The Abandoned Villainess Decides to Take It All Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Lillian tapped the bracelet lightly with her finger.

“It’s not permanent. Still, it should be fine for monster subjugations.”

“Lady…! You must’ve been busy with the princess’s matter…!”

Jeanne felt her chest tighten.

I’ve never felt this way once in all my years serving my lord…!

Making an artifact wasn’t just about how it looked—you had to carefully design the internal circuits as well.

She spoke as if it were nothing, but this had taken an absurd amount of work.

The Shadows gathered around Jeanne, whispering excitedly.

“She’s a genius. An actual genius.”
“You could sell this immediately.”
“Lucky you, Jeanne.”
“I want one too… I know it’s childish, but I’m jealous!”

Right on cue, Lillian turned to the others and began pulling more items from the box.

“I made as many as I could with the materials at the temple.”

“…!”

The Shadows’ eyes sparkled with emotion.

Moments like this were incredibly rare in their lives.

“Thank you, Lady!”
“We’ll use them well!”

Lillian, unused to such reactions, awkwardly averted her gaze.

“Take what you can for today…”

She turned to Margaret beside her.

“Margaret, these work for controllers too. Go distribute them.”

“Yes…! But does it have a name?”

“Hm? A name?”

“Usually artifacts like this have one.”

“Hmm…”

In the original story, this was called the Spirit Bracelet.

Later, it became one of the Tillard family’s best-selling items.

Great efficiency for the materials—what you’d call a real cash cow.

I designed it, and Iris sold it under her own name.

In Ferenice, family copyrights didn’t exist.

And even if they had, the Tillards would’ve ignored them.

But now things were different.

“It’s silver… so let’s call it Moon’s Blessing.”

Watching them divide the bracelets among themselves, Lillian smiled faintly.

If there’s a succession tournament, there has to be a preliminary round.

Throwing the two heirs directly into battle would be dull, according to public opinion.

So the most popular format was knights fighting knights.

The Favil knights are strong.

With high-grade Tillard controllers backing them, they never fatigued.

But—

I know ways to raise espers’ stats, even if just a little.

Artifacts like this were one such method.

Get stronger…

Stronger.

Stronger so you can crush everyone.

She was smiling darkly to herself, fired up with ambition, when—

The villain ruined the mood.

“Lady. It’s time to eat.”

“…Yeees.”

Dragging her feet, Lillian followed him.

She still couldn’t get used to the sight of him waiting by a camp table with food prepared.

“And eat.”

The mountain of food in front of her…

How did things even end up like this?

Right. Because of that proposal—about holding hands everywhere.

Lillian now practiced holding hands with the villain several times a day.

Then one day—

“You know, your hands are smaller than I expected.”

He remarked on it as if he’d just noticed.

After that, he began seriously interfering with her food portions.

Even when Margaret said she had it under control, he pretended to be deaf.

Lillian did like eating.

It was just that this wasn’t a banquet, and the sheer intimidation of plates piled with meat was overwhelming.

I’m very grateful, obviously. I used to not have enough.

The problem was the person she was eating with.

Please notice that part.

A spider-web sigil appeared.

Was he threatening to destroy it if she left leftovers?

Or fattening her up as a future target for annihilation?

She couldn’t tell.

“What on earth have you been eating all your life?”

The power of annihilation erased neither his persuasiveness nor his nagging.

Even dogs aren’t bothered while eating.

Yet here she was, being bothered at twenty.

Lillian smiled faintly.

“I’ve eaten roughly what people of average means—including Your Highness—eat.”

“Really? Then… are you done growing?”

Sometimes pure evil hit with terrifying precision.

Lillian covered one cheek and sighed.

“Your Highness. My heart is fragile. If you poke where it hurts, I might die emotionally.”

“Oh dear. That wouldn’t do.”

He smiled brightly.

Extremely diligent about managing his own lifeline.

That, she could understand.

What she couldn’t always understand was—

“I heard from Ramio Tillard that you often skipped meals.”

“Did you hear that while you were ‘holding back’?”

“He said you used to throw up too.”

Those were… slightly past the point of “tool maintenance” questions.

He even asked when I first made artifacts.

Sharing too much personal history wasn’t a great idea.

But it wasn’t a situation she could dodge either.

“It’s nothing serious. When I was young, I just… didn’t eat much for a while.”

“Why?”

“Did you know, Your Highness, that some people think if there’s no mother-in-law present, one must preserve mass?”

“…Because of the Second Empress?”

Lillian nodded indifferently.

Empress Lovellia loved her natal Favil family far more than the imperial house.

And she deeply resented having to marry Lillian—a powerless direct Tillard descendant—to the junior duke.

Even though I was the only suitable match among the Five Sacred Houses.

The Empress’s discipline rod existed to remind Lillian she was never enough.

—

My, Lillian… I didn’t expect you to have such an appetite.
“I—I apologize, Your Majesty…”
Isn’t it unbecoming for a lady to eat more than two spoonfuls?
“I’m sorry—”
I can’t blame my nephew Karkin for letting his eyes wander.

—

A rotten discipline rod.

Naturally, food wouldn’t go down after that.

Her thinness—hands and feet looking large for her frame—was because of it.

Lillian brushed it off as an old memory.

If you refuse to acknowledge a wound as a wound, it loses meaning.

“It’s all in the past. I eat well now—see?”

“……”

“By the way, Your Highness. Since we’re nearing the capital—what kind of person is Duke Baltazar?”

“The Duke is… hm.”

“…He is?”

“……”

The villain simply stared at her.

Then he smiled lightly, his eyes returning to their usual color.

“Don’t meet him.”

“…?”

“And don’t ask about him again.”

A clean, absolute order.

Why now?

I need to know about him.

Why issue a gag order so perfectly timed—for someone who dies in the original story?

Who was Duke Enoch Baltazar?

The current head of the House of Baltazar of Earth—and the villain’s maternal grandfather.

When the Duke was still active, Favil couldn’t even compare.

True to their earth-aligned lineage, they owned vast mines and natural resources.

The problem was—

He believes Tarandia, Tillard, and Favil killed his daughter.

After the death of the First Empress, he withdrew completely from court politics.

But in the imperial palace, when major decisions were made—

You needed the approval of more than half of the Five Great Houses.

Having Duke Baltazar meant pushing through a Crown Prince Succession Tournament would be far easier.

In the original story, he died without naming a successor, leaving the seat vacant for years…

By rights, Elias should have become junior duke long ago.

And the reason the Duke dies is clear.

A disease that erodes an esper’s mind.

False depression. Nightmares.

That was how it was written—he died that way.