The villainess shall be mine

After the small talks, I began to discuss serious matters with my parents.

"Adam, I am sorry that your… Well, your birthday party turned into that catastrophe," my father said. "That was within my responsibilities as your father and the Lord of Kepalta."

The look that he had a look on his face was something that I had never seen during these fifteen years. Anger and regrets were apparent in his expression.

"Don't worry Dad, I have learned a precious lesson from that failure so, in a way, it was something that must happen sooner or later," I said, trying to not let my father blame himself too much. "Still, I cawho n not forgive the ones who plotted this, and I have someone might lead us to the real culprits in mind."

"Adam, about that… There was that woman called Liu. You may not remember her but…" My father looked like he didn't want to talk about it for some reason.

"Liu?" I mumbled curiously.

"…That woman said that she had already taken care of the two people who were behind this. Their names were Randwig and Baleria, she said. I don't know about these people, but they must be some influential Lords. She also said that it was just by coincidence, and she felt a surge of power coming somewhere else so she was just passing by."

My father looked like he didn't know what to feel. He should be happy that these scoundrels died, but there was this feeling of anger inside of his heart that needed to be directed somewhere.

"I see, so miss Liu did that… I should thank her again later," I muttered. I honestly didn't expect Liu to do all that just by pure coincidence.

"So who is that person that you suspect?" My father asked.

"You know, people working and living here know that mum is so thoughtful and gentle, so that person took advantage of her kindness to poison me. Right before my speech, I drank an ice tea prepared by mum. The person who handed me the drink was the head maid, and she is the prime suspect," I explained.

"Ha!" My mom reacted to my words. "…But why?" She added and looked a little bit sad. The head maid served the Kepalta family for a long time, so I understood why she would react like that.

"This a delicate matter. If everyone were to know this, people will begin to get suspicious of each other, mostly during times like this…" My father explained seriously.

I agreed with my father. Even if it was the head maid, it must have been because the real culprits used some underhanded method to blackmail her, or so I believed.

'Still, I can't be too sympathetic,' I thought.

"I guess I will leave this in your expert's hands father," I said, trying to increase my father's pride a little. I wasn't sure if I did it right though. It was just that I didn't know what will happen if I saw that person again, so I decided to leave it to my father for now, but I also decided to continue investigating on my own.

"Josephina… What happened to her?" My Mom said with a small and lonely voice. She must have trusted the head maid.

It was a good idea to discuss and leave this matter to my parents even if I could manage to deal with it alone.

*****

:::[Third Person POV]:::

After Adam left, Liu grabbed a tiny communicative device from a pocket on Verte's clothes, as she was using Verte as a pouch.

Ting! Ting! Ting!

It seemed like she received a call through this device.

Adam knew that communication devices were not that rare in the Empire, but it was not used like how it was used on earth. There were no social media here, even though there was a broadcasting system that exploited the use of different kinds of mana stones.

However, only important people in a village or a city possessed a communication device in case of emergency or to communicate with their Lords or other people from different planets.

Then, Liu took the communication device and put it into her ears.

"Mm." Liu made a sound indicating that she was listening to the person on the other side.

"Miss Liu, have you found something?" A female voice talked inside of the communication device.

"Yes. I will stay here for a while. Continue to monitor this planet from where you are." Liu answered with an indifferent voice, but her eyes were serious.

"Roger that.'"

"Anything about these entities?" Liu asked, her voice becoming more serious and cold than it already was.

"Nothing suspicious for now. But stay on your guard Miss Liu, these things are dangerous." The voice sounded worried.

"I know, but I can't disappoint father," Liu replied, showing resolve on her face.

'…I will get in communication with you again at a later time,' the voice said.

"Mm." Liu concurred and took the communication device from her ears and put it back inside the pocket on Verte's clothes.

"Gugu?" Verte tilted her head as if asking what was Liu thinking.

"It's nothing. I hope we get to the bottom of this fast. We need to eat something for now."

Liu said, but she was more or less talking to her herself.

But when she was about to return to her guest room, someone approached her.

"Liu, how are you doing?" A young man asked with a bright smile.

His name was David, and he was handsome.

"…" Liu didn't even reply and ignored David. She walked without turning back.

Even though she might look young, Liu was five years older than David and Adam.

David was being too familiar to her and it didn't please her.

"Haha, I guess she didn't hear me," David said and laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

*****

Somewhere in the tangible multiverse, an entity was sitting on a dark stone throne, and the room that he dwelled in was shrouded with darkness.

"Find the other branches of the Tree of life… No matter what you need to do, bring it here… God has forsaken this place… Nothing will bring us salvation if we fail…" The man said, and his voice was rough and sinister.

"Yes, my Lord. We shall execute your orders without fail," another man said while kneeling in from of the throne.

"Mmm… What about that creature… That vampire woman? She has one branch… No?" The voice asked.

"S-she used an artifact that allowed her to travel across dimensions, and we lost track of her…" The being who was kneeling reported and fear could be traced in his voice.

"What?" The entity sitting on the throne slammed on the armrest, and the entire room quivered violently.

After seeing this, the being who was kneeling shivered and swallowed his saliva, then he continued to talk before the Lord got angrier.

"B-But, there is no problem, my Lord, as it's just temporary. We have that thing, so anyone who possesses a branch of the tree of life can't hide from us no matter where they lurk." The one who kneeled tried to appease his Lord.

"Mmm… I hope you mean what you said… It is true that the monsters can be controlled for now, because of the pact that I made with the devil himself, but who knows how long it will last… You should be more aware than anyone else about what had become of the universes that became the nest of these countless monsters… When these abominations will be released in the rest of the multiverse, it will be the end of all things… At least, we will survive," explained the Lord.

"I-I understand, my Lord."

"Now go, and don't bring any more disappointing news."