The Abandoned Villainess Takes Everything This Time - Chapter 143

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

143.
Lillian couldn’t quite remember the journey back to the Castle.
But the moment she arrived and Ren gritted his teeth with a sigh, every instant crystallized into sharp focus.
“God. My fiancée was kidnapped.”
…….
“Why did you follow him? Do I look like that? Do I look like such a bastard?”
She wished he’d admit they really were mirror images.
But Lillian sensed the dangerous edge in him and chose to dodge the question.
“Because I might have to kill the Shadows—.”
He exhaled sharply.
As he ground his teeth and paced the room, patches of the floorboards began to dissolve like wax.
Wherever his anger festered, matter itself simply ceased to be.
“Look at me, Lili.”
Ren grasped Lillian’s chin and tilted her face up.
He seemed to be expending tremendous effort to contain his fury.
Only after several deep breaths did he speak again.
“Did that man make you cry? Why?”
Lillian shook her head urgently.
Even if she had cried, it wasn’t for the reason he meant.
But.
“I cried because I was sad.”
“About what?”
“That man…….”
Damn. Ren hated when she called him that.
But the words were already out. What could she do now?
“He’d already given up on the world.”
After Caspian’s Dark Magic took hold of him.
He’d deliberately avoided the Shadows and Baltazar’s people, afraid affection would take root.
He made self-deprecating jokes about being caught by Phytoncide each time, though it wasn’t really funny.
But if he were to become entangled by these mysterious people from a past life as well, it would simply be too much to bear.
‘I’ll guide you outside. Hold tight!’
‘I thought you naturally wouldn’t know, being the young lady of Tillard.’
And yet affection had bloomed anyway.
From a single exchange of words.
So Lillian had hoped that even if she died, Evren would live well with them, not alone.
Even if the loss of his Imprint target brought him pain.
That hope had been utterly futile.
“Lili.”
Ren drew her shoulders close and let her lean against him.
“None of this is your fault.”
“……But.”
“Tarandia is the kind of creature who was born this way. If he brought the world to ruin, he did it because he wanted to.”
Ah, ah, ah. Hold on a moment.
Lillian sighed.
That was a terribly bleak explanation.
And yet only he could have explained it that way.
“To us, humans mean very little. Yes, a grim topic—forgive me.”
…….
“I do try to pretend otherwise. But that’s likely all it amounts to.”
Lillian listened in silence.
‘Well, it’s not as though I didn’t know and stayed with him anyway.’
And it wasn’t grim to her.
Lonely and sad, perhaps.
“Because such a thing has Imprinted upon you, you alone understand it.”
“……You speak as though none of it applies to you…….”
“This includes me too.”
He gave a short laugh.
But the laugh soon faded.
“So don’t think about any of it.”
It was kind comfort.
Yet there was a truly urgent matter she couldn’t avoid thinking about.
“Ren, listen. I’ve Imprinted with that man.”
…….
“Which means from now on, I won’t be able to use my Ability Control recklessly like before.”
Perhaps it began with what happened at Tillard Manor.
Because her Infinite Wings had favorable compatibility with nearly every Ability User.
But now that she was Imprinted, her usefulness had plummeted to the ground.
Worse still.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to you.”
The real problem was that this man’s neck still bore—.
‘The mark showing he’s still Imprinted to me.’
Ren could only receive Ability Control from Lillian.
All other methods were closed off. Control Stones, Control Artifacts—none of it would work.
“Then there’s only one solution.”
“Which is?”
“You Imprint with me.”
“What? Can you Imprint with two people at once?”
“There’s no saying you can’t. Your Rank exists, after all.”
She didn’t mention that if two souls were the same even in death, dual Imprinting might be possible. Clearly Ren and Evren despised each other that much.
But—
Well.
“Yes.”
Lillian nodded.
“I will.”
* * *
Ren’s mind was ablaze with jealousy.
Who did he think he was, calling himself her equal?
Who was Lillian giving her Imprint to?
This cheek.
These hands.
Ren kissed her as if disinfecting away the trace of that lookalike, that pale imitation.
He mustn’t forget.
No matter how much he loved Lillian, a single mistake could shatter her.
Just as the rabbit he’d held as a child, finding it cute, had melted away in his grasp.
“Um, Ren.”
“What?”
“This doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Imprint.”
Lillian deliberately fixed her gaze toward the Terrace, murmuring.
From her supine position, the Garden spread out horizontally before her.
She knew her own face was burning red.
‘I was less embarrassed when we were actually kissing.’
At least then she had something to do, something to occupy her attention.
But this…….
She had no idea where to look or what to do with her hands.
“Ah.”
His silver hair brushed her cheek, tickling slightly.
She’d expected it to feel cold, but it was surprisingly soft to the touch.
Then his lips found the hollow of her throat.
When his tongue traced against her skin, Lillian reflexively clutched at his shirt collar.
The motion was deliberate, slow, thorough—as if he meant to memorize every part of her.
“Ren…….”
Her mind was going white. She felt like she might combust.
Sensing her distress, he became even more careful with his touch.
‘No, no, that’s not—it’s not that.’
The ticklish sensation made her heart feel heavy and tight in her chest.
And yet there was also something plaintive in that tightness.
‘What if the Imprint doesn’t take?’
Then suddenly, Ren bit down gently on her earlobe.
“Stop thinking about him again.”
“Ah!”
“Hmm? You gave me permission to Imprint, and now you’re thinking about another man?”
“It’s you, it’s you……!”
“How would I know?”
How exactly wouldn’t he know?!
Before Lillian could protest, he kissed along her neckline again.
Her vision blurred at the edges.
“I told you, Lili. That you have me.”
Each time he shifted his weight, pressing closer, her knees trembled.
“And that means—whether it worked or not—you belong only to me.”
Ren cradled her cheek in one hand.
He looked down at her, her lungs clearly struggling for air, and slowly traced his lower lip with his tongue.
He felt broken himself.
He’d already known he deviated somewhat from average normalcy, but this was far worse.
“Lili.”
Her name—
“I love you.”
—was all he could hold onto, like some fool who’d forgotten everything else.
“I can’t give you to anyone else.”
Even if Lillian still loved that “thing” and had Imprinted for that reason alone.
He kissed her with desperate intensity, his tongue tangling with hers.
This kiss too was sweet.
Yet it tasted of despair.
Lillian had not been Imprinted to him.
* * *
After the Imprint attempt, Lillian had been so drained that she fell into a deep sleep.
‘And naturally, no ordinary dream came.’
She found herself trapped inside a Cylindrical Tower.
The tower walls were composed of countless picture mosaics fitted together.
But between the broken pieces, black holes gaped open everywhere.
And from far away, a silver-haired man was slowly filling those holes one by one.
Wait.
“……His Majesty the Emperor?”
“……?”
The silver-haired man paused in filling the wall’s gaps and turned slowly to face her.
“Lillian……?”
“……!”
Dream or reality, she couldn’t tell—but Lillian was genuinely delighted to see the Emperor.
She had so much to tell him about his son.
About both versions of him! Two portions’ worth!

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