The Abandoned Villainess Decides to Take It All Chapter 28

Chapter 28

There had originally been three reasons for coming to the Temple of Aeterna.

First, to make contact with the princess of Tenevrin.
Second, to measure her exact ability rank.
And lastly—

To determine her precise compatibility with the villain.

Compatibility mattered.

Depending on it, the amount of power an esper could safely output changed drastically.
In an emergency, the difference could be life or death.

If we went as far as imprinting, I should at least know the exact number.

The relic stood in the center of the chamber.

A holy scale filled with consecrated water.

When a single drop of blood from the controller and esper was placed on opposite sides, the artifact activated—drawing deeply on divine power.

That was why it could only be used after the matter with the princess had been resolved.

A priest addressed Lillian, her face hidden beneath a black veil.

“Controller, everything is prepared.”

“Thank you.”

“With one drop of blood, you may test compatibility with multiple individuals. Please proceed at your leisure.”

Oh.

That’s convenient.

“One thing to note,” the priest added.
“In early attempts, values may fluctuate.”

“…Understood.”

Then I should test with others first.

She lifted her head and scanned the room.

Her gaze met Jeanne’s first.

“With Sir Jeanne.”

A droplet fell.

Light rippled across the scale.

80

“…! I’m honored, my lady.”

Jeanne’s face flushed at once.

Eighty.

Anything above sixty was considered usable.
Eighty was exceptional.

The Shadows exchanged glances—

and immediately formed a line.

“M–me next!”
“No cutting!”
“Hey, form a line!”

They lined up with military precision.

…They’re kind of adorable.

Under that lord, how did they turn out like this?

“Eighty!”
“Eighty-five.”
“Seventy-five…!”

One after another, numbers well above average appeared.

Lillian frowned slightly.

Higher rank improves control quality, yes—

but this many, clustered around eighty?

Is it the infinity symbol…?

Is my control distributing evenly across everyone?

“Sir Elias?” she offered. “Would you like to try?”

“…Yes, my la—”

Elias stepped forward—then abruptly stopped.

He glanced behind Lillian.

“…No. Thank you. I’ll pass.”

“Really?”

Well. Someone like Elias probably already had a controller he matched well with.

It had been a courtesy anyway.

Because the one who actually mattered—

“Shouldn’t the results be stable by now?”

—was standing directly behind her.

She sighed inwardly.

Can’t avoid it.

They’d already imprinted. It wouldn’t be disastrous.

Since she was the limiting factor, a perfect score was unlikely—but still.

A single drop of Ebren’s blood fell into the opposite side of the scale.

Plop.

The air froze.

The chatter vanished.

Seconds stretched unbearably long.

Lillian leaned closer.

“…?”

What?

That wasn’t—

When the compatibility test ended—

The Shadows stood rigid at attention.

They waited for Jeanne to return from checking on Lillian.

The moment she appeared, they surrounded her.

“How is she?”
“Is she okay?”

Jeanne shook her head.

Bad.

“She looks… really dejected.”

A collective groan rippled through them.

“Haah…”
“Oh Creator…”
“Sixty? Of all numbers?”

Sixty.

That was the compatibility score between Lillian and Ebren.

With everyone else, she’d scored above eighty.

With him—

“…Will Lady Lillian be alright…?”

Oddly, no one worried about Ebren.

Their lord was overwhelming by nature.
Whatever the number, he’d endure.

But Lillian?

The woman chased down by her cousin.
Mocked by her family’s knights.
Abandoned and discarded.

Then one Shadow muttered darkly,

“…I once overheard Sir Elias.”

“Heard what?”

“That Lady Lillian lost her will to live because her fiancé was fooling around with Iris Tillard.”

Gasps followed.

So the reckless wandering.
The casual dumping of precious pepper.

It all made sense.

“That Favil bastard!”
“May divine lightning strike him dead!”
“The Tillards are filth!”

Hatred multiplied quickly.

And as it grew, so did their protectiveness.

“His Highness won’t… discard her, right?”

“…I don’t know.”

No one understood what their lord was thinking.

Even if she’d stopped his rampage—how much did he value her, really?

Margaret quietly carried a meal to Lillian’s room.

Lillian sat on the bed, back turned.

“My lady… I brought your meal.”

“….”

Margaret hesitated, then stepped closer.

She’d been terrified earlier—forced into push-ups beneath that serene smile.

I judged her by her appearance.

“That’s Tillard training. I organized those records myself.”

Even Margaret—A-rank, chief controller—had never done that.

I was careless.

“My lady,” Margaret whispered,
“please don’t take the compatibility result too hard.”

“….”

“The others don’t mind. And neither do we…”

“….”

“And His Highness—”

She wanted to say he didn’t look disappointed.

That something strange had passed through the room when the number appeared.

But she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Romance was… mortifying.

She placed the tray down hurriedly.

“P–please eat and rest. You’ll be departing soon.”

“….”

She fled.

Lillian finally lifted her head.

…Someone was here?

Margaret? Jeanne?

She’d been too busy not laughing.

Oh Creator—

For once, you actually listened?!

Now she understood why sixty was treasured in her past life.

Balanced. Stable. Safe.

From today on, my favorite number is sixty.

She’d expected around seventy, given she’d stopped his rampage—

but sixty?

Perfect.

“Eh. Whatever.”

This was more than enough to sever the imprint cleanly and leave safely.

“Oh—food?”

She smiled.

“Hehe. This is delicious.”

She slept wonderfully that night.

Ebren, however—

did not close his eyes once.