Never Die Villain

As Ilya made his way down the steps leading toward the training grounds, someone stepped directly into his path before he had even reached the bottom.

"Where do you think you’re going?"

Anastasiya crossed her arms, fixing him with a cold glare. Without waiting for an answer, her gaze shifted past him to the person following close behind.

"...I thought I told you to stay away from this man?"

Aleksei’s smile vanished as he let out a cough. The carefree grin he had been wearing only moments ago had disappeared. Even so, he gathered enough courage to speak before she could dismiss him outright.

"M-My Lady... I was the one who challenged Cousin Ilya to a duel—"

"So?"

The single word stopped him in his tracks.

"Are you trying to tell me," she said, "that Ilya doesn’t have a will of his own? That the moment someone asks him for a duel, he’s incapable of refusing?"

"...That wasn’t what I meant."

"Then what exactly did you mean?"

"...."

Aleksei opened his mouth, only to realize he had no answer that wouldn’t make the situation worse. In the end, he gave up trying to defend himself.

Anastasiya’s attention naturally shifted away from him and settled on Ilya instead.

"...Well?" Her expression remained as indifferent as ever. "Was this your decision?"

"It was."

"You accepted because you wanted to?"

"I did."

Anastasiya stared at him for a while, searching his face as though expecting him to admit this was all some poorly thought-out joke.

When it became obvious he had no intention of changing his answer, she let out a slow sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose, looking every bit like someone who had just been handed another problem she never asked for.

"And what happens if you lose?" she asked. "No... let’s not pretend otherwise. You’re going to lose. Then what? You hand the branch families another excuse to whisper behind our backs? You really couldn’t have picked a worse time for this."

"...Could you just leave me alone for once?"

"You dare—"

"A moment ago you were telling Aleksei about how I have a will of my own. Yet every time I make a decision, you’re the first person to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do, Anastasiya."

"That is because your decisions almost always end with me cleaning up the mess afterward."

She crossed her arms, her expression never changing in the slightest.

"If experience has taught me anything, it’s that the moment you decide to act on your own, I should start preparing for the worst. Tell me. Name one time I’ve ever been wrong."

"...."

A dozen examples immediately came to mind.

She could have reminded him of every reckless decision he had made, every unnecessary fight, every impulsive choice that had eventually become someone else’s problem to resolve.

Yet with Aleksei still standing beside them, Anastasiya swallowed every one of those words.

The last thing she intended to do was air the Grand Ducal family’s affairs before relatives who spent the Winter Assembly feeding on rumors.

"Anastasiya."

"...Go on."

"There are people watching."

Ilya glanced around at the gathering crowd before looking back at her.

"Whatever happens next, they’ll find something to gossip about anyway."

Only then did Anastasiya notice how many people had stopped what they were doing.

The conversations surrounding the training grounds had grown quieter, and more than a few pairs of eyes had already fallen on the two siblings.

Irritation gave way before she strode forward without another word, grabbed Ilya by the wrist, and started pulling him away from the arena.

"Come with me," she said. "Don’t waste your time on second-rate fools."

"...."

However, Ilya slipped his wrist free from her grasp.

Anastasiya looked back at him.

"...You really never fucking listen."

She clicked her tongue in frustration, turned, and walked away without looking back.

Aleksei watched Anastasiya disappear into the distance before letting out a long sigh. He scratched the back of his head, still staring in the direction she had gone, then muttered the first thing that came to mind.

"...Goddamn that was hot."

Ilya slowly turned his head.

"...?"

For a long moment, he stared at Aleksei, genuinely wondering whether the man beside him had finally lost his mind after one rejection too many.

In the end, deciding there was no point trying to understand whatever went on inside his cousin’s head, he shook his own.

"...Let’s go."

The two continued toward the training grounds, leaving behind the crowd that had only just begun whispering about the argument they had witnessed moments earlier.

* * *

"A splendid display of swordsmanship, as expected of Lady Anastasiya." Margrave Karskin watched the training grounds with an approving nod before stroking his beard. "Though I do have to wonder what possessed the Morozsk boy to challenge her in the first place."

A chuckle came from beside him.

"Indeed." Margrave Volnograd crossed his arms as his eyes followed Maksim being helped away by several attendants. "I imagine Elder Morozsk is regretting allowing his second son to make a spectacle of himself in front of the entire family. That defeat will be the only thing people remember by the end of the assembly."

The two men had watched the duel from beginning to end.

As ruling elders of their respective territories, Margrave Dmitri Aleksandrovich Karskin and Margrave Oleg Konstantinovich Volnograd knew the younger generation better than most.

Ever since Anastasiya had begun participating in the Winter Assembly, there had never been a shortage of ambitious heirs convinced they would become the first person of their generation to defeat her.

One after another, they stepped into the arena, only to leave with the same result.

Margrave Volnograd smiled to himself.

"Still... at least the lad had courage. Challenging someone you know you can’t beat is foolish, but it isn’t easy."

Margrave Karskin nodded.

"Perhaps. Though if it were my son, I’d rather he challenged someone he actually had a chance of defeating. Courage has its place, but it doesn’t erase embarrassment."

The two men shared a quick laugh before their attention naturally drifted back toward the training grounds, where another duel was about to begin.

A growing number of younger family members had begun gathering near the arena, and among them, two familiar figures were making their way through the crowd.

"...Well," Margrave Volnograd said, the corners of his mouth curling upward. "Perhaps the Gods have decided to smile upon you after all, Elder Karskin."

Margrave Karskin followed the direction of his gaze.

"There." Volnograd raised a hand, pointing toward the edge of the arena. "Isn’t that your boy walking over with the Grand Duke’s bastard?"

"It is. Aleksei and Lord Ilya."

A sly smile appeared on Karskin’s face.

"’Lord’?" Volnograd shook his head. "Come now, Elder Karskin. It’s only the two of us. There’s no need to be so formal."

Karskin’s smile deepened.

"I suppose you’re right."

His eyes remained fixed on Ilya.

"To think the Grand Duke’s bastard would actually have the nerve to step onto the training grounds." He let out another dry laugh. "Perhaps the academy has given the boy more confidence than it has talent."

Karskin crossed his arms.

"Confidence is cheap. The Belozersky blood in him doesn’t change where he came from. In the end, he’s still the son of the woman who climbed into the Grand Duke’s bed after her career started failing."

He let out a scoff.

"People like that always end up believing they belong somewhere they never did."

Volnograd gave a slow nod.

"And yet there are still those who insist on treating him as though he were a proper member of the main family," Volnograd continued. "It’s almost enough to make you forget he was never meant to stand among us in the first place."

Volnograd’s eyes shifted toward Aleksei.

"...Though I do find your son a little concerning."

"Hm?"

"He seems awfully fond of that boy." A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Volnograd’s mouth. "If he keeps walking around the palace at Ilya’s side, people might start wondering whether House Karskin has changed its stance."

The smile disappeared from Karskin’s face.

"Aleksei has always had the unfortunate habit of being friendly with the wrong people."

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