I Became The Villain's Trainer - Chapter 111

Chapter 111

“Ysildus. Why are you so late?”

Terrun asked grumpily. Ysildus, emerging from the dense trees and brush, raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you out here like a dog desperate to pee?”

Ever since Alexa collapsed from poison, Ysildus had ceased to restrain his true nature.

“You weren’t coming, so I came to find you. How’s Alexa?”

“The same as ever.”

Ysildus secured his sword at his waist and slipped on his gloves. Holding one glove in his mouth, he tightened the other on his right hand. There was an inexplicable allure about him as he did so, thick and palpable. Born a fox but living like a wolf, Ysildus had grown up steadily. As a fox.

Terrun trembled under Ysildus’s gaze. It was an involuntary response he always had when facing the man, whose charm seemed potent enough to captivate anyone, regardless of age or gender. The skills he had honed to seduce Alexa had fully settled into his very being.

“I told you not to make that face. Planning to seduce the Witch of the Spire too?”

Ysildus scoffed, then patted Terrun’s shoulder and pushed him forward. The knights waiting for them raised their swords in unison. The banner bearing the crest of Thersion rose, and Carlisle, already mounted and waiting, turned his horse toward Ysildus.

The elder of the Red Clan had warned them not to disregard Alexa’s connection to their bloodline. In their current state, still lacking a cure for the curse, killing Ruella, the master of the Spire, could bring unforeseeable consequences upon Alexa.

Thus, they would not kill her.

Their goal was to annihilate the Spire and the Mage Tower. They would leave nothing behind, not even a single blade of grass, so that no one would ever dare to harm Alexa again. This was also a warning to the Imperial Capital.

“Kill everyone but the Witch of the Spire.”

Ysildus’s cold voice sliced through the ranks of wolves.

“Do not pursue the ones who flee. We don’t have time to waste on losers’ tails.”

“Yes, sir!!”

The wolves’ resounding voices shattered the stillness of Thersion. The summer’s lush greenery swayed under their rising momentum. Birds scattered from the treetops, and small animals hiding in their burrows retreated further into their dens. Ysildus pulled his mask up to cover his nose and mounted his horse. At the front today rode Terrun, Ysildus, and Jeremiah. A new generation was leading Thersion toward a new destiny.

Their plan was to complete everything before the Imperial Palace noticed their betrayal and struck back. Once the Emperor learned of Thersion’s treason, he would immediately launch an assault on their stronghold.

So far, the Empire had tolerated Jeremiah’s betrayal and left Thersion alone only because of their military strength. But if Thersion’s main forces left the stronghold, the story would change. They had to strike quickly and return.

Although Essellia, Visten, and Violeta remained in the stronghold, it would be impossible for them alone to withstand the full might of the Imperial forces.

“Thersion army, move out!”

The gates of Thersion’s stronghold swung wide open.

* * *

Essellia pulled the curtains tightly closed. Alexa had grown significantly weaker from not being able to eat properly. She had always been frail, and now she had deteriorated even further. The bloodlust of the wolves currently filling the castle could very well be harmful to her.

“She’ll be okay, won’t she?”

Jane asked cautiously. When Alexa had collapsed and failed to wake, Jane had feared she might be expelled from the castle. But Thersion didn’t easily cast out those it had accepted. And so she remained at Alexa’s side as a maid.

“Of course.”

Essellia replied firmly. Jane looked at Alexa with worried eyes. Usually in such times, castle servants would be the first to abandon their masters and flee. But the servants of Thersion held their ground, unshaken. As if confident in Thersion’s inevitable victory.

“Someone from the Blue Moon has arrived, Your Grace.”

Essellia, who had remained behind in the Grand Ducal residence, still had duties to fulfill. At the steward’s words, she turned away, casting one last long glance at Alexa.

“Show them into the drawing room. I’ll meet them myself. Jane.”

“Yes. I’ll stay by her side.”

“Good.”

Not just Jane, but the head maid and the other ladies-in-waiting had all been left behind to care for Alexa. Since the Selina incident, Alexa’s protection had become much stricter. Thersion, which had already treated Alexa like a child in a cradle, was now on even higher alert. Alexa was being guarded as if she were a newborn.

A nutrient supplement specially formulated by Karrolf for Alexa was mixed with water and delivered. Only after the head maid tasted it herself was it brought to Alexa. The maids and Jane gently lifted her and dripped the medicine into her mouth.

‘For all this care… please wake up soon, Alexa.’

It was heartbreaking. Alexa was only nineteen. It was painful to see someone so young still unconscious after collapsing from poison. The summer afternoon grew deeper, heavier than any in recent memory.

The sound of the wolves’ galloping hooves still rang in their ears. Thersion had raised its banner in rebellion against the Empire. 

And Alexa, still unaware of it all, slept peacefully.

* * *

In the drawing room, the Blue Moon’s courier was already waiting for Essellia. The courier bowed in respect. Though both were of the dark lineage, their status differed, Essellia held a leadership position, while the courier was nothing more than a subordinate.

Essellia took her seat gracefully, exuding nobility. Her authoritative gaze bore down on the courier. Among the dark kind, strength determined hierarchy. 

The courier, crushed by her presence, lowered his head.

“I come at my master’s bidding.”

“Did your master succeed in obtaining what we requested?”

Though she asked calmly, Essellia felt an old anxiety creeping up her throat. One of Thersion’s requests to the Blue Moon was a medicine that could awaken Alexa. Karrolf had identified the heart of a dragon as the only known way to revive someone in such a psychological coma.

But obtaining a dragon’s heart, an existence long thought mythical, was akin to plucking stars from the sky. Even the Wolf God had steered clear of the lands dragons called home. That’s how dangerous they were.

“We found a dragon’s lair. But capturing one is another matter entirely.”

“Tell them we’ll pay whatever price they ask.”

“It’s not a matter of price…”

Essellia narrowed her eyes at the courier. A cold, deadly light flickered and vanished from her icy blue pupils.

“It’s not for you to decide. That’s for your master.”

“…Yes, Your Grace.”

“Also, have you upheld the pact between us and the Blue Moon?”

Under their agreement, the Blue Moon was to act as a bridge between Thersion and the Empire’s nobility, specifically, those likely to align with Thersion rather than the Emperor. Thersion had long been isolated and had few ties among the nobles.

“Yes. But we’ve seen little progress so far.”

“Remind your master this is a pact with Thersion. Tell them to put more effort into it.”

“I will convey your message.”

“Inform them that the new imperial candidate Thersion supports is Prince Jeremiah Temperch.”

“Understood, Your Grace.”

Even Carlisle had conceded that placing a human, Temperch’s bloodline, on the throne would be easier than asserting a direct wolf descendant. In his power struggle with Ysildus, Carlisle had backed down and granted Ysildus full authority over this operation. It wasn’t that Carlisle had grown weak; he had simply learned the truth of the saying, ‘No parent can win against their child.’

Since Alexa’s collapse, Ysildus had barely eaten and was wasting away. Carlisle proposed revenge on the Spire and the Mage Tower to reignite his will.

‘He just couldn’t bear to watch his own child die.’

A soft smile touched Essellia’s lips at the thought. If Carlisle had stubbornly opposed Ysildus to the end, there may well have been a real battle between father and son.

‘Ysildus…’

Ysildus had lost his smile. As before, he was freezing over, walking the same path Carlisle had once trodden. Unafraid of bloodshed, he pressed forward, cutting down anything in his way.

The peace Alexa had brought to the wolves’ stronghold had once again been shrouded in darkness. The wolves had bared their fangs at the world once more. It was a kind of defense mechanism. Rejected by all, the wolves had learned that striking first was the only way to survive.

If Alexa had been there, she might have shown them another path. But this was all they knew. Just as it had always been.

‘Alexa… We need you.’

She had once restored peace to the stronghold with her radiant smile. They could only hope she would do so again.