The Abandoned Villainess Takes Everything This Time - Chapter 173

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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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173.
In Lillian’s hand, an Orb gleaming with S-Rank Control Ability hovered and bobbed.
‘This power came from Iris.’
Lillian gazed at the luminous sphere with a sense of loss.
……It could have been used so much better.
No matter how formidable a gift might be, it amounts to nothing if the one who possesses it lacks the capacity to wield it.
Lillian raised both her hands.
“This power belongs to a worthy bearer of this age.”
I can’t remain here any longer.
The sphere floating above her palm transformed into a white butterfly.
And it began to fly freely away.
Lillian looked down at Iris, who thrashed about on the ground.
Now, neither in our original age nor here—
‘There is no place left for you.’
It was remarkable enough that she’d found her way here through some crude method she’d learned from those Revenants.
Lillian had no desire to snuff out Iris’s breath herself.
If I drown in the abyss, I become the abyss.
That was how Lillian chose to define Iris.
“Your Highness. It’s time I truly returned.”
“……That moment has come.”
“When I arrived here, the Creator God pulled me through—”
Now came the question of how to depart.
Whoooooosh……
A vibration rumbled beneath their feet, and the two found themselves transported into the darkness of a tower.
It was the very Spatio-temporal Tower where she had once met the Emperor.
* * *
“Li, Lli, an.”
Iris couldn’t believe it.
How could she cause such devastation and simply leave her behind……?
“I, I have to run.”
Her survival instinct awakened first.
If she were caught by the heads of the Five Great Families like this……!
But at that moment, a stone flew toward Iris’s body.
“Ahhh!”
Iris wrapped her head in her arms and screamed.
Those who had fled consciousness had found her.
“If we surrender the Controller, will all our sickness be healed? What was that just now!”
“This filthy witch!”
“Look at her—isn’t she becoming a Monster?”
“Fraud!”
Iris wailed in bitter indignation.
“How is this my fault!?”
Iris lashed out.
“You all chose to abandon your families just to get better, didn’t you? You said you hated being bound to the Controller! So why are you only blaming me!”
Everyone’s faces grew darker.
But then a grave voice rang out.
“All of you, stand back.”
Tears welled up in Iris’s eyes.
“Count Karkin Pavil!”
Ah, here appeared the only person who seemed composed.
‘He came to save me!’
Though he resembled Kail somewhat, he carried himself with far greater nobility.
Everything she had done here had not been in vain.
The man embraced Iris.
“Thank you so much for your help—wha—?”
Why were they returning to the ruined Temple now?
“Co, Count? Why are we—agh!”
The man shoved Iris roughly into the Underground of the Temple.
Her vision went pitch black.
The moment she realized this was an Underground Prison, her spine went rigid with dread.
“No!”
Iris bolted upright.
“What is this! Open this door!”
“Iris Tillard. Did you dare deceive me?”
“……!”
Iris’s face drained of all color.
“Deceive? Count Pavil? What do you mean—”
“You promised you would exclude my family from the sacrifice!”
Bang! Kaius Pavil struck the door viciously with his fist.
Everything that ‘witch Lillian’ had said was true.
He had frantically checked whether his fellow Controller members were safe.
The reality was devastating.
‘Dead?’
The Sacrifice Ceremony had begun early in one place. The clan members he thought he had smuggled out were there.
Iris had never bothered to properly verify whom she had extracted.
Or perhaps she had deceived him and tried to gather one more sacrifice instead!
“And instead of an apology or any reflection, she babbles about how it’s not her fault.”
He stepped back.
“I won’t tell a soul I brought you here. We can’t have you receiving sympathy just because you received aid once before!”
“A—”
“Just disappear quietly.”
Iris could only stare blankly as the man receded into the distance.
Before she could even gather her thoughts, the door had shut.
What am I to do?
With her Control Ability completely stripped away, she couldn’t manifest anything physically.
There was no one here.
Iris was trapped.
Alone……until death?
“No, this can’t be.”
Iris clawed at the stone wall.
But soon she could claw no longer.
Her fingers withered like Markus’s.
The price for recklessly wielding Dark Magic without thought to its consequences was finally being paid.
“……!”
She couldn’t breathe.
“……Don’t go.”
Who could possibly save me?
Who—?
She had discarded Kail, her Fated Partner, without care. She had abandoned the Empress, whom she had hoped to call mother-in-law.
She had destroyed all ties to the Tillard Family.
She had cast them all away without hesitation.
“Sister……”
Iris recalled the time when she and Ramio had just come to the Tillard Family after losing their parents.
‘Hello, Iris. Call me sister from now on.’
And she remembered that it had been only Lillian who greeted them with such warmth.
Until Iris’s rank was determined.
“Sister, please help me……!”
Iris curled into herself and began to weep.
“I was wrong, I was wrong. Please forgive me, I just—”
I just wanted everything sister wore to look beautiful on me too!
The beauty, the Control Ability she lacked, the way my brother adored her like she was a real older sister, the way everyone loved her—all of it……
‘I wanted to be like sister.’
That was all.
‘So what went wrong?’
No matter how hard she thought, Iris couldn’t recall what her first mistake had been.
But since it was Lillian, her sister—
Wouldn’t she hear Iris’s desperate remorse from somewhere?
Wouldn’t she come to save her?
“I’ll be good from now on, I’ll listen well, so please—”
Then a strange memory flooded in.
In the collapsing Imperial Palace, Lillian had shielded Iris and suffered terrible wounds.
She was crushed under debris from the ceiling.
Blood poured from Lillian’s right shoulder and leg.
She was alive and could have been saved, but—
‘Forget Lillian and run!’
‘……Iris.’
Lillian, buried and broken under the debris, gasped and flailed her hand desperately.
‘Please, save me. Don’t leave me.’
At those words, Kuern and Ramio had frozen for a moment.
And seeing that, Iris had become furious.
‘What are you doing!? I should be the priority!’
“That’s not true! Iris would never say such a thing!”
Iris covered both her ears and shrieked.
“Please save everyone……! Come save me!”
But her cries echoing through the darkness only reverberated in vain.
Iris was swallowed by the darkness.
* * *
Lillian lingered in the Spatio-temporal Tower.
“Hmm. Where is the exit?”
When she had been here before, she’d arrived in a dream, so her memories were hazy.
But when she spotted a glowing place like an entrance, Lillian tugged at Evren’s hand.
“Come this way, Your Highness!”
“……”
“That must be the way out.”
“……Yes. You go first.”
Lillian nodded.
She turned and hurried forward, her heart hammering wildly in her chest.
‘Not even when I made White Night possible did it race like this!’
‘I did it.’
She had accomplished everything the Creator God desired!
Which meant—
‘When I return, Ren might be awake!’
Giddy with excitement, her pace quickened.
Evren, following behind to guard her, laughed.
“You seem delighted.”
“……No, I’m not. I’m not that excited, really.”
“Hah.”
There was no venom in his laughter.
So Lillian felt assured.
That, true to his word, there was no future where she would lose something.
He spoke tenderly.
“Lillian.”
“Yes—?”
“Make me propose properly when we return.”
“What?”
“Make me kneel about fifty times until you’re satisfied.”
Why would I be such a tyrant about it?
“Do I look like that kind of person to you?”
“It sounds amusing.”
“You’re impossible.”
Embarrassed, Lillian quickened her pace ahead.
“Hmph. I’ll decide for myself.”
“Of course.”
He continued laughing gently behind her.
So she felt safe still.
“I’m glad your legs don’t hurt anymore.”
“……”
“That settles it, then.”
Lillian came to an abrupt halt.
The hand she had been holding vanished.
Clink!
And then the sound of a ring falling to the floor.

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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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