The Baddest Villainess Is Back
Chapter 16
“Roselyn! Where do you think you’re going?!”
“Hey, have you lost your mind?”
Roselyn faltered as rough hands pulled her back.
Cherti, turned deathly pale and stiff as a stone, stumbled backward as he saw Roselyn approaching.
“Please let go.”
“Let go? Why would I let go?! When that bastard gets like this, the best thing to do is just lock him in here until he calms down…!”
Ian Bellion yanked Roselyn back violently.
Roselyn frowned, but she held her ground.
“It’s because everyone keeps avoiding him like this that Father still hasn't been able to control his ability,” Roselyn said curtly.
“What…?”
“Let go.”
Muttering briefly, Roselyn strode toward Cherti.
“I told you not to come any closer.”
Cherti’s expression crumpled fiercely as he raised his voice. However, his tightly constricted pupils betrayed the fact that he was already incredibly tense.
“I’ve always said it’s more of a hindrance if you come…”
“If Father doesn’t control that, I’ll die,” Roselyn said.
Cherti’s shoulders jolted.
Splash, sizzle—!
The shoes she was wearing began to melt.
“I said don’t come…!”
His shouting voice grew smaller than before. It was because he feared his rampage might catch her in its wake.
‘So this is an Abyss rampage.’
Roselyn thought to herself as she took another step.
Splash.
Her shoes began to dissolve in the dangerous purple venom.
‘Abyss.’
It was a special power, otherwise known as a supernatural ability. Since no one knew the origin of this ability, which awakened with an unpredictable probability, it was called by an ancient word meaning ‘the depths.’
Those who awakened an Abyss gained a special power unlike that of ordinary humans.
‘I knew Father had an ability, but…’
She hadn’t known it was this kind of power. This was because Roselyn had never once seen him use it.
Some Abyss abilities were occasionally difficult for the owner to control. Therefore, children with insufficient control or adults with an Abyss too strong to manage wore accessories crafted from stones called Soul Stones to suppress their power.
Generally, the more Soul Stone jewelry one wore, the stronger the ability was assumed to be.
Cherti was currently wearing three bracelets on each arm. Not only that, he wore a small piercing above his earring and seven rings on his fingers.
Even Duke Bellion wore a significant number of accessories, but Cherti had even more. Despite this, Cherti’s power would leak out uncontrollably like this whenever his emotions ran high.
Awakening at the moment of his birth, Cherti Bellion was regarded as an ominous child who had killed the midwife and his mother as he entered the world. He was solitary, lonely, and always alone. Because if he stayed alone, no one would get hurt.
“Don’t come…”
Cherti’s voice was now trembling. He couldn’t believe it. While everyone else fled in horror, his daughter approached with a calm face, stepping through the deadly poison flowing from his body as if it were nothing.
He almost wished this were all a dream.
“Father, I actually don’t mind dying,” Roselyn said, her words making Cherti’s eyes widen in shock.
“I don’t have much lingering attachment. I’ve already died once, anyway.”
Roselyn didn’t even glance at the poison melting her shoes. Rather, it was Cherti and those behind her who were fretting.
“You know, Father.”
Roselyn spoke cautiously.
“There’s one thing I’m curious about.”
Strictly speaking, the man before her wasn't Roselyn’s real father. If she had to be precise, well. There was no longer anyone to ask this question. She couldn't ask a dead person.
However, Roselyn felt a sense of cognitive dissonance. If the people of this parallel world were truly similar to the people of the world she lived in…
Why exactly did the father in her world die?
‘If Father’s Abyss is poison, he should have been resistant to all poisons…’
Why didn’t her father notice the cowardly trick Lady Carmel used?
“If a person who is resistant to all the world’s poisons died from poison… why would that be?”
What is the reason a person who should never die, dies?
Cherti faltered at Roselyn’s question. After examining Roselyn with significant eyes for a long moment, Cherti finally spoke.
“…It would be because that person’s body gave up on detoxifying it.”
At Cherti’s words, it was Roselyn’s turn to come to a dead stop. Right. It was a response she had somewhat expected.
Roselyn lowered her gaze and let out a short breath. If there were a time when a perfect immortal died, when would it be? It would likely be when the immortal gave up on living of their own accord. When every cell in the body gave up on working any longer. Or when they themselves decided they would die.
‘Why?’
Roselyn wanted to ask. But since there was nothing more she could ask a dead person, she simply remained silent.
Before she knew it, Roselyn was standing right in front of Cherti. Seeing Roselyn’s half-melted shoes, Cherti reached out a pale, trembling hand before hesitating.
“I always thought Father hated me. That I didn’t live up to Father’s expectations.”
“…”
Cherti’s eyes, slightly hidden by his long bangs, widened.
‘But if…’
If that wasn't it.
Roselyn’s eyes sank heavily.
“…No way.”
The pale hand that reached out tentatively grasped Roselyn’s sleeve. “There’s no way…”
Cherti’s voice as he held her sleeve trembled slightly. At that moment, Roselyn slowly raised her hand as if to return his embrace, and then…
She slid her finger through the slight gap in Cherti’s lips and shoved what she was holding down his throat.
Gulp.
It was a super-potent sleeping pill in tablet form. Of course, it was a sedative that worked only on those who had awakened an Abyss.
‘It’s a good thing I made it just in case.’
It was a drug for Abyss users that didn’t exist yet, but would be created in a few years. ‘Technically, it’s closer to a tranquilizer, but…’
Cherti’s Adam’s apple moved reflexively as his eyes flew wide, and soon his body leaned forward.
“He’s out…”
Watching Cherti slump to the floor, Roselyn quickly stepped back and kicked off her shoes.
“Wow, I really thought my feet were going to melt.”
She murmured softly and looked up. The three Bellions were staring at Roselyn with stunned expressions. It was the look of people who had just seen something they expected to be touching get completely shattered.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?” Roselyn asked, tossing her ruined shoes aside without regret.
“…No, I thought our niece was finally going to have a touching reunion hug with this frustrating guy,” Aegis said, making Roselyn let out a small laugh.
“Does doing that now change anything?” Roselyn asked with a puzzled expression. “And he didn't get to hear the rest. He fainted, after all.”
Roselyn glanced at her father, whom Aegis had already slung over his shoulder, and added, “The Nollang Mine will be up for auction soon; it would be good if you bought it.”
As she spoke, Roselyn gestured to a nearby maid. “Girls, even if it’s yours, please bring me some shoes I can wear.”
“Ah, yes! Right away!”
Roselyn turned back to Duke Bellion. “Marquis Gerren will be aiming for it too. I think you can get it for a bargain, but he’ll likely bid about 1 billion Ollang. So, it would be wise to bid around 2.5 billion Ollang just in case.”
Duke Bellion said nothing.
“Pfft, the Nollang Mine? Isn’t that the mine where nothing but trash comes out? It’s a worthless place with nothing but cheap amber buried in it, who the hell would buy that big pile of rocks? Even a passing dog would laugh.”
Despite Ian Bellion’s harsh words, Roselyn remained indifferent.
“Purchasing it is, of course, up to you.”
“Anyway, don’t go jumping in stupidly like you did earlier. Do you know who he is? He’s the one who killed his own mother the moment he was born—”
“Ian!”
At Aegis’s fierce voice, Ian quirked his lips and snorted. Roselyn spoke up.
“Roselyn.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Hearing Roselyn’s response, Duke Bellion narrowed his eyes as if displeased, his eyebrows twitching once.
“Call me Grandfather. My only granddaughter seems to have no affection at all.”
“…”
At Duke Bellion’s blunt words, Roselyn furrowed her brow.
“Those friends of mine, they go on every day about what their granddaughters did for them… and how they cutely act all sweet, asking to go shopping together.”
“Did those friends’ granddaughters happen to ask them to buy something while they were out?”
“…Well, so I’m told.”
At Roselyn’s remark, Duke Bellion nodded reluctantly. Roselyn gave a knowing, calm nod in return.
“That’s just because they don’t want to spend their own money and need a wallet.”
Duke Bellion faltered at Roselyn’s dry remark. He hadn’t expected such a retort.
