A Villainess Should Be Strong

"Can't you explain to me? The reason why.. I feel like our souls are connected. Are you like, my long lost twin or something? I think our age demographic is pretty similar.." Arayle pondered, curiously staring at Estelle as if she was an exotic animal.

Analyzing her every movement. The curiosity Arayle displayed towards Estelle was dead obvious.

It made Estelle recall the first time she met Yulia, in which the Witch also displayed similar emotions.

"I didn't even know you existed before you kidnapped me. How would I know why you are reacting that way towards me?" Feeling apprehensive at Arayle's behavior, Estelle backed away.

"Ahh, I see. I guess that checks out too," Arayle made a small chuckle, but swiftly covered it up with a light cough.

The room was taken over by a deathly silence. Neither of the two knew what to ask, what happened between them, and how to approach the other.

"Anyways, I've abducted you, Estelle. Welcome to my palace. I'll take good care of you until your comrades come to save you," Arayle stood up from her seat and thought briefly.

"Will they be able to save you? Surface dwellers.. Nevermind, the chances are close to zero. Ahh, I really want us to form a good relationship, so be good, alright?" Arayle smiled sweetly. Strangely, Estelle's instincts picked up a bad premonition from the action and convinced her to agree on the offer.

"Do I have any restrictions?" Estelle asked. If she was stuck here, it would be better to increase her benefits and good opinions rather than freak out and break down in confusion.

"You can do whatever you want. I'll give you this," Arayle equipped Estelle with an obnoxious bracelet.

"This..?"

"Hmm.. Let's just say, it's imbued with.. Kalis' magic, and it'll activate if you try something daring. I'm sure you know what happens next, right?" Arayle tapped the bracelet, bringing Estelle a sense of danger and animosity.

[..This girl is weird. She's kind to me, but at the same time.. her hatred is out of the bounds.] Estelle frowned. She was sensitive to people's emotions. She recognized Arayle's hatred as one of the most potent case she had come in contact with.

Even though she didn't know who the hell the girl was.

She then coughed lightly and responded to Arayle with a relenting tone.

In these cases, adaptability was your best ally. Arayle also seemed to want to keep Estelle's life. She also facilitated her.

Although the hostility was present, she shouldn't freak out in case Arayle changed her mind and no longer wanted to keep her.

"Well then, you can contact any of my subordinates to fulfill your desires. As long as you don't run away from my palace, I don't really care, so be good, alright? I'll treat you.. well," Arayle informed.

"That's fine with me. Am I able to use my magic?"

"Sure! Don't push yourself too hard, though. The sensors in that bracelet would consider large magic output as an escape attempt,"

"How do I know the limits?"

"You could go to Yion..? She will help you. The one who sped up your recovery rate was her. Although.. She was also the one who kicked you here and there. Don't worry, my orders are absolute, and so will yours from now on,"

"Yion.. Thank you for the kind offers, then," Estelle sighed. She had succumbed to her fate and was interested in the enshrouded mystery behind the world. She didn't mind staying in the palace for some time.

[The only thing I need to worry about is my family. My baby brother.. I wonder if his condition can last forever.] It wouldn't be strange for a sudden outburst to occur one more time and endanger the infant.

Knowing that her parents and Heine were given mana stones with her magic calmed her anxiety for a moment, but the thought of those mana stones running out brought the distress back.

[If Noah doesn't trigger anything, then the mana stones should suffice for until he gets a little older.. In that case, Yulia and Minerva will be there to assist him.. won't they?] Estelle didn't know when she would be able to escape this foreign space.

[If I can think up of something before my time runs out..] Estelle grumbled. She decided to try and explore the new domain she was put in as Arayle gave her the permission to do so.

Walking out of the door, she could see that everything, from the size to the furniture and decoration was huge. The royal environment was very lavish and glamorous. The theme color was icy blue, and there were even some objects completely made out of ice.

[So Arayle's element should be ice?] She deduced. There was a high possibility that she, as the master of the palace, built the terrain elements according to what suited and benefited her.

She inspected each and every corner of the domain to find that all of them were made by magic. However, it wasn't the [Creation Magic] she possessed, but rather something similar to alchemy. It was conjured by magic particles and as a result, became dense with mana.

"I'd say that this place is similar to the Sylvania.. Very high in mana," Estelle stroked one of the furniture, feeling the cold mana come in contact with her.

"Don't compare us to those low - ranked race, please?" A familiar voice fell upon her ears as she turned around to look at the newcomer.

"Kalis," Estelle recognized the man.

The most notable change she noticed was the black mark that used to cover his face. It had completely dissipated now. His hair and eyes, which used to be black, also kept the amethyst to violet shade it changed to when he confronted her back in Heine's dungeon.

His physique also got better. Previously, he was only skin and bones, but now the man's complexion got better.

"Surprised?" Kalis approached the girl, whom in turn backed away by reflex.

"Ahh, my bad. You were injured by me back then. I apologize for that. If I didn't do that, I wouldn't be able to bring you here," Kalis held up his hands to show that he wasn't hostile.

Remembering that Arayle was the ruler here, and that Kalis was obedient to the girl, she decided to drop the hostile atmosphere.

"That girl.. Ara told me that her subordinates were to obey my words. Does that apply to you?" Estelle decided to be brave and inquired.

"If it is within my authority, then yes. Obviously, I would be the judge to whether or not I can fulfill your wishes. I will try my best, though. You're quite special to our Princess," Kalis shrugged. The purple haired man with a matching pair of amethyst eyes and a prominent mole under his eyes was a beautiful treat to the eyes.

Every single one of his movements seemed trained. Although his attitude was more lax compared to what she imagined, she could sense that he was scrutinizing each step and action she took.

"Then.. would you mind serving me some tea and desserts? I'd like to have a chat with you as well, so please make it two portions," Estelle reverted back to her noble mode and executed her words and poise with grace and elegance. She didn't exactly like the constricted mannerisms she had to learn, but Kalis was hiding every hidden thoughts he had. To counter that, she also acted the perfect noble lady her parents once wished her to be.

"Very well. I shall guide you to the dining room,"

"Dining room? I wanted to have a little tea time, is there no place to sit outside?"

"Outside? You want to go outside?"

"Yes. Tea time is best held on a breezy, calm place. Not a dining room,"

"..Milady, why don't you try having it inside the dining room for this instance? Perhaps you might take fancy to it, we can go to the outside realm another time," Without receiving an affirmative answer, Kalis began treading on his own path to the dining room, refusing to abide by Estelle's request.

"Wait," Estelle spoke. "I believe that my request isn't too hard. Ara gave me quite a bit of authority, won't you complete this task for her, and not me?" Estelle smiled. The wave of malicious intent she faced head on afterwards was unpleasant, but she persevered.

To her antics, Kalis sighed. Indeed, the request was a simple one for someone of his caliber, and Arayle did tell him to do whatever Estelle wanted as long as it's not overstepping the bounds.

"Fine. Then, please follow me as we exit the palace. The palace is very huge to begin with, I shall impart you with a map," Kalis held a hand up to his mouth and coughed. He also dropped his glare.

[Ara's authority really works.] Estelle thought.

"Excuse me," Kalis wanted to perform a memory transfer, so he touched Estelle's forehead and implanted a set of memories to the other.

[..!] Estelle was surprised. Memory transfer magic wasn't something that was known to the world. Adding on to the strange magic he possessed, it further increased Estelle's faith on Kalis' identity as her archenemy.

[But to think that Arayle could control such a man.. Wasn't Arayle more suited to be my counterpart?] Estelle began doubting the truth. She felt conflicted, but chose to focus on what was going on right now.

Digesting the new information sourced to her, Estelle nodded and gave her appreciation. The map was detailed, it showed even the smallest piece of information about the palace.

The map showed not only the palace's coordinates.

The palace was called Elyezer. A massive ice palace in the middle of nowhere. One thing she noticed was that the world was identical to the large continent she knew, but it was strangely different.

The geographical illustrations matched the five races' respective kingdoms, and even the land of freedom, Elysium.

In fact, the palace was located in a region that mirrored Elysium.

[How could this be..?] Estelle thought that she would be taken away to another space, but she didn't expect the ice palace to be located in the renowned land of freedom.

[..Is it really Elysium, though?] Estelle doubted it. She would've heard of such a massive building at least once before. Especially with its grand size.

"Aren't you going to follow me?" Kalis raised his brow. He hadn't fully acknowledged the new lady yet, so he was a bit disgruntled over the fact that he was essentially the girl's butler.

He didn't know why the princess prized Estelle so much, but he had to obey. If anything, he would find out the reason on his own.

Estelle snapped out of her thoughts and quickly followed Kalis to the 'outside' domain.

Upon opening the entrance door, Estelle was bewitched by the sight that greeted her, but at the same time, she was riddled with fear.

One thing for sure, she was no longer in the continent she was familiar with.

She would even raise the doubt that she was in a completely different world.

After all, she had experienced two different worlds, so the possibility of a third one existing wasn't low.

"Welcome to Elyezer, the Underworld's Princess' lair, also known as the Floating Armament," Kalis introduced.