A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines-Chapter 761 Heroes and Mortals - V

"..."

Seraphina's lips quivered, unable to utter a word.

She finally understood why Marlina had labeled her "saving" as arrogance.

For her sister, truly, from beginning to end... had not loved Ansel because of the curse upon him.

Marlina Marlowe had simply, naturally fallen in love with the young man who had granted her new life and altered her fate.

Or rather... as she had expressed, how could she not devote herself entirely to loving Ansel?

Seraphina realized she should have understood sooner - Marlina had always been acutely aware of Ansel's bewitching nature. She had even warned Seraphina against succumbing to it during their time in Red Frost territory.

Marlina knew and was vigilant about this, yet still loved Ansel unconditionally.

Everyone - Seraphina, Ravenna, Ansel himself, and all others - had assumed that those who abandoned everything for Ansel did so because of his enchanting ability.

They believed that loving Ansel necessitated maintaining one's own convictions and ideals; only then could it be considered true love.

But as Marlina had expressed - for a girl who never aspired to be a hero, who was utterly ordinary, was it so absurd to love someone unreservedly?

Must all love stories be like legends, fraught with heart-wrenching twists and unwavering reasons?

Did a boy like Ansel of Hydral not deserve the wholehearted, unconditional love of an ordinary girl from an impoverished village?

Marlina's critique of Seraphina, Ravenna, and all who thought she needed saving wasn't because they believed her to be beyond redemption.

Rather, it was because they had genuinely forgotten… the possibility that she had simply, purely loved Ansel from the very beginning.

"But you... you've done so much, you clearly..."

Seraphina stumbled over her words, unsure how to express her emotions. Should she rejoice that Marlina hadn't fallen into an irredeemable abyss? Yet, Marlina's actions seemed no different from such a fall.

"Isn't it natural?" Marlina countered. "If I can give my all for my love, of course I can do anything for Mr. Ansel."

"But isn't that no different from being bewitched?!" Stay tuned to novelbuddy

Seraphina's heart, which had just begun to relax, tensed again. She gestured frantically, "If you don't even cherish yourself, how can you —"

Marlina laughed, her light-hearted chuckle brimming with joy and confidence. "The difference is immense, Miss Seraphina, because I know that I am more important than anything else."

I am more important than anything else.

It was hard to imagine such words coming from someone who would do anything for love. If she truly believed herself to be more important than anyone else... how could she repeatedly put herself in mortal danger?

"Mr. Ansel abhors those controlled by his enchanting nature, rejecting all love that is wholly devoted to him," Marlina said, her dark eyes filled with affection and tenderness as she lowered her gaze.

"His past life prevents him from loving someone wholeheartedly. His heart carries many burdens beyond love, so he doesn't accept or believe that… anyone could love him unconditionally."

"This is the root of Mr. Ansel's predicament."

She turned to Seraphina, her tranquil gaze making the latter uncomfortable. Marlina seemed to be questioning something, yet also silently making a declaration, a judgment.

"Despite his immovable burdens, Mr. Ansel allows those he loves to not love him wholeheartedly, to pursue other things. Ironically… what his loved ones pursue causes him pain and anguish. Yet, due to his principles, he doesn't reproach them but silently supports and aids them, sinking deeper into his dilemma."

"So I realized that Mr Ansel… lacks someone who loves him wholeheartedly. He needs someone to help him, someone who can love him unconditionally and walk beside him."

"As for this realization," Marlina smiled at Seraphina, "it came at Dispute Fortress, after your impassioned questioning. You made me understand that your thoughts influence Mr. Ansel's choices, and both you and he see this as natural - a naturalness destined to torment Mr.Ansel."

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In that moment, Marlina recognized not only the importance of power from Seraphina's words but also how Seraphina's "selfishness" and Ansel's "indulgence" would inevitably lead Ansel into difficulty.

So Marlina joined Shadewell, an organization meant to dedicate everything to Ansel.

But she discovered she had chosen wrong again.

Even Shadewell ultimately moved forward for its own ideals, making her understand that not just lovers, but no one around Ansel was willing to devote themselves entirely to him without reservation. It wasn't that such people couldn't exist, but that Ansel didn't want them to.

"Miss Seraphina, I love reading."

Marlina suddenly changed the subject, her gaze seeming to look past Seraphina's shoulder towards the entrance of this sacrificial core, or perhaps along the long path she had traveled.

"Reading was my only chance to change myself. Knowledge was the free nourishment Mr.Ansel provided for my transformation. Without talent or gifts, I could only study relentlessly, read ceaselessly, to turn my predestined grey life into one full of meaning and color."

"But I discovered that even in reading and studying, someone as ordinary as me struggles to be comprehensive… Mr.Ansel's library is vast, and in his sea of knowledge, I'm but a lost jellyfish, drifting with the currents."

Her voice was a mere whisper, and though her husky tones could never reclaim their former melody, to Seraphina's ears, they were indistinguishable from her sister's voice of old—so gentle and warm.

"It was then I realized that I, in my ordinariness, must make a choice... a sacrifice."

With that tender voice, she uttered words that shook Seraphina to her very core.

"For I am but a common woman, a mere mortal, Seri. Bereft of talent, to gain something, I am destined to relinquish something else."

"You believe... that I am forsaking myself, abandoning my very existence, destined to be discarded by Mr.Ansel as worthless refuse, do you not?"

Not only Seraphina, but all who had encountered Marlina and recognized her true state believed this to be her inevitable end—a disposable entity, not valuing herself, pursuing love as humbly as dust, ultimately destined to be treated as such.

But Marlina... had never viewed herself in this light.

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