Villainess X Villain: They are obsessed with each other!

Chapter 297: Chapter: 296 Carelessness.

The day of the duel had finally arrived.

With only a single month remaining before the Grand Tournament, there was no longer enough time to spread the city’s highest-ranking matches across several weeks as they normally would.

The winners would need sufficient time to recover, reorganize their affairs, and travel toward the Grand Tournament venue.

While physical injuries could be healed almost instantly through advanced healing spells and precious medicines, wounds of the mind were a different matter entirely.

Mental exhaustion, damaged souls, and shattered concentration required time that no spell could completely replace.

Because of that, the organizers had made an unusual decision. The two most important ranking battles the city had witnessed in decades would both be held on the same day.

The first duel would determine the second and third ranks.

The second duel would decide the first and fourth.

Naturally, Kavin’s battle came first.

Originally, he had intended to challenge the first-ranked spell caster himself.

However, after discussing it with Jasmine during their seclusion, she had confidently claimed that she possessed a natural advantage against the first rank and insisted on taking that battle instead.

Since defeating either opponent ultimately led to the same result, Kavin had simply shrugged and left the matter to her.

Which meant...

His opponent today would be the city’s second strongest spell caster.

Lyra.

An Ice Path spell caster.

And more importantly...someone who had successfully survived the Second Heavenly Trial.

”...This is going to be tough.”

Kavin muttered quietly while sitting inside the waiting room reserved for challengers.

Unlike the deafening cheers echoing from the arena outside, the room itself remained almost unnaturally silent. Only two people occupied it.

Kavin and Jasmine.

Seated only a short distance away, Jasmine held an open book with both hands.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t one of the fantasy novels, adventure stories, or romance books she usually spent hours reading whenever she had free time. The thick cover bore an unusually serious title.

Psychological Analysis of Modern Zlycons.

The author’s name, Ganji, was printed beneath it.

From the brief glance Kavin had taken earlier, the book appeared to analyze the mentality of the Zlycon race, discussing their values, emotional tendencies, social structures, and behavioral patterns.

Several Chapters even compared humans and Zlycons directly, presenting arguments for why the latter possessed superior discipline, family loyalty, and societal unity.

”...Some of it is true, I guess.”

Kavin murmured absentmindedly.

Curious, he slowly walked over before taking a seat beside her.

She didn’t react.

Her eyes remained completely fixed on the pages before her.

She didn’t blink nor did she shift.

She didn’t even seem to notice that someone had sat directly beside her.

Kavin couldn’t help raising an eyebrow.

Was this book really that interesting?

He had never once seen Jasmine become so absorbed and lost in reading, not even when she found an exceptionally good novel.

What exactly had captured her attention to such an extent?

Unable to suppress his curiosity any longer, he leaned over ever so slightly, intending to peek at the page she was reading.

The very next second...

His eyes widened until they resembled dinner plates.

The color instantly drained from his face.

”...What...”

For several long seconds, his brain completely stopped functioning.

The thing Jasmine was staring at...wasn’t a psychology book.

In fact...

It wasn’t even a book anymore. Hidden perfectly beneath the hard cover was a thin magical album, its pages disguised to resemble ordinary paper.

Rather than reading text, Jasmine had been quietly scrolling through photographs one after another.

Only now did Kavin notice the faint blush spreading across her cheeks. Her lips trembled ever so slightly.

Her breathing had become subtly uneven.

”...No way.”

His gaze slowly lowered toward the image currently displayed.

It was...him...or rather...Julius.

The photographs had been taken years ago during the Hayes Family’s trip to the beach.

Back then, Julius had been forced by her to pose for several pictures despite repeatedly complaining about it.

Wearing nothing except a pair of swimming shorts, his well-built physique had been captured from every possible angle while he reluctantly obeyed Rosalina’s endless requests to smile, turn, or flex.

And somehow...she had brought the entire album with her. A bead of cold sweat slowly rolled down Kavin’s forehead.

His expression became increasingly horrified.

”...How stupid are you...”

His mind nearly exploded.

They had gone through enormous lengths to hide their identities. They had changed their appearances, abandoned their real names, altered their mannerisms, and spent months making sure nobody could connect Kavin and Jasmine to Julius and Rosalina.

Yet this woman...had brought undeniable evidence proving they were humans.

Not only that...

She was shamelessly looking through those photographs in a public waiting area.

Under the disguise of a psychology book.

”...That’s why I was wondering how you suddenly became interested in something meaningful.”

Kavin muttered through clenched teeth, feeling an overwhelming urge to smack his own forehead.

”Rose.”

He deliberately called her by her real name.

Jasmine finally frowned before slowly lifting her head.

”W-What?”

The moment she spoke, a tiny strand of drool escaped the corner of her lips before falling onto the page.

Her eyes widened.

She hurriedly wiped it away with her sleeve before glancing around in panic, hoping nobody had noticed.

Unfortunately...it was already far too late.

”Are you an idiot?”

Kavin hissed.

”How many times have I told you not to be careless?” He pointed directly at the disguised album.

”And what exactly are you reading?”

Jasmine visibly flinched. For a brief moment, guilt flashed across her face.

However, only for a brief moment.

Almost immediately, her expression returned to its usual calm composure.

”This?” She casually lifted the disguised album.

”It’s a book about Zlycon psychology.”

Her tone remained perfectly serious.

”It explains how their emotions change under different circumstances, why they work so hard for their families, and contains several valuable philosophies about life.”

She nodded once, looking completely convinced by her own explanation.

Kavin slowly turned toward her.

His eye twitched. He ground his teeth together before speaking in an almost painfully calm voice.

”...Does your psychology book also include half-naked pictures of me as practical examples?”