Chapter 249
Villain
Aman was thrilled beyond measure. Seeing his brother effortlessly eliminate the enemies with a single strike without harming anyone else, Aman realized he still had much to learn. If he were to unleash his own power, not only would the enemies be affected, but everyone else would be caught in the blast as well. This was why he could only attack in a long-range and couldn’t effectively assist within the camp.
Unlike his brother, Owen’s lightning strikes were divided into several bolts, each targeting only the enemies and burning them individually. Aman was proud of his brother’s exceptional skills.
Owen glanced at his younger brother, who had called out to him initially. Despite telling Aman to take good care of Ellie, from what he had heard...it seemed his beloved had to exhaust herself to protect everyone. Yet, here was Aman, still trying to curry favor with him!
The tall young man who had descended like a deity strode towards the group of students, ignoring Aman’s expression. He walked directly to Ellie and stopped in front of her.
"Apologies for intervening even though you didn’t ask for help," Owen’s single sentence made Ellie understand everything.
It turned out he had been observing the fight with patient, thinking Ellie was enjoying herself with the soldiers of the Rhea Kingdom. Moreover, letting Ellie experience real combat would significantly enhance her fighting skills. Therefore, Owen had been waiting nearby. If Ellie could handle it, he wouldn’t appear and would act as if he had never been there.
That was just his way—never wanting to show too much concern for Ellie. He would only step in when she was truly in trouble or explicitly asked for his help. It wasn’t surprising that others didn’t know how much he cared; even Ellie sometimes forgot about it.
Who told him to have lightning powers that always destroyed her spores entirely? Following him was futile because they got obliterated every time he used his power. So, she chose not to follow him again. And that’s why...she was unaware of how many times he had come to see her...
"Thank you for helping. However...His Highness..."
"This fool?" Before Ellie could finish, Owen flicked his finger once, and the prince’s body suddenly floated and appeared before them, the soldier carrying him turning to dust.
The speed of light was indeed fitting for a user of lightning power. Ellie was slightly awed by his ability. It seemed that Young Lord Owen could do much more than just create thunderous explosions. So, the initial lightning blast was just to intimidate?
Ellie’s thoughts were correct. Owen had caused the loud noise to instill fear in anyone thinking of approaching his beloved. Anyone who dared harm Ellie...would face appropriate punishment! He had been watching from the start. The mastermind behind this, he would capture and torment them until they begged for death!!
"Y-Your Highness!!" Ryker didn’t care about anyone’s reactions. Seeing the prince appear, he rushed to check his condition and quickly administered a healing potion.
Witnessing such a pitiful sight, Owen didn’t want to see it a second time. Despite being a prince, every decision he made was reckless. It was no wonder they were royalty, as his father had told him since he was young. Royalty didn’t need to be smart or strong. The weakest among the royal siblings was the one who deserved to be emperor.
The people of the Setter family were indeed strong, intelligent, and cunning. However, they should not have to take on positions that, despite seeming prestigious, were in reality akin to a waste pit.
Whoever ascended to the position of Emperor would quickly realize that every path they took led to a dead end, whether they took the front, sides, up or down path. Not only would they have to serve the common people, but they also had to cater to the demands of the nobility, maintaining good relations and responding to the demands of the emperors from other kingdoms. In the end, they would find that their position was no different from that of a servant.
Unlike the role of a great noble family, the Setter family laid the foundation for each of its heads. As long as someone had Setter blood, that person had to be skilled and strong, both in mind and body, to ensure that the Setter family remained the untouchable number one nobility.
They didn’t have to consider others when acting. If they wanted to take over a city on the 6th floor, they could do so without needing to share benefits with other families. Because of this...Owen felt that Prince Jason perfectly matched the description his father had always told him about.
A foolish and incompetent man, easily manipulated and with a pitiful background. Such a person was easy to use. So, Owen decided that after this...he would support this prince in becoming the next emperor. Even though he hadn’t seen the other princes, this level of foolishness was sufficient for him.
"What do you want me to do with them?"
Instead of asking the prince, who held the highest rank, Owen never thought to do so. He directed his question to the person standing in front of him, his voice deep and gentle. This warm tone from such a powerful person almost made many beauties swoon with infatuation.
Nadia’s heart raced like the others, but it was out of admiration for her benefactor. She observed Young Lord Owen’s demeanor and had a new thought.
Initially, Nadia and the other ladies believed that the girl Ellie had seduced Young Lord Owen, using the fact that her father had once helped him to become the lady of the Setter family. However, after witnessing today’s events... Nadia felt that the one trying to seduce others wasn’t Ellie but the man in front of her!
It was evident how he ignored his younger brother who came running like a dog, and how he disregarded the prince as he regained consciousness, as if the latter was just a small insect. Yet, he sent genuine, smoldering glances at the girl in front of him naturally. If it had been anyone other than Ellie, they would have already fallen into his arms, cooing and cuddling.
Nadia glanced at Ellie, who was still deep in thought. She wanted to nudge her and ask her to notice Young Lord Owen’s expression as he was acting like a lovestruck man. Ellie had a man trying to woo her so ardently, yet she was seriously contemplating something!! Was she out of her mind???
"Can you capture them for now? Perhaps His Highness can find some use for them,"
Ellie chose not to explain everything to the prince herself, preferring to let him interrogate the enemies. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why she knew all this but didn’t tell him beforehand.
"Okay," Owen responded with a single word.
Afterward, the enemy soldiers were bound with lightning chains. Although some tried to escape or resist, none could break free. In the end, not a single one managed to get away.
Though Ellie was a bit disappointed that she couldn’t enhance the power of her little Purple Mushroom any further, she knew there would be plenty of opportunities for that. There was no need to rush. However, her little Apple must have been quite satisfied after devouring so much!
"Cough, cough. Eldest Young Lord, how did you come to be here...?"
After Prince Jason regained consciousness, he approached Owen, who was focused solely on the girl in front of him. There was a hint of dissatisfaction in the prince’s eyes. Although he didn’t understand why seeing the girl receive so much attention made him feel bad, he knew he lacked the ability to protect her and thus had no right to say anything at will.
Owen glanced at the prince, who was acting overly familiar with his people, finding it slightly annoying. In truth, he could have intervened earlier when he saw the prince struggling, but Owen chose not to. Letting him get beaten was a better lesson. Instead of waiting for his little girl’s orders, this fool had jumped out impulsively. Owen almost wanted to let him get captured if not for Ellie’s request to save him.
Teaching the prince a lesson about his foolishness was beneficial, even if a bit regrettable...
"Because I knew there was no one reliable in this camp." Everyone in the camp flinched when they heard his response.
His statement was clear—he had to come himself because there was no one in the camp that could be relied on. He couldn’t let his beloved be among these weaklings, so he came here.
"Brother, I understand my shortcomings now. I will train harder from now on. My power is effective for wide-range attacks, but it lacks precision for direct targets. My accuracy needs a lot of improvement, and once I fix this issue, I will be much stronger."
While everyone else swallowed the blood clot in their throats, Aman didn’t feel downcast. When his brother spoke, he simply accepted it and sought to improve. Moreover, it was indeed a flaw of his. Seeing how his brother fought, he realized the areas he needed to work on.
Noticing this, Ellie raised her eyebrows in surprise. It seemed that Young Lord Aman had great potential for growth. As one of the story’s heroes, he was indeed a well-developed character.
"Ellie mentioned that you had some knowledge of the Rhea army’s invasion. How did you come to know this, Eldest Young Lord?" Prince Jason’s bias against the man in front of him growing a bit. He recognized Owen’s strength but felt his words were unnecessarily harsh.
Upon hearing the prince’s question, Ellie felt a bit embarrassed. What did he mean by saying the eldest young lord already knew about the attack? That was a huge lie! She had only used Owen’s name to cover herself, without consulting him first. However, Ellie knew Young Lord Owen wouldn’t disappoint her, and indeed, he didn’t.
"I should be asking why a prince like you didn’t know," Owen didn’t answer this question, he just asked back deadpanned, not even bothering to address the prince with the usual courtesy.
"You speak as if I should be able to fathom everything as you do."
"I merely think that as a master, you should know the movements of your subordinates instead of letting them deceive you repeatedly."
Owen’s retort came without a second thought. Ellie was slightly surprised, but considering it was Young Lord Owen, a man of unparalleled abilities, she figured he must have already known about this.
The saying, "Instead of letting your subordinates deceive you repeatedly," struck Ellie because she hadn’t revealed to anyone yet about the soldiers tricking the prince into a trap and then planning to double-cross him a second time. Even Aman hadn’t figured that out. This meant that Owen genuinely knew the truth and wasn’t just following the script set by the rogue soldiers. He had found the true root of the problem.
Prince Jason, who thought he was following the correct path, was taken aback. He initially believed the movements of the Rhea forces were unforeseen by the Ares Kingdom and not connected to it. However, Eldest Young Lord Owen’s words implied that the soldiers of the Ares Kingdom were aware of these maneuvers all along!
Before the prince could ponder this further, the situation had calmed down, and suddenly, a thousand soldiers of the Ares Kingdom arrived, surrounding the camp.
"Y-Your Highness!! Are you safe?!!"
The shout of the unit leader drew everyone’s attention. Had it not been for Owen’s earlier remarks sparking his suspicion, Prince Jason might have just smiled and told them everything was fine. But with doubt now in his mind, he began to notice the oddity of the situation.
"Why are you just arriving now!?"
"Y-Your Highness, are you angry with us? We, the city guards, have numerous duties to attend to. We came as quickly as we could, but along the way, we encountered many obstacles and beasts. Please show mercy, Your Highness. If punishment is to be meted out, let it fall on me alone. My soldiers did their best!!"
The head soldier knew what to say as he knelt and banged his head on the ground, evoking sympathy among the soldiers.
Many soldiers immediately knelt, begging for mercy loudly, making Prince Jason look like the villain in this scenario.
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