The villainess shall be mine

Neige decided to not follow the path her father paved for her. She didn't want to become an evil person.

Her father, the Emperor appeared like he never doubted his actions, making it seems like everything he did was correct. No matter how many people suffered because of his action, his expression didn't change in the slightest.

Neige didn't like that about her father. Her father didn't even hide what he was doing, the experiments, the secret executions, everything was shown to her. The darkness that was hidden behind the dazzling Empire.

However, no matter what happened, Neige didn't want to follow in her father's footsteps.

She was asked by her father to kill a person when she turned 15. And everything that could be considered to be her value as a female was stripped away in a very inhuman manner. Before she even understood emotions such as love, she was already forced to perpetrate the deed. Her father watched all of this happening as if conducting an experiment, trying to break her spirit. Looking at her, every day, as if asking, do you resent me now? If so, what are you going to do?

Neige was scared. Her father was not a human, she concluded. He was a monster who was using humans as playthings.

The psychological torture that Neige had to endure increased in intensity. This time, she was asked to choose which planet she would decide to spare. In front of her were two, begging her to spare their family and the people living on their planet.

The men began to appeal to her sympathy by talking about how there were young people like her on their planets, suffering because the resources were very limited. The men cried their hearts out, prostrating in a very pitiful manner.

Her father didn't say anything, waiting for her decision. What was it that her father wanted from her? Neige wondered, biting her lips.

No matter who she would have chosen at that moment, she would still be responsible for the death of millions of people.

Moreover, no matter how many years had passed, her father's appearance never changed, and there was no such thing as a new Emperor. In other words, her father was immortal.

It could be said, in that case, that her existence was not necessary to her father. She was an existence created inside of a tube, and there were countless artificial humans like her. However, it appeared like she was the only one with a personality.

Her father didn't even hide what he used these artificial bodies for. This was the reason why he was immortal, or more specifically, he transferred his memory from one body to another.

Nonetheless, Neige's spirit didn't break apart. And at the very end, what her father asked her was to become the next Holy Mother and dedicate her entire existence to serving the God of the Empire. Her final mission was to become the sacrifice during a ritual that would save the world from an unseen threat.

She continued to increase her strength and also waited for the right moment to break away from the shackles that her father used to bind her down.

Finally, she witnessed a glimmer of hope. Someone that managed to make her father take such a dramatic decision. Adam Von Kepalta.

Moreover, she knew about her father's plan. He didn't even try to hide it. The Holy Mother was nothing more than a pawn. However, for some reason, she felt like the Holy Mother's actions had also suggested that she didn't care about the Empire. Neige didn't know the Holy Mother's true motives, but she know that there was someone that played an important role in the plan. Amelia Lyh Tylliard.

*****

During the incident that took place within the Coliseum—the fight between Adam and the guardians—Neige managed to locate Amelia. She knew that things were going to take a different turn from there and that this was her chance.

Still, Adam and Blanca's demonstration of power was so mesmerizing that she couldn't help but watch what was happening from afar. During this time, Amelia had already gone somewhere. After all, the soldiers also began to check the identity of the students as they evacuated the area. The massacre had begun when some of the students tried to deny the accusation of treason.

'This is not good,' Neige thought to herself, looking at the chaos that began to spread all around the area.

"Her Highness, we can't stay here," the soldier, wearing shining armor who followed everywhere said. More than anything, Neige didn't feel like they were there to protect her but restrain her.

Boom! It was at that time that Derige's power went berserk. Neige used this chance to get away from the soldier and went in the search of Amelia.

Still, the city was big and it was not like Amelia would let herself be found by the soldiers. Still, Neige used her ability to travel all around the city very quickly, observing the movement of the soldiers. She knew that sooner or later, they will find Amelia. At that time, she didn't expect that she would meet with Barned and his friends.

*****

Barned couldn't believe what he was seeing. He never debated about the existence of miracles before nor did he think that there was a need to think deeply about such a thing.

However, what happened could be considered a miracle. The girl, so beautiful that she appeared to be a goddess, standing in front of him was none other than the Neige Lyh Emporora. 𝘧𝚛𝗲𝘦𝚠𝙚𝙗𝙣o𝙫𝗲𝚕.𝐜o𝓂

Under normal circumstances, she would never come to a place like where she stood at that moment. After all, she was the daughter of the Emperor. Someone who stood at the top of the hierarchy.

"Nei—Neige Lyh Emporora," Barned muttered in a daze. So much happened that he couldn't control his emotions.

"Where is the girl called Amelia? Is she not here?" Neige asked. She was sure that Amelia was there.

"A-A…" Barned lost his cool and couldn't even reply to Neige's question. After his shock passed, the cold reality hit him again.

Neige felt sorry for Barned and his friends but she couldn't do anything about them. Yoru was dead, frozen. Felicia was dead, carbonized. Benjamin and Alexander we're dead, electrocuted. And looking at Barned, she also realized that he didn't have much time left.

However, all of this would continue to happen unless she stopped her father. Knowing that she wasn't powerful enough to do so, all she could do was join hands with Adam and help him. If she could keep Amelia away from her father's reach, she could at least stop the progression of his plan, or so she thought.

Neige had thought about numerous plans to stop her father, but no matter what kind of scheme she came up with, the fact that she was alone in the middle of countless enemies that her father could control rendered all of it useless.

"Sorry," Neige muttered and then proceeded to walk upstairs.

Barned's sport had completely shattered. Neige's action might have been cold but she knew that nothing she could say would make him feel better.

Arriving upstairs, on the second floor, Neige continued to walk through the corridor until she reached the end of it. Then, she looked up and saw an opening in the ceiling. She knew that it led to a secret room. She ignored all of the other doors because she could feel the presence of Amelia and the two sisters and went straight to them.

She leaped to the ceiling and used the rapier that appeared in her hand to make a hole in it. Swoosh! Her movement was flawless and didn't even make any loud sound. She successfully reached the secret room, and once she got there, she looked around the room.

"Amelia Lih Tylliard? We need to leave this place and meet up with Adam Von Kepalta," said Neige. Her voice sounded flat, but she tried to appear as harmless as possible.

However, she also knew that she didn't have the time to convince Amelia if she was unwilling to follow her voluntarily. She was prepared to knock her out and then try to locate Adam. For some reason, she was certain that Adam wouldn't die so easily. She wanted to believe so because everything would be lost, and her father would win.

In the end, she never figured out what exactly her father wanted to achieve. She didn't even know what else her father could be desiring. He already had everything, power, wealth, money, influence, and even immortality. Little did Neige know that the fact of having everything meant that a person also needed to create a new purpose for their life.

"…" Neige could feel that someone was hiding behind the objects covered with a large fabric. The room was dusty, but Neige could see various footprints on the ground. Then, Neige took a step forward but…

"Your highness, please come down. It's time for you to return home," A voice called out to her from below. It belonged to someone that Neige considered as dangerous. Fineas the saint.