The Abandoned Villainess Decides to Take It All Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Snow and Butterflies

Ebren let out a bitter smile.

For some reason, the image of Prince Kyle Tarandia—the Second Prince lounging back in the imperial palace—came to mind.

Kyle had more refinement, sure—but when it came to being irritating, they were cut from the same cloth.

Ebren glanced sideways at the knights supporting Lillian as they followed behind him.

She was a mess.

Thump. Thump…

From his chest came the sound of hell’s drums, beating without pause.

Ramio Tillard.

How should I break him to make it entertaining?

Shadows flickered in Ebren’s darkened eyes.

The power of erasure stirred dangerously within him.

He tried to break what belongs to us first.
Let’s see how far a human can be ruined.
You’ve never tried it on a human before, have you?

No matter how battered his body became, Ebren had never yielded to that voice.

Wasn’t submitting to an unseen thing ridiculous?

“…Shall we?”

Up until this very moment, that had been true.

The power rejoiced.

Perfect!
I’ve waited so long for something I’m allowed to destroy!
Live according to your nature, Ebren Tarandia.
And breaking things—feels good.

Thump.

The drums of hell thundered again.

“…Ah.”

The rampage erupted.

From the spot where he stood, a blinding white space expanded outward.

Trees collapsed instantly, crumbling into fine, snow-like powder.

A hell without a single speck of dust.

Ebren smiled in satisfaction.

So easy, once you hit bottom.

All that pointless resistance—

How should I play with this one?

He calculated coldly, considering the life caught in his grasp.

Then—

Something flickered before his eyes.

A shimmering illusion, like a pale pink butterfly.

What is this?

He reached out with both hands, enclosing the image.

The butterfly scattered a clear, sweet, translucent scent.

The rampaging power hesitated.

When had it been saying it wanted to destroy this scent so badly?

The white-washed world slowly came back into focus.

And when Ebren opened his eyes—

He was gripping the arms of a pink-haired woman.

“Your Highness… the prince.”

“…Tillard?”

Lillian was in his grasp.

Ramio lay sprawled on the ground.

The world that had been turning white returned to normal.

Lillian was panting, grinding her teeth.

“If you kill my brother… here… Ramio Tillard…”

Her legs gave out.

She slid down weakly.

“Who do you think is going to clean up that mess…?”

“Wait—hey.”

Ebren hurriedly caught her.

Her body burned like fire.

“Your Highness… I…”

“Tillard—your eyes—”

“I’m just going to pass out now.”

The moment she finished speaking, Lillian closed her eyes.

A few hours later.

Ramio, along with the unconscious Tillard knights, were all bound.

They were gathered in the center of the camp, and a memory-erasing spell was cast.

“Trash.”

Spitting sounds echoed here and there.

They came from the Shadows.

The one who received the most saliva was Ramio.

“Did you hear the crap he was saying?”
“Never seen someone with such a gap between their outside and inside.”
“As expected—hypocritical Tillard bastard.”
“No wonder even the estate knights are trash.”

Ramio Tillard had an excellent reputation.

Cheerful. Refined. Popular with both ladies and gentlemen.

He was even known for being kind to Lillian.

“Honestly, my sister Lillian is quite pitiful. Even if she lacks ability, she could try a bit harder.”

Which only made Lillian Tillard stand out more as the stain on the family.

However—

Through Ramio’s communication artifact, the Shadows had overheard some of the conversations.

“Have you lost your mind running around outside? Get over here, now!”
“Why? So you can make me your maid again? Isn’t the only reason you came because your own work piled up?”
“Nice to see this monster again, right? It really likes you, noona.”

The Creator God had given espers their powers to hunt monsters.

These days, some summoned monsters for illicit entertainment in the shadows.

But an imperial knight doing this—

And using it on his own blood—

Was beyond the pale.

If the youngest in the family is like this…

Didn’t that mean the eldest brother, Kuern, and Iris were complicit?

Even the family’s knights had shown no hesitation in humiliating her.

Elias folded his arms and muttered,

“…So she said it was running away.”

When he’d heard it while guarding the prince, he’d scoffed internally.

How desperate for attention do you have to be to pull something this reckless?

But that wasn’t it.

Perhaps—truly—

Running away was just an excuse…
Was she actually trying to die?

The thought of Lillian’s chilling resolve sent a shiver down his spine.

But—

His Highness’s rampage has calmed.

He hadn’t suddenly learned control.

That was impossible for the power of erasure.

Which meant—

“…Is this because of Lillian Tillard?”

That woman, still burning with fever inside the tent.

Inside the tent used by the prince’s party.

The physician who had accompanied them examined Lillian once more.

“It appears to be awakening fever.”

“You’re not telling me something I don’t know.”

“M-my apologies, Your Highness.”

The prince’s rampage had subsided.

Though he hadn’t shown it, the damage inside him had been restored.

And yet—there was no time to relax.

Ebren listened quietly to the sounds leaking from the adjacent tent, separated by a curtain.

Painful, gasping moans kept breaking through.

Awakening fever.

Literally—the fever one experienced when an esper or controller awakened their power.

It usually happened around the age of three or four, passing like a mild cold.

But—

“Isn’t Tillard far past the age to experience awakening fever? And it’s not normally this severe.”

“She was powerless for a very long time.”

The fever she should have experienced in childhood had remained compressed—only to explode now.

Naturally, the backlash would be severe.

“…Is something like that actually possible?”

“Extremely rare, but cases like this do occur once every few decades, Your Highness.”

The physician narrowed his eyes at Ebren’s expression.

How astonishing.

He had served the First Prince for a long time.

Ebren was never cruel to subordinates—but utterly indifferent.

Getting too close always provoked the destructive power.

But… was he always this close to Lillian Tillard?

There was no time to dwell on that.

“Your Highness, we’ll arrange for female espers to provide care.”

Awakening fever was caused by excessive power.

An esper could absorb and stabilize it through contact.

But allowing contact from the opposite sex without consent was unacceptable.

“Do so.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The physician was relieved.

Ebren’s condition after the rampage was far better than expected.

He’s always suffered because of that destructive power…

It was certain that the conflicting voices had finally gone silent.

After responding, Ebren stood quietly, staring at the tent flap behind which Lillian lay.

Contrary to the physician’s belief, the voice of power had not disappeared.

It had become one with him.

The faint red spiderweb pattern glimmered—

Then vanished.