Yandere Instruction Manual: My Wife is World Ending Calamity!

Chapter 57: [Bonus 4] Seles Wanted a Pawn. I Needed a Mark.

Seles walked through the hallways of the First-Year Building, her expression as sweet and cheerful as ever but in reality, she had already finished judging nearly half of her classmates.

She had already decided, who was talented enough to befriend, who was annoying enough to turn into an enemy and who was intelligent enough to be left alone.

Her brother, the golden child of the Holy Empire, Aurelion, was already held back by a crowd of fan-girls. As the Crown Prince, he naturally attracted attention wherever he went, overshadowing her existence without even trying.

Although she never allowed a trace of that resentment to show on her face, deep down, she hated her brother with a passion.

She wouldn’t flinch even slightly if she could somehow kill him without being found out because to her he was an insufferable and overly optimistic fool who had made her feel insignificant ever since they were children.

From the moment they awakened, their fates had been decided.

He would inherit the throne and become the ruler of the Holy Empire and she would be married off to some influential noble to strengthen political alliances.

She hated that fate.

Just because her Talent wasn’t as extraordinary as her brother’s, she was cast aside.

But she knew better than anyone that in a direct fight for succession, she stood no chance against him. So instead, she chose a different battlefield.

She schemed, manipulated and quietly built a faction of useful fools willing to dance to her tune but even then, she wasn’t satisfied because most of her followers were nothing more than insignificant young noble brats with no influence or real value.

Then, she learned about one particular boy.

Zenith von Ruinbringer.

The son of Duke Ruinbringer and the late Cardinal of the Church of Love and Passion, a boy who was completely oblivious to the value of his own background.

He possessed enough political influence that even the Holy Empire was forced to grant him a formal trial for a crime that would have gotten any ordinary noble executed without even a chance to defend themselves.

From everything she had learned, he was a broken young man who never truly recovered from his mother’s death and acted rebellious with everyone.

Which was exactly what made him useful to her because healing a broken man was something she found exhilarating.

Not to mention the loyalty that simple act would bring. So, her plan had been simple.

She would play the role of a classic tsundere and turn herself into someone who constantly argued with him using the incident involving the Queen’s undergarments as the perfect excuse and eventually, that hatred would become understanding and that understanding would become affection.

She had read enough romance novels to know that boys loved winning over girls who initially misunderstood them.

It should have worked but instead, that damned boy turned the entire situation against her with just a few sentences and only then did she realize the truth.

She wasn’t dealing with another arrogant noble, she was facing someone eerily similar to herself, someone who hid his true self behind a carefully crafted mask.

But then, that boy defied her expectations once again by openly challenging Maximus, a man who held considerable authority within the closed hierarchy of the Arcanum.

And if that wasn’t enough, he had deliberately chosen to sit beside the lone commoner, even when it was obvious she was already becoming the target of every noble’s resentment.

None of it made any sense.

Did I misunderstood him?

Was he simply a reckless fool who had no idea what he was doing?

Or...

Was he planning something deeper than what I could see?

Countless questions echoed in her mind without a proper answer.

"What are you planning...?"

The question escaped her lips in the form as she stepped out of the building onto the sprawling academy grounds.

Students walked across the campus streets. Some were wandering in carefully formed groups while others had already started introducing themselves and building connections and despite it being only the very first day, a few couples had somehow already formed, talking to one another in embarrassingly sweet voices.

Watching them, Seles couldn’t help but wonder...

What would it be like to live like one of those fools?

She truly wondered how it felt to have no grand ambitions, no crushing expectations and no endless calculations.

For just a single moment, she envied those students and their ever so oblivious nature but she knew better.

She knew she could never become someone like that because her very soul was shaped by her ambitions ever since childhood and to abandon thode ambitions now would be no different from abandoning herself.

She slowly lifted her gaze toward the endless sky as a quiet sigh escaped her lips.

One day, I will become strong enough that I won’t need anyone’s approval and strong enough... to kill you, Father.

The thought had barely crossed her mind when someone crashed into her shoulder with enough force to stumble sideways.

Her expression changed instantly as a sweet and innocent smile replaced the irritation that had almost surfaced. Even though she wanted nothing more than to curse the blind bastard who had bumped into her, she apologized first.

"Ah... I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have stopped in the middle of the path. Are you alright?"

She extended a hand to help him up and then her eyes widened because the one sprawled on the ground was a white-haired boy with calm blue eyes.

Zenith von Ruinbringer.

"Thanks for the help, Princess."

He accepted her hand with an easy smile and the instant their hands met, something stirred within her.

Her heart thumped violently as mana surged uncontrollably through her body and even her soul trembled ever so slightly.

What... is happening?

Why am I reacting like this?

She couldn’t understand the reason behind those strange reactions. Before she could make sense of any of it, the boy had already climbed back to his feet.

He didn’t let go of her hand immediately. Instead, he thanked her once more before finally releasing it and apologizing for bumping into her.

Seles remained where she stood, silently watching his retreating figure as only one conclusion echoed through her mind.

The academy’s strange atmosphere must be getting to me.

***

Meanwhile, as Zenith walked back toward his dormitory, a satisfied smile spread across his face while he looked at the status window floating before him.

[Mark of the Usurper Successfully Placed.]

[Target: Seles Divus Auremont]

[Conditions Required to Engrave the Target’s True Name Are Being Revealed...]