The Abandoned Villainess Takes Everything This Time - Chapter 160

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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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160.
Late at night, Lillian, who had been feigning sleep, snapped her eyes open.
A faint tremor rippled beneath her—barely perceptible, but there.
‘Evren’s grip on this space is weakening……!’
What does crisis mean?
‘Opportunity.’
Lillian kicked off from the bed and unfurled the ladder she’d hidden in the garden beforehand.
‘I have to hurry to the Main Gate!’
That’s where this space’s weakness lies……!
And conveniently, the Monster Markus bounced upon Lillian’s shoulder as well. The creature had no shortage of nerve.
Priestess, make haste!
Lillian knew it too—she had to hurry.
Her breath came ragged, her head swimming with adrenaline flooding her veins.
‘Almost there now……!’
But when she reached the spot she’d scouted beforehand, Lillian stopped short, her heart lurching.
A man stood waiting beneath the false moonlight.
“Your Highness.”
“Why are you out at this hour?”
When Lillian remained motionless, he exhaled heavily.
“Well, I knew, yet I accepted it anyway.”
Evren lifted his hand.
The original effect of the Blessing of the Moon was ability amplification.
But his customized version was different.
“……You’ve blocked my power completely.”
“…….”
“Why?”
Evren asked quietly.
“Why do you wish to leave me?”
“…….”
“Anything you need, I can bring to you with just a word.”
“……Everything I have is out there. All of it—things I built with everyone, together.”
“Then I’ll have those things brought here.”
“No.”
Lillian raised the Torch.
This man, too, knew how to probe the tender places of a human heart.
Yet she would not hesitate.
Not if the worst were to come.
“Even if you brought me something identical for my sake, it could never be exactly the same.”
“……Lillian.”
“Evren. I could never kill you.”
It would have been true even apart from the matter of our link.
He was the man whose life had been torn apart by the black magic bound to me.
“But I can’t stay with you any longer.”
Because I understand, roughly, how you’ve been maintaining this space.
The instant those words left her lips.
Hummmmm……!
Beneath Lillian’s feet, light blazed white.
A pull toward the original world.
‘Ren’s finished confirming the coordinates!’
-Lil.
He calls her name. From behind, she feels his touch reaching for her.
-Lil, come here now!
You have to come back to me!
“……Not like this.”
Yet Evren too responded with practiced agility.
‘If he can’t use his ability, he means to stop me by force.’
But Lillian was his Controller alone.
With her Control Ability, she could force him to stop……she could.
“Ugh……!”
He lunged toward her only to be arrested by a flutter of pink butterflies, halting in his tracks.
Lillian brushed away the tears from his contorted face.
“I told you.”
I could never kill you.
But instead—.
“You won’t be able to cross over to our side. Not unless you abandon that bracelet.”
“……Lillian.”
“So long as you’re in this space, I’ll bind your feet here.”
This man would never destroy the gift he’d been given.
He laughed, hollow and resigned.
“You knew I couldn’t ruin what you gave me. That’s why you gave it to me.”
“Yes.”
“……How cruel.”
There was no time to waste.
The weakened space buckled as Ren tore through its fabric with reckless urgency, the entire world trembling.
Evren reached out toward the departing Lillian.
“Lillian. Don’t go.”
But before his fingers could touch her, Lillian whispered with all the sincerity in her heart.
Would this be how they parted, then?
“Forget me. Live on.”
“That’s absurd—.”
“Don’t hurt anymore.”
Goodbye.
And with a sensation of her waist being pulled from behind, the world went black.
* * *
She returned to the castle with the actual Villain.
The familiar scent of phytoncide filled the air.
“Ren.”
“…….”
“Ren, I can’t breathe…….”
Lillian lay sprawled on the floor, gazing up at the ceiling, her hands fluttering weakly.
Since he’d collapsed beside her upon landing, he naturally ended up embracing her from above.
And with the pressure he was applying, holding her so tightly, she couldn’t rise.
After a moment, he chided her in a strained voice.
“Loving you is quite difficult, Lil.”
“Ungh.”
“Why do you keep abandoning me like this? Why did we even get engaged?”
“I’m sorry……. I didn’t mean to.”
“Ha. Liar.”
Ren drew back to face her.
How little sleep must he have gotten? The shadows under his eyes were so dark.
He was pale as someone drained of blood.
Lillian patted Eunjeok’s cheek gently.
“Fine then. I’ll forgive you even if you drive me crazy once.”
Ren’s eyes narrowed with clear displeasure.
“Petty fiancée.”
Yet his voice was far too tender for his expression.
“…….”
“…….”
And in the quiet that fell, as their faces drew near—
With perfect timing, Marguerite and the Shadows and Elias came rushing in.
“Miss!?”
“Miss has returned!”
Lillian hastily shoved Eunjeok aside and scrambled to her feet.
“……! Everyone.”
She could hear someone muttering, ‘True to form, no romance at all,’ but she’d call that a misunderstanding.
“Did you all fare well?”
“Where on earth were you these past six months……! We were so worried!”
This time, she understood the time difference was real. Yet hearing it still came as a shock.
Ren, who’d been pushed aside, drew Lillian’s shoulder close.
“That’s enough. There are things we need to handle immediately.”
“Starting with what?”
“First, the matter of Iris Tillard,”
,”……Sigh.”
No moment of joyous rest upon return, then.
Lillian gazed out the window.
Traces of Distortion still lingered in the darkening sky.
“……It’s time we brought this to an end.”
The conclusion of this journey that couldn’t simply end in exile.
What that result would be, she couldn’t know yet.
* * *
After the anomaly appeared in the sky.
Monster sightings in Perniers had grown frequent.
Ability Users and Controllers were mobilized en masse, yet they were overwhelmed.
Unease spread naturally among the populace.
“Perhaps the Priestess withdrew out of fear.”
“Don’t say such things!”
“Then why would she not appear?”
The Infinite Priestess was not returning!
But as larger and larger exterminations became necessary, people began to recall the remaining “best option.”
The S-rank Controller who should have become Priestess originally.
“The Acting Priestess has stepped forward……!”
Iris walked out into Temple Square, draped in a White Veil.
The Acting Priestess.
It was not an actual position, merely a title that had attached itself to Iris as she took over the Priestess’s duties.
A young boy stumbled out, rushing forward.
“Ah, Iris! Thank you so much for helping us! My family is alive because of you!”
Iris smiled brightly.
“Oh, what are you saying? I was simply doing what I ought.”
“Ah……!”
“I’m just relieved you were unharmed.”
Iris bowed humbly and turned toward the Temple.
People murmured about Iris’s changed demeanor.
“I heard she was terribly disrespectful to the Priestess.”
“She even burst in wearing a White Dress—.”
“Perhaps she’s returned to her true self? Jealousy can transform a person.”
“Was she in league with Heresy…….”
“Shouldn’t we grant her a second chance?”
“Still, the Priestess—will she truly step back from such duties now that she’s to become Crown Princess?”
As everyone whispered, Iris stood smiling vacantly.
Yet inside, she was chaos incarnate.
I won’t forgive them. I won’t forgive them, I’ll never forgive the Tillard Family Kail the Second Empress everyone—I’ll make them all pay divine retribution. Even these people here will pay the price for treating me as a prisoner!
‘How dare they call me the Acting Priestess—Lillian’s replacement?’
First and foremost, the Grand Cleric and the Captain of the Holy Knights had been deeply disrespectful to Iris.
‘To atone for the sins you have committed thus far, you shall contribute your Control Ability to one thousand monster exterminations.’
When she heard that verdict, reason shattered entirely.
Yet she’d laughed even harder. Everyone was so hateful that monsters frightened her no longer.
The thought of crushing them all, subjugating them—it only brought her joy!
And today was the day she’d been waiting for.
Iris had drawn the Black Magic Circle she’d seen in Caspian’s Palace here.
‘When I touched that circle before, it felt like my strength drained away, didn’t it?’
At the time, she’d been focused solely on stripping the crystal’s power…….
‘It was an ability that could drain all the power from everyone standing within the circle.’
How wonderful, having a sharp mind.
Soon I’ll be the only Controller princess in this entire world.
Iris, her mind unmoored by madness, laughed vacantly once more.
This time, I really will become Lillian!

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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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