A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

"Mr. Ansel, you mentioned earlier that I seemed to have some special ability."

Nine had unconsciously grasped Ansel's hand. She lowered her head with a slightly embarrassed and regretful smile. "I'm sorry, that might have been your misconception. Perhaps... understanding your inner thoughts isn't my talent after all."

"It's just that among those around you, only I have been watching you constantly, that's all."

Around Ansel of Hydral, there had never been anyone who could abandon themselves entirely for him.

Everyone needed to have their own thoughts, ambitions, desires. Only such vibrant and independent individuals were qualified to follow Hydral.

And among these people... how could there possibly be someone who would invest their entire being into Ansel, forever watching him without caring about anything else?

Seraphina's eyes burned with passionate justice, Ravenna's eyes held a brilliant future. Ansel was always the most dazzling, most brilliant part of their lives, but never the entirety. If he were, they wouldn't be the people Ansel needed.

So, no matter how well they could sense Ansel's emotions, no matter how in sync they were with him, if Ansel deliberately concealed something, they could never see the truth beneath the illusion.

Even when Ansel wasn't hiding anything, they might not notice some qualities that even Ansel himself had forgotten.

Only... someone who had been watching Ansel from beginning to end, always, could discover everything about him.

But if that's the case, it means...

A moment of bewilderment appeared in Ansel's eyes.

It means that Nine's devotion didn't stem from his preaching, nor from the accumulation of influence over time, and perhaps not even from the first enchantment he cast on her.

Instead, from the moment they met, she was already beyond salvation.

It's just that neither Ansel nor Nine herself had ever realized this devotion.

"Mr. Ansel, I heard from Lady Fafnir that when you first came to the Western Lands, you used that power freely, enjoying the thrill of trampling and dominating others."

Nine lowered her eyes submissively, gently caressing Ansel's palm. "Three years ago, you experienced Miss Ravenna 'betrayal'. You didn't want to trust anyone anymore, so you relied solely on that power - the ability to make people unconditionally infatuated with you, submitting to you, allowing you to control and manipulate them as you pleased."

"But now, you hardly ever use that power anymore. Have you gained absolute confidence in your ability to control others?"

"No, that's not it."

She gently placed Ansel's hand on her cheek, speaking with affection and reassurance: "Lady Fafnir said that you gave up doing this after your fierce battle with the Duke of Wyvern , and soon after, you vanished from sight.

"At that time, you didn't have a pact head yet, and you were still young, yet you left such a deep shadow on the Duke of Wyvern. I think there's only one answer as to how you achieved this."

"You used that power on yourself, just for those... innocent people who were forcibly subjected to biological alchemy and transformed into dragon-people to fulfill the Duke's ambitions."

Even now, Ansel hadn't spoken.

He no longer tried to deny the words or emotions as he did when facing Seraphina and Ravenna's counterattack. At this moment, he didn't say "This is all your baseless imagination," but simply... remained silent.

That dazed expression seemed to indicate he was recalling the past due to Nine's words.

"At that moment, I truly understood."

Nine smiled. "No matter when, that goodness has always existed in your heart... During that journey three years ago, you originally wanted to be a righteous adventurer. Even then, you wanted to change the predicament of the Western Lands."

She held Ansel's hand to her heart, whispering with some melancholy: "But you couldn't accept Miss Ravenna's betrayal, so you decided to make yourself cold and cruel enough during that journey. Even so... you couldn't ignore that immense suffering."

"And you recognized this. You hated your hypocrisy of wanting to save while committing evil acts. You hated... the self that couldn't make a decision."

What would Ansel have thought after defeating the Duke of Wyvern and saving a group of innocent people who might have been forcibly transformed and experienced inhuman despair?

Would he rejoice in his righteous deed? Would he feel happy about their gratitude?

No, he wouldn't, because he understood his determination better than anyone else. He knew better than anyone... that doing this was wrong.

If things continued this way, fate couldn't be overcome.

"From that moment on, you must have already chosen this path. A path where, no matter what, at any cost, you would realize your goal of confronting that enemy. And then... you've walked it until today."

"Until you reached this point of mutual affection and support with Miss Seraphina and Miss Ravenna."

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Nine... had finally revealed the essence of Ansel's dilemma.

"They have transformed you into the very self you once despised - the one incapable of making a choice. You clearly understood that to vanquish the unknown adversary, you must resort to any means necessary. Yet, you allowed Miss Seraphina and Miss Ravenna to... guide you back onto that radiant path."

The path of justice and righteousness, destined to metamorphose into an epic hero's tale, to become the sun itself.

But can he truly fault Seraphina and Ravenna? If Ansel's heart had not yearned for that resplendent vision, how could they have so effortlessly altered his course? Or rather... how could Ansel have genuinely won their allegiance?

Thus, Nine spoke with tenderness: "But this is what you've longed for, isn't it?"

"After arriving in the Western Lands, you undertook numerous commissions, accomplished so much. It wasn't merely to distract yourself, but to... rectify past regrets. You desire to become the sun more than anyone, don't you?"

The aspiration to transform the empire, to enable the common folk of the Western Lands to live with dignity - these thoughts, these musings, are utterly genuine, devoid of any falsehood.

If Nine could discern the torment and anguish Ansel now endures, how could she fail to perceive... that fervent desire?

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