Struggling as a Villain

After school, Amelia was asked to stay in the academy for some reason. When he asked her she said she was summoned by the student council—which reminded him that Amelia indeed joins the council in the canon.

Well, it was for the better that she was not returning with him since she would have insisted on coming along. And Richard didn't want to involve her in this whole clone matter. He didn't tell her that he would be searching for that last remaining clone today as well.

Although Lilia said that Amelia would be hurt, Richard had no other option.

After school, he went to the library and found the centre of many passing gazes; Princess Nora was standing under a tree while looking at her diary.

He casually greeted her, "Good afternoon, Your Highness. Are you ready to leave or is there someone else you are waiting for?"

Nora instantly closed her diary before she looked at Richard and shook her head, "No, no one. I didn't tell anyone about it in the first place." Although she said that, Richard doubted her words.

Nora couldn't hide such a big thing from her sisters. But well, until they aren't interfering he didn't care about it.

After leaving the academy premises, they united with Lilia, who was currently wearing her usual maid's uniform, to not look suspicious and get questioned by the authorities.

"Won't you feel uncomfortable in that? We might have to walk for a while you know?" Nora asked in concern since walking around in long skirts could be difficult.

She had a bad experience with that.

However, "I was mostly trained in this apparel when I was getting educated to become a maid, Your Highness, so no, it won't hinder me."

Richard flashed a smile, "And even if you get tired, I have got some study arms to pick you up, so don't worry."

Nora blinked, and slowly, her eyes widened upon realizing that she didn't hear him wrong. She looked at Lilia, and expectedly, her ears were burning red after hearing that. But that smile on her face told her that it wasn't the first time for Richard to flirt like this with her.

She shook her head, tearing her gaze away from the duo. It was hard to believe that this Richard was the same man who once insulted women without a second thought, spouting cruel words that could have earned him a mountain of bad karma in an instant.

"Now, shall we go?" Richard asked, bringing Nora back to her senses.

She nodded before asking, "You are carrying any weapon?"

Lilia nodded to that before she took out a dagger and handed it to Nora, "I thought you would need it."

Nora took the dagger without thinking twice before thanking her, "Thanks; I needed it."

Students can't carry weapons around the school unless it is granted by the instructors and only during any assessment or practical lessons.

Now, thanks to Lilia, Nora didn't have to go back to her room to fetch her weapon.

Hanging the dagger on her waist, Nora said, "Let's go."

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They began walking towards their destination while avoiding people's attention as much as they could.

"It is not moving," Nora suddenly spoke, with a frown contouring her face.

"Does it know that we are coming?" Lilia asked to which Nora answered with a bit of uncertainty,

"There is a chance for that thing to be sensing my presence as well. My intent must have reached it and now, it is waiting for us near the shore."

Richard's eyes contained no particular emotion hearing that. The very thought of tearing the clone was too tempting to contain inside.

Clenching his fist he muttered, "I hope that thing has patience."

His voice clearly stated the rage he carried inside. The sheer lust for blood was something Lilia had seen in his eyes back when he was fighting against Puppets in Awsperg.

'I don't know what you saw that night Richard, but it seems you have been gravely wounded by it...' Lilia felt quite anxious in her heart, but since her master chose to keep it to himself, she didn't insist on knowing.

The journey went on for half an hour before they finally reached the shore of the island. The blue ocean in the background created a perfect scenery to just sit down and relax under the sun.

However, in his current state of mind, Richard could think of anything but relaxation.

The identical figure of Ethan stood there with its arms hooked behind his back and a malicious grin stretching its lips.

Nora was dumbfounded to see such a precise copy of Ethan standing there; however, the negative energy it extruded wasn't similar.

As they neared the clone, unexpectedly, it spoke, "Finally, you all are here. I thought you had to take a break or something."

The clone's expression didn't change according to its words. However, the very fact that it could talk shows the massive development it has gone through in so little time.

Richard frowned as he sensed that the clone was not to be taken lightly. Unlike the last time when they were butchered by his mother, this clone has gained sentience thanks to the Divine Ether or the Essence of Life flowing through its body.

With his aquamarine eyes settling on Richard, the clone asked, "How was your sleep last night? Didn't have any nightmares, right?"

Richard gritted his teeth and his hands burned with the uncontrollable flame that wanted to be unleashed and burn the being in front.

However, if Richard reacted now, he would end up doing the exact thing which the clones wanted.

Rather than anger, Richard suddenly smirked before uttering, "Yeah, had a great night. I dreamt of grilling that baldy Prime Minister before feeding that burnt body to dogs. Ah, what a pleasant dream~"

The smirk from the clone's face didn't vanish, but somehow, those eyes no longer held amusement as the inhumane stared at Richard with an untamed, fiery look.

Richard smirked, "That reaction...don't tell me you actually assumed that scumbag as your family member or something. After all, a lifeless doll like you can never have someone like a relative and all."

Richard nonchalantly muttered while showing a casual attitude toward the sentiment of the clone.

The smirk was no longer there. Ethan's look-alike was now furious.

Suddenly two shadows emerged from behind the clone and took the same shape as their parent body.

"Take care of them," The two other clones attacked Lilia and Nora who were already prepared for combat.

Only Richard remained facing the primary body of the clone who had yet to look away even once after Richard insulted the piece of crap.

Richard wasn't concerned about Lilia and Nora's safety since he was aware of their capabilities; especially Lilia's

What he was concerned about was the overflowing ether which belonged to Ethan in the doll. It seems after death, the other clones weren't burnt or destroyed. Rather, their energy was absorbed by this one.

Or he might be wrong.

But there was no time to think about it. The subject of his revenge was right before him, and Richard would be a fool to let this chance slip away.

-------**-------

Inside a dark room where most of the people were wearing a shroud to hide their faces, a meeting was currently ongoing.

The leader of the cult has been given the task of deciphering the ritual of summoning and arranging the necessary equipment for the ritual.

Now, inside the conference hall, all those who held a significant role in the cult were present. And one among them couldn't help but ask the leader,

"Master, shouldn't we think about this agajn? After all, the summoning ritual pulls someone with a strong presence from another world and that could prove to be risky for us as well."

The number of people in the cult weren't too many and with many of the members away to tend to some duties it was highly preferable to not take any chances against an unknown entity.

The grey-haired man, who was also the leader of the cult, snickered, "Why are you wussing out now, Allen? We have already come too far, and we all know that this ritual is necessary to revive our lord."

The person named Allen wasn't allowed to say another word as someone called out,

"All preparations are done!"

The other members turned towards their behind where a huge circle of ritual was drawn and five heads of dead humans were resting on the edges.

Blood and sacrifice it all takes to trigger Dark arts. And through this ritual they could call forth something which would be enough to demolish Eldoria and retrieve what belongs to the cult.

The ultimate goal of every member was to revive the Lord they worship. And for that, the detailed plan which Phil—ex Prime Minister of Eldoria—prepared, was necessary.

Looking at the drawn ritual, the grey-haired man couldn't help but smile in excitement as he parted his hands and proudly announced,

"Now, let's call out our messiah!"

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A/N:- Yeah, yeah. Go for it.