For a long, suffocating moment, Celine couldn't breathe. The crushing weight in her chest threatened to collapse her lungs. Her vision blurred, the letters on the paper swimming in and out of focus.
She slammed her hand against the desk, her knuckles white from the force. The wood creaked, splintering under the pressure as she fought against the panic.
'They think they can take him from me,' she thought, her blue eyes turning as lethal as a winter storm. 'Not when I haven't had my fill of him yet.'
She couldn't crumble now. Not when Lucian was out there, drowning in whatever mess he had created this time, 'If you are going to die, Lucian, you better die by my hand. That's the only way you will leave this world. By. My. Hand.'
Celine leaned against Lucian's desk with her palms, the paper Lion Head wrote on was crumpled in her hand. The shackles could read Lucian's mind, but they couldn't read hers. It was their only advantage in this whole mess.
She glanced at the bowing feral, who had just pledged to serve her, along with the rest of Lucian's feral army, who were now under her command.
"He ordered you to evacuate after he got ambushed in Black Heart?" she asked, confirming the information she had received through Lion Head, who was now acting as her messenger, gathering the ferals' thoughts for her to understand.
"Get me a couple of your weakest men. Everyone else, stay back and watch over our son," she left Lion Head in charge and headed out of the office.
Two ferals joined her on the way to stables, and she told them to ready the horses. No horse could run day and night without getting tired, but with her blessing, they could keep going.
As she waited for the horses to be saddled, she sent an alert to her subordinates. It wasn't a straightforward message like a southerner would send.
The Crown Prince's appearance in the south had flipped the tables. A battle genius, who could lead an army of 50,000 men as if they were his own limbs, had fumbled with the southerners' morals.
King Eon in the meanwhile, had lost his memories after falling off the cliff with the pink rat in his arms. She also didn't know his identity, and was helping the enemy heal his body.
Which left Celine with some free time to bother Lucian's business. She barely settled into his office when he decided to go and get himself killed.
Celine mounted the horse, and with a tap of her heels, set off. The ferals who were with her didn't question her decision, and just followed her.
They had no idea how she appeared in their compound, forgetting how they had dug secret tunnels that led to their master's private quarters. (As if Celine would reveal her estates' secret passages to Lucian without him revealing his.)
'The ship is sinking...' She repeated Lucian's words in her mind. It was not the ship, it was the couple pairing term Mathieu had once used in the prophecy.
Lucian had talked about his findings, calling her his villainess, and himself the second male lead. Yes, they did other things beside getting into cat and dog fights, they actually exchanged their thoughts too. Why else would they be attracted to each other? Neither of them were masochistic enough to stick together just because they enjoyed being treated poorly.
His conclusion was that the prophecy fulfilment was being controlled by the awakened shackles, in short puppet on strings.
'They no longer need Lucian.' Celine realized.
Lucian finished serving his purpose. He led the pink rat to the South and entangled her with another man. He set up another rival for the Crown Prince. If Celine dragged the conflict to the sea, it would only complete the picture with a possibly new love interest for the pink rat. Lucian's death would also trigger Celine's path to 'villainy'.
'They are using him as a bait for me,' Celine's hand tightened on the reins, 'And when I take the bait, they will strike.'
They made Lucian and Celine think they were fighting against fate, but in reality, they were dancing in the palm of the shackles' hands, doing exactly what they wanted.
'The best manipulators give their victims the illusion of choice, so every option they make would lead to the same outcome,' Celine recalled one of her father's lessons, 'Lucian has been led on this whole time, thinking he is in control of his own actions...'
'...The ship is sinking...' Celine repeated one more time, '...Are they ready to replace... both of us?'
She stared at the group of five people, who made her stop, their mounts blocking the road. She recognized them, or more like bodies belonging to her fallen soldiers, which she had blessed before.
Not all died during the hunting competition in the Lost East Walls, some went missing. Until now.
"It's dangerous for you to be here, Lady C─," a dagger went through the mouth of the one who answered her. The shackles' control over them was a lot more subtle. They almost acted like themselves, except for the fact that they were standing in her way. "Please return with us back to the Roch─"
Celine didn't let them finish, drawing another dagger and using her blessings to cut through, "And if I refuse?"
"You will be escorted back by force if necessary. Your safety is our top priority, please don't make it harder on us," other said, removing his head cover to show his sincere eyes, "We beg you, My Lady."
Their desires and personalities were still theirs, but the shackles' influence was slowly eroding their loyalty to her, replacing it with a sense of duty that benefitted the shackles.
They pulled their swords, "We will do our job even if you hate us for it."
And the next moment, they charged at her.
╔═══ Author's note ════╗
FANART CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT
Thanks to the donations from my generous readers, I've earned enough from my novel to host a small fan art contest!🥳
Details: Submit an entry (artwork) that relates to my story 'The Villainess Is All I want'. Any medium is allowed, except AI. No AI art please.
Winners: Three most popular entries will be selected as the winners.
Prize: One month of discord basic nitro. The point is to unleash your creativity with the least effort.
Deadline: July 15th 2026, at midnight (GMT +8)
For more info, check out my Discord: T8QQhdwunG
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