The Villainess’s Road to Revenge

Chapter 4

Milvia already knew all about the upcoming new year’s banquet, including the information that Relliana had conveniently “forgotten” to tell her. The aristocrats of the empire were gathering in order to celebrate the crown prince’s victory and pay their respects to the Little Sun of the Empire. On top of that, the rumor was that the crown prince might be choosing a fiancée at the banquet—well, it was certain that he would be choosing a potential fiancée, at the very least, which had everybody jumping with excitement.

This also meant that all the noble ladies were scrambling to get themselves a beautiful dress. Unfortunately, it would be near-impossible to get one of the better dresses now that the banquet was only a week away. The month-long festivities would be filled with parties arranged by different noble families, and the dress shops were probably overwhelmed with an astronomical amount of orders.

In the past, Milvia had picked out a plain dress from her closet to wear to the banquet. She actually hadn’t been able to attend the first day’s events because of a terrible stomachache—perhaps from eating something that had gone bad. She had forced herself to show her face on the fourth day out of pure courtesy. By then, Relliana had already used her fairy-like beauty to enchant numerous noblemen, including the crown prince.

Milvia had simply stood next to her like a sack of potatoes. Although some noblemen had shown an interest in her, she brushed them off like flies—she had longed for peace and quiet, nothing else. Despite her disinterest in them, though, she had made sure to pay attention to all of the conversations going on around her. Back then, she’d had no idea that the information would come in handy someday.

At that moment, Bonny approached her and said tentatively, “Your new room is ready, my lady.”

Milvia looked at the cookie that she was still holding out to her stepsister, then casually broke it in half before pulling it back to eat it herself. Although they both saw the crumbs fall on Relliana’s frilly sleeve, neither one of them acknowledged it.

What loving sisters we are.

After a few minutes, Milvia found herself standing in the middle of the room that had once belonged to her. The window was perfectly placed so that she could look into the garden. She had always enjoyed the blooming flowers in spring and summer, as well as the fallen leaves rolling across the ground during the fall. In the winter, she had gazed at the snow piled as it piled up on the windowsill and watched her pale breath scatter in the air.

Everything about the room was still the same, including the emerald green wallpaper and the headboard that would probably start losing its gold plating in a few years. The pale inner curtains still hung beside the windows, and the carpet that her mother had picked out for her covered the floor—she had promised herself that she would keep it forever. Even the three-tier nightstand from her childhood was still there.

She glanced at the fireplace that was full of silent orange flames, and the pouches of hot water that the maids had presumably prepared for Relliana just in case she got cold. Her dingy room hadn’t had any of these things. Milvia walked over to the cello that she used to play, wiping off some of the thick dust that had settled on it.

Then, she said in a calm voice, “Bonny?”

“Yes! What is it, Lady Milvia?”

It was obvious that her greedy little mind was wondering if she’d receive more nuggets of gold. She’s so easy to read… but she’s better than someone who can put on a mask to hide their true feelings.

Milvia gave a soft snort, then whispered very sweetly, “Go and clean up the room next door. This will be my storage room.”

“Pardon?” Bonny sounded incredibly confused.

Although Milvia felt a twinge of annoyance, she decided that she would repeat herself one more time for the poor maid. “I said, I’m going to use this room as a storage space. I am going to sleep in the room next door, so go and clean it up for me.”

“Uh… A-as you wish, my lady,” Bonny said hesitantly, eyes wide in confusion.

Milvia could practically hear the maid’s inner monologue—But we just moved all of Lady Relliana’s things out, and now she wants to use it as a storage room, of all things?

She clicked her tongue in annoyance. Bonny was not going to last too long by her side—the maid wore her heart on her sleeve much too plainly.

“Shouldn’t you be on your way to the other room?” she said with an eyebrow raised.

Bonny jumped. “M-my apologies! I will get that room ready for you right away.”

“Do not keep me waiting in this storage room for long.”

“Of course not, my lady!” She nearly ran out of the room after hearing Milvia’s scathing voice. Her curly hair slipped out of her uniform cap as she ran, which made her look somewhat like a sheep.

And that’s exactly what she is, Milvia told herself. An animal that will eventually be eaten or sacrificed to the gods with its stomach slit, no matter how much its owner seems to care for it… nothing more, nothing less. I must not get attached to her. She’ll just end up stabbing me in the back anyway…

The door shut behind Bonny, and Milvia was finally all alone. She released a long sigh and plopped herself down on the green couch, then took a moment to look around the room more carefully.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t interacted with her family much the year before she was framed and executed. Although Relliana had brought her along to some tea parties and banquets, she had stopped after a few times because all the other guests began whispering and gossiping whenever they saw her.

Back then, she had figured that she was being too prickly and sensitive. However, now she doubted all of her original perceptions. It was true that she had never put any effort into her appearance and looked dead tired all the time, which might have explained why she’d been so unpopular. However, there was no way that Relliana hadn’t been aware of the reputation surrounding her stepsister. She had been the queen bee of high society, after all.

Even if she didn’t know, she still ended up hurting me with her ignorance. But if she did know everything… She must have kept me around to emphasize her own beauty. A candle will shine even brighter in a shadow, after all.

In the end, Relliana had gone a step further than a shadow and tried to turn her into a wraith. Lost in thought, Milvia sat silently on the couch, ignoring the commotion in the room next door. Suddenly she realized that there was something different about the bedroom that she hadn’t noticed before.

There were mirrors placed all around the room, perhaps ten in total. They were everywhere—some on the wall, one on the table, and yet another one lying on the nightstand. To be fair, most aristocrats kept mirrors around so they could tend to their appearances appropriately. However, ten was much too many.

“I don’t like it,” Milvia muttered to herself.

I don’t want to see my ugly face wherever I go. To be fair, her features themselves were quite pleasant to look at when healthy, but everything about her appearance right now was dry and bristly. Her exhaustion and low vitality were so serious that she would have to steal somebody else’s life force or use some sort of complicated formula to create a revivifying skin cream in order to return herself to a more normal state.

She knew that she would never go for the first option, even though it would be incredibly effective. Having the power to do something and actually doing it were two very different things. She would be nothing but an evil witch if she fed on another person’s life force to maintain her youth and beauty. Therefore, she only had the latter option available to her. Milvia began to comb through the formulas that she had stored in her memory, and then she sighed in relief when a sudden thought hit her.

Thank goodness I became an alchemist. Otherwise, I would never be able to get these things that I need so desperately… Alchemists were widely known as individuals who could “change rocks into gold by draining their own life force.” However, a more specific description was “individuals who can use their own life force in order to create whatever objects they desire with various formulas and tools.”

Many people classified alchemists as a separate race—one that was a bit more advanced than regular humans. The reasoning behind this classification had to do with how alchemists could “manifest” their abilities.

Alchemists manifested their abilities at three separate levels, and the scope of their powers widened with each one. At the first level—the Initial Manifestation—an individual became aware of the magical ability inside them, and they also gained access to the vast “Library of Alchemy.” This Library did not have a specific location or form. If anything, it was more like the telepathic connection that lycanthropes shared.

All the alchemists in the world shared a mental connection. For instance, every single alchemist would be notified of a discovery that another alchemist had made. An alchemist could access and understand this shared pool of knowledge immediately upon their Initial Manifestation—the information simply appeared in their mind as if it had always been there.

After the Second Manifestation, an alchemist could create purer gold significantly faster than before. They could also perform more complicated and difficult feats of alchemy. At that stage, though, one could still not manipulate the immaterial. Such a thing was only possible at the next stage.

The final stage, also known as the Last Manifestation, was unlike either of the others. Not only did one have to expend an enormous amount of their life force to reach the third stage, but there was also a tacit agreement among alchemists to never attempt it.

Now that I have reached this forbidden stage, not only can I manipulate time, but I can also see it. And I can create gold without having to use any tools or formulas. That is all I know… so far. Whenever she blinked, she could still see those gold lines crisscrossing in her vision like a spiderweb. Currently, she had no idea what she could do with those lines and how she would go about doing it.

According to the knowledge that was accumulated in the Library of Alchemy, a few others had attempted to reach the final stage in the past, but to their shared knowledge, none had succeeded. In fact, those who had attempted it had all burned to death in a burst of blazing light.

So why did I succeed? She contemplated the question for a moment. Perhaps it’s because you need an intent purpose to reach the last stage.

All those who had attempted the Last Manifestation had done so out of curiosity or greed, and then they met a gruesome demise. However, Milvia had not felt any of those things when she reached for the forbidden stage. She had only wanted revenge, even if she had to die for it. Was that perhaps why she had been able to achieve the final stage of manifestation?

Regardless, I will have to be much more careful from now on. I’m sure that all the alchemists have already become aware of my manifestation. But if they don’t know about it… I can use that as a weapon, Milvia decided.

Of course, she had other reasons for keeping her achievement strictly under wraps. For one, alchemy was classified as dark magic in the Theus Empire. According to the imperial family, having the ability to create mysterious balms and medicines and being able to turn stones into gold was a form of dark magic. Naturally, those who manifested their alchemical abilities in the Theus Empire did their best to conceal their identities and powers, living as though they did not exist. It was an unfortunate disparity, as elementalists and mages did not have to face this judgment.

To her credit, it did not take long for Bonny to return, coming to the door and knocking.

“Excuse me, Lady Milvia. May I enter?”

However, Milvia did not respond.

Bonny nervously wiggled her fingers for a moment as she raised her voice a bit. “I have finished cleaning the room next door. It should be suitable now. Would you like to adjourn there?”

Once again, Milvia did not grace the maid with a response. In her head, she was quickly leafing through the Library of Alchemy. Finally, she found what she was looking for—the formula to make a skin regeneration cream, as well as a formula for totoba oil to make her hair shiny and soft.

I don’t know who came up with these, but I appreciate them.

Milvia disconnected her mind from the Library, then rose to her feet and swiftly pulled the door open to reveal Bonny standing on the other side.