The Abandoned Villainess Takes Everything This Time - Chapter 156

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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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156.
She was genuinely startled.
Lillian quickly looked down at her hand.
‘Was I wounded by the assassin earlier?’
A cut on her own hand came into focus belatedly.
The blood flowing from the wound must have caused the Compatibility Stat to appear.
‘What is this? Stats aren’t supposed to change, are they?’
Ren had been so sensitive about the number 60.
‘There’s a possibility the sacred relics of this temple are corrupted.’
He’d even blasphemed without hesitation.
‘Ah, but it doesn’t seem to be 60 now?’
‘Ren, please, can’t we just go get something to eat?’
Right. He’d been incredibly irritable.
But why had such a symbol appeared now, at such a much younger point in time?
‘Surely it’s not the number 8, is it?’
Numbers never appeared sideways to the observer.
At that moment, young Ren approached to check the stat up close.
“……Miss.”
He extended his hand.
Purple veins, like snakes, were tangled there from the overuse of his Ability.
Lillian carefully took his hand.
She could heal.
In her current state, she was able to.
The boy whispered.
“Do you know what this means?”
“Um… well…….”
Lillian found her fingers fidgeting without her consent.
“It seems like you and I have a rather special relationship?”
“…….”
“Is that… so……?”
Ren alternated his gaze between the small girl and the stat.
If she were merely a presence to pass meaninglessly through, he had no need for her. Not even if it were blood relation.
But this was different.
Because it was unique.
Then Lillian Tillard was not a being who would be brushed past and disappear.
That meant—
Lillian Tillard was a being he could safely cherish.
If he simply made no mistakes, she would not vanish like a rabbit in the snow.
“Miss.”
“Yes?”
“Marry me.”
Lillian’s mouth fell open.
Was this the boldness of the young Ren?
While bleeding profusely?
What struck her anew was that no matter how young he was, there were aspects of him no different from when grown.
The young Ren took both of Lillian’s hands then.
“Marry me, become my family, and live together.”
“Your Highness.”
“To me, only you hold meaning. I need no one else.”
“…….”
Only then did Lillian understand.
In this era of his life, he had already lost his mother; his grandfather, Duke Baltazar, was sending assassins; he had no loyal retainers, and no Shadows to protect him.
He was a boy alone in a desolate winter.
For some reason or other…….
Her eyes stung with heat, and Lillian spoke with a trembling voice.
Even as she did, her hands worked diligently to wipe away the blood Evren had shed.
“But if we marry now, I’d have to live in the Imperial Palace?”
“Ah. Um.”
“I don’t want to spend my time watching the Second Empress’s moods. The Palace suffocates me.”
“Once I’m older, I’ll move out to a castle of our own.”
Her breath caught for a moment.
“There, you’ll be able to live at ease without minding the Second Empress.”
“B-but we can’t live alone, just the two of us.”
“…….”
“We need people on our side too, don’t we?”
“……I’ll try to get along with the Baltazar Faction from now on. Should I call Elias?”
Her mouth went increasingly dry.
Could he already have been forming the Shadows from this time forward?
If so, perhaps—
“……And you’ll need to prepare a pretty room for me. With a garden this large…….”
“The castle has the Chamber of Pearls. It’s the loveliest residence in the castle.”
Young Ren smiled faintly.
“I’ll make it yours.”
“……!”
“There’s a garden too… if you’re part of House Tillard, will you need a workshop?”
A bolt of revelation struck her.
Running north to be abandoned by the family, and everything that would come to both of them afterward—
‘It was all decided in this very moment…….’
She understood it now.
Bang!
At that precise moment, the ground shook violently.
“Ah!”
Lillian nearly tumbled away, but the boy caught her and kept her safe.
Screams erupted from outside.
“L-look at the sky!”
“The sky is tearing!”
“How can such a thing—!”
The sky tearing?
‘A Distortion!’
The traces that appeared when space-time shattered were manifesting again.
In that instant, her vision lurched violently.
“……Ugh?”
“Miss?”
She found herself looking down at young Ren.
Her body had returned to normal.
‘What about the child’s body!?’
Young Lillian lay slumped beside her, simply lying there whimpering…….
As if knowing nothing at all.
And then, a familiar voice reached her ears.
“There you are.”
“……!”
Ren had casually torn through the Rift in the Barrier and entered.
It was utter chaos—adults and children intertwined together.
“Lillian, come over here. We need to leave.”
At that moment, the panicked young Ren grabbed Lillian’s hand.
“No!”
With one hand he held the unconscious little Lillian, and with the other he gripped the adult, his grip astonishingly strong.
“Don’t go.”
“Your Highness, but—”
“You’re also Lillian, aren’t you? Just now you said you’d become my family—”
But Ren pried the child’s hand away—his own past self’s hand—without a moment of hesitation, coldly severing it.
“Stop talking nonsense and let go. Your reflexes are quick for such a small thing.”
“……What are you. Do you dare mimic Tarandia with Alchemy?”
Young Ren glared at the adult with fury.
Ren, meanwhile, regarded him with an indifferent, ‘so what’ expression.
“She’s not even your fiancée—what right do you have to command?”
“Miss just promised to become—!”
Before the boy could protest further, Ren struck his forehead.
Young Ren staggered and collapsed where he stood.
“Ren, what did you do!”
“Just extinguished his consciousness a bit.”
……It’s you. Please let it be you.
Lillian quickly knelt beside the fallen boy.
She could see him clenching his teeth to stay conscious, but knew it would be futile.
Instead, Lillian whispered softly.
“I’m sorry for leaving like this.”
“Ugh…….”
“But we will, one day, see flowers bloom in the garden together.”
Because you once promised me.
‘We can just plant it in Our Garden. We should be able to see it bloom sometime next year.’
From that moment, I was actually looking forward to the future you…….
Lillian brushed his forehead and whispered on.
“So don’t worry.”
* * *
Everything that followed unfolded in a blur.
Lillian sent her childhood self and the Crown Prince out of the temple.
She’d placed a Hairpin in her younger self’s hand.
‘But she won’t remember any of this in the future.’
It might be a side effect of this enormous Distortion.
So perhaps the punishment of Iris’s governess also reverted to its original state in the end.
Soon the members of each family came and fussily carried away their unconscious children.
They too would not properly explain what happened today due to their dereliction of duty.
“Lillian. Come over here now.”
As Ren urged her, Lillian reluctantly stepped out from the thicket where she’d been hiding and watching.
She was glad to have seen her parents.
‘I did write in a letter not to listen even if I make a fuss about confirming my grade in the future. I also wrote never to go to the temple.’
She’d thought there would be more time even after meeting young Ren…….
“……Are you angry?”
“…….”
“Lillian.”
Lillian glared at Ren.
When he’d put young herself to sleep, there wasn’t a hint of guilt.
Yet when he looked at her now, his expression was that of a man gone anxious with longing.
Part of her wanted to stay angry a little longer.
But then—
“……Ren. You’re in a lot of pain, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Lillian kept her gaze fixed on Ren, who was avoiding her eyes.
She knew how excruciating Physical Transmutation Alchemy was—did he think she’d fall for the formal speech?
Even now, his breathing was distinctly different from before.
“Lillian.”
Ren cradled Lillian’s cheek in his hand.
“This is really nothing at all.”
“…….”
“Hmm? Why? Have you stopped liking my face? Not interested in eating me anymore?”
“Sigh…….”
“I’ve only changed a little. I’m almost exactly the same. Look at me again, properly.”
Just like the mad dog of the Imperial Palace—his nonsense was first-rate.
He’d been like that even during the duel, which was what had infuriated her.
……But now, it was sadness rather than anger that weighed heavier.
Truth was, she’d wanted to see him.
She’d tried not to show it, but she’d been afraid he might not come back.
So Lillian rose on her tiptoes and gestured to him to close his mouth.
There was nothing wrong with stopping a mouth that spouted nonsense by covering it with her own.
“Stop spouting that you’re fine, stop talking nonsense, or I really won’t see you again next time.”
“…….”
“Enough—Ren, how do we get back—”
But she couldn’t finish the sentence.
Ren cupped her cheek and pressed his lips against hers.
While Lillian simply pressed her lips together, he nibbled and parted her lower lip.
Much more desperately.
* * *
Evren watched from a distance in the dark forest.
Watching the woman he loved kiss another man.
And the flush in her cheeks as their lips parted.
Those eyes gleaming with tender affection…….
He’d deliberately muted his presence because there was something he needed to confirm.
And he laughed silently.
It was time to end all of this.

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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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