Struggling as a Villain

The moment Lilia noticed her master being taken away by none other than one of the finest and oldest workers, she knew she had to tread carefully.

She was weaker than Albert and she knew that, that's why she didn't resort to confrontation when she didn't have any support. Not only that would result in futility, Albert might as well kill her—the sole person who knows his whereabouts.

Lilia didn't care about her life, however, if she made any rash decisions, her master might get into a dangerous position.

She wordlessly followed the butler rather than informing anyone since that would have been foolishness.

The place where the traitor brought her young master was a long closed mill in the eastern side of the city. This side was mostly allotted for the people who earn enough to afford three times of food. The houses here are built by the administration that's why the residences aren't that well developed. Naturally, in the less developed areas, there weren't many security guards surveilling as well.

'The perfect side of the town to commit the crime.' Albert had kept Richard inside a sac and draped him over his shoulder.

Lilia was frustrated at how he was treating her young master but she had enough perseverance to not just suddenly reveal her presence.

Finally, just as she expected, the butler came to a halt before the abandoned mill which had been empty for the past ten years. It was said that whoever tried running a business in the building, always ended up losing everything. That's why, this building was infamous for being cursed.

Lilia was hiding behind a house and keeping an eye on him.

"----!!!"

Suddenly Albert turned to look in the same direction where she was hiding—panicking her as she barely hid herself from his gaze.

Her heart throbbed painfully as sweat trickled down her head. She waited for a moment before slowly changing the sides to peek at him once again—only to find there was no one standing there anymore.

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"Huh?" Lilia got out of her hiding and looked around to find where he could have gone. She used Detection to search for them but nothing came under the range of her perception.

A frown marred her face as she decided to look inside the building for once...however, after she entered a sudden nauseous feeling struck her and she fell to her knees.

"Ugh..." Her heart rapidly paced up and her ether seemed to have grown weaker. Her eyes trembled and her vision became blurry.

'What...is...this...' Under the constant assault of the strange sensation, she wasn't able to withhold her consciousness. And soon, the girl fainted.

**********

"Ah!" The next time her eyes parted, she found herself chained in a cell.

*Shrinch*

She moved the chain and found her hands were cuffed and so were her ankles. The ball with which the chains were attached seemed to be more than a hundred kilograms since she couldn't lift it without ether. Utilising magic was not preferable under these circumstances at all.

'Ether Inhibitor?' She had heard that some researcher had discovered a way of prohibiting ether from being conjured in a specific area. However, she didn't know Albert would get his hands on it.

There was a keyhole in the cuffs which brought a soft smirk on her lips. Without wasting time, she rolled her tongue back and a hair clip flung out and landed on her hand.

Holding her breath, she inserted the clip into the lock of the cuffs.

Her hands worked quickly and precisely, a skill honed through years of necessity. The hair clip clicked and twisted within the mechanism, her brow furrowing in concentration. The seconds felt like hours, but she persisted, her determination unwavering.

Finally, with a soft click, the lock yielded.

She held the cuffs in her hand and softly placed them on the ground. Doing some light movements of her wrist she quickly freed her legs as well before getting up.

Regaining her liberty, the first thing she did was to get rid of her sandals to not make any sound.

There was a lock on the cell door which she couldn't reach with her hands. She didn't try much and decided to pass through the bars.

The cell bars were around twenty centimetres apart and she had a moderate build with average shoulder length. Normally, it would have been almost impossible to pass through these bars however, she wasn't just any random girl.

First, Lilia dislocated her shoulders, biting down on a piece of fabric to stifle her grunt of pain. The agony was intense, but she focused on the goal. Her arms now hung at unnatural angles, giving her body the ability to compress more than usual.

Turning sideways, she started with her head, slowly inching it through the bars. The metal pressed hard against her skull, but she kept pushing, willing herself to remain calm. Her shoulders, now dislocated, followed with excruciating slowness. Each movement sent waves of pain through her, but she pushed on, her determination unwavering.

Her chest was the hardest part. She exhaled deeply, trying to make herself as thin as possible. With painstaking effort, she managed to slide her torso through, the bars scraping against her skin. She winced as they pressed against her ribs, but continued to wiggle and twist her way forward.

Finally, her hips and legs slipped through with a bit more ease and she was finally out of the cell.

"Fuuu...." Exhaling an audible breath she moved her arm and hit her shoulder hard enough to pop it back into action.

She rotated her arm for a bit to see if it was okay—when suddenly her body turned cold and her eyes widened in shock.

"Well well, that was some flexibility you showed there, little girl."

Her steps faltered upon finding the Butler standing there with a malicious grin on his face.

She couldn't discern how he sensed her escape. She didn't make any noise and never tried to use Ether. Then how...

"Ah...!" She suddenly realised. The cuffs were the artefact that alerted the butler!

"That's right Princess, you guessed it right. Everything inside here is under my surveillance." A thin smirk extended his disgusting mouth as the butler stepped forward.

Lilia's expression turned frosty as she got into a stance. She knew, even with her magic, she couldn't defeat him. However, she couldn't just surrender. Her master's life was on line.

She had to-

"Huh?" Suddenly Lilia frowned and turned towards the lobby from where Albert arrived.

Albert also frowned upon hearing the creaking sound arriving from behind.

He cautiously turned to look at his behind and his eyes parted wide to the point his glasses came off.

*Screch*

The previously dark lobby was slowly getting illuminated. The rays of live flame extended its wings further and the figure of a person came into view.

With his whole body enveloped in the blaze, he slowly advanced. Nothing was visible beneath the layers of flames....except for that.

That malicious smile which Richard wore despite his whole body in the embrace of roaring flames.

"Y-Young master..." Lilia's eyes moistened as she couldn't believe what her eyes were gazing at.

On the other side, Albert staggered on his feet and began to back off...only to crash against someone and jump on his feet to look at the person.

And the moment his eyes landed on the person, his shock amplified,

"M-M-My lady...."

*********

A/N:- Oh welp...double hell.

Drop some PS. I got a contract, hehe~