[Villains, by nature, exist to highlight the protagonist.]
[They are his shadow, his opposite, an instrument of conflict created to highlight the protagonist's strengths.]
[No matter how charming the main character is, if nothing important happens around him, the reader will lose interest. Therefore, Adaline decided that if she was destined to be a villain, she would play this role to the end.]
[Female lead - Saint Genevieve.]
[Ah, the villainess is the complete opposite of her.]
[Opposite in character, origin, abilities. Even the external similarity between them is not an advantage, but a dramatic device that emphasizes how different their inner worlds are.]
[If the story had developed according to the script, Adaline would have appeared as someone who, being surrounded by everything, did not receive the most important thing - love, and because of this she committed murder. The saint is from the common people, but the villain has everything: power, wealth, origin. Their forces are opposite, their goals are incompatible.]
[And what about the environment of the villain that Adaline is now looking for?]
[The simplest logic dictated that the enemy should be someone who stands in direct opposition to Shane.]
[If so, then maybe...Lusian?] - a thought flashed.
[If Lucian had not been an obvious ally of the Saint, Adaline would have suspected him long ago. He is a noble native of Windsor, the opposite of Shane in position. But he is not a magician.]
[It was worth looking for the enemy among the local nobility. Not rich and influential, like Shane, but poor, unprincipled, resourceful. Someone who looks unremarkable, but is capable of great things.]
[Shane is too powerful - his opposite seems like an insignificant shadow...]
[Perhaps this is someone who dreams of reviving the former glory of the family? Or seeking power and money at any cost.]
[Or maybe just a madman who wants to destroy the whole world.]
[It seems that I have already seen all the faces of the Delmez nobles, those who were in the church during the attack.]
[Most are older couples. Through Lucian and Jeff's connections, they checked everyone - nothing. Six young people, four men. Two of them are already married.]
[None of them stood out.]
[If any of them had anything suspicious, it would have come to light by now. She met everyone personally, looked them in the eyes, said hello - nothing.]
[Unless...popularity came unexpectedly. A nice side effect.]
[But today I met everyone Jeff put on his list of suspected magicians. There are no more suspects. So what now?]
[Genevieve has already been attacked twice. The magician was somewhere nearby.]
[He knew that the Saint could instantly purify the possessed, and would certainly not wait for a third time. She was getting closer to danger.]
[Leave everything as is?]
[Don't think you can touch Genevieve...]
Adaline walked around everyone. [Did everything I could.]
[Sometimes she wanted to become the Saint’s maid of honor and never leave her side. But panic doesn’t help matters.]
[Now is the time to wait.]
[Wait for the magician to make a new mistake. When it leaves a mark.]
[As long as Prince Edwin is around, everything should be fine...]
But Adaline underestimated one thing: the life of the main character is a funnel of events.
Everything happens around her. All accidents are not accidental. And everything that can go wrong will definitely go wrong.
And it was then, in the very center of the hall, that confusion began.
A faint light appeared on the floor, completing a palm-sized magic circle.
And like a camel going through the eye of a needle, out came a stinking, ugly monster.
“GRRRRAAAAAA!!!” - something roared deafeningly. The air shook with the sound.
Adalyn, who was on the second floor landing where she had gone up to talk to Shane, had a perfect view of how the summoning happened.
[She has never been to places where people do not live. Even during periods of seclusion.]
[This was the first time she had seen the monster.]
And the first thing she thought: [the photographs in the books didn’t lie.]
An almost three-meter giant, muscle mass instead of a body, skin green, shiny, covered with dirt. Two fangs protruded from its mouth, its eyes glowed yellow. He was disgusting.
Shane leaned towards her and whispered:
"It's an ogre, Adaline."
“Ah...I see...Um, why are you here?”
Adaline blinked in surprise, noticing how calmly he watched the panic around him.
“Oh, where should I be?” - he asked calmly.
“Well...you're supposed to save people, or at least give orders...”
Shane took her hand.
“This is what knights and soldiers do.”
There was no trace of excitement on his face.