Ascension Of The Villain

Vyan's gaze was still locked on the scene at the center of the court when he felt a sharp tug at his sleeve.

"This was your plan? Soliciting an innocent mage into taking responsibility for your crime?" Iyana hissed.

He turned his head slightly toward her, his expression flat, and asked with a little indignation, "My crime? You know I am not the one—"

"Well, you are, or should I say, were the prime suspect either way," she cut him off swiftly. "You literally just bought off a person to go to jail in your place."

"You wish." Vyan rolled his eyes. "I just had those three ladies threatened into retrieving their statements. That's it," he casually stated, and Iyana fixed him with a pointed look. Find adventures on mvl

"You had them threatened?" she asked, arching an eyebrow, seeming not that surprised as it was perfectly in character for Vyan.

"Yep," he admitted shamelessly. "So, I don't know anything about who this person is."

"That still makes you look bad, you know that, right?" She shook her head hopelessly.

Vyan gave a careless shrug. "Who cares? Every noble does it."

Iyana scoffed softly, her voice laced with mock disbelief. "You will never change, will you?"

Before their banter could escalate further, Garett cleared his throat loudly, drawing the attention of the court.

He stepped forward, his sharp eyes fixed on the man in handcuffs. "Mister Richard," he began, "you have confessed to the murder of Marquess Ryen. Now, elaborate, please. How did you, as you claim," he gave a suspicious side glance at Vyan, "carry out the murder?"

Richard's lips quivered, his eyes red from crying, as he finally raised his head. His gaze searched the crowd until they found Vyan's. Richard visibly gulped, as if asking for some sort of permission from Vyan.

"Why the fuck is he looking at you?" Iyana muttered in irritation as literally everyone in the court witnessed their eye contact.

Vyan had a cold mask at first, but then, he smirked subtly in amusement, putting his hands in the pocket. "Don't you get it? Dear Richard over here wants everybody to think I am the one who hired him."

Iyana clenched her fists and took a step to the side, slightly pushing Vyan further to the left. She shot a death glare at Richard, and he instantly flinched and looked away.

Vyan chuckled lightly. "You don't need to do that, you know? Let them think I am his boss. Who has the audacity to do anything about that?"

"Even so…" she spat out quietly, angry, and Vyan had the urge to pat her head suddenly, but he had to resist that in this circumstance.

"Mister Richard?" Garett urged impatiently.

Richard gulped once again and glanced up nervously. "I... I took the appearance of His Grace," he stammered, casting another brief look at Vyan before continuing, "and committed the crime myself. I thought it would be the easiest to frame him given the fight he had with the marquess just a few hours ago."

Vyan's mouth twitched as if he was resisting the urge to laugh at the absurdity of it all. He leaned closer to Iyana and whispered, "At this point, I think someone intentionally tipped off Robin that Daphne was with me."

"That's not such a far-fetched possibility," Iyana added.

Garett narrowed his eyes on Richard. "And why would you do such a thing?"

Richard swallowed hard, his voice trembling but not believable at all. "I used to work as a gardener at House Ryen. Lord Ryen... he was cruel to the staff, mistreated us, and eventually, he fired me. I lost everything. So, out of vengeance, I...

I decided to end his life. It was an impulsive decision I made that morning, and His Grace created himself to be the easiest scapegoat."

"I created myself as a scapegoat?" Vyan scoffed since Robin was the one who came out of nowhere and punched him.

Iyana gave him a wry, sympathetic smile.

"And why are you confessing now?" Garett pressed, his eyes on Vyan as if sure that Vyan was the actual criminal.

Meanwhile, Vyan matched his stare with all the confidence in the world, as if saying, even if that's the truth, what are you going to do about it?

Richard dramatically slumped his shoulders, his face crumpling with an air of regret. "The guilt... it's been eating me alive. I couldn't bear it anymore. I needed to confess, no matter the consequences."

Garett's lips pursed into a thin line, his expression one of mild dissatisfaction and frustration. He cast a glance toward Jade and stated, "Your Imperial Majesty, it seems all the details add up. Most likely, Mister Richard is telling the truth."

Jade nodded after a beat. Her voice rang through the court with the authority that came naturally to her. "Very well. For the crime of the murder of Marquess Robin Mathew Ryen, Richard Bermuda, you are sentenced to lifetime imprisonment."

At the announcement, Vyan felt Iyana shift beside him as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Guilt churned in his stomach, realizing how insensitive he had been, and he couldn't help it as the apology rolled off, "I am sorry."

"What?" Iyana looked at him, surprised. "What for?"

Vyan pursed his lips and looked around as Richard was being taken away by the imperial guards. "I know that you hate it when nobles like me get away with crimes so easily, even if it's obvious who the real criminal is."

He could recall all the countless times Iyana worked her ass off on difficult cases, only to discover that some powerful nobles were behind them, and it was no secret that those people were above law. All they needed was a decoy to close the case.

Iyana has always hated that the nobles walked away unpunished almost all the time, unless it was national treason, and now, Vyan was one of those nobles.

Iyana's eyes softened as she clicked her tongue quietly. "You idiot," she rebuked, almost affectionately, "Don't you already know? I have no integrity when it comes to you."

His heart fluttered at that, but he still felt guilty. "I don't want—"

"Tell me one thing: will you stop loving me if I go astray? For instance, I did all the stuff that you did?" she questioned. "Will I become unworthy of your love?"

She looked into his eyes dead serious, and he became quiet.

Would he love Iyana if she wasn't the same woman as she is now? If she changed into a different person? If he didn't know who she had become?

And would it be toxic of him to say yes? That he didn't care who she became? That he would always love her existence—this person named Iyana Pearl Estelle?

Maybe, just maybe, Iyana didn't care either. She always did say their feelings were mutual. So, to think, he had ever spent time mulling over and delaying in telling her his truth… How stupid.

He really was an idiot, wasn't he?