Living as the Villainess Stepmother

Chapter 128 - An Unlikely Interception (2)

"Did you really think that a low-life like me would cower away from some mere guards? Then I guess I should prove you wrong because nothing scares me."

Lila looked up and sneered at the boy's bold remarks. "Do you really think so?"

"What?" He was surprised at her confidence.

"Do you even realize how inconsistent you've been so far? Nothing scares you? Well, I can at least think of one thing that you might be scared of because you wouldn't be hiding from the knights if you weren't afraid of them."

"You little..."

The boy's clothes were all the proof she needed to know just how long he was hiding in the bushes from the knights, they were covered from head to toe in dirt and leaves. "If you weren't cowering away, then why were you in a bush before getting yourself in this mess."

Lila had thought that she was smiling rather amiably at him, but his mood had only been dampened by the deep mortification.

Gritting his teeth in anger, he blurted out harsh remarks, which sounded more bitter than before. "You better hold your tongue you miserable shrew! Or perhaps you have a death wish?''

The boy somehow reminded her of a wild cat with its hackles raised out of fear.

As if he got a hang-up about his boyish features, he used vulgar language on purpose, in a bid to mask his insecurity from others. "Step aside!"

Aggressively, the boy shoved Lila out of his way. Or he was about to.

Click.

He suddenly felt the unmistakable cold muzzle of a pistol being placed at his forehead. "It's never wise to judge people by their appearances."

"What the..."

His eyes trembled in disbelief. Without moving an inch, he slowly cast his eyes to the side of his head. His fears were brought to life when he saw Lila holding up an ivory pistol with no emotion to prove she wouldn't pull the trigger. His Boldness disappeared along with his intimidating actions.

Lila smirked at how easily she got the upper hand. "I thought you said you weren't afraid of anything. But I guess death terrifies you still."

"I-it ... doesn't. It's not death that I fear ...!"

"Then what are you afraid of?"

"Why would I tell you?"

Lila sighed internally, he still seemed to be sharp-tongued, but she felt relieved to know that he wasn't trained in combat, if he was he would have reacted to her pistol quicker and he may have even stopped her.

But a question still lingered in her mind. How did Roxana and Lugar fail to find him? Lacias alone would have been enough to put a stop to this boy.

"Have my knights already done their search up here in this maze garden?" She asked attentively.

"..."

Even though she wasn't expecting him to respond, he surprisingly gave her a nod as an answer. He must have not felt the need to hide such information from Lila but her reasonable doubt had now given way to a conviction, all thanks to his answer.

The knights wouldn't have failed to sense his presence just because he hid in a bush. So does this really mean he has some kind of special ability?

Lila had her eyes fixed on the muzzle. She was determined to keep a sharp eye on the boy, anticipating any bold moves.

Thinking that she would need to stay alert until she finds out more about his special ability, Lila strengthened her grip on the barrel.

The boy had just told her that it wasn't death he was afraid of. Lila believed there was more to those words than just a bluff.

Although he was not afraid of death itself, he could have meant that he's much more worried about the things that he'll lose from his death. And that must have been something he wouldn't be able to get if he were to die.

But still, wouldn't it all be futile if he dies? A dead man wouldn't care about assets after his death right? But what if ... there's someone else that he could benefit from and he thinks they're worth dying for?

Lila, who had arrived at her own conclusion, deliberately waved the muzzle in a slight movement, so that the boy would tense up a little.

"Dawson Hiln..." Lila drawled off his name from her tongue, taking enough time for him to take on the bait.

"..!" The boy had easily fallen prey to her plot. Watching him flinch at her word, Lila laughed up her sleeve while she continued to finish her sentence.

"Are you afraid that you might lose what you were promised from him?"

"... H-how ... did you know ..."

She was on the right track. But she actually knew nothing of it. However, she couldn't stop here, or else he would button up his mouth again. "Have you not seen us talking while you were at the party hall? Dawson had told me all about it, that the party would never succeed."

The boy seemed noticeably agitated by her words. His once shameless attitude was now replaced with anxious mumbling.

"... S-so the reason you've b-been searching for me was to ruin our plan?"

"That's right," she lied.

Lila wondered what a young boy like him could be hiding. But from their conversation, she had concluded that the boy was implicated in Dawson's plot.

And if that was true indeed, how were they planning to ruin the party? And how did the boy manage to escape such tight surveillance with comparative ease? There were still plenty of questions that were left unanswered.

To get her answers from him, she needed to fool him by pretending that she already knew what they were up to. But she was seriously lacking in information. Therefore, Lila decided to change her strategy from placation to blackmail. "If I just kill you here right now, everything will go perfectly according to my plan as yours would definitely fail."

"..." The boy swallowed anxiously, the pressure was beginning to get to him.

"But I'm willing to give you a chance to choose." Lila's low voice felt sharp to his ears.