A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

"I know about Mr. Eileen, I admire his scholarship, his ideals, his courage... How can you see what he did as madness, and how can you denounce Ravenna, who inherited his ideals, as crazy?"

Ansel's words made Leiden pause, but he quickly recovered, showing no shame or any other emotion, only deep, deep anger.

"What are you talking about! What do you know!"

Anyone would be intolerant of an outsider meddling in their family affairs, especially when the Ziegler family's problems are so... painful. Leiden, who considered himself a victim, slammed his hand on the table, his voice rising again:

"Great... great? That foolish arrogance, those unrealistic ideas, are they worthy of being called great? He just used those fanciful ideas to prove that his talent was above everyone else, I tell you... Eileen Ziegler was never a courageous man, let alone great! He was a madman!

A selfish bastard!"

The hesitation in Ravenna's heart disappeared instantly, leaving only coldness.

"The last sentence." She said indifferently, "It suits you better, Mr. Ziegler."

"Stealing grandfather's designs, selling them to the Etheric Academy, seeking a official position there, preserving yourself... I can't understand, how do you have the face to criticize grandfather for being selfish."

The second critical point.

Ansel's fingers interlocked, a slight smile gracing his lips.

My dear Venna would no longer heed any words from her father, so what should follow is...

"You!"

"Venna!" Eleanor, in her anxiety, held Leiden's shoulder. She looked into Ravenna's eyes, pleading desperately, "We had no choice back then... Father…Father had been researching alone for nine years, many were afraid of what he might create. I was pregnant with you then, we couldn't take the risk..."

A compelling and well-justified emotional card.

Ansel, who had seen Ravenna's life in its entirety, couldn't help but marvel at the "coincidence" of fate. Perhaps twenty-one years ago, destiny had already prepared for this conversation.

"..." Ravenna's expression indeed froze slightly. She was silent for a moment, then whispered, "But betrayal is betrayal."

"Betrayal... Betrayal!" Leiden was clearly losing his rationality in anger, "So what? So you want Eleanor, and the unborn you, to die because of that madman's ravings? Is that what you want, are you satisfied with that?"

The instinct to protect their child is ingrained in parents. If the Ziegler family was indeed in a precarious situation at that time, the actions of Leiden and Eleanor were understandable.

And thus, a crucial turning point was laid for Ravenna's reconciliation with her parents.

— But the malicious devil would not let fate proceed so smoothly, the chess pieces were set.

"Hmm... I mean no offense." Ansel spoke again, "If Mr. Eileen really had an achievement that could make other forces ferocious enough to... assassinate a fifth-stage alchemist's whole family, wouldn't that mean he was only one step away from success? In that case, wouldn't it be better to help Mr. Eileen than to betray him?"

"Under his protection, your lives wouldn't be so... dangerous, right?"

This sentence plunged the reception room back into silence.

Eleanor looked at Ansel with deep resentment in her eyes, but she, clenching her fists, seemed to want to explain to Ravenna, "Because... because..."

"Enough, Eleanor."

Leiden interrupted his wife's words, he said coldly, "Do you still delude yourself that she will call you mother, consider herself your daughter? In her eyes, we are nothing more than two worms, two traitors, two despicable people who cling to life. She is not here to reminisce with you and me, she is here to trample, criticize, humiliate us, she is here... for revenge."

"The Tower of Babel is valued by Lord Hydral, and from then on, it has ascended to the heavens, no longer oppressed by the Etheric Academy, she finally has the opportunity to vent her hatred on us."

The two possible turning points, the extremely subtle emotional flow, were completely shattered by Ansel's very reasonable words... standing on Ravenna's side as a friend.

And Ansel's question, and Leiden's words just now, also destroyed the last thought that rose in Ravenna's heart.

"...I just want to ask you one last question."

Ravenna stood up, staring into her father's eyes, even though he was no longer willing to meet her gaze.

"Mr. Leiden, after grandfather died, did you miss him? Even once."

"...He was my father, Ravenna."

The man tugged at the corner of his mouth, he seemed to want to show a mocking smile, but the expression on his face was only sadness and fatigue.

"No matter how mad he was, no matter how outrageous, he was my father, I and you... and you, this monster, are different."

Ravenna didn't speak, she just turned around and left the reception room.

Ansel also stood up, he bowed slightly to Leiden and Eleanor, preparing to leave.

But, to his surprise, Leiden Ziegler, the man who called his daughter a "monster", stopped him.

"Do you know?"

The current head of the Ziegler family took a cigar out of his pocket and put it in his mouth, Ansel could see his hand shaking slightly.

"I really want, really want, really want to beat you up right now, preferably to cripple you... to make you, this self-righteous, ignorant guy, pay for your words."

"I apologize if I offended you," Ansel said apologetically, "but I am..."

"But you are her friend."

The man exhaled a cloud of smoke, he shrouded his weary face in the smoke, using the tobacco to numb his shattered emotions.

"I always thought she could never have friends, but now she has you, a friend who firmly stands by her side and speaks for her."

"..."

Leiden's eyes drooped slightly, the cigar clamped between his fingers trembled: "You may be the only friend she can make."

"Please..." Eleanor, who had been glaring at Ansel with resentful eyes, covered her face, sobbing uncontrollably, "Be good to her, if you can, help her... please."

Father, mother.

Ansel looked at this couple, these parents, his fingertips twitched slightly.

"If..."

He began, "If you really have any... difficulties, why not try to make it clear?"

"She won't believe it." Leiden waved his hand, whispering, "My daughter was ruined by my mad father, her life shouldn't have been like this, my life... was the same."

Leiden didn't reveal too much, and rightfully couldn't reveal too much, but Ansel knew very well what the son of this alchemical giant was talking about.

Ansel didn't say any more, he just bowed slightly and left the reception room.

His friend was still waiting for him.

*