Broken Story: Reborn as a Villainess Author-Chapter 34: Aftermath

Acheron clutched her heart as she gasped for air. Ophelia and Stellar also took a breather... Trying to hide a presence from a monstrous person like that had taken a huge chunk of mana out of Acheron.

[Mana: 569/7811...]

[Mana recovery has begun]

[Mana: 590/7811...]

Acheron floated down from the skies. The butler was nearly crushed to the bones due to Predominance.

With a wave of her hand, she released him.

’He should be harmless now...’ She thought as she walked toward the courtyard. There she found Nieves, collapsed on the floor, blood on her hands.

The whole area was covered in it. Baron Shen’s body and head lay in two separate locations. With this, Acheron knew already that it wasn’t Nieves who killed him.

It was one of ’them.’

The Howl of Virtue.

She originally wrote them as one of several guilds proclaimed the strongest in the kingdom. They were meant to be a huge obstacle for Nieves when their paths crossed.

And It seemed the ’meeting’ part had come to pass.

As Acheron walked up close, she raised Nieves up and leaned her against the wall.

A sudden notification popped up.

[Story completion: 20.3%]

’Oh, it went up!’ She focused on it as another notification came in.

[You have completed a quarter of the story...]

[You have received a new affinity: Water]

[You have unlocked an origin skill]

More information dropped below.

❰ Echo of Judgement ❱

⤷ It plays a song, in the mind of the target, making them question their judgement, forming an uncontrollable loop of self criticism.

’An origin skill and a new affinity unlocked... I’ve used my dark and light affinities publicly already. If I use one more, suspicion will rise about whether I have the Arion core...’ Acheron held her hand to her chin.

「 When they check to see if you have that type of core, they’ll discover you have something far better...」

『 And take you in for experiments! 』Ophelia added.

Acheron giggled at their wild imaginations. ’It’s not going to get that far... I hope.’

She cast a simple spell, burning Baron Shen’s body with light magic. The flames consumed the corpse quickly, leaving only ash.

The butler had passed out. Constant pressure like that was enough to put anyone down for a long time.

Acheron dragged him behind a tree and cloaked his presence to protect him from the wide sensory range of Duke Lancelot.

After she was done, Acheron went back into the building. Her father had just finished his talk with Duke Lancelot and was ready to leave.

Together with her siblings, they thanked the Lancelots one more time and left in their carriages.

The last family of nobles was about to leave when a group of beggars showed up at the villa’s entrance.

They were stopped by two guards from entering. It was an old man and woman.

"Call the Duke!" The old man ordered. "What kind of vile treatment is this?!"

"Sorry sir, but the Duke is busy at the moment." One of the guards replied calmly.

"Tell him I am the honorable Duke Silias! He’ll come once he hears my name!" The old man rested on the stairs alongside his wife.

The guard stepped into the mansion where maids were cleaning up the remains of the ball.

He reached the Duke and whispered in his ear. "Sir, a man is outside claiming to be Duke Silias."

Duke Lancelot paused. ’Duke Silias? I think I saw him earlier drinking at the wine area... Maybe he wants to thank me...’ He thought as he followed the guard outside.

Vincent, on the other hand, overheard their conversation from a room where he had been hiding.

’Oh shit!’

He quickly removed the Ten Faces and ran out to the courtyard.

Everything looked normal.

’I could have sworn she would fig...’ His eyes scrolled around until they landed on Nieves leaning against the wall.

"Nieves!" He ran to check her pulse. "Phew, she’s still breathing."

He lifted her onto his shoulders, then heard a door open.

The guards were coming to the back to check for the frauds who had acted as Duke Silias.

The actual Duke Silias was giving Duke Lancelot a piece of his mind about bad security and how he hadn’t even noticed the difference.

Duke Lancelot was an incredibly strong man. Some would say he was one of the strongest in the kingdom.

However, he still had respect and bowed his head, apologizing as Duke Silias scolded him.

Vincent was already prepared for this situation. He threw down the Clue’s Compass relic and vanished instantly.

The relic allowed him to teleport to a specific location he had marked beforehand. An advanced model of the Runic Eye.

...

[Ironhills, Golden Plains...]

It was late at night. Shops and stalls had already closed, only the dim light of the torches held up glowed faintly.

A light shone bright from inside one of the rooms of a rundown cabin.

Vincent and Nieves appeared inside her room, where the other half of the Compass rested.

He laid her on the bed, his hand feeling the texture of her skin as he removed her boots.

He wrapped a blanket around her and turned to leave.

"D...on’t leave..." Nieves said faintly.

Vincent quickly went back to the side of the bed. For the first time, he saw Nieves crying.

All the time he had known her, she always put up a tough look, always on edge.

But that wasn’t the case anymore. Tonight she acted like the child that she was.

She had been consumed by rage when she saw Shen, ready to kill him for what he had done or had taken part in.

But it didn’t make the pain go away.

Was this what her parents would have wanted? Was all this revenge really worth it?

She didn’t know. Thinking of them, all she could do was cry... Tears of pain, tears of sorrow, tears of regret.

Vincent climbed into the bed and held her in his arms as she cried loudly.