Taming The Villainesses

Episode 290.2

Pareureu-.

Stella twitched and got up from the floor—slightly lifting the clothes draped over the window, peeking outside.

“What are you doing?”

“I felt eyes.”

Her intuition was sharp.

It’s definitely dangerous to look into someone else’s information recklessly.

Still, thanks to that, I learned a lot about Stella.

Although most of it was what I had roughly expected, there’s always a difference between seeing and not.

Crackle, crackle.

And so, we passed the time in the shack.

I hoped that something suggestive might happen to make it easier to approach Stella, but there were no signs that things would head in that direction.

Maybe I should just recover my strength.

….

“Theo-kun, wake up. It’s morning.”

Wait, didn’t I just close my eyes for a moment? How was it already morning? I must have been really exhausted.

And so, the morning arrived.

We finished our preparations to return to Sandora and head up to Wall Clarice.

The bulwark between civilization and barbarism. The frontline facing the Demon King’s dark army. Just thinking about going there made my heart race a little.

Mirna sat across from me in the carriage.

Am I riding alone with Mirna?

“Sir Theo, I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”

“Ah, yes.”

While responding appropriately, I carefully observed Mirna’s expression. After all, I had heard that things weren’t going well between her and Professor Balan yesterday.

Professor Balan was responsible for the death of Mirna’s family. Even though she was rampaging uncontrollably as an Ars Nova… the outcome can’t be undone.

“While Sir Theo ran off on his own, I met with Professor Balan.”

─It’s finally come.

I felt a slight dizziness with that feeling. I couldn’t predict what Mirna would say.

I prepared myself to listen to whatever she had to say, trying to remain calm.

Just as her lips parted slightly as if she had much to say, Mirna slowly turned her gaze toward the carriage window.

In the brief moment of awkward silence, I had the chance to admire her delicate eyelashes and pale cheeks. She’s beautiful—a thought that just crossed my mind.

“I’m confused. I don’t know what I should do.”

“…….”

Mirna began speaking with a sense of difficulty. It was like an honest confession. If I were to argue with her in this situation, it would be nothing more than gaslighting.

In the past, I might have done just that.

But I didn’t want to do that to Mirna, who had forgiven me. So, I stayed silent. How Mirna interpreted my silence, I don’t know, but she added a few more words.

“Professor Balan ruined my family. I can still remember it—watching them slowly wither away and collapse…”

“…….”

“She’s practically my mortal enemy. The enemy of my family, a grudge I can never forgive, one I want to personally strangle the life out of.”

As she said that, Mirna spread out her palm. I didn’t want to imagine those small, delicate hands choking someone’s neck.

Well….

If Mirna did that, would I have any right to stop her? But she wasn’t finished.

“But, when I think about it… it’s the same for Sir Theo. The Angmar family was completely wiped out. They all died brutally.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“If I’m justified in being angry at Professor Balan, then surely Sir Theo has every right to be furious with me and Lady Lioness. But… I don’t want to see that.”

I see.

Mirna seemed conflicted between her position and mine. To overthrow Professor Balan for revenge, she was trampling on me. Elga had said something similar before.

If she were in my shoes, she would have sharpened her blade for revenge.

This was a glimpse of just how brutally the Angmar royal family had been purged. Of course, to me, it was just like hearing about a distant history.

“I’ve heard that the residual thoughts of Solomon, which possessed Tefer-yang, hated us enough to want to kill us. Do you feel the same way, Sir Theo?”

“Me?”

“Do you resent us?”

“I like Mirna-nim.”

That was the end of my response. I felt like we were past the point of needing to explain such things to each other.

I’m not sure how Mirna took my words, but she didn’t ask me anything further. And so, the carriage started moving.

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

The sound of hooves echoed loudly as we approached the great wall. After some time had passed, we finally reached the towering Great Wall Clarice.

It was huge and incredibly tall.

That was my first impression. I couldn’t think of a more fitting description than that.

We all gathered together and boarded the gondola. As the gears clanked and the altitude steadily increased, the imps began to make a fuss.

“This is the highest I’ve ever gone…! No other imp has seen a view higher than me, Tartar…!”

At nearly several hundred meters high, we finally stood atop the massive wall. At the same time, we faced the civilization and heritage that humans had lost.

“Wow…”

Someone gasped in awe. I didn’t know who it was, but it wouldn’t have mattered—it was a sentiment we were all feeling.

A view from hundreds of meters up.

Everything tends to look small at such a distance, but the distant crack was so vast and immense that it filled us with dread.

Yes, it could only be described as a crack.

Beyond the endless stretch of the black forest to the north, a crack—like shattered glass—pierced the sky. This was the gate to another world that the Demon King Solomon opened with his dying breath…

“Ugh.”

Jirit-.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through one side of my head, like a bolt of lightning. At the same time, a huge roar shook my mind.

「━━━──!!!」

I couldn’t tell what kind of beast it was, but I shut my eyes tightly at the intense headache.