The Abandoned Villainess Decides to Take It All Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Family and the Princess

Lillian smiled softly.

Elric Tillard frowned.

It was the first time he had ever seen Lillian smile like that.

The grandchild he had disliked the most.

In a house where every family member was nothing more than a resource, she had been worth less than vermin.

“Grandfather, happy birthday. I made this for you…”
“Stop bringing me that worthless junk.”

Because she had no ability, hadn’t she just been trying to buy favor through petty little gestures?

And yet—

Had she always spoken this well?

“I’m ready to hand over my older brother’s share at any time as well. To think the future Duke of Tillard personally purchased it.”

“…!”

“How noisy do you think the capital would become? And His Majesty? Her Majesty the Empress? As for me, well—I’m just a bonus.”

Lillian tilted her head.

“And Iris’s future mustn’t be blocked either, right?”

This time, Iris was the one who startled.

As an S-rank Guide, Iris was naturally someone who needed to be connected to the imperial family.

And if not that, then at the very least to someone of the highest standing—someone equal to one of the Five Sacred Houses.

Iris looked desperately at her grandfather.

“Grandfather…!”

What if you ruin my life because of Lillian!

She wished he would simply yield to this threat now and throw Lillian out afterward.

The duke fell silent under Iris’s tearful gaze.

The First Prince remained half-reclined across the chaise longue, watching the Tillards lazily.

He hadn’t blinked once.

That bastard really is nothing but a human shell.

Just like the current emperor.

The Power of Annihilation…

The Creator God had made the Tarandias the imperial family, then granted them a power so destructive it bordered on absurdity.

And yet the people of the Empire still wanted the most inhuman Tarandia of all to rule them.

It was a ridiculous situation in which replacing the imperial family was impossible.

Even so, it seemed this powerless girl had, for a brief moment, managed to catch that prince’s interest.

Given that she was beautiful, it was believable enough.

“…What do you want?”

“Two things. First, I want the money equal to the amount I contributed to the family.”

“Money?”

“You wouldn’t try to cheat me with some laughably low estimate, would you?”

“Hah. As if something like that could amount to much.”

“208,620,000 gold.”

“…What?”

“That’s the profit I generated for this house.”

Lillian answered calmly.

It was roughly the kind of budget a provincial noble estate might produce over five years.

“It’s my estimate for managing the Control Stone business, family events, and Ramio’s miscellaneous work related to the family’s affairs in the Imperial Knights over the past ten years.”

“That sort of thing—”

“That estimate is based only on servant-level wages. For work that required creativity, I doubled it.”

Lillian let out a short breath.

It wasn’t that her chest ached with sorrow.

Ah. I’m out of breath.

She had simply recited too much from memory at once, like a machine gun.

Slowly, Lillian looked up at her grandfather.

She had once believed that when people grew old, they naturally became adults—beings who understood everything.

But she had been wrong.

And her grandfather, whom she had once feared and loved in proportion to that fear, was no exception.

What was that baffled look on his face?

You really have no idea what I did in that house all this time…

Lillian swept her gaze lightly over the others as well.

Kuern, looking just as confused as the duke.

And Iris.

Where had that bright smile from their greeting gone?

The corners of her mouth were tight with irritation simply because Lillian had dared to bring up business.

“Your Grace probably never knew how hard I worked in that house just to earn my keep.”

Though for a time after her parents died, she had lived more like an animal than a person.

“And even the food and clothing I received were worth far less than the profit I brought this family.”

“Hah…”

“Of course, I’m sure your remaining grandchildren will earn at least twice that much for you.”

Now she knew with certainty that they would not.

A promise had already been spoken in Duke Tillard’s own name, so surely he would not back down now.

Heh. Secured it like this.

Her future escape fund.

I couldn’t demand too much here.

Of course there had been maintenance costs, appearance-related expenses, and other things she could have counted.

But Lillian had no easy way to prove all of that.

If it came as a formal amount from the family budget, though—

“Hah. So a powerless thing like you is trying to inflate your own value.”

The duke rose from his seat.

Normally, he carried himself with more dignity than this.

It seemed the issue with his youngest grandson had affected him more than expected.

Even here, he was letting slip words he normally would have swallowed for the sake of appearances.

“You, a powerless thing, only survived and breathed this long because you were born into House Tillard.”

“….”

“If you had been born somewhere else, in another class, do you really think any of this would have been possible? In this land?”

It was painfully true.

The family background that had tormented Lillian had also—

despite the flaw of her being powerless—

been the last shield that protected her until this age.

In this Perniès Empire.

This hopeless land.

Wow. Even so, there are things you should and shouldn’t say.

Once again, she thought it:

Simply growing older did not make someone an adult.

Now what should I say back to—

But at that moment, a large hand covered both her ears.

“Alright. That’s enough.”

She heard the villain laughing above her head.

For a moment, a chill ran down Lillian’s spine.

This man—

just now—

Did he erase the sound?

Meanwhile

A sharp ringing filled Ebren’s ears.

He had watched Lillian speaking to the duke even though she was already short of breath.

He could not tolerate anyone else hurting her either.

Ah. No matter how I think about it, this has really piled up lately.

Ramio. Karkin Favil. The Second Empress.

He had dealt with all of them while supposedly holding back.

And yet—

This is unpleasant.

The truth was, Ebren did not need to consider any of it.

If he wanted to go berserk, he could simply go berserk.

If he wanted to annihilate them, he could just annihilate them.

He could erase everyone at any moment in the most efficient way possible.

That was also why he had never particularly chased the imperial throne.

Because he knew he could take it whenever he wanted.

As long as he was alive.

And right now—

Should I?

Ebren looked directly at the Tillard family.

Their eyes were similar in color to Lillian’s.

They should be grateful for that.

At the very least, because they resembled her, they had earned themselves one extra second of hesitation.

Let’s do it.

He decided.

Ebren raised his hand.

The duke sensed the danger first and immediately reacted.

“First Prince—!”

The duke was also an A-rank Guide, so he must have thought he could block it.

Then next I’ll aim for the young duke.

That S-rank girl is troublesome too…

Then Lillian abruptly grabbed Ebren’s hand.

She lifted her head and looked straight at him.

“Your Highness.”

Her voice was low and sharp.

Ebren narrowed his eyes.

Ah. Damn. She’s quick.

Instead of removing the sound around her ears, perhaps he should have taken her vision.

But if he erased her sight, he had no idea how to restore it.

“Your Highness, calm down.”

Lillian patted the back of his hand.

Her hand wasn’t trembling at all.

A faint current of guiding energy seeped gently into him.

Ebren half-closed his eyes.

It was refreshing.

And yet, it was always strangely warm and ticklish.

Most people would have panicked quite a bit when the sound disappeared.

She really was a strange person.

…So while they were together, they would have to coordinate with each other.

Ebren let the sign of his ability fade.

Duke Tillard’s face flushed red, then blue.

“First Prince, how dare you—”

“Ah. I got a little carried away.”

Ebren gave him a faintly dangerous smile, then lightly rested his face against Lillian’s hair.

The scent of lilies improved his mood.

“My apologies, Grandfather.”

“…!”

“Hearing all that, your future grandson-in-law’s heart simply ached too much to bear it.”