A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

Chapter 748 You Never Loved Me - III

Liberation.

How dare she... What right did she have to utter this word?

"I have that right, Mr. Ansel."

Even as cold anger rose in Ansel's eyes, Nine's expression remained unwavering. She concealed that sorrow in her deepest recesses, replacing it with a color so similar to Ansel's... a stillness as unyielding as iron.

Ansel's lips twitched slightly, a subtle expression mocking Nine's naivety and ignorance: "Has acquiring the ability to be a tool made you this self-satisfied, Nine?"

"No, Mr. Ansel. This has nothing to do with your sermons. This right was bestowed upon me by you," Nine whispered softly. "You gave it to me alone."

"Has your delusion reached such a level of madness?"

Faced with Nine's successive absurd statements, Hydral finally ceased concealing his derision. He cast that contemptuous gaze upon Nine, just as he had done with all those incompetent, pitiful individuals who were willing to offer everything for him, easily discarding even their own selves.

"The only commendable aspect of this delusion is that at least you still consider yourself worthy, rather than material I could casually discard."

Confronted with such caustic and merciless sarcasm and disdain, Nine smiled: "Mr. Ansel, do you really need to keep speaking to me this way?"

"Just this much, and you can't bear—"

"You know full well that I understand what you're thinking."

In an instant, Nine's smile vanished. She appeared truly maddened, her emotions oscillating between joy and sorrow as if countless consciousnesses and souls inhabited a single body.

At this moment, she was profoundly sorrowful and melancholic.

"Every time you feign indifference, every sardonic smile, every contemptuous word... it's as if you're crying out for help."

"If you truly didn't care, you could simply dismiss me or refuse to acknowledge me. Yet here you are, mocking my foolishness, trampling my dignity, as if trying to drive me away more forcefully, as if begging me not to continue, as if..."

Nine's eyes reflected Ansel's expression, a mix of derision and authority, but what she saw was... utter exhaustion and weariness.

"...as if concealing your own wounds."

In her eyes, the young man before her was already battered and scarred.

"Mr. Ansel, you're trapped in a predicament known only to you and me."

Nine leaned forward slightly, her knee gently pressing against Ansel's. She placed her hand on his thigh, and this time, the seemingly paralyzed Ansel didn't push her away.

Or perhaps... at this moment, Ansel suddenly understood Nine's intentions.

"I don't know who your enemy is. I only know... that even now, you haven't defeated It."

"I only know that to overcome It, you must resort to any means necessary, sacrificing everything. I know you've been living under an immense pressure I can't even fathom."

She gazed at Ansel's impassive face, speaking softly: "I've known these things since our time in Red Frost territory."

"I know you're not evil. I know you just... have no choice."

What formidable foe could leave Mr. Ansel without options? Is it the Empress? But the Empress is dead now, so why does Mr. Ansel still struggle so? Nine could never identify Ansel's enemy, but in truth...

she didn't need to.

She only needed to know that Ansel had always been in a difficult position. That was enough.

"Later, I discovered that not only are you not evil, but you've always been kind. You just can't choose kindness because kindness... would only lead to your defeat."

She didn't need to know what powerful enemy had driven Ansel to such despair, but she understood clearly that facing such a foe, Ansel had no luxury for kindness. He had to force himself to become a demon without weaknesses to have the strength to fight back.

"After Miss Seraphina and Miss Ravenna came along, it seemed your choices increased. I naively believed you finally had the right to choose, to pursue your former ideals. That's why I longed to follow in your footsteps, thinking it was the only way I could contribute my insignificant strength to you."

Nine spoke softly, as if narrating a story, but she was cutting herself open, displaying her heart and everything about her to Ansel in such a raw, bleeding manner.

"But later I realized I was wrong. The help Miss Seraphina and Miss Ravenna brought you was just a fleeting illusion, while the shackles and curses they gave you are eternal."

"..."

Ansel's gaze changed at this moment, from quiet indifference to a chilling coldness that sent shivers down one's spine.

"Because they aren't willing to love you by abandoning everything else. Besides you, they have things they can't let go of."

"Nine... you have no right to judge them," Ansel said, enunciating each word, his low voice like a howl from the abyss.

But Nine seemed not to hear Ansel at all, continuing on her own: "Because the things they can't give up are so close to the vision you once hoped for, you were inevitably changed. You began to resist being cold and cruel, you started rejecting past misdeeds, you began moving towards what seemed an increasingly attainable beauty. But you forgot one thing—"

"You still have no choice."

"I... have no choice?"

Ansel suddenly grabbed Nine's hand, pointing it at his own nose, his lips twitching into a smile. "You dare say I still have no choice even now? Nine... how much do you really know about me? Do you understand what the power I now hold means for the Empire? Do you know the level of that enemy you've conjured in your mind?

What right do you have to say I have no choice when you know nothing? Based on your one-sided fantasies?"

"Indeed, I know nothing, Mr. Ansel," she said so frankly. "I've just been watching you all this time."

I've just been watching you all this time.

Nine never knew what Ansel was facing, not for a moment.

But she saw how each step of Ansel's change became increasingly difficult, how each concession he made grew more bitter. Until now, when she felt that unbearable agony and pain he couldn't confide in anyone, Nine was certain that Ansel still had no choice. Find more to read at My Virtual Library Empire

And Ansel was stunned by these words.

In this instant, he seemed to... understand many things.

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