Paradox Odyssey - The Villainess NPC Won't Give Away Anything for Free

Synopsis

I am a bad woman. A deep‑water backstabbing NPC villainess. I keep up a harmless, innocent facade. I set the mood, steer the rhythm, fabricate emotions, and toy with people’s hearts – playing foolish tourists right into my palm... until I met her.

Among all the protagonists I have ever encountered, she alone occupies a higher echelon of existence. If it weren’t for her overly sublime and immaculate moral code – which happens to be precisely countered by my despicable cunning – she would never have lost herself on this stage.

...Wait. Something is off.

I was already getting bored and planned to go easy on her, to let her clear the game – so why did she still sacrifice herself for me? And what was that look in her final glance back? Could it be... that it wasn’t me who repeatedly betrayed her, but rather she, unwilling to part with me, deliberately allowed herself to be betrayed by me, time and time again?

The one who truly folded in an instant... has always been me?