Struggling as a Villain

"How do you feel now?" It was early in the morning when Elizabeth and Nora could be seen breathing a little roughly as they sat in the garden.

The sweat on their foreheads and the flushed faces explained that they had done something physically taxing.

Elizabeth stared at her hand, feeling the rush of Aembr nourishing each cell of her body. The vividness of this energy baffled her. The aggressiveness of Aembr in comparison to Ether made her realize why Ambrobates always remains so charged up.

She received her powers a few hours ago, yet she already wants to explore them; venture into the limitations of this newfound strength, and explore her new origin.

"It feels warm....and empowering," Elizabeth muttered in a daze, "...almost like it's asking me to use my magic." Discover more content at empire

Jasmine hummed, "That's common for newborns. And it seems since you once were Apostles—the one who contains the purest form of Ether—the effect of Aembr is rather stronger on you two."

The elven princess tilted her head in confusion, "But Emily didn't show any of these symptoms." She had been close to the blond girl ever since she decided to go against the Goddess and reveal things about Eleanor to Ethan.

As such, Nora knew that Emily's reaction to these powers was different from hers.

Jasmine explained without contemplating it much, "Because she is a blood bond of my master, which means her affection towards him elevated so much that she never realized her changes."

Elizabeth made a disgusted look, "Thankfully, I didn't become one of his..."

Jasmine narrowed her eyes, "Speak respectfully. If not for him, you would have been abandoned by both sides and would have been left to rot in a corner."

Elizabeth showed a little nervousness but refused to apologize. Just the very thought of being affectionate to any other man than Ethan disgusted her.

Jasmine spoke again, "Now, for a few days, you need to maintain your control over your Aembr. The difference between beings like us and the rest of the Ambrobates which people generally hunt, is the control over their will."

"If you release your control over your restraints and allow your powers to dominate your intentions, then you will lose your personality and become a mindless creature—someone whom I have to eventually hunt down."

Nora shivered at the possibility while Elizabeth only frowned.

She could feel the urge to utilize her newfound powers, to liberate herself and see how far she could go.

However, having the experience of two lifetimes allowed her to put chains on her desires.

"How long will it take for us to gain a grip on our powers?"

Jasmine thought for a moment, seemingly a bit unsure given it was the first time for her to see apostles turning into Bates.

After a whole minute, she uttered, "Based on my calculations, at least fifteen days, you need to refrain from excessive use of Aembr. Remember, once you lose your sanity, even the master cannot bring you back."

Elizabeth nodded, this time seriously.

Her sole intention to turn into an Ambrobate was to support Ethan and kill Eleanor. And that goal was far stronger than her desire to utilize her strength.

"Now, for today-"

"Ah!" Suddenly Nora got up from her seat, interrupting Jasmine as the violet-eyed woman turned towards the girl, and asked,

"What happened?" She could see her clutching her chest...or more like, the pendant hanging down her neck.

"It's...the world tree..." Nora slowly muttered, "She...is calling me..."

Jasmine frowned, "What do you mean?" Although she was aware that the World Tree existed and was rooted somewhere in the elven territory, her knowledge regarding the World Tree's relation with the elves was limited.

Nora seemed anxious as she muttered, "It's my father...calling me through the world tree..." She revealed the small pine cone-shaped pendant hanging down her neck before adding,

"It's the common way of communicating back in our town....he is calling me back..."

Elizabeth frowned, "So suddenly? It can be a coincidence that you are being called just after turning into a Bate, right?"

Nora glanced at her friend, but even as a possibility, she could not nod in agreement.

"Elves have the same belief as the Apostles, right?" Jasmine asked.

Elizabeth heaved a sigh seeing Nora shivering and not looking in the shape to answer her. So she took the role to explain it to her,

"Elves, dwarves, and the other beings who survive on ether had a neutral stance during the war. It seems the Goddesses cannot influence them."

"However, do they antagonize Bates?" The raven-haired asked.

Elizabeth nodded, "Bates has caused them great trouble in the past, so yes...they hate Ambrobates."

Jasmine raised her brows before asking, "So what are you going to do now? Truth be told, I am not told to protect you, especially if you decide to return to that place which is filled with Ambrobate haters."

Nora took a strong gulp; if she returned now, there was a high chance for her father to lock her up and try to purify her through the fruit of the World Tree. Although there hasn't been any success in the past, he would rather have a dead daughter over an impure one.

"Are you seriously pondering over this?" The irritable voice of Elizabeth interrupted the elven princess' thoughts, making her flinch.

Elizabeth looked annoyed as she asked, "After coming this far and after going through so many things you are just going to give up? What kind of loser are you?"

Nora lowered her eyes and slowly muttered, "I have never disobeyed my father..."

"So are you willing to let Ethan meet the same fate just because you cannot go against your father and your family?"

Nora's eyes widened as, without hesitation, she shook her head in denial, "Never!"

"Then why are you contemplating over it? Just throw away the pendant and continue living as you are."

Nora's gaze traveled towards the glowing pendant before she heaved an audible breath and pulled it away.

Clutching the pendant in her hand she muttered, 'There is nothing more important to me than Ethan's safety. Sorry, Father.'

And with that, she crushed the pendant without another thought.

As the radiance slowly faded, Nora took a deep breath before turning towards Jasmine, "So...what should we do now?"

Jasmine had a smile on her face as she muttered, "For now, we need to move from here, considering your father might have located your whereabouts and sent people to fetch you."

Both of them had no problem with that.

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"You know how dangerous it is to me to meet you like this, right?" Ruby couldn't help but complain as she spotted the silver head standing near the tree.

It was the second time he had called her like this to exchange information. However, the problem was that Ethan always remained at the center of everyone's attention. So meeting outside the mansion like this was quite risky.

"Tell me, what did you learn at the conference?" Ethan knows that an emergency meeting was called today and every apostle was gathered in the rooms except for Ethan. He wasn't invited.

Ruby heaved a sigh, "I am sure if you ask Eleanor nicely, she would disclose the facts which even I don't know."

Ethan's expression turned sour as he muttered, "I can't even pretend to be gentle with that woman. Forget about that and tell me, what was discussed?"

Ruby first looked around to ensure that there was no one around before she relayed, "It seems they are preparing for a massive attack. Eleanor had told all the apostles to gather around two hundred elite soldiers."

Ethan frowned, "Do they have so many soldiers?"

Ruby nodded, "There are a few apostles who are directly related to noble families and are leaders of mercenary groups. Not to talk about, they have the full support of the church. Arranging two hundred people is nothing for them."

Ethan's brows were risen, "Damn.." a moment of silence passed by before the silver head asked again,

"Why are they gathering so suddenly?" This can't be another ambush on Richard, right? Or was it?

Ruby shook her head slightly, "I don't know...it wasn't disclosed why are we preparing. However, since it was Eleanor, no one dared to ask her either."

Ethan frowned; this was unsettling.

If he could know Eleanor's next move then he would alert Richard. He doesn't want another incident like what happened back in the academy, to happen again. That was totally unacceptable.

However, since Ruby doesn't know Ethan has no other source to know about it...

....unless he try to ask Eleanor.

'Do I really have to?' Resigning to his fate, Ethan decided to approach her tonight.

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A/n:- Anything for the bro. I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. The whole thing about Blood bond/rituals would be clearly explained in a few chapters.

Thanks for reading. Drop a comment/review.