Too Lazy to be a Villainess novel Chapter 402

Chapter 402: The One Who Choose the Storm

[Haldor’s POV—Toward the Imperial Palace]

The wind cut against my face as my horse thundered down the road, but it wasn’t the cold that made my chest ache.

It was my heart.

It beat too fast and too hard. As if something unseen were gripping it and twisting.

Not fear, not exhaustion.

A warning.

Something is wrong, very very wrong. I pressed my hand against my chest, breath uneven.

"...I don’t feel well," I muttered.

Grand Duke Osric rode beside me, his eyes sharp. "What do you mean?"

"I don’t know," I said, tightening my grip on the reins. "It feels like something has happened. Like—" My voice faltered. "Like Lavinia is in danger."

"Maybe you’re thinking too much, your highness," he said.

I sighed, "I wish...but my instinct won’t listen."

Osric’s expression darkened. "Then we do not slow down."

He raised his voice. "Ride faster."

I struck my heels into my horse’s sides. The Imperial Palace gates appeared ahead, torches blazing against the night sky.

And then—Chaos.

A figure came running out of the main corridor, "STEP AWAY—MOVE ASIDE—!!!"

Ravick’s voice tore through the air like steel. Knights scattered. Servants screamed. The gates slammed shut behind him.

Osric and I exchanged a single glance. Something was terribly wrong. We rode straight through the courtyard, leaping from our horses before they fully stopped.

"What is happening?!" I shouted.

Before Ravick could answer—GROOOOOWWWWWLLLLLLLL!!!!!!

The sound was not human; it shook the stone beneath our feet.

Fire exploded into the air.

Marshi stood in the center of the courtyard, his spiritual energy erupting like a storm—flames spiraling around his massive body, eyes blazing with fury. The ground cracked beneath his claws. Knights froze in terror.

He was not attacking; he was raging.

I ran forward. "Marshi—!"

Ravick threw out his arm to stop me. "Don’t go closer, your highness; you might get hurt!"

My heart slammed against my ribs. "Ravick, tell me what is happening! Why is Marshi growling like this? He never growled like this, not even during the war."

His face was pale and his jaw tight; he looked straight at me.

"Your Highness..." he said slowly, every word heavy as iron, "Her Highness Lavinia and Lady Eleania were ambushed on the eastern road."

My blood turned to ice.

"...Ambushed?" Osric whispered.

Ravick nodded once.

"...and kidnapped."

The world tilted, for a moment, I could not hear the flames. Could not hear the shouts. Could not hear Marshi’s roar.

Only one name rang in my head.

Lavinia.

My knees nearly buckled.

"No," I said hoarsely. "That’s impossible. She wouldn’t fall to an ambush—she—"

"They used foreign magic," Ravick continued. "Green and silver spells. Teleportation. Our knights fought, but—"

He clenched his fist, "They vanished into the thin air."

Osric drew his sword halfway without realizing it. "Who did this?"

Ravick’s eyes burned.

"Astreon magic and Talvan’s remaining allies—we don’t know who it is, but whoever that person is he knew we were going to hunt the Talvans and remaining nobles."

My hands trembled.

They took her; they took my wife. The air around Marshi flared higher, sensing my rage. "How dare they touch her...whoever this person is...I will execute that person by myself."

I turned slowly, fury swallowing the fear.

"Where?" I asked.

Ravick met my gaze. "We don’t know yet."

My jaw clenched until it hurt, "Then we find them."

The palace bells began to ring—warning bells. Soldiers flooded the courtyard. Magic sigils ignited in the sky.

War had entered the palace, and for the first time since becoming Crown Prince, I did not feel like a knight.

I felt like a man who had lost his world.

"Prepare the knights," I said, my voice no longer shaking. "Wake the Black Guard. Call Rey. Lock the city."

Osric stepped beside me, his jaw set. "We bring them back," he said firmly. "The Empress and the Grand Duchess."

I looked at the burning courtyard, at Marshi’s raging flames, at the panicked servants and scrambling soldiers, and inside my chest, something hardened into iron.

They wanted to break Eloria by taking Lavinia; they had just taught me how to become a monster.

Ravick turned sharply and rushed toward the inner halls, "I must inform His Majesty at once!"

The warning bells roared across the palace. Knights poured into the courtyard like a black tide, armor clashing, swords ringing free of their sheaths.

I stepped forward, my voice rising above the chaos.

"Spread across the entire city!" I roared. "Search every street, every alley, every house—if you must, dig into the ground itself!"

My hand slammed against my chest plate.

"Do not forget—your Crown Princess and your future Empress have been taken!"

My eyes burned.

"Anyone who stands in your way—cut them down. Drag the traitors back to me barefoot and crawling!"

"YES, YOUR HIGHNESS!!!" The knights roared as one.

They scattered like wolves unleashed.

Osric turned. "We should move—"

He stopped suddenly. "What are you looking for?"

My gaze swept the courtyard.

Something was wrong, no...someone was missing.

"...Zerith," I said slowly. "Where is Clonal Zerith?"

Then my voice dropped into something far more dangerous: "But I will make sure he pays for it."

"I will hunt him myself," I continued. "And when I find him—"

"I will execute him with my own hands."

***

[Emperor Cassius’s POV—Cassius Chamber—Same Time]

"So..." I murmured, eyes fixed on the courtyard below, "she was right. Someone among us was a spy."

Of course she was, because this was not chaos. This was her design, and I had known from the beginning that tonight would end in blood.

***

[Before the Attack on Talvan’s Estate—Emperor’s Office—Cassius POV] 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"...You’re saying Astreon has its eyes on Marshi?" I asked slowly.

Lavinia stood before me, calm as still water.

"Yes, Papa," she replied. "General Luke uncovered the truth. Astreon’s High Priest believes every divine being belongs to them. And Marshi is not just a beast... he is a contracted spirit."

"But Marshi has lived with us for years," I said. "Why now?"

"Because they were waiting," she answered. "Waiting for the right moment, and now they found one."

Her crimson eyes lifted to mine. "There is someone from Astreon living among us, Papa. Someone pretending to be one of us."

My fingers tightened. "Is it Luke? Is it Haldor—"

"No," she cut in immediately. "Never them. I trust Haldor with my life. And General Luke cannot betray Eloria—there is a collar of magic around his neck. One wrong move and he dies."

She paused.

"It is someone else. Someone close. Someone hidden."

My chest grew heavy. "And you think this person will reveal himself tonight?"

"Yes," she said softly. "Because if I die... Marshi weakens. Our contract breaks. And Astreon gains what it wants."

I stared at her, "...Do not tell me you intend to use yourself as bait."

She smiled, a terrifying, gentle smile. "I will be safe, Papa. I will wear Grandfather’s pendant."

Then she stepped closer and took my hands.

"And...I know you will come for me before anything happens."

For the first time in years...I felt fear, not for the empire.

For my child.

***

[Present—Cassius Chamber]

I opened my eyes; the past dissolved. Rey was still by the window; the palace shook with movement and alarm bells.

"She chose to walk into the storm," Rey said quietly. "To expose the traitor."

I lifted my sword from its stand, "She chose to become the storm."

My voice hardened.

"My daughter knew she would be taken. She allowed it."

Rey’s eyes narrowed. "Then this was not an ambush."

"No," I said. "This was a hunt."

I stepped toward the door.

"Let’s go, my daughter is waiting," I said coldly. "And the empire will remember what happens when someone dares to touch a Devereux."

The corridors roared with footsteps.

War had entered the palace.

Not with banners.

But with shadows.

And somewhere in the dark—my daughter waited, and every traitor in Eloria had just signed their own execution order.