Ascension Of The Villain

Chapter 152 - 152: Ruthless Monster

Maria batted her lashes innocently, her lips forming the beginnings of a dangerous word. "That b—"

Vyan's finger was on her lips in an instant as he cut her off, "Don't. I won't hear such a word against her."

The unexpected coldness in his voice made Maria blink, startled by the sharp edge in his gaze. "Oh, okay… I guess you two are close, then."

"Why would you—" Vyan began, but the knowledge of Maria and Iyana's history came to his mind. His expression tightened, and he gripped Maria's arm firmly. "We need to talk." As they stood at the grand entrance of the manor, he added, "But not here."

While passing by a cluster of servants, Vyan shot them a piercing glare. They immediately bowed their heads in apology, well aware of their lapse in vigilance—Maria's wandering presence around the manor, especially with Iyana so near, was a serious oversight.

Vyan led Maria to the closest discreet location he could find—Clyde's office. The room was empty. Clyde was absent, likely off to his father's house as he had mentioned earlier.

"Your Grace—" Maria began, but Vyan was quick to ask.

"Do you hate Iyana?"

Maria studied his serious but concerned face for a moment before she inhaled sharply. "Considering she is the reason my brother was gravely injured, my empire lost the war, and I was taken hostage, yes, Your Grace, I do hate her."

That meant his suspicion was right.

"I see. The hatred is understandable then," Vyan said, a little thoughtlessly.

"Hatred?" Maria's voice trembled with venom, her once bright and carefree face now twisted in a dark, seething fury. "Hate doesn't even begin to describe what I feel for her." Her eyes, normally sparkling with vivid life, now burned with an all-consuming spite. "She is the one person in this entire world I truly abhor, detest, and loathe with every fiber of my being.

If I could erase her from existence, I would."

The intensity of her hatred made a chill crawl down Vyan's spine, momentarily stunned by the sheer malice in Maria's voice. He couldn't believe it was the same ditzy, airheaded, and optimistic princess.

It was as if a dam had broken, unleashing her suppressed negative emotions that she normally did a good job covering up.

But then, just as quickly as it came, the storm within her seemed to subside, and Maria's face smoothed back into her usual innocent expression.

"And what about you, Your Grace?" Maria asked, her voice deceptively sweet, but the venom still lingered, just a whisper away. "What sort of relationship do you have with her?"

Vyan hesitated,

"Yes, that's right."

"I think I should make a trip down Halesbrook as well in that case," Vyan let out. "It might be nice to see if they are putting my generous donation to good use or not."

Clyde chuckled at that and asked curiously, "Why the sudden excitement to visit your orphanage, though? You never mentioned anything good about it."

"Well, it wasn't particularly bad, either," Vyan reasoned, a contemplative smile on his face. "In fact, Father Klaus was quite nice to me…" Was he nice? "I think so, at least. My memories are a little blurry. But I do remember he was the one who got me the opportunity for apprenticeship at House Estelle."

"That's nice of him."

"Yes, but he passed away a couple of years after that," Vyan said wryly. "Anyway, we will just drop by there for a short bit and take a look around. I will even show you my favorite spot in the orphanage."

"Alright then. I will add Halesbrook to our destination for tomorrow as well," Clyde stated. "Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of," Vyan murmured. "Oh, and tell Benedict to make sure nobody, not even Iyana, is allowed to step foot in the estate while we are gone tomorrow."

"Got it."

As Vyan got back to his paperwork and Clyde left the office, an uneasiness settled into Vyan's chest. Was he making the right decision by going to Ditrole?

His gut was telling him no, that something big might happen—whether good or bad, he wasn't quite sure of it.