I'm The Villain

My Resolve

"Brr, it's chilly tonight. Thank god for this fire." Evie shivered.

"Amen." Tom breathed.

"What a relaxing atmosphere. It's almost like you two deliberately decided to make it so we had to stay out late so you could make a certain someone tell her entire goddamned life story to you." James said sarcastically.

"Aww, c'mon, we're curious! We want to know-no, we HAVE to know!" Evie whispered loudly, enough for Elliot to hear.

"Ask her. Not me." James shrugged.

Evie turned expectantly to Elliot who got the message,"W...What do you want to know about me?"

"Where d'you hail from?" Tom asked.

"Ran away...From Elisia."

Their eyes widened in shock,"Y-you're from there?"

"I had...Some things to avoid...And Bherealia was the closest."

"What's it like inside?" James asked curiously.

"It's...A great place. Everyone's living in peace but many of us there are just scared due to simple actions like walking weirdly."

"B-but that place...It's supposed to be the most dangerous place in the country!" 

"Dangerous?" Elliot was puzzled,"It's dangerous there? Is that what people outside think?"

"Y-yeah."

"What's so dangerous about it?"

"The...The other races..." Evie retorted weakly.

"Isn't that just racial discrimination? The guards don't discriminate. The gatekeepers are dragons and the vampires guard the night. It's probably safer there than any other city to be honest."

"But! But they could break the la-"

Elliot sighed, hugging her legs,"Honestly, humans are the one causing the most trouble. I saw this man scream because a vampire was passing by him while talking to a guard."

"There had to be something that the vampire did!"

Elliot nodded,"The vampire smiled and greeted the man is what he did."

"But...But...In stories! They're monsters who suck blood!"

"Storytellers are hyperbolic, they tend to blow things out of proportion. Vampires like to drink sweet nectar from the garedel flower that's tinged a dark red. People just assumed it was blood."

"Then the dragons-"

"Are all following the law. Honestly, the dragons aren't even considered the scariest in the kingdom. At most, they'd be halfway up the rank. Not even nobility."

Tom's jaw dropped,"N-not considered scary? Have you seen dragons before?! They KILL people!"

"The twenty I've seen before prefer to sleep and chat." Elliot answered.

"Unbelievable..." James replied, almost entranced by the magnificent descriptions Elliot spoke of.

"But really, the ones you should be scared of are the ones with masks. They're called the Rooks."

"Masks?..." Evie asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Nn. Only seven people get to wear masks in the city. They are only second to the emperor."

"Ooh are they like the King's right hand man Paladin Heather Rarnotte?"

"Hmph." Elliot huffed,"They're much stronger! Recently, the top rook and the emperor took Greexonia in a few minutes. If you encounter them...Even if you were a sapphire ranked, you'd be killed easily! And even if you were a gilded diamond adventurer, rumours say that even they can't deal!" Elliot praised highly, feeling like a mother showing off her children's achievements.

"Impossible! Gilded Diamond adventurers are the strongest! There can't be..." Evie went silent.

"So, why'd you run away?" Tom asked,"If you asked me, it seems like the place is far better than any kingdom we've been to so far."

Crud.

Telling a part truth is better than lying, right?

"There are...People there I want to avoid for a while..." Elliot whispered lowly, her hair covering her tinted cheeks.

"People? Have you offended anyone?"

"No...It's a personal thing is all. Plus, everyone needs a bit of 'Me' time once in a while, right?" Elliot answered.

"T-" James jabbed Tom, stopping him from talking.

He gave Tom the look that told him to stop pressing Elliot.

"Well...We're all the same I guess." James said as he passed Elliot a plate with greens, rice and a few miserable shreds of chicken.

"Evie ran away from her dad after he abused her for years. Tom escaped from slavery from another kingdom and I'm was kicked out after my parents couldn't afford to keep me."

Elliot couldn't help but feel pity.

In her world, people fought over petty issues, even the third world war started from a single petty issue.

There was no talk of famine in first-world countries, no disowning of children unless it was purely political or for business.

"Such horrible things exist?..." Elliot mumbled.

Evie grinned mockingly,"It's fine. We're fine. We've been out here for years now. We're almost eighteen! It's not like the world's about to aid us just because we're a bunch of sad children that have messed up childhoods."

"You're not angry at the world?" Elliot asked.

"Angry? Why would we be? We have nothing but luck to blame. Who else can we blame? God? Please, if god existed, they're probably just a gigantic piece of shit that doesn't give two shites about us." Tom chuckled.

"Be content with what you have, not discontent with what could have been. That's the motto we live by." James said between mouthfuls of food.

"We have food, money and friends. What more could we ask for? It'd be wishful thinking." Evie joked.

Elliot's mind raced, if she truly worked harder, would she be able to achieve more?

But more importantly, what was her goal?

Did she wish to simply rule over a kingdom?

No.

She wished to rule over every single race, to create a world where discrimination non-existent, where all races were equal.

"I'll...Work even harder." Elliot breathed,"I'll make sure that everyone is happy..."

"Did you say something?" James asked.

Elliot shook her head,"I'm just thinking about something is all."

"Well think less and eat more, the food's going cold!"

Elliot took a bite of the vegetables.

They tasted bland, soggy even.

The rice was a little hard, dry even.

The chicken was tough, overcooked and chalky.

But, to Elliot, it tasted good.

Maybe it was hunger talking, but the food seemed to taste better than the one served at the castle.