A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 174

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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174.

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Upon their return to the Capital, they turned the blades they’d wielded against their enemies toward the Imperial Palace itself.
Count Frederick quietly consolidated the Nobility from the shadows, secretly cultivating dark forces to eliminate obstacles.
Ruellin bent the Emperor’s mind through magic and neutralized the Crown Prince.
Seizing control of the Imperial Palace proved far easier than ending the war.
True to his word, Count Frederick placed countless treasures and rare artifacts into Ruellin’s hands.
Spoils of war she could never have glimpsed even after slaying dozens of enemy generals.
Indulging in such luxuries for the first time proved surprisingly delightful.
So much so that she felt no remorse whatsoever in driving her father and brothers—those who had yearned for her love and attention her entire life—toward ruin.
‘Now, you are no longer needed.’
She had found a new family at her side, a husband.
Ruellin carefully manipulated the Emperor’s mind with meticulous precision, keeping him just short of madness, and found the prospect utterly delightful.
She had no intention of killing the Emperor, the Crown Prince, or the Imperial Family.
Unfortunately, though she and Count Frederick excelled at battlefield stratagems, neither possessed talent for statecraft.
It proved far more convenient to keep them alive and work them like puppets.
This was the golden age that would never return twice in Ruellin’s life.

【Book of Prophecy】

It was around this time that she came to possess it.

― My queen.

After their private time in the Emperor’s bedchamber, Count Frederick presented it to her as she lay languidly, sealing the gift with a kiss.

― The Book of Prophecy? What is this?
― The national treasure of the Dilbern Kingdom that you once infiltrated enemy lines to drive the Crown Prince to madness with. It was hidden in the Emperor’s secret vault.

There were so many such places that she couldn’t recall their locations.
But despite its grandiose name, the Book of Prophecy had blank covers and blank pages throughout.
When she asked what it was for, Count Frederick answered with a half-amused smile.

― A book that grants wishes when you make them. I’m not sure if it’s real or just a legend… but I’m glad you destroyed the Dilbern Kingdom before we could use it.
― Why are you giving this to me….
― You never know. We don’t know how long we’ll remain in this position, or if another enemy might appear. Keep it with you and use it in case of emergency.
― Why would you say such things.

Count Frederick repeatedly emphasized his point to her as she shook her head with tears in her eyes.

― Ruellin, are you aware of the old saying that mages don’t die even if their hearts are torn out, as long as their lifespan hasn’t ended?
― I only wish for you to always be happy. Even if misfortune finds us, we part ways, or I die first.
― Promise me. That even if such a thing happens, you will live eternally in happiness.

Ruellin firmly declared that such a thing would never come to pass.
When she could manipulate even the Emperor’s very life, where could any rival possibly emerge?
All the neighboring nations that had lost wars were destroyed and subjugated to the Empire, while the ministers and nobility were busy bowing their heads in hushed reverence.
This wealth and power would be eternal.
As time passed, she would bear many children who resembled her husband, and together they would watch them grow, living peacefully and contentedly for a lifetime….
While she spent each day overflowing with happiness and not knowing what to do with herself, had he somehow sensed misfortune long before?
Not long after, the Second and Third Princes, whom everyone believed dead, returned to the Imperial Palace.
Bringing thunder and a storm of blood with them.

***

The Second and Third Princes were exceptional knights, but they could not wield magic.
In the Empire, only I possessed that bloodline.
Yet somehow, those who returned alive from the Monster Wave wielded impossible magical power.
The Second Prince could strike lightning even indoors, while the Third Prince performed the miracle of draining every drop of blood from a living person’s body.
At times, he could sharpen the blood into blades or heat it to scald his victims in excruciating torture.
Before such overwhelming power, Ruellin’s meager magic and the shadow assassins her husband had painstakingly cultivated were utterly useless.
In the blink of an eye, the kingdom they had built deep within the Imperial Palace crumbled helplessly.

― You’ve been having fun while we were gone, Ruellin.
― Now it’s your turn to suffer.

Count Frederick’s words—that mages could survive even without their hearts—proved to be true.
After consulting ancient texts, they extracted Ruellin’s heart to prevent her from casting magic, then tortured Count Frederick with brutal savagery.
Though I begged and pleaded countless times for forgiveness, those consumed by vengeance knew no mercy.
As hope for survival grew dimmer and Count Frederick spent more time with his eyes closed than open, the Second and Third Princes lost interest in the prisoner who no longer reacted to torture.
They hurled us down into the depths of Caspian Gorge—perhaps returning to Ruellin what she had done to them, though for her it proved a blessing.
Like the Princes before us, we did not die when we fell into the gorge’s waters.
Moreover, despite having her heart extracted, Ruellin could still cast magic.
It was far weaker than before, but enough to evade the monsters that lunged to devour us.
True to the nature of a Monster Wave, the mountains and gorges shrouded in black mist teemed with creatures.
Every moment was hell.
Yet I clung to life, dragging Count Frederick’s barely breathing form with stubborn determination.
We survived, barely escaping that nightmarish mountain and hiding in some nameless rural village.
I never even dreamed of returning to the Capital for revenge.
All that mattered was that we were both alive.
Count Frederick never truly recovered from the impact of the fall from the cliff, but as long as he drew breath, it was enough.
So long as we lived, we would find a way forward.
Besides, didn’t I still possess what little magic remained?
Deceiving the simple-hearted villagers who had no idea we were fugitives was nothing—we obtained the money and provisions we needed.
But for Ruellin, the hell was far from over.
But for Ruellin, hell was not the end.

—Because of me, you’ve suffered so… You should have just lived quietly in the Count’s House…
Because of me, you’re going through all this trouble… You should have just lived quietly in the Count’s House…

From that day on, when Count Frederick opened his eyes, he began to transform in a grotesque manner.

―Grrrrr…!

His breathing grew ragged, his eyes lost all focus, and his skin rotted and cracked like that of a corpse.
He could not be reasoned with, drool streaming from his mouth, capable only of violence—he had become a beast.
At the time, I did not know it was because the Magi had eroded him; I believed he was simply afflicted by illness.
Ruellin risked everything and journeyed to the Major City to cure Count Frederick.
Had I known what terrible tragedy would unfold in my absence, I would never have gone.
For days, I wandered the Major City, struggling to scrape together money and medicine.
I did not hesitate to seek out the nobles with whom my husband had frequently associated, begging for their aid.
Of course, most turned me away at their doors.
Exiled from the Capital and living a life of banishment, there was no one who could possibly help me.
Only one person deigned to receive me.
A Friend who had shared life and death on the battlefield, bound to my husband as a sworn brother.
Stripped of his title, he had barely escaped that chaos with his child, only to lose even that in the end.

―This is all I can give you.
―Your husband asked me to set this aside for times like these. I apologize, but I already exchanged the jewels inside. My daughter was dying of plague….

Inside the worn box he handed me lay only a handful of silver coins and a blank book.
A book that granted wishes, or so they said.
My husband had given it to me long ago, but I had forgotten about it since it seemed useless.
Thinking of how he had carefully set it aside, my heart grew heavy.
Ruellin cherished it and returned to the Village where Count Frederick awaited.
What greeted her were dozens of corpses.
Among them lay Count Frederick, dead, his mouth and hands stained entirely with blood.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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