Struggling as a Villain

"I have heard about you. Sir Richard brings you into our conversation often." Hearing Amelia's words Lilia didn't know how to feel.

She recently got to know that the daughter of Duke Hawkbridge was present in the mansion. And it didn't take much time for Lilia to realize their motive to suddenly appear here.

What bothered Lilia was this sizing-up gaze of Amelia and the way she talked to her regarding Richard.

"I am honored to receive such affection from the young lord." Lilia politely spoke.

Amelia raised her brows before she gestured for Lilia to continue cooking.

Lilia, albeit hesitantly, picked up the knife and continued chopping again. She couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable by being stared at by those big eyes.

Amelia stepped forward before gazing at the ingredients as she asked, "Preparing dinner for Sir Richard? Do you know his preference?"

Lilia slowly nodded, "I have been working as young master's maid for the past one and a half years, so it's natural for me to know what he likes."

"And his preference for women? Do you even know that?"

Lilia nearly sliced her skin with the knife hearing that. This girl...is clearly interested in her young master.

Lilia glanced at the girl before asking, "Lady Amelia, hasn't your engagement already been finalized with Master Richard?" A tight knot made her heart heavy when she asked that. Although Lilia knew that her master couldn't only belong to her, it was natural for her to feel a little sad at the thought of him getting married to someone else as well.

Amelia could sense the apprehension from the maid; further solidifying the words which Violet previously spoke. Lilia and Richard were indeed in a romantic relationship.

"Tell me Lilia...would you endure having Richard's attention to someone else other than you? Will that hurt you?" Her question was abrupt and the usually calm and collected Lilia also got startled.

Turning towards the noble lady, Lilia hesitantly responded, "Why is Lady Amelia interested in knowing my, a maid's, opinion?"

"You think so lowly of yourself, despite being held in such high regard by Richard."

Lilia remained silent, feeling her heart racing as she heard Amelia adding, "He cares about you. He remains restless about you. He possibly loves you as a woman and wants to share his future with you. I think that makes you worthy to give your opinion on Richard having multiple spouses."

Lilia was stunned by those heavy words coming from someone four years younger than her. She remained silent for a half minute, registering what was said.

Soon her eyes drew towards the floor, as she uttered in a low voice, "I never had any expectations with my life. I never desired happiness or a family, given what goal I had set for myself. But then, Young Master Richard came like a wild tide in my life and destroyed all my previous intentions and showered me with such emotions which I always deemed unneeded before."

A soft smile adorned her lips as Lilia added, "And soon, I found myself dying in his colors and nurturing feelings that were quite sweet and addictive. Because of young master, I got to understand the meaning of love...and with those feelings came a slight sense of possessiveness as well."

Amelia, at this point, took a slightly deep breath which didn't go unnoticed by Lilia, but she continued,

"However, from the beginning, I knew I couldn't cage Richard with me. I am thankful for the position he gave me in his life, and for the sake of that, I would never hinder him from forming connections with other girls."

Amelia hummed, surprised that the maid was hiding so many emotions. Although Amelia met Lilia for the first time, she could tell that the brunette was not very talkative and also didn't disclose what she felt to others, generally.

Realizing how much it would have been difficult for her to confess, Amelia patted Lilia on the shoulder, and said, "You are a good girl Lilia. If Sir Richard accepts me as his fiancée, let's take care of him together."

Lilia's eyes slowly widened as she stared at Amelia in disbelief before asking, "Y-You haven't been engaged to him?" Lilia shared the whole thing with Amelia just because she thought that Amelia was Richard's future wife.

Amelia shrugged before she turned on her feet, and while walking away, she uttered, "Just a matter of time."

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[A few minutes ago]

Richard was sitting inside the room and pondering over the training he was going through.

Not more than thirty days remained before enrollment, and to join the 'Hunter' group, he needed to pass three difficult stages.

And for those stages, he needed versatile spells, not only wide-area destructive ones. Hell Blaze was useful but not in friendly assessments. Not to talk about, a single use of Hell Blaze paralyzes him for a good few minutes. And that was not acceptable.

Currently, to Richard's knowledge he had these spells:

Fire Ball- F to D rank

Flame Arrows- F to C rank

Hell Blaze- S-rank.

What Richard lacks is casting his spells away from his body. If he could master it, then spells like 'Molten Platform,' 'Meteor Shower,' and 'Ring of Flames' wouldn't be very difficult to learn.

That's why he felt the training with his mother would be very helpful...but now she is gone for at least two days. Haah~

"System, is there any feature like a shop or something?"

[Ding!]

[Further features can be unlocked once the Host reaches the first milestone.]

[Quest Points: 51/100]

Sighing he asked, 'Then assign me some damn quest already.'

[Ding!]

[Quest can't be generated on will. The host needs to put himself into difficult or unusual situations to trigger quests.]

'Difficult situation hmmm....' Suddenly Richard had a thought.

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

[Earth]

Another day, another campfire, and again, those close groups of friends sat around to discuss and chat about things related to the day.

The Crimson Clan was the biggest group of warriors in Vegas, led by the renowned mage—Rine.

As such, there were many bases of the Crimson Clan spread across, among which this one lies in the headquarters.

"I had a big hunt today. Got a lot of material to make my new armor." The bearded man uttered while smoking his favorite cigar. Thankfully, the company has restarted making them.

"Umm...Ben, can you lend me some Horned Fish scales for my vest?" The only female in the group asked the bearded man who held the highest rank in this small group. And naturally, having the rank of a battalion commander the bearded man had a lot of resources.

"Pay me three mana stones of at least low grade and spend a night at my quarters, then I might think," Ben grinned, only for the woman to snicker before she threw a pebble in Ben's direction.

"Hey, you look quite invested in that diary of yours." Suddenly the woman noticed the meek boy in the group still writing something in his diary diligently.

The weakest one in the group had a habit of observing others and noting them down; that's why everyone mostly ignored him. But today, he looked particularly intense.

The meek boy who goes by the name Anvil, was startled to hear her voice before he hurriedly put down his pen.

"Lemme see that~" Ben pulled the diary from him, despite Anvil's protest before he started reading aloud,

"The dimensional crack. A gateway through which mutated beasts are sent into our world from different...maybe....parallel universe—the hell?" Ben suddenly exclaimed upon finding the diary getting snatched away from him. Frowning he turned back to face the rude one...only to freeze in shock.

"L-L-Leader?!"

Everyone in the group instantly stood up in shock upon finding the leader of the Crimson Clan suddenly appearing out of thin air.

Her long dark hair with red streaks blended with the background and swayed slightly with the breeze. Her small moon-white face extruded a charm that threatened to even enchant the deities. Her figure could easily make even the prettiest actress envy, and the powerful aura she extruded made everyone around her bow their heads in respect and fear.

Suddenly every group around the base knelt on the floor, including the one in front of whom Bella appeared.

She closely read the diary and each syllable written on it. Her focus was not on anyone but the explanation which seemed a plausible way for her to reach her brother.

Turning her sharp eyes toward the short brown-haired guy, she said, "You, stand up."

Anvil nearly wetted his pants hearing her words and finding her gaze on none other than him.

He slowly got up, being pushed by the woman beside him before he stood before Bella.

"How did you ascertain the possibility of multiverse gateways?" She asked, her tone carrying a bit of urgency.

Anvil hesitantly started his explanation.

—To be continued.

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A/N:- The next chapter would start from this very point. Give me some PS already!