11. Villain's Castle
“Ah..kh..!”
“You're really lucky, brother. You just happen to come on a day when I'm in a good mood.”
How blessed; He must not even realize that he owes his life to Lillian.
“Go back and give my regards to the leader of the Pavel Family ‘who deserves respect.’ And don’t forget to cry while telling him how much you hurt.”
Kyle raised his head and gritted his teeth in insult.
'Leader Pavel'
He meant his mother, the Second Empress Rubelia. On the surface, it may seem like he is praising her with the title of leader, but the harsh truth is that he does not recognize her as the Empress of House Tarania, and therefore he does not see Cale as a member of House Tarania either.
Just a son of the Pavel family who was not chosen by the vanishing ability.
Cale shuddered when he saw that the Dawn Knights around him had disappeared without a trace.
“You damned monster! After what you did to my knights, how dare you-!”
“Dare what?”
Evren replied with a bright-eyed smile: “Do you have proof?”
Maybe if he had a controller who collected evidence as skillfully as Lillian, the matter would have been a different matter.
“The only truth that exists is... that you recklessly pulled the knights behind you... and sold your loyal vassal to save yourself.”
“Tshh…!”
“As for your assistant, I will make good use of him here and then return him to you.”
Efrain turned around and continued his smile: “Next time you attack me, think about creating evidence first.”
He left Cale panting behind him and turned back, as the ruler of winter and death returned to his lair.
* * *
From the depths of the dark forest, the shadows who participated in this mission appeared.
“…Your Highness, are you okay?”
Elias approached him, with blood stains on his face, indicating that he had gotten rid of the rest of the Knights of Dawn.
Evren did not care about that, but suddenly said without introduction: “Lillian says she is worried about me.”
“Excuse me?”
“She told me a while ago when we were together that she was worried about me.”
In fact, when he was feeling a little irritated because Lillian constantly cared about others…
'My brain space is barely enough to worry about you now.'
“This doesn't make sense... Now that the outbursts have stopped, what is there to worry about me?”
Lillian had done something completely ineffective. However, for some reason he did not understand, he felt a gentle, comforting tickle on the side of his heart.
Efren asked Elias again: “Do you think I look weak enough to worry her? If so, it doesn’t make sense.”
“…Hmm, I don’t think so. Maybe it’s because Miss is ‘nice’ towards Your Highness, isn’t it?”
“Nice”
Evren repeated the word, the dictionary definition of which he knew but had never thought about.
Lillian is nice to him...
“Huh”
He touched the corner of his mouth. This time, unintentionally, the corners of his mouth were constantly rising.
But Elias, not noticing this, added an additional report; Forgetting that information added late is often unnecessary.
“A kind person naturally worries about the safety of those close to him.”
“…….”
“Just like Miss did with our group this time.”
“…hmmm”
Evren's happiness suddenly extinguished. Kindness seems to have a more public side than he expected. Do normal humans spread these feelings so publicly?
'Hmm, however, it wasn't a bad feeling at the time.'
So, let's try in what situations I can get Lillian's kindness.
* * *
In a dark mansion on the outskirts of the capital —
There was a man sitting in a comfortable chair in a room whose windows were covered with velvet curtains. He was a man with black hair with long white strands at the temples, and his face wrinkled as he looked at his magical subordinate; A rock dragon that can move freely within the earth.
“So the first prince was found in control.”
- Yes, sir.
“…….”
— The day he faced Prince Cale, his abilities were completely stable thanks to the power of the Dominator.
"Who is she?"
— Lillian Taillard.
The man stopped moving.
“That Lilian? Eric Tillard’s ‘incapable’ granddaughter?”
- Yes. Her energy is clearly felt around the prince.
“Huh!”
It was really unbelievable. But a magical follower who did not have the biases of humans could not lie.
“…He hid it from me very well. It seemed like he intended to keep hiding it.”
- I apologize. Because of the prince and the shadows' guard, I found out too late.
“It's okay”
Duke Balthazar muttered: “When the opportunity presents itself, bring it.”
- Yes, sir.
“It would be better if he put a ‘seal’ on it.”
Because that will make getting rid of them easier.
* * *
Upon reaching the outskirts of the capital, where she no longer had to sit in the car like a shrunken shrimp...
Lillian stood in front of the gate of the First Prince's Castle and opened her mouth in a little amazement.
“Ooh...”
You know that this behavior lacks sophistication, but that's okay; The white castle with dark blue roofs was extremely beautiful.
“Lillian, your room is this way.”
“present”
Lilian wasn't expecting much as she followed the villain; She lived in Taillard's mansion in volatile conditions, from the basement to rooms sometimes inhabited by insects.
But when she reached the room assigned to her, she was unable to speak.
“…Your Highness, is something wrong? Should I have gone to the next room?”
“Hmm? I was told that the next room is this room’s dressing room.”
“Oh”
“Did you want to see her first?”
“Ah..no”
Lillian stepped carefully into the room decorated in pearl and blue. She was so beautiful that it was confusing, and what was even more confusing was...
“Your Highness, don’t you only decorate your interiors in black and white?”
Honestly, I was a little expecting it.
“You have a talent for knowing really strange things...”
“That's because I'm a Tillard.”
So my suspicion was correct!
'But...why do all the furniture pieces have rounded edges?'
She had seen furniture in this style in her previous life.
'Furniture designed with soft edges so children won't get hurt'
Thanks to that, the room looked delicate and nice in its entirety.
...Is this the taste of the villain?
'Even the curtains are weird'
Curtains in the palaces of nobles were usually fastened with tasseled cords.
'But these use buttons. This style is rare...'
What's wrong?
Once you spot a strange spot, you start noticing more suspicious things. A room decorated with such beauty, and a balcony overlooking rolling green hills... Moreover, the room is located at the deepest point of the castle where the security is tight...?
'Based on the spatial structure, isn't this a room reserved for the wife of the castle owner-?'
But the villain extinguished Lillian's doubts in time by saying: “You need an artifact-making workshop, right?”
“…! Yes, if you can make a space for me next to the blacksmith-”
“The forge is very far from here. Look over there, to the corner of the garden?”
Lillian looked where he pointed. There was a beautiful little white cottage in the corner of the garden.
It doesn't make sense.
“I was told that the artifact workshop would preferably be near clean water, to immediately experience the circuits designed on the elements of nature.”
“Yes, that's true...”
“The place where all these items are available is located near this room.”
“Ah, I see”
Well, building an artifact workshop is actually complicated.
“Let's go, miss.”
Lillian forgot all her doubts and followed the villain.
'Wow...'
The inside was perfect for working with multiple people, and…
'The work tables are all designed to fit my height.'
More importantly, her heart almost stopped when she saw the equipment prepared.
'It's newer than the equipment I have!'
The villain gave Lillian a new torch. This device can reach a temperature of up to 1600 degrees, and is equipped with new functions as well.
As Lillian was absentmindedly enjoying the feel of the torch in her hand, the villain said a few words: “…Do you like these things?”
“Yes, very. I think she is very artistic and cute.”
“I don't understand you...”
Only now did Lillian fully understand why people in her previous life used to say, “If you must be a follower, be a follower of a big company, not a small store.”
'Even though I know this is all just taste, my heart is pounding!'
Lillian smiled brightly at the villain: “Your Highness, thank you very much!”
“…….”
“I'm serious, I'm so happy”
In Tillard's mansion, no one had even bothered to check Lillian's room.
"… truly?"
The villain slowly lowered his head. It seemed to Lillian that his facial expression was strangely thirsty for something.
Does he suffer from fluid deficiency?
The workshop is dry, so maybe that was the reason.