Ascension Of The Villain

"Well, that was spectacularly unhelpful," Vyan sighed, leaning back in his chair. They had spent ages discussing the novel over dinner, but it felt as though they had made no progress at all.

Leila nodded, setting down her napkin as the last of the plates were cleared away. "Yeah, I know. Too many things have changed from the original story."

"At least we learned a few things," Iyana offered, trying to keep the mood light.

"Not that anything is certain," Vyan replied, worry creasing his brow as he gazed into the empty space before him.

Iyana reached out, giving his shoulder a reassuring pat. "It's going to be okay. Don't stress too much."

Vyan managed a small, wry smile, but his eyes flicked to her lips, lingering there for a beat too long. "Your lip color… it's a little smudged," he noted, almost absently.

"Oh." Iyana touched her lip, blinking down at her fingers. "I will go fix it. Thanks." She rose, asking a server for directions to the restroom before disappearing into the hallway.

As soon as she was out of sight, Leila leaned in, her tone shifting. "By the way, I didn't bring this up in front of Iyana, but did anything like a carriage accident happen with you two? Like, was there ever a moment her life was at risk because of it?"

The memory washed over Vyan like a cold wave, making his heart stutter. He looked at Leila, trying to gauge what she knew.

Leila caught his reaction and nodded, sighing. "So, that's a definitive yes," she said softly. "In the novel, there was an accident, too. Back then, even though Iya was developing feelings for Easton, there was still that soft corner in her heart for you, ya know, because of your past together. She didn't know you had turned evil yet." She gave a small, hollow laugh.

"So when the accident happened, her first instinct was to protect you. And she did, at the cost of her own safety."

Vyan clenched his fists, getting a sense of where Leila was going with this.

"In the novel, the specifics were never revealed. It was just there to force Easton into realizing how much Iya meant to him, to make him imagine what life would be like if he had lost her. But, toward the end," Leila's gaze bore into him, "it was finally revealed that you were the one who saved her life."

Vyan's head dipped, his eyes avoiding hers. He didn't want a single soul to know about it, because he knew how his close ones might react to it—especially Iyana.

However, as he felt the weight of Leila's scrutiny, he admitted, "So, you know, huh?"

Leila nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know that you sacrificed ten years of your life for her."

"Don't say that out loud." Vyan shrugged, forcing nonchalance into his voice. "It's not that big a deal—"

"You really think it's not a big deal?"

The fragile, broken voice sliced through the air, and Vyan's blood ran cold. His head snapped up to see Iyana standing just a few feet away, her face pale, her lipstick still faintly smudged—the telltale sign that she had never reached the restroom. She had heard everything.

"Iyana… I—" He stumbled to his feet, but the words refused to come.

"Please… don't. Don't say anything."

For once, he was grateful that she had told him not to speak, because he was utterly lost for words. He hadn't planned on her knowing; he had no explanation prepared, no rehearsed lines. He had only done what he felt he needed to at the time. How could he make her understand?

But as Iyana turned away, he knew he had to move. He couldn't just let her go.

"Count Darren is coming to pick you up, right?" he called to Leila, barely waiting for her nod before he bolted after Iyana.

Out in the night, Vyan scanned the dimly lit street, heart pounding as he searched for that flash of platinum-blonde hair. When he finally saw her retreating figure, he took off in her direction, calling out, "Iyana, wait!"

She didn't stop. She didn't even slow down, not until he grabbed her wrist. She yanked it back without so much as a glance, and just then, the sky growled with thunder. The rain began to fall, a slow drizzle that hinted at more to come.

Around them, people scattered, seeking shelter from the downpour. But Vyan stayed, eyes fixed on Iyana as the rain picked up.

"Iyana, please, just listen," he begged, though he still had no idea what he would say. He had to try, had to do something.

"I don't want to hear anything, Vyan. Not right now," she replied, her voice stripped of emotion, her fists clenched tight enough to turn her knuckles white.

"Alright, we don't have to talk now. But let's get out of the rain. It's only going to get worse," he reasoned, reaching for her hand again.

"If you want to go, then go. I want to get soaked in the rain. Is that clear?" Her tone was icy, and she crossed her arms, making it clear that his touch was unwelcome.

"Then I will stay with you," he said, mirroring her posture. He stood his ground, watching as she turned and walked away down the rain-slicked street.

Vyan matched her pace, walking by her side and letting himself get drenched. He hated getting rained on, but it was clearly established that he would even sacrifice his life for her, so… this was no big deal.

The big deal was staying quiet.

For the first time, the silence between them felt suffocating and he felt the irresistible need to open his mouth, talk, get some words out, or anything, just noise—any noise but the drumming sound of the rain.

He kept glancing at her face like an anxious, impulsive drug addict, but she kept her gaze lowered to the concrete, walking absent-mindedly, not once looking his way. He saw the way her wet hair stuck to her neck and shoulders, and before he knew it, his hand reached over to swipe the hair off her neck.

That was the first time she raised her head and met his gaze ever since she left the restaurant, and at that moment, he realized that there was another reason that she kept looking down—it was because she was crying. Her tears were mingled with the rainwater and she didn't want him to see them.

"Iyana, I know you told me you don't want to hear anything right now." The words started rolling out of his tongue on its own, his brain already short-circuited. "But trust me, it really is no big deal. Ten years is nothing, you know?" He scoffed. "I don't have to live a hundred years or something like that—"

"Who said you were going to live a hundred years?" she asked, her voice serious and low. "You don't know that. You could simply have a lifeline until the age of thirty-one, which would mean that you sacrificed one-third of your life, cutting it off at the age of twenty-one."

"That is not going to happen—"

"Again, you don't know that," she cut him off.

"But what I do know is, you don't have to feel guilty about any of it," he rambled. "I mean, what I did was, you could say, it was not to save your life. I needed to expand my mana, and I chose this option—"

"So, you thought your life was expendable?" The hurt in her voice stabbed him right where it hurt, and the pain turned into unjustified anger. Why couldn't she get that he only did what was natural to him?

"I didn't have any other choice," he argued, irritation creeping into his tone from the pounding rain. "I mean, I did, but the other options were worse than this. I did what I had to do."

"Vyan, I have already told you…" Iyana said, her voice trembling as she clung to a remnant of composure, a thin veil barely masking the pain in her eyes. "In fact, you promised me that you would take care of yourself better—"

"And I am doing my best to keep that promise now. This happened a while back, and you know what? Given the option now, I would still do the same thing, if it's to save your life."

She drew in a shaky breath, the rain mixing with tears she didn't bother to wipe away. "Who told you to prioritize my life over yours?"

"Well, you did it first," he replied, almost bitterly. "If you hadn't tried to shield me during the carriage accident, I wouldn't have needed to go through all this."

"That was instinct, Vyan. I would have done the same for anyone."

"And that's the difference," he replied, his voice cracking, his mask of bravado slipping away. "You would do it for anyone, but I would only do it for you. Why can't you get it? If you were in my shoes, you would have done the same, Iyana."

"Yes, but why did you hide it from me?" she demanded, the rain pounding around them like a relentless drumbeat. "You told me there were no more secrets between us—that there was nothing left hidden. And now, I find out that there was this—this huge, life-altering secret? Why couldn't you just tell me?" .net

"Because I knew this would happen!" he shot back, the frustration boiling over as he clenched his fists. "I knew you would react exactly like this, and look—I wasn't wrong. What good would it have done for you to know? You would only be left feeling guilty and angry, just like now."

"Don't you see what is wrong with that?" Iyana cried, her voice breaking as she took a step back, widening the space between them. "If you keep hiding things from me just because you are afraid of my reaction, then how is this ever supposed to work? How can I trust you, if you decide what I should or shouldn't know?"

"Trust? After everything, that's what you are questioning?" Vyan's words were laced with a bitter laugh. "After all we have been through, you are seriously telling me you don't trust me?"

"Yes, Vyan," she whispered, her voice catching on the syllables. "How can I? You say you have told me everything, that there is nothing more. But here I am, finding out about this—this sacrifice you made for me—and I am supposed to believe there is nothing else?" She shook her head, the disbelief etched into every line of her face. "How can I know? I can't trust you on this.

I don't know what else you are hiding from me. I just… I don't."