A Villainess Should Be Strong

Somehow, she felt it. With Heine's maniacal look, combined with Duke Miller's apprehensive, but cooperative attitude.

Estelle was somehow able to piece it out although not in a detailed way.

Everything must have something to do with her soul and Heine's 'sister'.

Estelle felt her own self be in danger. At an existential level.

She was afraid that she would be seeing the Ruler not as the Estelle the being knew her of, but as a true Value 0.

Danger was approaching, but as her soul count depleted, she was slowly collapsing from within.

Her consciousness was about to fade as she felt dizzy all over. Just like always, she fell.

After she had fallen unconscious, she entered a state of mirage, where she was trapped in a white space.

Just from a glance, Estelle could tell that the place wasn't Eterna. During the one month stay she had in Eterna, she knew the little perks of the realm and wouldn't mistake such a unique place for another.

Then, a voice came in and stirred her mind.

It was an unfamiliar male voice that she had never heard. But somehow, she seemed to recognize bits and parts of it.

-Estelle, wake up. My child, you can not fall into this trap.

A fresh voice that came out of nowhere.

Two simple sentences that took Estelle's attention off of the pain she was facing for a slight moment.

It caught her off guard, understandably. Estelle had already thought of herself as a dead man. She couldn't fight back, especially when her magic was restricted and her horrendous nemesis joined the fray.

In addition, the voice was somewhat recognizable. Like she had heard it before. And yet, her memory should've recorded it perfectly if that was the case. She couldn't recall anybody who had the voice, so how?

[..Huh?] Estelle, still encapsulated in the unbelievable pain she went through, heard the voice sprout inside her mind and jolted in shock.

She first questioned the identity of the speaker.

The current her was like a wary small animal. She couldn't distinguish between what was good and evil.

She knew that a person could freely interchange in between, and that made it even harder. The people she dealt with could screw her over so badly, but at the same time could help her shoot up her progress by a mile.

Just like that bastard lunatic Heine.

Naturally, Estelle was suspicious due to the events she had gone through. Defensive and filled to the brim with worries.

However, Estelle decided to see the matter further. For she had been hurt so many times, but at the same time recovered and healed just as many times.

She waited for the speaker's next sentence in agony. Her soul was hurting. Clearly, while she was trapped inside this wretched white space, Heine was wrecking things outside.

Estelle gritted her teeth as she felt the burning pain tense her mirage body. The pain stretched out to this place as well, leaving her no chance to relax. Thankfully, the pain itself was somewhat reduced from its original density when she is in this form.

She sat down, crouching and wallowing over her fate.

She had asked the question several times before, but she wanted to ask it again.

What had she done to deserve all this?

What was it that separated her from others, that made her not be able to live a normal life?

Then, the voice spoke once more.

-You must escape. The Heine before you is no longer sane, but there will be a way of saving him. What he is saying is correct, but he sees the truth in a distorted way. He was overwhelmed by his memories.

[Memories.. what kind of memories made Heine plunge into this pit of madness?] Estelle frowned as covered her eyes, raking through her hair and even gripping it hard because of all the pain.

Deep down, she still had trust for Heine. Sadly. The man had built such an amiable relationship with her that she found it hard to believe that he would go down this wicked path.

She was someone who looked at everything in a linear way. Thus, she found it hard to predict when someone would break free from this linear path.

She found it hard to intercept the hidden plans that unfolded behind her.

Because she was that type of person who had high intelligence, yet wasn't sensitive to people's underlying intentions.

She was able to sense emotions, not intentions.

One could freely mask their emotions when they are an expert at it. In that case, how would Estelle be able to tell what their purpose was?

Distorted memories. Estelle, too, couldn't just accept that excuse straight up.

No matter what, Heine had left a traumatic imprint on her. She would not be able to face the man the same as before. There would always be the leftover sentiments and beliefs placed on him if she did manage to get out of this ordeal.

A shadow would always be cast over her mind. Skepticism and constant fear of things she didn't know.

Estelle's heart was starting to blacken. She was no longer the same as before. No longer was she innocent and thought of the world in an idealistic way. She wanted to change her ways of thinking. Because it had hurt her far too much.

The scariest thing was thinking about how she was trapped in endless harm's way without even knowing about it. That she was akin to a livestock that was being cultivated to yield the results people wanted her to be.

However, no matter what, she still wanted to keep some of her views in the same way, unchanging.

-His past memories. You also have them. He is heavily affected by his first life's memories to the point where he can't separate the three lives he experienced. He received everything in one go.. which I can only think of one reason why that was made possible. They are all foolish. His memories underwent an alteration as a result of all those overloading information.

Estelle heard the man speak and was slightly shocked, but soon recovered herself. Because the other news that has been relayed on to her were all much more complicated and surprising.

But it turns out that Heine was also a reincarnator? And he had three lives?

That explained some of his knowledge, which Estelle had always thought to be strangely in tune with her own.

Estelle hadn't realized the man's influence at that time, but Heine would normally chime in and add into Estelle's ideas, matching her with the aspirations and works that seemed unfit for the world. At the very least, her ideas would be considered unrealistic, no?

But Heine's actions really did dictate a strange sense of familiarity. Not to mention, the matter with the Ancient Humans who presented him with a new set of technology.

If Estelle was in Heine's position, and saw people who brought in such bright innovations that were unheard of, she would definitely dig deeper, but Heine seemed to not pay that much attention to them.

Or at least that was what she thought.

Estelle's mind spun. She didn't know if any of her thoughts were correct at all. Heine's existence was too complex.

The Heine she understood was only a small part of the man. The man was just as dangerous as Elias despite everything that she has ever learned about him.

[What can I do for him?! Please, tell me.] Estelle wanted to fight for both herself and Heine. She had witnessed Heine's underlying kindness and refused to believe that the Heine she knew a few years ago was now erased out of existence.

There must be something only she can do. She was the main character in this scenario, since Heine's dilemma involved her.

She wanted to see which ones were right and wrong. Which ones were fake and which ones were not.

Estelle felt time ticking as her soul experienced another burn. She swallowed her saliva as she collapsed down to the ground, struggling to keep herself intact.

-You can not revert him back to the person you know. At this point, it is better to erase his memories and restart his consciousness. This will be a temporary solution to the big matter. However, you must keep in mind that the current dominating persona is that of his first life as the God Astarte.

-The matter about his sister, the mortal man that ruined everything, and the Absolute. Those memories came from his first life as God Astarte. The moment you let that child's consciousness take over, you must expect heavy responsibilities and backlash. You must be prepared for the consequences. It might be good, it might be bad. But this is the only way if you want to free the man.

[Anything. Anything if it means that all these chaos would be subsided, if it means that Heine's outrageousness will be calmed.]

Estelle wanted to bet. It would be a risky bet. She wanted to see what Heine's true colors were.

From the beginning of this new dilemma, she had felt as if Heine was being internally hurt by something. If the source of his pain was the clashing of souls within himself, then wouldn't she be able to revert the man back to the past Heine that she looked up to?

-Then, you can follow my instructions. I do not have much time, and so do you. We must carry on with haste.

The being said that, and Estelle instantly perked up. She will do it.