A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines-Chapter 759 Heroes and Mortals - III

"You've done well, Marlina," the travel-worn wolf said, her face still showing signs of fatigue. It was hard to tell if her exhaustion stemmed from the recent battles or something else entirely.

"So much preparation during the city's construction. It must have been quite tiring for you."

Her tone lacked any biting sarcasm or accusation, as calm as if she were simply greeting Marlina.

"Mere trifles," Marlina chuckled softly. "Borrowing a bit of power from Mr.Ansel was enough to accomplish it. As for the rest... Lord Suellen lent me some assistance."

"After all, Mr.Ansel doesn't question the purpose of the power I borrow, and the craftsmen who built this place... well, they were disposed of afterward."

Seraphina's steps faltered for a moment before she continued forward.

"You've been so casual about taking innocent lives," Seraphina, who had once shown such anger and hostility towards her sister, now only murmured bitterly.

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Marlina's gaze remained gentle: "Just as you, Miss Seraphina, no longer speak to me with such fury."

"Fury?" Seraphina repeated, then scratched her head, revealing a self-deprecating smile.

"You're right... If Ravenna hadn't reminded me, if I hadn't seen with my own eyes how Ansel was being affected, I probably would be furious."

"But what right do I have to express such emotions now?"

The girl who could face pain and death fearlessly for her beloved and her beliefs now showed something that hadn't appeared on her face for too long... sorrow and helplessness.

"If I were stronger, if I could truly help Ansel, how could things have turned out this way? Marli, why did you have to go to such… extremes?"

"The fault lies neither with you nor with Ansel, Marlina."

She lowered her gaze and spoke softly:

"It's with me... who couldn't change or save any of this."

The ebony witch observed her for a long time, then her face also showed a hint of long-forgotten confusion.

"You... didn't come to stop me?"

There was no anticipated anger, no deep-seated hostility, no harsh criticism. There was only... remorse that consumed her very being.

Marlina sensed only remorse from Seraphina.

"Stop you? To stop you so Ansel has to fight more, and to take away this hard-won opportunity?"

Seraphina's lips twisted into a wry smile. "Don't be silly, Marlina. I cannot relive the innocent people you've sacrificed. Should I persist in being selfish and let Ansel bear the consequences?"

"The sacrificed... innocents," Marlina whispered. "You call them innocents?"

"Those hyenas who never cared for the lives of commoners, lingering in this sinful city solely for personal gain; those profit-seekers who never once held salvation or protection as their creed, forever chasing money and power; those foolish, hypocritical sinners who could be ensnared by the merest promise of benefit... You call them innocents?"

She tilted her chin slightly, her obsidian eyes gleaming with mockery and disdain. "This doesn't sound like you, Lady Seraphina."

"One shouldn't judge others by one's own standards. Ansel taught me that," Seraphina replied, remarkably composed. Their roles seemed to have reversed.

"I haven't learned it well, even now I can't claim to have understood it. I still often wish to use my power to force others to submit, to do what I wish. But at the very least... when it comes to matters of life and death, I no longer make such foolish demands as I once did."

"Even if your so-called salvation wasn't their initial intention, they did contribute to protecting the civilians of the Western Lands. I agree they should be judged for their greed and sins, but death should never be the standard."

"Marlina," Seraphina said softly, "why do you seek excuses for this massacre? Is it merely to me, to make me accept this sacrifice without… taking any resentment towards Ansel?"

"There's no need, Marlina. From the beginning, I said the fault lies neither with you nor with Ansel, but with me, who could do nothing."

Then came... a prolonged, heavy silence.

"This is precisely how you are," the Head of Devouring continued to absorb aether ceaselessly, while Marlina provided power to Ansel every second.

The ebony witch spoke softly, "Seraphina, this is how you are, and it's detestable."

Before Seraphina could respond, Marlina's icy voice resonated through the area:

"You open your mouth and immediately position yourself as undoubtedly correct. Every word proclaims your flawlessness. Even your supposed admissions of fault are delivered with an air of superiority. Your self-reflection is nothing more than moral judgment from on high, as if to say - 'I am far greater than someone like you, for I so graciously bear the burden of your mistakes.'"

"Seraphina, from childhood to now, you've always placed yourself in this position of unassailable righteousness."

"I've disliked this about you for a long time, Seraphina. And now, that dislike has grown into hatred."

Seraphina remained silent, while Marlina's voice grew louder. The undisguised fury and resentment in her words were so visceral that, if they could manifest as blades… she might have unhesitatingly struck at Seraphina.

"I care not how you treat me; I'm indifferent to how you treat others. But how dare you... treat Mr. Ansel in this manner!"

"You know full well the suffering he's endured, the monumental resolve it took for him to shoulder the burden of sin and evil. You understand better than I... the truth of enemies he faces!"

The once graceful and composed woman, whose bearing rivaled that of a princess, now lost all control. She roared with unbridled fury, her voice raw with emotion:

"Yet you still seek to drag him into a hell of remorse and torment with your so-called goodness and justice, pushing him into an impossible dilemma to satisfy your absurd desires! He salvaged your life, bestowed upon you love and hope you didn't deserve, and this... this is how you repay him?"

"You could have done so much more! You should have cleared every obstacle in his path, not become his burden and shackle! You're right, Seraphina... this is all your fault, yours and Ravenna's! If it weren't for you two, if someone else stood in your place, if I possessed that power, if I had that talent and ability, Ansel would never have faced such troubles! He should have long since attained the happiness he deserves!"

As the echoes of her outburst faded, Marlina spoke again, her voice hoarse.

"You two have never offered Ansel salvation. "

"You two have merely placed upon him an unbreakable curse."

After a prolonged silence, Seraphina finally responded: "So, allowing Ansel to continue down a path of evil he doesn't desire is your idea of salvation?"

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"—That's what you want me to say, isn't it, Marlina?"

"..."

Marlina fell silent. A flicker of bewilderment crossed her hate-filled obsidian eyes as Seraphina continued:

"Then you'd frankly admit to my words. I should argue with you about whether Ansel should do good or evil. You'd call me hypocritical, foolish, say I've harmed Ansel, insist you're right, and do everything to provoke my anger, to make me hate you, hate everything about you, hate what you've become."

"So from now on, no matter what wrongs Ansel commits, I need only hate you, is that right?"

The young girl gazed into her sister's eyes, now so unlike their former selves, and softly said:

"As long as I don't blame Ansel, as long as I still love him, it doesn't matter how much I resent you, does it?"

In Marlina's silence, Seraphina, who had halted, began moving forward again. Her steps were heavy and difficult, yet resolute.

"You're mistaken, Marlina... This time, I didn't come for Ansel."

"I'm not here to argue about what's best for him, what won't trouble him, what's good or bad, right or wrong... I'm not here for any of that, Marlina. Because from now on, we'll have plenty of time to prove who's right or wrong between us."

"So this time, I've come for you."

Seraphina Marlowe came not as the Head of Strength or Wind, but as Marlina's sister, to speak these words.

Standing a meter before Marlina, she said softly:

"I want to save you, Marli. I can't lose you."

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