Ascension Of The Villain

"Yes! That girl Iyana!" Fred exclaimed, frustration clear on his face. "She caught me lurking around the estate while watching you from afar. One would think she would let me off the hook with a warning or not even care in the place. But do you know what she did? She pointed a sword to my neck!"

Yes, that sounds like her, Vyan briefly thought.

"She said she would gouge my eyes out if I look at you like that again. How crazy!" Fred vented. "As I tried to argue, my hatred for you must have spilled a little, and… she…" His jaw trembled with anger. "She didn't hesitate to slash me with her sword. What woman does that for a knight she has known for what, two months?!"

Hearing the timeline made Vyan's mind drift back to a particular memory around that time, a couple of months after he had sworn his loyalty to Iyana.

The memory was vivid, the details etched into his mind. It was such an eccentric day, after all.

He found her near the concrete counter with open taps, her hands carefully rinsing a bloodied sword. The water ran red, swirling down the drain, but her expression was as calm as ever.

"What?" Iyana spoke up, laced with a teasing edge. "Are you thinking I murdered someone and am currently washing away the proof right now?"

A normal person might have been alarmed, might have questioned her or even backed away in fear. But Vyan wasn't a normal person, not when it came to his master.

Without missing a beat, he replied, his tone absolutely serious, "If that's the case, do you want me to stand guard and make sure there is no one else coming?"

She laughed out loud, the light and almost musical. Her head tipped forward, looking at him with an amused sparkle in her eyes. "It doesn't matter to you if I go around murdering people?"

"No, my lady," Vyan said, his arms tucked behind him, "All that matters to me is that you are my master and your wish is my command. Nothing else matters."

Iyana grinned mischievously as she stepped closer. "In that case, thank goodness that I didn't silence you the moment you walked in here," she playfully flicked his forehead lightly, "all because you are so cute and I like watching you."

He stood there, stunned, not by fear but by the strange warmth her words had stirred in his unfeeling heart.

She was about to leave with her sword when she paused a few feet away from him. Then, she looked back at him, informing, "Oh, and don't go out alone, even on holidays. It's not safe."

"Why?" Vyan frowned slightly, puzzled by her sudden concern.

"I just told you." She smirked."You are cute. Very cute. Someone might kidnap you. So be careful," she said, her tone light, but there was a seriousness beneath it that he couldn't quite grasp.

Rather, he seriously murmured, "I wonder if My Lady has a strange conception of cuteness. I don't look cute from any angle, after all."

At that time, he had no idea why she restricted him from going out alone, but now, the truth hit him like a punch to the gut. The blood on her sword that day—it had been Fred's. But she covered it up with a casual joke, all to keep him from worrying. The realization left him breathless, a new array of feelings blooming for Iyana.

Seriously, how did he not figure out that Iyana was protecting him the entire time? He couldn't believe he sometimes even felt a little upset with her for getting him restricted within the four walls of the estate. He used to think she was too possessive. Err, she actually was, but like, not this restrictive at least.

Fred's voice cut through Vyan's thoughts like a blade as he said, "After that day, I had to maintain my distance from you, otherwise, if that girl found me… ugh. So irritating!" he roared. "As a result, I had to find another way to get my frustration out."

"What are you talking about, Fred?" Vyan asked calmly, a sense of dread creeping up.

Fred chuckled darkly. "I had to target someone, so I thought, why not punish the man who first snatched you away from me?"

Vyan's heart pounded in his chest, his stomach churning. "You… you killed Father Klaus," he whispered in disbelief.

Fred sneered, his lips curling into a cruel smile. "Yes, that's right. And after that, I took on the charge for Starlight Orphanage."

Vyan's breath caught in his throat. He barely controlled his steady voice as he asked, "What… what did you do to those children?"

"Obviously, I couldn't just run it like that Klaus did. No, I had to find a way to make it profitable. I had to survive, after all." Fred's grin widened, his eyes glinting with sadistic glee. "Naturally, I turned those little lambs into my little moneymakers. Sold them off as slaves, sent them out to beg in the streets. I used them however I saw fit."

"All that donation money… you used none of them? And do they even go to the academy like you said earlier?"

"What do you think?" Fred chortled cruelly.

"Why? Why would you torture all those kids like that?" Vyan was utterly baffled. "Do you even have a legitimate reason or are you just a sick bastard who takes pleasure in torturing kids?"

"How dare you ask me that question after what you did?" Fred's demeanor shifted to his aggressive, psychotic one. "Just how dare you?"

Before Vyan could react, Fred lunged, his hands wrapping around Vyan's neck like a vice, squeezing the air from his lungs. Panic surged through Vyan, but he buried it deep, refusing to let it surface. He could save himself easily when the time called for it. For now, he couldn't afford to lose control.

Discovering this madman's cause of havoc was of utmost importance to Vyan. He needed to know what exactly he did as a child to have deserved to go through such a nightmarish hell for the half of his life.

Wasn't losing his entire family enough already? What did he do to deserve everything else? What had to be the big reason for this man to dedicate his entire life to ruining Vyan's?

"Don't you know it's all because of you?! All of it is your fucking fault!" Fred shouted, his voice filled with undisguised hatred and pure wrath. "It's your own karma! Everything that I did to you was just paying you back for what you did to me."

Vyan clawed for breath, his vision blurring at the edges, but he forced the words out, "Wh-what… what did I… do?"

Fred's face twisted with rage, his voice rising to a fever pitch. "You dare ask that again?! You, who took everything from me?!"

"I… seriously have… no idea."

Fred's eyes filled with tears of rage, his voice breaking as he spat out the words. "You killed my son!"