A Villainess Should Be Strong

[Access the data..] Estelle whispered, going inside her mind and detecting the gift.

The Ruler had told her to unlock the gift using her magic. Apparently, when the gift came in contact with Estelle's signature mana, it would react accordingly and open by itself.

As such, Estelle redirected her mana and glazed it over the gift. In just about a second after, the bundle of information opened and surged everywhere inside her mind, filling the space up and getting absorbed into her pool of knowledge.

Estelle frowned at the sudden influx of memories. She hadn't been warned of the severity of it, but she later acknowledged that it had to be done since she had a lot to learn.

For the first minute, she focused on arranging the information.

After she had organized everything, she began to look at it.

To be precise, look and 'hear' it.

The data the Ruler gave her was inclusive of the being's own voice. It brought a sense of familiarity and fondness to Estelle, who interpreted the gift as a way for the Ruler to console her from their separation.

The data's imprint inside Estelle's mind meant that she would be able to hear the being's voice whenever she wished to do so.

She closed her eyes as a smile appeared on her face. The Ruler's voice was calming and soothing, as it reminded her of the Eterna. She digested the information.

____

World's Karma

-It's a concept that revolves around people's actions and their consequences. If you have high karma, luck will come to you. However, with great luck, the misfortune that tails behind you will be greater as well. This causes an infinite cycle that perpetually grows, creating challenges for one's self.

Your luck has been high from the very beginning, ever since you were born. You were blessed by the world, and this causes the world's karma to act upon you. You might think that all those misfortunes that befell you were planned, but the world's karma actually has something to do with it, although not entirely.

You have to keep a steady balance of this system. If you tilt it too far back, you will have to face harsh repercussions from your misfortunes. There is a way to bypass this. You need to obtain sufficient karma. As you may already know, you obtain karma from doing good deeds. For a lucky person of your caliber, you need to garner a lot of karma to sustain your fates. And this is where the Constellation part comes in.

____

Constellation

-The title 'Constellation' was invented, not discovered. The Sage brought the concept up, because it is a necessary thing for him to have. It has nothing to do with the stars, but it borrows a similar concept. A Constellation is made up of several stars. Once they are arranged, they will form an outline or pattern. Now, we are not talking about star constellations.

The Constellation here is the world. A pattern, an outline of the world made by several people who bond together to create a unified piece. Those who maintain this unity are called the Constellation members.

Meanwhile, the Constellation leader is one who is approved by the world and is worthy of appointing the members. Of course, the members need to consent and pledge their duties to you.

After you ascend to become the Constellation's leader, you will be able to further increase your karma because you will act as a 'unifier'. A unifier of the world will naturally hold the people's stability together. The Sage once instated a complete unity over the world, and as a result, he obtained the karma he needed.

I need you to do the same. Your current karma balance is not looking good, and it's worrisome. I want you to release your seals and prove your worth to the world. Only then will you automatically become the Constellation's leader and appoint those near you. The Fae King, the Crimson Witch, and the Arcana Witch. Once you appoint them, you will start your journey.

_____

Duties

-As you know, I can not assist you too much in fear of being discovered by the world's karma. Every single being is equal in front of the system. I will not be able to protect you. As such, I will lead you to the answer, but you have to search it yourself. Your next checkpoint is to go to Duke Miller's home. Then, present him with the ring you obtained from your father's study. That contains a vital part of your 'worth'.

_____

Note

-I'm not able to provide you with all the information, but I've included everything that I think would be fine. As you progress, as your karma accumulates, the other gifts will automatically unlock themselves. At those cases, my voice will ring as a notification. That concludes everything you need to know now. My last gift is, of course, as I promised, to unlock your seals.

I want you to head to Sylvania and face the Spirit Tree. There, you only need to utilize the same combination magic you learned in the Eterna. You might need some adjustments here and there, but you will get through it.

Remember. You have the entire world's blessing with you. May the Absolute's light be with you.

_____

The data ended there. Estelle was swept by the pure awe brought by the Ruler's sudden voice. The fact that she was fond of the being could not be refuted.

Within seconds, however, she recovered.

Some questions were still left unanswered, but after looking at the 'World's Karma' section, Estelle felt like it made sense.

Everything must have a balance, and that included fortune.

Estelle's index finger pointed to her temples as she grumbled.

"Ah, I thought it would be an instant fix. Turns out, I still need to utilize the method.. Wait, if I can use that method in the Surface, wouldn't that mean.." Estelle mumbled weakly, ruffling her hair and tidying it back up afterwards.

[The 'poison' that corrupted Spirit Tree was actually elements of nothingness?] Estelle thought.

It was a bit suspicious. Even if the Spirit Tree was endangered by the nothingness, how did it manage to be harmed this far?

She suspected someone's foul play here. Someone that wasn't the Underworld's person. The reason was specific and precise.

The Underworld didn't know the concept of nothingness. If they knew, Estelle would've linked the events together, but during her stay in the Underworld, even Yion and Arayle did not know what caused Spirit Tree to fall down.

If someone knew, it'd be Kalis because he was the one who played the role of the new Fae King, but he actually didn't.

Kalis was like a doll. A manipulated marionette, sadly.

He might've assumed that he was working under Arayle's orders, but something much more complex lurked behind it.

Was it another of Elias' plans?

But that would not suit the sequence of events. Because..

Estelle mused as she shook her head, trying to clear the conflicting theories away.

Just as she was beginning to realize something wrong, Lydia came back to the room bringing an empty glass of water just like Estelle instructed her to.

"Here is the cup, young miss," Lydia brought it over with a tray, setting the object down on the night stand and gently lifting the cup.

"Thank you, Lydia," Estelle nodded, grabbing the cup with her two hands.

Before anything, she was thirsty. She wanted to have a refreshing drink.

Estelle focused her thoughts and tried reaching into the optimized Creation Magic. After a short while, she was able to grasp onto the magic and manipulate it to her will.

She condensed the thought of making the purest water possible. She added sprinkles of regenerative magic as additives.

According to the theory, this solvent should come to existence without much problems, and that its quality would be better than that of when she used Water Magic as the intermediary.

As water poured into the cup, Estelle's eyes shone. It filled up the medium and came close to spilling.

Lydia jerked as her maid instincts kicked in, but Estelle gestured for her to stay still, to which she obeyed.

Estelle scrutinized the water, going as far as to use her own scanning magic to test it.

"..It really improved," Estelle's eyes shook as she surveilled the clear glass of water inside her hands.

"What is, miss?" Overhearing Estelle's light speech, Lydia intercepted from the side.

"Nothing,"

Estelle brought the cup up to her lips and drank the water. Indeed, she had done it. She felt clusters of many magic inside the body of water.

Sipping the water, she instantly felt refreshed and couldn't help but take a few more sips to quench her neverending thirst.

This proved that her Creation Magic did transform. Because if it wasn't for the new version, she would've not been able to make this.

After drinking all the contents, Estelle set aside the glass and looked at Lydia.

"How is father and mother?" Estelle asked. That was her primary concern in the Surface.

If she was back in her manor's room, she had to have met her parents on the way back.

"The Duke was very angry when you returned unconscious. The Duchess looked particularly worried, and she consoled the Duke quite a lot. Because of young miss' current social status, we couldn't call up any doctors, but King- I mean, Lord Heine and the two Eire siblings checked up upon you many times,"

".. I see. I guess I need to prepare a long explanation for father, then. How is the Dukedom's conditions? And if you were informed, the people's views upon the matter too, please," Estelle rubbed her glabella as she processed her next path.

"Lord Heine and the Eire siblings has helped to form an alliance with the people in order to help everybody. The city was refurbished without much troubles thanks to the alliance,"

"That's very reassuring. I wish to meet father, is he present in the manor? I need to talk to him about something,"

"That..." Lydia dragged off her speech, instilling worry into Estelle who immediately assumed that a fatality had approached.