himself from me.

Additionally, he excitedly talk to me about anything... including his friends. He was a veritable fountain of information. He would constantly praise them (which I found odd since I thought he would zealously try to possess me, but to each their own), and he would foolishly leak me their insecurities. Such information would make manipulating them so much easier. It would be as though a merciful angel came to swoop them and whisk them away to paradise.

What's more, his friends, curious of the girl that occupied his mind so, naturally began to flock to me. I wouldn't even need to engineer scenarios to meet them. They would do it for me.

The only annoyance was that I had to make sure to keep our dalliances private. It would not do to inspire the ire of the other girls before all of the boys were properly ensnared. While the boys were currently more likely to protect me, it only took a reasonable mind intruding the thoughts of one of the boys to potentially cause all my work to come toppling down.

Speaking of trying the to keep my dalliances private, I may need to be a bit more aggressive in putting the boys under my thrall. The spelunking class would no doubt out my relationship with the boys.

Seeing Julius verbally reprimand his fiancée was a good sign to come. While he had always been at odds with the girl, he had held his tongue prior. His need to protect me so publicly showed how much he needed me.

As I was witnessing the event, I saw out of the corner of my eye a boy venture into the dungeon alone.

"Something caught your eye?" Greg asked as he noticed my attention had drifted from the argument.

"Ah... I just saw a boy go in alone," I said with concern to mask my curiosity. The boys were the jealous type and would clamp down on any information pertaining to other boys.

Taking a quick look, a look of recognition dawned on his face.

"That's probably that solo adventurer. He'll be fine."

He was trying to assuage my 'worries', but I noticed how he tried to put a closer on the conversation. Perhaps this boy would be worth learning more about.

"Solo adventurer? Like how you are a rookie adventurer?" I said to dig for more information.

At this age look of discomfort spread across his face. It was enough to tell me that he felt conscientious. Knowing him, I could tell he felt inferior. It meant this boy had talent, and he could possibly be worth acquiring.

But that was for a later date, I needed to reassure Greg he wasn't replaceable.

A simple brush of our fingers should be enough to instill some confidence and magic to get him under control again.

AN:

1) Tried my hand at making a villainess Olivia. It just never felt quite right. I think writing low-level acts such as being a home wrecker just doesn't feel evil unless it's personal. It's not like Villainous Villainess in which lack of personal investment makes someone feel more evil due to the scale of the act.

2) Honestly, Olivia may as well just be canon Marie in this current rendition, probably what the author was getting at in canon. If I were to ever to try to pick this up again, I think I would change the motivation from trying to live the easy life to something like bringing about the retribution her ancestor desired.

3) All in all, I think this was pretty weak attempt for me, but it holds enough merit to at least have it saved somewhere for future reminder to myself on what didn't work should I reattempt this. I do think writing an evil Olivia would make an interesting story if written properly.