Becoming the Villain’s Family - Chapter 290

Chapter 290

Mana is energy born from nature.

When thunder and lightning strike, the amount of mana in the air dramatically increases momentarily.

At that moment, if one casts a spell, they can not only use the mana within their own body but also draw in the mana floating outside to power the spell.

This makes it impossible to trace who cast the spell.

The culprit was a wizard.

‘To think we had a traitor among us!’

He couldn’t hide his dismay.

Despite the doubts, he had tried to ignore them.

The culprit had meticulously prepared for today’s event, erasing any traces of magic casting.

“Surely, this isn’t divine retribution?”

“How could it be! Her Majesty is under the protection of the Valentines, God’s guardian!”

“But how else can we explain this situation if it’s not God’s will?”

In the presence of the wizards from the Magic Tower and the Valentines, the treasures were stolen right under their noses.

As the nobles’ thoughts leaned towards suspicion,

“Tere!”

Elaina Valentine.

The only baby attending the coronation pointed into the air with her clear voice saying,

“Tere.”

Her short, round hand accurately pointed at someone standing inside on the 2nd-floor terrace.

“Eh?”

What’s with that wizard…? People shifted their puzzled gazes between the flustered wizard and the baby.

“Seize him.”

The Emperor, Natalie, crossed her arms without a second thought and promptly commanded.

But the order came after Luca had already made his move.

He quickly reverted to his original form, leaped into the air, and grabbed the wizard by the neck.

“Let, let go!”

As he shook the man down, the crown and scepter fell from his embrace.

Everyone was petrified by the scene that unfolded.

Not surprisingly, Izmel was the most shocked.

The accused wizard looked utterly defeated, as if his soul had been thoroughly shaken out, and was swiftly apprehended by the knights.

And without a chance to resist, he was dragged away.

“We thought we had eradicated all the remaining vermin, but it seems there were still a few rats left, trying to tarnish Her Majesty’s legitimacy with their last desperate act.”

Vincent adjusted his skewed glasses and commented.

He had already completed the investigation into the remnants of Garcia.

“I was ready to step in if necessary.”

Aria was so impressed by Elaina’s accurate identification of the culprit that kissed her forehead, saying so.

With a smirk, Lloyd tilted his glass, looking amused by the comment.

“It was too small a fry for that.”

“Elaina’s sensitive to emotions, that’s true. Could she be practicing some form of mind-reading?”

“Only time will tell what her abilities truly are.”

The conversation between the Valentine couple was beyond the grasp of those present.

‘…Was that just a small fry?’

The wizard wasn’t the top authority but had a reputation for being quite skilled…

‘No, never mind.’

Izmel decided to stop pondering over it.

Given that the once-in-a-lifetime uproar ended in just 10 minutes, it indeed was just a small fry.

And he himself was probably nothing more than a speck of dust.

Watching the coronation proceed as planned, he quietly stepped back and closed the door to the banquet hall.

Under the protection of the Valentines, the empire would remain peaceful today as well.

Side Story 2

Lloyd gazed down at his blood-stained hands and exhaled slowly.

“Ha.”

Droplets of blood that had gathered on his black eyelashes trailed down his cheek to fall upon the white ashes below, resembling tears of blood.

“Haha…”

Each laugh scattered the ashes into the air and dispersed with his breath.

He had denied reality all night.

But the brilliant sun that rose above the horizon, illuminated the world and his sins in stark clarity.

Damn, what a blinding morning.

“Nothing left…”

Everything was dead.

He had hoped, perhaps naively, that at least one person, maybe just one, had survived.

Last night, Lloyd had frantically scoured the castle, covered in blood like a madman.

But no life remained in the Grand Duke’s castle.

Not a single person, animal, tree, or blade of grass.

“Absolutely nothing…”

The world, oblivious to the night’s events at the Grand Duke’s castle, moved on as usual.

A clear sky, white clouds drifting lazily.

Unknown birds chirping,

A breeze, cool and tickling the cheek.

So peaceful.

Even as his world came to an end.

‘I killed them all.’

His intention was to end everything.

His own and God’s malice.

He believed that by self-destructing with God’s malice, the world would be filled with righteousness and goodness.

The Valentines, too, would be free from the legacy passed down through generations.

Believing so, he traded his life, soul, and relationships.

‘Foolishly.’

Mocking Lloyd’s misconception, God’s malice took away everything he had.

A plan that he had honed since he was five and he dedicated in solitude, ended in an instant failure. With irrevocable consequences.

“…”

Silently, Lloyd raised a dagger.

Those who fight monsters should be careful lest they become one themselves.

He was already a monster.

‘Not worth living…’

It was the moment Lloyd was going to bring it to his neck with empty eyes.

‘I must protect the world.’

The mission he had been brainwashed with for so long.

The burden of sin engraved in the Valentine lineage hindered his suicide. If he were to end his life now, he would become the agent leading the world to ruin.

‘The world the Valentines desperately wanted to protect.’

His world had collapsed, but this world had not.

His spirit had shattered, but this world had not.

Then, he must live on.

Like the other heads of the Valentine family.

‘Why, though?’

For what exactly.

Why must the world not come to an end?

Why must he protect everyone?

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