I'm The Villain

Sinister

"Right, we're all set. Belladonna, you're up this week for negotiations. The rest of you, enjoy your week off. No wars this week." Elliot dismissed,"Persicus, you'll stay with me."

They bowed and left the room, leaving Honey with Elliot and Elizabeth.

"Elliot I-"

"Not now. I have things to tend to. More important than myself." Elliot dismissed,"We'll talk later. You, newbie. Come."

Elliot strutted off, Elizabeth scrambling to match her pace as she felt a strand of pity for the man standing alone in the room.

He looked so...Lost.

"Where are you taking me? And why did you leave him?" Elizabeth asked, struggling to match Elliot's pace,"Woah!"

Elliot stopped abruptly, Elizabeth almost bumping into her,"What's with the sudden stop?"

"You see this mask?" Elliot asked.

"Well...Yeah." Elizabeth replied.

"If this mask is on, it means that whatever's underneath it doesn't matter, hear me? Kingdoms don't prosper from thinking about yourself. Here's a hard fact of life: You don't matter. What matters is what you can do." Elliot walked slower this time.

"But you're just ignoring the problem! You're not getting anyw-"

"Oh please, if I needed a preachy little girl to tell me what i'm doing wrong, i'd have asked for one. I'm your teacher and you follow my instructions. I'm simply putting more important tasks first. And my first instruction to you is to shut up and walk. You've had two day's rest, now you're up."

Elizabeth shut her mouth, feeling a little hurt.

The emperor seemed on edge, as if she were struggling with something internally.

She just couldn't tell what as she tried to listen to her teacher's whispers.

—————

Temptation.

The desire to something wrong or unwise.

Elliot felt every definition of the word now.

Being drunk off power, was not something she planned on doing.

But her body...Her mind...It was an internal battle.

It wasn't a matter of if she would break but when.

And Honey was definitely not helping it.

So pressing down all her emotions would have to work for now.

"Focus, focus. Swallow it all down, forget everything." Elliot mumbled,"That's it. Just forget everything."

As they reached the gate, Elliot made a list of what she had to do.

"I need a gauge of what people can do. So a school. Then, ice-cream." Elliot nodded to herself as she shoved her hands into her pocket.

Elizabeth walked silently beside Elliot, feeling extremely exposed from the stares she received.

The streets seemed nearly deserted, the remaining ones bowing respectfully to the emperor.

From the half opened curtains and windows that cracked open slightly, she saw many a curious onlooker as quiet whispers and gossip ran around.

To Elizabeth, the emperor dressed extremely weirdly.

She was in clothes fit for a normal person.

A collared shirt, long pants, shoes and nothing else.

Her clothes screamed unassuming, humble to the highest degree.

How was such clothes fit for a king, Elizabeth didn't know.

They arrived at a large building, one that had people around the same age as Elizabeth buzzing about, cliques of different guys and girls sprawled around the campus.

"Come on, your first task's here." Elliot said as the gate creaked open, attracting the attention of students and teachers alike.

On one of the figure's faces, was a full mask.

It was a completely blank one, meaning it had to be one of the two of the countries highest.

The Emperor or his right hand man.

And the figure's modest dress code pointed to the Emperor, an eccentric in the people's minds.

"Bow! It's the emperor!" Elliot heard hisses from the teachers as a man walked up and respectfully bowed,"I am Nickolas Belfoie, your majesty, the current principal of this school. I apologise for the lack of preparations for this sudden arrival."

"Rise." Persicus spoke from the mask, the entire crowd maintaining a docile form, careful not to anger the king.

"I'm here for a single reason." Elliot explained,"This girl beside me...She says that she would do anything to become my disciple. I believe that this goes for all of you?"

Murmurs spread.

"Well, this is a good opportunity to test our empire's generation. How about it, Nikolas? If your students win...They'll get-" A scroll appeared in Elliot's hand,"A spell. Tier three. It is simply called, Descending Corruption. You'll get to learn it. And for the principal-" Elliot produced a quarter of a mask,"A chance at joining the higher echelon. How bout it? You'll be representing our country."

Not just Nikolas, but the students salivated.

A spell from the emperor was no small spell.

An unknown rank one spell would have costed millions of gold. A rank two, hundreds of millions. As for tier three...

And an offer of nobility at the price of winning a fight?

It was well worth it.

A young man stepped up, bowing,"Your highness, I am Casey Willheim. I hope you will let me participate."

"You do not seem interested in the prize. Perhaps you wish for something else?" Elliot asked.

Casey grinned,"Your highness, I would much rather prefer that the prize be the time of the beautiful maiden by your side."

Elliot stifled a snicker as Elizabeth blushed heavily,"Very..." Snicker,"Well...But I have to warn you...She won't go down easily..."

Elizabeth clenched her teeth.

They had to be in cahoots.

The emperor was testing her to see how much she could handle before breaking,"Hmph. I'll show you! Very well! I'll fight you!"

Casey's smile turned sinister, almost to the point where it seemed devilish.

"Very good miss. Let us...Begin the fight."

Elizabeth felt something was off, as did Elliot.

Master.

Hm?

Belladonna has just sent me a message, master.

Is it regarding the negotiations?

Has something gone sour?

No, it is about something she has detected master.

I think you will want to hear this...

Elliot grinned under her mask, a little of her sadistic side showing as she heard the news.

"It's been a while since i've be able to play. Let's see how it plays out then." Elliot giggled softly to herself as the fight unfolded.