Why Did I Reincarnate as the Heroine When I Wanted to Be a Villainess?

Chapter 25: The Worst Travel Plan in History

The messenger looked like he was about to faint.

"Lady Seraphina."

"No."

"I haven’t even said anything."

"You were going to."

"That’s how conversations work."

"Not today."

The poor man turned toward Kael.

"Please help."

Kael looked away.

Traitor.

No.

Actually loyal.

Just to the wrong person.

"You can’t simply disappear," the messenger tried again.

"Watch me."

"Your family is worried."

"I’ll send a letter."

"The Crown Prince is worried."

"I won’t send him a letter."

"That’s not helping."

"I know."

The messenger looked ready to cry.

Seraphina felt slightly bad.

Very slightly.

About three percent bad.

Maybe two.

She folded the letter and handed it back.

"I appreciate the concern."

The messenger looked hopeful.

Then she continued.

"I’m still leaving."

The hope died immediately.

Kael stood.

"We should go."

"Excellent idea."

The messenger looked horrified.

"You’re encouraging her."

"No."

"Then stop her."

"I’ve known her too long."

"That’s not an answer."

"It is."

Ten minutes later they were walking down a mountain road.

The messenger stayed behind.

Mostly because he realized chasing Seraphina across an entire continent would probably shorten his lifespan.

A wise decision.

For the first time in days, there was no one around them.

No guards.

No researchers.

No secret organizations.

No political discussions.

Just a road.

Trees.

And freedom.

Seraphina stretched her arms.

"This is nice."

"You’ve said that six times."

"It keeps being true."

A gentle breeze moved through the forest.

Birds chirped overhead.

The atmosphere felt peaceful.

Almost suspiciously peaceful.

"I don’t trust it."

Kael wasn’t surprised.

"What now?"

"It’s too quiet."

"We complained when it was loud."

"Yes."

"And now we’re complaining because it’s quiet."

"Correct."

Kael kept walking.

At this point arguing felt unnecessary.

Hours passed.

The mountain roads gradually became wider.

Signs of civilization appeared.

A distant farm.

A small bridge.

An abandoned cart.

Normal things.

Wonderful things.

Things that didn’t explode.

Seraphina pointed at the cart.

"Can we steal it?"

"No."

"Borrow it permanently?"

"No."

"Acquire it unexpectedly?"

"No."

"You’re no fun."

The road curved around a hill.

Then both of them stopped.

Ahead stood a small town.

Nothing special.

Just a normal town.

Stone buildings.

Wooden signs.

Market stalls.

People walking around.

Children playing.

Completely ordinary.

Seraphina stared.

Then pointed.

"Look."

Kael waited.

"Nobody knows who we are."

"...Yes."

"Nobody is chasing us."

"Yes."

"Nobody wants to marry me."

Kael considered that.

"Probably don’t say that yet."

A minute later they entered the town.

Everything immediately went wrong.

A merchant walked past.

Stopped.

Turned around.

Looked directly at Seraphina.

"Oh."

Seraphina frowned.

She knew that tone.

The merchant pointed.

"You’re beautiful."

Silence.

Seraphina looked at Kael.

Kael looked at Seraphina.

"See?"

"What?"

"It started already."

The merchant looked confused.

"I was giving a compliment."

"That’s how it begins."

"What begins?"

"Problems."

Before the merchant could answer, Seraphina grabbed Kael’s sleeve and dragged him away.

The merchant watched them leave.

Deeply confused.

Reasonable.

They eventually found a small inn near the center of town.

The building looked normal.

Safe.

Peaceful.

Most importantly—

Affordable.

"We’re staying here."

Kael nodded.

Good.

Agreement.

Rare.

The innkeeper smiled as they entered.

"Welcome."

"One room."

The words came out of Seraphina’s mouth automatically.

Then she froze.

The innkeeper froze.

Kael froze.

A long silence followed.

Seraphina slowly turned toward Kael.

"I can explain."

"No."

"I was trying to save money."

"You panicked."

"I panicked."

The innkeeper was trying very hard not to laugh.

Eventually they got two rooms.

Unfortunately.

Because now Seraphina had to pay twice.

A tragedy.

After dropping off their things, they headed downstairs.

The common room was busy.

Travelers filled most of the tables.

Conversations mixed together.

Laughter echoed through the room.

For the first time in a while, everything felt normal.

Then Seraphina noticed a notice board.

That was a mistake.

She walked over.

Read the first paper.

Then the second.

Then the third.

Her expression slowly changed.

Kael immediately noticed.

That expression never led anywhere good.

"What is it?"

Seraphina pointed at the board.

"Rewards."

"Yes."

"Rewards for information."

Kael walked over.

Read the papers.

Then sighed.

One poster contained a sketch of Seraphina.

Another contained a sketch of Kael.

Both sketches were terrible.

"Do I look like that?"

"No."

"Good."

She pointed at her poster.

"My nose isn’t even shaped like that."

Kael ignored the important issue.

"The reward is high."

Seraphina looked offended.

"Why is mine higher?"

"Because you’re the noble."

"I feel targeted."

Someone suddenly spoke behind them.

"I thought that sketch looked familiar."

Both froze.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

They turned around.

A young woman stood there holding a drink.

Dark hair.

Sharp eyes.

A confident smile.

And unfortunately—

She was looking directly at them.

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting."

Seraphina immediately pointed.

"No."

"What?"

"Don’t say that."

The woman blinked.

"You don’t even know what I was going to say."

"I’ve had a bad week."

The woman blinked.

Then looked between them.

Then looked at the poster again.

Then back at them.

"That was a very specific reaction."

Seraphina immediately pointed at the poster.

"To be fair, that sketch is insulting."

The woman glanced at it.

"It is pretty bad."

"Thank you."

"The nose is wrong."

"THANK YOU."

For some reason, Seraphina looked genuinely relieved.

Finally.

Someone with standards.

The woman took a sip from her drink.

"So you’re not going to explain why you reacted like that?"

"No."

"Interesting."

"No."

The woman laughed.

"I wasn’t even saying anything suspicious."

"You used the word." ƒreewebɳovel.com

"What word?"

"Interesting."

The woman looked confused.

"That’s a normal word."

"Not in my life."

Kael quietly stepped between them.

Not aggressively.

Just enough to block the conversation if necessary.

The woman noticed immediately.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Not in anger.

More like curiosity.

"Protective."

"No."

"You’re literally standing between us."

"I’m standing."

"Conveniently."

Seraphina looked at Kael.

Then at the woman.

Then at Kael again.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I support this."

"I didn’t ask."

"You never do."

The woman laughed again.

Honestly, she laughed way too much.

That was becoming suspicious.

People who laughed that much were either very friendly or completely insane.

Seraphina had enough experience to know there wasn’t always a difference.

The woman extended her hand.

"I’m Lyra."

Neither of them shook it.

A painful silence followed.

Eventually Lyra lowered her hand.

"Well that was embarrassing."

"Stranger danger," Seraphina explained.

"We’re about the same age."

"Experienced stranger danger."

"That’s not better."

"It is to me."

Lyra stared for a second.

Then nodded.

"Fair enough."

Surprisingly, she didn’t seem offended.

Which immediately made Seraphina trust her less.

Normal people got offended.

This girl adapted too quickly.

Dangerous.

Very dangerous.

Lyra glanced toward the posters again.

"Those rewards are pretty high."

"Unfortunately."

"You know the people in them?"

"No."

"Really?"

"No."

Lyra looked at Seraphina.

Then at the poster.

Then back at Seraphina.

"You’re a terrible liar."

"Thank you."

"That wasn’t a compliment."

"Still counts."

Kael turned around.

"We’re leaving."

Excellent idea.

The longer they stayed near those posters, the higher the chance someone recognized them.

Unfortunately, fate apparently hated them.

A loud voice suddenly echoed from the opposite side of the room.

"WAIT."

Everyone froze.

A man sprinted toward the notice board.

Nearly tripped over a chair.

Recovered somehow.

Then slammed both hands against the wall.

His eyes widened.

"Oh my god."

Seraphina immediately started walking faster.

Nope.

Not her problem.

Absolutely not.

"Oh my god!"

Still not her problem.

"OH MY GOD!"

Definitely her problem.

The man pointed at the poster.

Then at Seraphina.

Then at the poster again.

The room slowly fell silent.

One by one, people looked up.

Toward the poster.

Toward Seraphina.

Toward the poster.

Toward Seraphina.

Seraphina smiled nervously.

"Good evening."

Nobody answered.

"Wonderful weather we’re having."

Still nothing.

Kael sighed.

The sigh of a man whose peaceful day had just ended.

Again.

The man at the notice board suddenly gasped.

"YOU’RE HER."

"No."

"You literally look exactly like the sketch."

"Have you seen the sketch?"

The man paused.

Then looked at the sketch.

Then at Seraphina.

Then back at the sketch.

"Actually the sketch is worse."

"THANK YOU."

That wasn’t the important part.

Nobody focused on the important part.

The innkeeper slowly emerged from behind the counter.

"That’s a lot of money."

Seraphina immediately pointed at him.

"Don’t."

"Don’t what?"

"Become financially motivated."

The innkeeper looked tempted.

A betrayal.

Meanwhile Lyra looked like she was having the time of her life.

"Well," she said.

"This is entertaining." freёweɓnovel.com

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Definitely yes."

The room became increasingly awkward.

Then suddenly—

A little girl walked up to the poster.

Studied it carefully.

Then looked at Seraphina.

Then back at the poster.

Then she frowned.

"That’s not her."

Everyone paused.

The little girl pointed confidently.

"The hair is wrong."

Silence.

Then the room exploded into arguments.

"The hair does look wrong."

"Now that I think about it—"

"The eyes are different too."

"The artist wasn’t very good."

"The nose is definitely wrong."

Within seconds, the entire room was criticizing the sketch.

Seraphina stared.

Then slowly looked at the little girl.

The little girl smiled proudly.

A hero.

An actual hero.

The reward hunters were now debating artistic quality instead of identifying her.

Incredible.

Absolutely incredible.

Kael leaned closer.

"We should leave."

"Agreed."

For once, there was no argument.

No joke.

No complaint.

Just agreement.

That alone proved how serious the situation was.

They quietly moved toward the door while everyone continued arguing.

Lyra noticed.

Unfortunately.

"Leaving already?"

"Yes."

"You seem fun."

"That’s what causes most of my problems."

"I believe that."

Before Seraphina could respond, Lyra tossed something through the air.

Instinctively, Kael caught it.

A small metal token.

He frowned.

"What is this?"

Lyra smiled.

"If you’re planning to disappear, you’ll need information."

Seraphina immediately became suspicious.

"Why?"

"Because disappearing is harder than people think."

That was a very concerning sentence.

"How do you know that?"

Lyra simply raised her drink.

"Professional experience."

That answer somehow created even more questions.

And before Seraphina could ask any of them, Lyra waved casually.

"See you around."

That sounded suspiciously like the kind of sentence that guaranteed future problems.