Why do I keep attracting Villainesses?

Chapter 26.

"Urrgh... what’s going on?" I groaned, the sound of my own voice vibrating painfully through my skull.

My head felt like it had been cracked open and stuffed with hot lead. "The hell... why am I still alive?"

I really didn’t expect to wake up at all.

The last thing I remembered was the crushing weight of the ocean and the sea witch’s fists raining down on me until everything went black.

I figured I’d be shark bait or just another skeleton in her collection by now.

"For someone who narrowly escaped death, to think the first thing you’d do after waking up was ask for it."

A voice came from right next to me.

It was sharp, clear, and had a bit of a bite to it.

As my eyes finally stopped spinning and the world stopped being a blurry mess of colors, I was completely surprised.

My jaw nearly dropped, which hurt my bruised face even more.

"W-What? How are you here?" I muttered.

I was so confused my brain felt like it was tied in knots, because the person sitting right there, looking at me with her arms crossed, was none other than Artria.

I took a second to actually look at where I was. I wasn’t in the dark, scary cave anymore.

Nor out in the open, but was lying back-first on a bed made with comfortable, soft sea plants.

It felt like sleeping on a cloud compared to the jagged stone floor I was used to.

I was in a rocky room that looked clean and safe, with light glowing softly from the walls. Definitely thanks to the help of bioluminescent plants.

"Where am I, and how did I get here?" I asked, trying to push myself up.

’ Crap! Still hurts!’ My ribs screamed in protest, and I slumped back down.

"No ’thank you’? Is that how you treat your saviors?" she said, rolling her eyes.

’Yep... she’s definitely Artria,’ I said to myself. No one else could sound that annoyed while helping someone. It was actually a relief. If she was here, maybe I wasn’t about to be murdered.

Because remembering that sea witch, she seemed so intent on making sure I was no way near Artria no matter what. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Sorry..." I said with a long, tired sigh. I was too weak to even try to be witty back.

"Better," she said, looking satisfied. She sat up a bit straighter before continuing. "Luckily for you, a member of our village chanced upon you while out hunting."

"They were pretty far out near the deep reefs when they saw you."

"We were all surprised when they brought back a shark with them," she went on.

"I mean, usually we stay as far away from your kind as possible. But the moment Garin and I saw that it was you, we were dumbfounded."

"We couldn’t believe you were still breathing after what we saw."

I listened, my mind feeling hazy. I pictured the hunters finding my broken body floating in a cloud of red water. I must have looked like a total mess.

"Some of the villagers were against having a shark in the village," Artria admitted. "Well that’s normal since you’re kind are known to be dangerous."

" But luckily for you, Garin and I vouched for you. After hearing how you saved us from that cursed woman, they decided to help heal your injuries. They even used some of our best medicine on you."

"I see..." I said. I tried to smile, but it felt weird and awkward on my face. My skin felt tight where the wounds were closing up.

Inside my head, a pitiful laugh started to fill my mind.

’After beating me half to death, she just left my body there to rot.’ It was a cold, bitter thought.

To think that the woman I called "Mistress" had abandoned me like that without any hesitation at all.

She didn’t check on me nor did she bring me back, simply throwing me away like trash once she was done venting her anger.

’And here I had a fleeting feeling that she wasn’t what I thought her to be.’ I felt like an idiot for ever thinking there was a shred of kindness in her.

I had actually started to think she was helping me, but the reality was much simpler.

she was nothing but a monster.

At this thought, I couldn’t help shaking my head lightly before letting out a helpless, heavy sigh.

"What’s wrong?" Artria noticed my mood dropping and asked.

She looked at me with a bit of concern, though she tried to hide it behind her tough look.

"It’s nothing," I said. I wasn’t willing to talk about the sea witch or how much it hurt to be discarded like that.

I didn’t want to delve into the mess that was my life right now.

I didn’t know whether she could tell I was hiding something or not, but she stared at me for a long time.

The silence in the room stretched out until she finally let go of the subject and shook her head.

"And might I ask how you ended up in that situation in the first place?" she asked, leaning closer. "You looked like a total mess back then, most of us thought that it was a miracle you were still breathing.

"Hehehe... would you believe me if I said I was just a disobedient servant?" I tried to joke, but my voice was shaky.

"Yes..." she said, looking rather helpless.

’That easily?’ My eyes twitched at her remark. Did she really think so little of me that she just assumed I was some troublemaker who deserved a beating?

I wanted to defend myself, but I didn’t even have the energy.

"I can’t believe she’d do something like that to you!" Artria suddenly said, her voice full of annoyance.

At least she seemed to think the punishment was overkill, even if she thought I was a bad servant. Well, at least it meant she cared enough to be mad about it.