Struggling as a Villain

This diary was no common diary one could buy at a local store. It was an artefact made with the concept of protecting the information stored in it with utmost security.

If not for Richard recognising its mechanism on time the diary would have been destroyed.

He fed his blood to the diary before the writings of his mother appeared.

Naturally, as a magic-infused diary, it had countless pages to provide a single space in which the user could store numerous memories.

And seeing the number of pages Richard had flipped, he knew his mother needed something like this.

Almost everything in the diary was related to Richard. His first footstep, to his first time speaking. Those sweet moments they spent together and how painful it was for her without him. Every single thing in details of everyday life which involved him were included in the diary.

Many times, Richard became emotional and started reading some random pages which reminded him of those days when they were training together, eating together, sleeping together and whatnot. However, he collected his thoughts and flipped through the pages; searching for that valuable piece of information which he desired to know the most.

It took him quite some time before he reached the far end of the memoir. The diary was strange; the events that happened recently were in the beginning, and Richard couldn't turn the diary to read the incidents of the past, another effect of the artefact.

'Maybe she added this so I get bored mid-way and stop reading...' He inwardly muttered and rubbed his eyes to wipe away the tears accumulating.

Finally, he reached there....a point where several pages were left blank.

*Rustle* *Rustle*

He flipped faster and faster until he read it...

[The past which I left behind]

Richard frowned and wondered if this was something related to the time when Richard wasn't born. Maybe something about his biological father?

However, he was thoroughly surprised to read the text which seemed to be out of place,

[I was thoroughly devastated. He was my everything. My pride, my love and the reason why I was alive. And...he was...snatched away from me. My baby, my Richie...he was taken away by those inhumane creatures. No...none of them deserve to live.

None of them!]

There were wet marks near the end of the pages which told that the writer was crying when she wrote that.

'Wait...Richard died? Fuck!' Richard's eyes widened as he reflexively looked at the lady lying on the bed.

The dark cultist, who introduced himself as Allen, jolted out of his sleep as he asked Richard, "W-What happened?"

Richard slowly removed his eyes from his mother before telling the blond, "It's nothing. Go back to sleep."

Allen did as he was told and Richard started reading again.

From what he read just now, it seems Bellarine has experienced the previous timeline and has seen Richard die.

But how can it be? And how was it connected to her current condition?

'I should keep reading...' Prioritising their health for now, he continued to find more clues.

After that, there were several pages of gap again. He flipped and flipped...until he reached there.

[I...made the deal with the Devil. I, the member of the Scarlette clan and the ex-Duchess, died while battling against one of the four Heavenly Demons, under the command of the Death God.]

[Impressed by my ability to slaughter thousands of Bates within a week, he gave me an offer...]

Richard didn't like where this was going,

[...to let me be reborn in the same world as my baby. ]

[I was told by the Heavenly Demon that if I can sacrifice people then I can be reborn in the same world as my baby. He just wanted me to cause as many deaths as I could to make him stronger, in exchange.]

[As such, after rebirth, I began to learn more about the world. About their science and how things worked. I became a scientist when I grew up, and thanks to my sharp mind, I was able to get into the same branch where I wanted to be: biotech.]

[I developed a virus which could corrode people's minds and make them insane and cannibal.]

[However, my plan failed. The virus was caught before I could have released it.]

[After that, I had to leave the nation and start a new life.]

[By that time, Richie had been born on Earth in a different body, and I could faintly sense him.]

[I knew I didn't have much time as such, despite how much I wanted, I couldn't go find him. The Heavenly Demon would have surely thrown my soul away for not being able to accomplish my part of the bargain.]

[That's why I found a man who could act as my husband and got myself artificially inseminated.]

[I knew my soul would be forcibly thrown into the void. That's why I have to leave a fragment of my soul behind.]

[That's why I gave birth to a daughter and gave her a part of my soul.]

[I even gave her my name; Bella.]

[When she turned three, I finally brought him to my family.]

[I can't tell how excited I was to see him again. Those eyes, his attitude, his eating manners, his long hair, everything was the same. I never even once felt that I was embracing someone else, when I hugged him.]

[However, my body was weakening slowly, and those sweet moments came to a final pause when one day I died in an accident.]

[....and surprisingly woke up in this world. How and why, I don't know. And guess what, Richard was back!]

[He was back!]

[I couldn't express how happy I am right now to see him beside me again!]

[Now I can protect him from every danger and live a happy life with him.]

Richard heaved a sigh. A long one.

There was a lot to digest and a lot to think about. However, he first read the last page of the diary which hopefully should contain the reason behind her current state.

[Ah, it's ending. The small happy life I had with my baby, is about to end.]

Her handwriting was quite shaky at this part, maybe because she was already feeling the symptoms by then.

[She is here...my daughter is in this world. And now, along with me, she also will be punished.]

Richard frowned and read ahead,

[When I received the Demon's blessing, it came with a grave condition: I was forbidden from transferring any part of my soul to another, for any reason. The Heavenly Demon did not want my power or knowledge to be passed on to anyone else, ensuring that my work could never be continued by another. However, when Bella was born into this world, the Demon sensed her presence—too similar to mine.

He realized that a part of my soul lived within her, violating the terms of the blessing.]

[And now...both Bellas would cease to exist...]

Richard slowly closed the diary and remained silent for a long time.

The virus his mother made in the previous world definitely spread and caused a lot of mayhem that's why she was sent back to this world rather than thrown away in the void.

The reason why she didn't show any sign of being suspicious of him despite rebirth was because she knew it was him all along.

'Goddamn...I was Richard this whole time...a cocky bastard who got humbled amongst humans and reborn as a better person....'

After returning to this world, which was overlooked by the residents of the Dark Star, his mother was under surveillance. And when Bella arrived the Heavenly Demon discerned that she breached the contract.

It wasn't like his mother wanted to breach the contract since she never thought she would get reborn. And to protect Richard in his previous world, he left Bella behind.

'You were protecting me this whole time...'

Heaving a sigh he recalled those days when he lived with his parents. No wonder they never fought and Richard often saw his father exiting his house late at night and returning in the morning.

It turned out he was just an actor. How many revelations?

Everything was now making sense. He understood why things were like this and why Bella had such similarities with Bellarine.

But what about the novel he read in his previous life? Who wrote that? The way the diary is written it was clear that Bellarine was unaware of the way he died. So it was evident that she wasn't the one who wrote the book. And in the first place, Bellarine didn't live until the end, yet the book contained a believable ending.

'I should worry about that later...first I need to find a way to cure them...'

Richard got up and saw that Allen was reading through some books.

Just as Richard was about to ask him something the boy excitedly jumped from his seat and approached Richard,

"Found it! Found it!"

Richard frowned, "What?"

While showing Richard the page of some ritual, he said,

"I found the way to save them!"

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A/N:- There are things I have left vague, but don't worry I will explain everything. Thanks for reading.