She is the Daughter of the Villainess in a Ridiculous Novel - Chapter 105
With those words, Melisa cracked a grin.
The Duke, who had been watching the situation in a state of battle readiness, easily realized what he was about to do as he saw the wind gradually gathering around Melisa’s body.
‘Is he trying to condense his magic power and cause an explosion?’
It was a method that magicians rarely used when cornered in a fight. It was a magic that could hardly guarantee the lives of the people around, let alone the life of the caster himself…
‘He’s truly lost his mind.’
Otherwise, he wouldn’t commit such an act in front of the person he had just declared his love for.
Rowena did not have the strength to withstand this magic explosion.
Of course, Melisa, who was gathering the magic power, couldn’t be unharmed either. This was due to the triple trap Idel had been honing her skills for.
‘A magic slowdown potion, an antidote potion, and the poison from the hairpin.’
Melisa, who objectively analyzed his condition, slowly blinked.
Truthfully, he was at his limit. Even now, blood was gushing out from every possible opening in his body as he forcibly gathered magic power.
‘But I’m not going to stop because of that.’
Melisa was desperate.
It had to be now. Since that short little brat had completely ruined his plan, he didn’t know when else he would be able to get his hands on Rowena.
He didn’t care what happened to his own body from the start, and if, in the worst-case scenario, something happened to Rowena…
‘It would be upsetting, but the pain would only last for a very short while.’
Afterward, he himself would personally take care of her so that she would never have to feel pain again.
If only he could keep Rowena by his side, the process of restoring her to normal would surely be sweet.
‘It would be even better if I could make Rowena fall in love with me during that time.’
Even as his face was smeared with blood, Melisa’s eyes were persistently focused only on his sister.
Was it because he had bled so much? Fragments of the past jumbled up and surfaced in the midst of seeing her attend to the guests in the chaotic hall and check on the children’s safety.
‘This child… I’ll take this child.’
‘Excuse me? But, Count, you clearly said you were looking for a girl…’
‘Look at this child yourself. Doesn’t this child resemble the deceased Melisa more than any girl we’ve seen so far!’
The time he first met William Silverstone at the orphanage.
‘Listen carefully. From now on, you are Melisa Silverstone, not Liam. As you can see, my wife has not been sane since Melisa’s death. Furthermore, after giving birth to the second child, her condition has worsened to the point where it wouldn’t be strange if she died at any moment.’
‘…So you’re saying I look exactly like your daughter?’
‘Yes. It would have been good for all of us if you were a girl… Learn black magic before you grow too old to hide the fact that you are a boy. That is the only way you will survive.’
The time he had to abandon the name Liam and become Melisa for the Countess…
‘Rowena? Why are you here…? It should be your bedtime by now.’
‘Shh, Sister! There’s thunder and lightning outside, so I came to sleep with you because I’m scared.’
‘…You, I told you to stop doing this, didn’t I?’
‘But, Sister, Father scolded you again today. Father is weird. It’s okay if a dress doesn’t fit a little, or if you cut your hair. Why does he only want you to look the same all the time? He never says anything like that to me.’
‘It’s fine; this styling probably doesn’t suit me. The dress… I can just lose a little weight.’
‘Do you really have to? I like you just the way you are, Sister. No matter what you look like, you’re the only one for me. I’ll tell you I love you for the rest of my life by your side!’
Memories like the moment he first felt love for Rowena.
Although that memory also contained the painful moment when Rowena introduced Vincent Clementine.
Melisa raised his hand and pressed down hard on the left side of his chest.
He couldn’t tell if the tearing pain he felt near his heart was due to his wretched physical condition or the heartbreaking memory.
‘I’ve come all this way, just barely…’
He had learned black magic, joined hands with the Lopez family, and paid the ‘merchant’ to bring Idel.
He could have obtained Rowena with just a flick of his finger as compensation for the long effort and time he had invested.
‘And the feeling of that opportunity collapsing right in front of me…’
Gritting his teeth, he swept his eyes across the chaotic hall. Idel’s figure was nowhere to be seen, likely having been ushered out by the Duke.
‘Idel, Idel, Idel…’
Hah. The more he thought about it, the more audacious it was.
Who had raised her all this time, only for her to turn a knife on him? And to deceive him so perfectly.
Just as he was internally calling the child’s name over and over and drawing in more magic power, a sharp sword strike flew at him from the front. It was an attack aimed precisely at his arm.
“…Vincent Clementine.”
“Melisa, you truly underestimate me. Do I look like a weakling who can’t even stop a magic explosion? Especially one from a person as utterly ravaged as you are now?”
“Ah, ahahaha! Of course not.”
Laughing like a madman, he jutted out his chin, provoking him.
“You are the great Duke who stole my sister’s heart, after all. Surely you can deal with a villain like me sufficiently on your own?”
“Nonsense.”
Vincent focused on resolving the matter at hand rather than engaging in pointless conversation.
From the moment he realized Melisa was attempting a magic explosion, he acted as the Duke to protect everyone here.
He activated the defensive magic installed within the duchy and commanded the knights to evacuate the guests.
Not satisfied with that, he intricately wove his sword aura and spread it among the people in the hall.
‘This way, the sword aura can act as a protective shield at a moment’s notice.’
It was an act that consumed a massive amount of mental energy and vitality, but he completed it all in an instant without batting an eye.
Vincent rapidly scanned his surroundings even as he aimed for a gap in the magic power enveloping Melisa with his sword.
‘Rowena and the children are in a safe place.’
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Young Master Knightley were also unharmed.
Having confirmed that there was nothing left to be an obstacle to him, he fully enveloped his sword with a sharply honed aura.
‘The best option is to seal his hands and subdue him.’
Though he wished to use a rougher method, doing so might cause the magic power, which even a magician himself couldn’t control, to explode in an unexpected way.
The Duke thrust his sword in again, recalling all the possible scenarios that Melisa’s magic explosion could bring about.
Melisa’s magic power, which was converging in a spiral, and Vincent’s sword aura, which was trying to disrupt that magic power, clashed repeatedly.
“Vincent Clementine…!”
And at the very moment, the Duke finally bent the trajectory of the swirling wind and broke the initial chain reaction of the magic explosion.
“Ugh!”
Count Bright and Kailon, who had been concealing their presence and targeting Melisa’s back, stabbed both of his shoulders.
“Cough! Ha… You acted as if you would face me alone, yet you’re a coward.”
“Shut up. The rest of the story will be heard later, both about you personally and those behind you.”
“You’ll hear my story later… That’s amusing…”
With swords piercing both of his shoulders, he crookedly twisted his head and chuckled like a person with air in their lungs.
Then, he looked up at the Duke with glistening eyes and slightly pulled the corner of his mouth into a smile.
“But what do we do about this? What I prepared wasn’t a magic explosion.”
“What?”
Enjoying the sight of the Duke frowning, Melisa struggled to snap his fingers.
His body, which had been kneeling at the Duke’s feet, instantly teleported in front of Rowena.
“Screech!”
“Du-Duchess…!”
The sound of people gasping in fright at Melisa’s sudden appearance echoed everywhere.
Melisa used the surrounding astonishment as background music and reached out his hand to Rowena.
“I’m sorry, Rowena.”
“……”
“I should have gathered a bit more magic power, but my condition isn’t great, so the stability of the teleportation will likely be poor. However, even if a problem arises, I’ll fix it for you.”
‘It’s going to be alright.’
Smiling like a truly insane person, he reached out his hand to Rowena.
“I knew this would happen.”
The cynical voice of a child was heard between the two. And simultaneously, water with a very pungent smell hit Melisa’s face.
“Is it because you’re so suspicious? You always dig one trap and hide the real one, don’t you?”
Just like now.
