A Villainess Should Be Strong

Adrian was hot-headed, as he had been beaten by a young girl. When he woke up, Estelle was no longer there.

Of course, he still remembered the girl's brave attacks and the pain she brought. It was his first time being exposed to such a sharp pain, making him wonder where on Earth did the girl get her power from.

He then immediately rushed to his father's study to convict him of this matter, but he did not expect his father to laugh loudly instead.

"HAHAHAH!! Me, raising that child? Good, good!" Duke Augustine held to his arm rest as he finished the rest of his laughing track.

"W-why are you laughing?! If this gets around, do you know what will happen? What the Clareste Duke will say once he gets back here?!"

In Adrian's mind, Duke Alan was just travelling for his business expense. He did not even know that the man was out to seek for a cure. His daughter's cure.

However, the Duke Augustine was different. Since he was in contact with Heine, he learned that the girl was in a coma for a long time and that her father disappeared to search for a legendary item.

Of course, Augustine did have an inkling on where the location was, but it wasn't his position to say it to Estelle.

He felt bad when the conversation was ongoing, but it had to be done.

Some sacrifices were necessary for the world to run smoothly.

Adrian gritted his teeth as he saw Duke Augustine laugh like no other day.

"What is it?! Why won't you tell me anything? I'm the heir apparent of this family! I deserve to know, especially when we don't know when you'll suddenly pass out and die!"

Adrian was agitated.

It could be said that his aggression stemmed from his socialite lifestyle. He was deeply invested in his interactions with other nobles.

At first, he got a head start because he was a heir apparent of the Millers, which would mean that he would be the head after Duke Augustine resigned.

People flocked to him to build a connection with the future Duke. Adrian was able to fully use his status to flaunt about his worth.

He thought that the Duke would give the position to him soon, because the old man was slowly deteriorating.

However, this didn't happen. He waited for years, and years.

From his originally calm disposure, he was forced to take drastic measures because of his overthinking. He wanted to take control.

Having a competitive spirit, it was obvious that Adrian got agitated because of this complicated matter.

The way people viewed him. The forever 'heir apparent' status. All of that contributed to his dislike towards the old Duke and the Miller name.

He was falling behind compared to his social entourage. Even though his status as the future Duke should've been a great catch, it started to lose meaning when the Duke Augustine did not show any intent to push Adrian to the spotlight.

The social peerage he had managed to build, everything seemed to be crumbling with each passing second. And that infuriated him every time he thought about it.

Duke Augustine was keeping the Miller family to himself, even though the menial matters were all slowly being handled by Adrian.

He was frustrated. Understandably so. The past admiration that he got was no longer in sight. It was now laced with clear mockery over the fact that he couldn't even gain his father's trust.

He was labeled as an unfortunate being, despite his hard work. No longer did he love the family and his dad. He was irritated.

Granted, he had a special background.

But even so, after years of working, he expected the old Duke to resign. He was past his prime and could be considered a shameless man. Pushing the work to him, but not acknowledging him as the true Duke.

Adrian had sought the perfect chance to bring Duke Augustine down, but could never find it.

"This world is a bundle of misfortune. Luck is short-lived, and success is fluctuating. I am old now, Adrian. You should know better than to pry into my personal matters. Should you do that, adopting another talented child and nurturing him into the head would be a plausible option. It's very easy to replace someone like you,"

The Duke's frank announcement shocked Adrian.

"Father..!" Adrian clenched his fists, ignoring the pain that he felt physically.

The fire that burned inside his heart was far more painful.

Duke Augustine looked at his 'son' with tired eyes.

Adrian Miller, the son he had adopted long ago, the one he perhaps made he mistake on.

After a long stare off, Adrian left the room with hasty steps. Irritation was all over his movements.

The room was soon quiet one more time as the old man was the only guy left.

The Duke massaged his temples as he leaned back on his chair. A loud sigh.

He thought that he was way over the age where he could bear this sort of thing happening.

It was about time that Adrian started maturing, but somehow the son he adopted couldn't let go of his twisted principles.

He hated to admit it, but parts of it was his fault.

Adrian was someone who he not only adopted, but was entrusted for by an old acquaintance. The selection of Adrian wasn't completely based on his pick.

Thus, the first time they met, he didn't feel any intimation with the young Adrian at that time. Added in to his depression over his painful losses, he couldn't fully attend to Adrian as a paternal figure.

"Where did this all go wrong?" He lamented. "I was just trying my hardest.. to achieve whatever I could,"

_____

Estelle reached her father's study in no time due to the space rift. She was now standing in the middle of the familiar room, her eyes twirling around to spot anything amiss.

She had just used magic to create the space rift. She hadn't felt anything at first, but she was hit with a backlash after some time. It was small, but noticeable.

Taken aback, Estelle immediately quit using the magic.

"As expected.. After being sealed, it's a bit awkward to use," Estelle felt her magic easily dissipate. She wasn't saying that she couldn't use magic in the slightest, but she probably would want to wait longer until her magic stabilizes.

However, the True Creation Magic she wielded did not apply to this factor. The magic could still be used without no worries at all.

If she had to explain it, then she would attribute the phenomenon as the result of True Creation Magic having a higher standing and power than anything it stood above.

Estelle looked around with curiosity. She had long discovered that the portal should be the room itself.

It must've been designed to accommodate her grandmother. Entering the Duke's study wasn't something you could easily do, and Duchess Silvanna's outings could be hidden this way.

She looked at the neat bookshelves and smiled looking at the variety of books. Her father was someone keen on reading, and the amount of books he read in his entire life were multiples of what an average person would.

His taste was refined, and even Estelle had to admit that his literary level was superb.

Then, she suddenly noticed a small protruding object from the bookshelves' behind. The furniture weren't taped to the wall, so there was a crevice behind and under the shelves.

Estelle squatted down to reach for the object, wanting to look at it.

She pulled it out gently, afraid of knocking anything down.

The result was a golden frame that held a picture inside.

It displayed Richter, Silvanna, and a young Alan all in one setting- the study she was standing in. Even after Alan took control, the room hadn't been renovated much, so the setting was similar.

"..This is?" Estelle scrutinized the picture, picking the object up and bringing it closer to her.

She first thought that it was a normal picture that somehow got into the crevices, but after reminding herself of Alan's personality, she chose to investigate further.

After all, knowing her father, he wouldn't have left this here. He would've noticed it a lot sooner, too. It was slightly unbecoming of him.

Though, it might've just been a mishap on Alan's side.

After looking closer into it, she was able to detect something hidden within the picture, sealed behind the glass.

She opened the glass case and rubbed the picture. Then, she was able to tear off a small chunk from the picture sheet.

It peeled off smoothly, showing that the detachable piece was something planned and not a coincidence.

Pulling it out, Estelle observed the slip and mused.

A slip of paper.

She began to think that something bigger was hidden.

It was yellowish and had signs of aging. It must've been left there for a long time. Dust also polluted the surface, making Estelle have to brush the small particles off.

She flipped it around. Then, tiny foreign letters caught her attention.

It was hand written with red ink, and the color was still prominent even if the medium that contained it was aging.

"This language.. what?" Estelle was confused.

Estelle had the ability to discern every single language that existed in the world, and perhaps even the universe.

The languages that went out of her scope of concrete knowledge. She would be able to understand them, but it didn't mean that she could teach them to another personnel.

The system worked in mysterious ways.

The language the text was written in was something she had never encountered before. Not even the ancient language that she discovered previously.

After focusing harder, however, she was able to extract the meaning between those two words.

"Gardenia.. Sky," Estelle mumbled, repeating what the translating operation that went on inside her head yielded.