This Three Year Old Is a Villainess-Chapter 281
“Ayla rushed out of the room.
I dashed after her down the corridor.
I’d never been this far in before.
What is this place—why are there so many rooms?
At the end of the hall was a staircase leading downward.
As I neared it, a chill ran down my spine.
No wonder: I could feel an immense magical power emanating from below.
There must be monsters stationed down there.
Not just one or two.
The power was at least as strong as when the entire force of the Daimond Jurisdiction gathered...perhaps even stronger.
And it was so corrupted it made my skin crawl.
They must have fused monsters with humans for experimentation.
So Grimie truly possesses an army of monsters where Ayla hides.
My heart pounded.
If a battle broke out against such a force...
No—stay calm. It’s better to know than to be taken unawares.
Now that I know their strength, I can prepare.
“What’re you doing?”
Ayla’s voice rang out as she entered the room closest to the stairs.
“Yes, ma’am!” I answered and hurried inside.
Ayla rifled through documents and asked, “When did Erilot depart for Baran?”
“It was four days ago that she vanished from sight.”
“If Lord Rismund aided her with the Blessing of Transit, she must have slipped out of the Empire by the skin of her teeth.”
“There’s been no activity at the Second Imperial Manor. Rismund would not have left the capital.”
“I see...” Ayla nodded, trusting my words.
(A lie mixed with truth sounds the most plausible.)
Ayla pushed aside the Baran map and unfurled the Imperial map.
“Then she must still be within the Empire. Belma, inform Matthew of this news.”
Matthew?
(He succeeded Conrad as Grandfather’s aide!)
So there was a spy right beside Grandfather!
I bowed my head without betraying my surprise. “Yes.”
“Search the Empire from end to end until you find her. She must not encounter the King’s Favored Consort.”
“Understood.”
“Soon the precious one will awaken...with a true soul.”
I understood immediately: Maria would awaken...inhabited by Dalia’s soul.
Those bastards.
Ayla bit her nails and murmured, “We must eliminate all the trash before the dear one arrives on this land...”
Then she turned her gaze to me. “Hurry.”
“Yes.”
I exited the room at once and strode down the underground passage. Where the torches gave out, I peeled off Nana’s disguise.
“Maria will never be taken from me,” I muttered fiercely.
I used Nana again to disguise myself as a maid of the Grimie Jurisdiction.
Under the pretext of meeting Matthew, I slipped out of the castle.
First, I secretly sent messages to my older brothers, Han Jihyeok, and Conrad—asking them to meet at the communal works site.
They had traveled by the Blessing of Transit and arrived before my carriage.
The meeting point was the forest near the castle where I’d kept my monsters.
Deep among the trees, I saw the four of them.
“Over here.”
They looked up, frowning, startled.
“What is it, you?”
Balzac asked grimly.
I tore away Nana’s mask and said, “It’s me.”
“Erilot?!”
Balzac had never seen me use the disguise spell and was astonished.
“It’s the Deception ability—cell transformation.”
“Ah, so that’s how you evaded the Crown Prince in Kansis...”
“Right. But there’s no time for that now. I need you to do as I instructed.”
“Very well.”
I outlined the plan to the four of them.
“I will deliver Ayla’s orders to Matthew. The rest of you—”
“What? Why that?!”
Balzac sprang up in fury when he learned I had informed Ayla through our communique.
But Joshua remained calm.
“You intend to continue using the maid Belma as our spy?”
“Yes. We need a mole on the Grimie side, too.”
“Can we actually control that maid?”
Joshua narrowed his eyes. I smiled and tapped Ombre with my foot.
Quick as thought, the shadow creature emerged and spat out the real Belma.
Already awakened within the shadow, Belma collapsed, trembling violently.
“E-Er-I-E-Erilot...Miss Erilot...”
I crouched to meet her eyes.
“Yes, it must be agonizing to be trapped inside a shadow monster.”
Shadow fiends feed on negative emotions. To taste the worst, they draw out anxiety hormones.
“Your face has gone as pale as death, poor thing.”
“S-save me, please...please sav—”
“Though you belong to the Grimie Jurisdiction, you serve the Astra. You dared to set your sights on me in that position—so you deserve to die.”
I gently stroked her cheek and smiled.
“Don’t you agree?”
“I-I didn’t want to die...if I didn’t follow Lord Grimie, he would have killed me!”
Belma clutched my knee in desperation. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
“I’m the head of my household—with eight younger siblings and a sick mother to care for—I had no choice...”
“I, too, have three older brothers and a father I must keep an eye on, lest he run amok.”
“...”
“And they threatened my life as well. Aren’t we both pitiable?”
“Mi-miss—”
I seized her neck with one hand. Belma gasped, eyes reddened with fear.
I smiled sweetly. “Your misery doesn’t justify you threatening me.”
“Ah—nnngh...Miss...”
“But what a pity...what if they learn you were caught and used by me?”
“Ugh...”
“I know Ayla well. If she discovers you deceived her, her pride will be wounded—and you will be her target. Quite cruelly.”
“Save me...please...”
“You needn’t be so afraid. Unlike Ayla, I’m fond of loyal dogs.”
“...”
“Especially faithful ones.”
Belma peered at me with trembling eyes. After watching me grin for a long moment, she asked,
“Wh-what must I do...?”
“Return to the Grimie Jurisdiction.”
“Yes?”
“And report all their movements to me in detail.”
“If they find out, I’ll be killed for sure.”
“How fortunate—for you are unlikely to live longer if you die by my hand.”
Belma’s face drained of color, tears welling in her eyes. I wiped them away with my knuckles.
“But, Belma, if you are not discovered, you can gain tremendous wealth and noble status.”
“...You’re promising me that?”
“Promise. On the day my father becomes Duke of Astra, I will grant you all I’ve promised.”
“....”
“But if you fail to obey—”
I invoked my boon. Runes appeared beside her face.
“Martin, Jackson, Nicole, Sedia, Yurimas...your siblings, and your mother convalescing in the Archen Territory will no longer draw breath on this land.”
“...!!”
“You sought my life for your family’s sake. You will pay an equal price.”
Belma swallowed hard. Shaking, she slowly nodded.
“Give the orders...please.”
“Tell Matthew to carry out Ayla’s command. He must have heard it from within Ombre.”
“Yes.”
I rose and offered my hand to the prostrate Belma.
“Welcome to the Daimond Jurisdiction, Belma Nez.”
Belma grasped my hand with both of hers. The moment I planted a spy in Grimie’s domain.
“Hurry and move.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Belma fled into the dark forest.
Joshua watched her go and asked,
“Can we trust her?”
“Yes. I read her heart with the Viewing Blessing.”
[She thought: ‘If Ayla finds out, she’ll kill me in rage. Better to take the chance of wealth and rank than die.']
Balzac murmured, “Ho...that boon is truly useful.”
“Yes. Unless the boon’s level is high, you can read thoughts.”
(I wish I’d used it when unmasking the traitor.)
[Uncle Cainrod, Michelan, and Conrad’s boons are too strong to read.]
Han Jihyeok has no boon, so I could have read his heart.
At that moment, Joshua asked,
“So? What do we do now?”
“Make the lie I told as Belma convincing.”
“I’ll list your alias and your knights on the passenger roll of the ship to Kansis.”
“Good. And Balzac...”
“I’ll inform Father of our plan and then visit Grandfather!”
I was momentarily speechless. “Why?”
“If we expose what’s hiding beneath Grimie’s stronghold to Grandfather, he can deal with it.”
Balzac said confidently.
(Balzac, truly...)
Joshua sighed deeply. “Just use your strength, Balzac. Don’t try to think.”
“Why? Am I wrong?”
Joshua gave up the argument and turned away.
Conrad forced a smile. “It would resolve things, but it would spark war.”
“War?”
“Grimie won’t relinquish such power easily. A war is inevitable.”
“I see...”
“With the branch families hostile and the main line divided, enemies ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) abound even outside the estates.”
“Uh-huh.”
“If we wage war on Grimie now, our enemies will rally to his side.”
“Ah...true.”
“In the worst case, our Duke would be defeated and we’d be exiled from the family.”
“We can’t start a war in this situation...”
“No.”
“So what do you propose, Erilot?”
Balzac finally understood. I raised my index finger.
“This is how we’ll do it.”
I laid out the plan calmly.
“First: extract Maria from the interspace before Grimie can.”
“And second...”
When I explained, the four of them gaped.
“Wha-what!?”
“Erilot, that’s...!”
“Impossible!”
“It cannot be done!”
I shook my head.
“At present, this is the only way to counter Grimie’s prepared forces.”
“No choice?”
“No.”
“What about our traitor? Ted, Uncle Cainrod’s nephew?”
Balzac asked, and Joshua answered before me.
“I’ll handle that.”
“Kill him?”
“I’ll spare him...for now.”
“Planning to use false news against Grimie someday?”
“Yes. There will be a time.”
I nodded.
“Alright, then let’s move! Let’s turn Grimie’s smug face pale!”
I set my sights on securing the Land of Blessing first.
Han Jihyeok, disguised as someone else via Nana, chased after me, saying,
“Eril—no, hey!”
“What is it?”
“The Crown Prince is in the garden.”
“I’m not going to him.”
“What? You said you’d claim the Land of Blessing.”
“That can wait. There’s no time now.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
Outside the gate, I pulled out the Transit Blessing stone from around my neck.
“I’ll open the root in secret.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ll open the interspace gate without permission and bring Maria here.”
“What? You’re insane...!”
“Shut up, or you’ll bite your tongue mid-transit.”
I grabbed Han Jihyeok’s collar and manipulated the Blessing stone.
Light enveloped us, and our vision went pure white.
When I opened my eyes, we were in the very region I’d verified as the Land of Blessing via Viewing.
“It’s a barren wasteland...”
Han Jihyeok murmured, as around us lay only withered grass—no living creature in sight.
(But that’s an advantage.)
With nothing but dry grass, even an ant would give us away.
(We can open the root in secrecy.)
I crouched and felt the ground.
“What are you doing?”
“I have no holy power, so unlike Sister Selene, I can’t sense the center just by looking around.”
I had to feel it with my hands.
“Bloody hell, this could take all night.”
Han Jihyeok plucked grass to clear my way. I ran my hands over the earth.
Hmm...this spot feels stronger than the others.
“Erilot! Why not call Isez? He has the Holy Blessing—he’d sense it!”
“Isez is already tailing Ayla. If my escort were Isez, they’d suspect him.”
“Damn! If we call him, they’ll catch us opening the root.”
“Exactly.”
“But we’ve been here three hours—”
“Huh?”
I suddenly pressed both hands into the ground.
“This is it!”
“Sure?”
“Absolutely!”
“Then open the root!”
Han Jihyeok and I eagerly drew our sacred water flasks.
Gripping them with both hands, we poured.
“Now, we open it...”
We channeled our magic into the earth—and the ground thundered: KUGUGUGUGUGU—!!
(The root has opened.)
I immediately produced the tracking talisman tool from Kansis and placed Maria’s hair inside.
“Now I’ll come for you, Maria.”
