Saving the Two of Us Before the Fall (A Villainess Regression Fantasy)

9. To Tame A Beast

It had been a week since the vassal houses of Atolia had arrived at the palace. Ariadne avoided getting attention from other noble ladies and lords as much as possible. With her current reputation, she would rather stay unnoticed.

From the side, she was persistently pursuing Osriel. Still, her attempts to talk with him would always be received with awkward silence. She was frustrated about it. Indeed, first impressions really last, and his impression of her was not the best.

On the other hand, she couldn't help but feel estranged from Lord Clasten. It was as if he wasn't the same person who would inherit his father's title at a young age and later excel in business. Ariadne decided not to get into the kid's affair for now. At first, she even considered killing him, but assassinating an heir was no easy fit, and it would cause an uproar in the High Society. The Empire wouldn't let something like that pass without looking into it.

She trudged towards the empty library; its unchanging emptiness comforted her. The discovery was not new to her even in this life. Most lords went around the city or held a hunt on the hunting grounds together with their sons. While the ladies took joy in organizing tea parties among themselves. Ariadne wanted to join them, but her current standing would not earn her a sit at their table. For now, she would focus on improving her Reserve as a Leecher. A greater Reserve would also mean a higher Grade and a wider Range; if her Grade was high, she could sing a lot from the Hundred Songs.

She raised her hand and reached for a book. This book contained all the vital information about Leechers and knowledge about how she could increase her Grade and Range. This would allow her to maximize her ability to wield the Stardust using different Songs.

She was almost close to touching the green leather cover when a hand suddenly snatched it away from her fingertips. Ariadne turned at the man with annoyance.

"Songs of the Leechers: The Fundamentals of..." He said as he scrutinized the book's cover. He tilted his head, letting his bangs fall sideways.

"Aren't you too young to read this kind of thing?" he said as he opened the book. "I'm also sure that your first Test would not come until after two years." He closed the book loudly and observed her with his glinting yellow eyes. "So, what does a kid like you doing with this book, Lady Severine?"

Ariadne shivered as he said her name. She almost failed to recognize him if it weren't for the glint of madness in his eyes. Lord Lewis Alexander of House Asrogai was Duke Osriel's most brilliant and brutal strategist. Every plan he made for the war against the Empire was based on one ideology: sacrificing every pawn for a greater result. She wanted to smile at him, but doing so would make him suspicious of her. In the early days of the war, Lord Lewis tried his hardest to conceal his rotten personality, but the more his plans succeeded, the more he became shrewd and ruthless.

Ah, that glint, how could I ever forget about it, that madness that he tried so hard to conceal.

Lewis Alexander y Asrogai was the second son of Lord Aldin Zillan y Asrogai. But despite being the second son, the people knew that he was more capable than the first son, who had nothing but his pretty face. But since the Laws of the Empire acknowledge the first son as the heir apparent of a territory, Lewis's achievements could only be credited to his older brother, Lord Aldous Kieran y Asrogai. But someone as shrewd and ambitious as Lewis would not settle for something like that.

"I'm asking my lady what she wants from this book?"

She planned to lie, but a well-constructed one would only make him suspicious of her. So, she just had to give him the most basic reason, befitting a ten-year-old naive girl. "I just like dark-green colors... I've been checking all the green-leathered bound books in the library..." She said with a trembling voice.