A Villainess Should Be Strong

"Mnnh.." Estelle moaned in pain after waking up to a bright ray of sunlight shining down upon her.

She was currently laying down on a soft mattress, covered in a warm blanket within a decently insulated room. Confused, she recalled that her last memory before falling down was that she shocked herself to the point of knocking her out.

Estelle shook her head to regain her focus. In mere seconds, she was able to remember about the ring's fusion with the stone.

Her eyes instantly went to her right hand, where she was still able to see the familiar ring circling her finger.

Sighing in both relief and regret, she got up from the mattress and looked around. Although the room she was in wasn't shabby, it definitely couldn't compare to the likes of her own house or Minerva's room.

She didn't recognize the place, but she felt quite safe.

"Where is this?" Estelle walked up to the windows, wanting to get a firm look at whatever was happening outside.

Before she was

"...You have woken up, I see," Heine intruded, bringing with him a plate of fruits to be given to Estelle.

"Heine! I.. What happened after I dispelled the storm?"

"You basically started convulsing mid air, then you.. lost consciousness and started falling. I think you cast magic on yourself, but ultimately, I caught you before you landed on the ground,"

The screams Estelle made during her struggles weren't heard by Heine because she was so far away and another storm was still present near her. The conflicting sounds blocked Estelle's grieving shrieks.

Only because Heine kept his eyes on Estelle was she able to react fast enough to her fall.

Heine's gaze darkened as he recalled the anxiety he felt when he chased Estelle down.

"Uhh.. so, you saved me, right?" Estelle clarified

"Depends on how you want to look at it. I did catch you, but nothing bad would've happened to you even if you did fall to the ground," After the hectic scene ended, Heine thought about how foolish he was for not thinking about Estelle's capability.

"I'll take that as a yes. Thank you, Heine," Estelle gave a small smile, still a bit dispirited from the leftover pain she faced.

She shuddered when she thought about her being immobilized by the sheer pain.

She hated pain. She really hated pain. If it could be avoided, she would want to dodge all the painful things.

Sadly, she was somehow always met with great injuries in one way or another.

"You can thank me once you survive your father's madness," Heine sat down on a nearby stool and peeled an apple for Estelle, handing it to the girl.

Estelle gratefully took one bite of the sliced apples before tying her hair up.

"Ah, right, where are we right now?"

"A separate room inside the evacuation bunker. Your father.. he," Heine stopped his words after considering the two sides. "You should talk to him yourself,"

"..Un, I will," Estelle knew what she did wrong.

She knew that Alan would certainly be angered.

Even so, if she was once again given the chance to resolve the storm by sacrificing herself, she would do it. It was only being knocked out cold, she would bear it if it meant the storm would be gone.

Estelle began to stretch, hissing when a wave of pain hit her head. She cowered down.

Heine quickly rushed to her aid, supporting her to stand up and get back to the bed.

Estelle grimaced at the sluggish and slowed down effect she was undergoing because of the rampant pain. It felt like someone kicked her head every 5 seconds, stimulating the worsening pain bit by bit.

Only after a few minutes passed did she get freed from the waves of pain. Although slight tinges still remained, Estelle could now gain enough reason and immunity to cast a pain relief and relaxation magic to help her recover.

This demonstrated the severity of Estelle's condition.

"..Are you okay?" Heine asked.

"I'm alright," Estelle insisted on proceeding with her actions.

She first wanted to meet with Alan and apologize.

Heine didn't obstruct her, but he closely followed her steps to make sure everything was alright.

Estelle, guided by Heine, travelled through the bunker anonymously, where she was seen by a good number of civilians who didn't suspect her appearance at all.

She saw the people that were saddened and in anguish over the recent events and instantly felt gratified.

These tears, these weeps, these screams of horror were ones that wouldn't be there anymore in the near future since she had taken care of one of the storms.

However, when she met Alan, the elder's look stunned her.

Alan wasn't angry. Instead of a deathly glare that she had been anticipating for, Alan was colder than ever.

"What did I tell you?" Alan's stern look fell upon her. Disappointment could be seen in his eyes.

Even if he couldn't perfectly restrain the child, he at least wanted her to attend to her safety. Estelle did not fear her death that much because of her logic that there would always be an eventual doom that followed her.

Estelle couldn't face her father's gaze. She was indeed to confident in her ability to save everything by herself. She hadn't thought very deeply about her plans, and ended up collapsing one more time.

Placing herself in Alan's shoes, she was able to understand how difficult and chaotic his heart would be whenever she came back tired and battered.

Ever since Estelle gained her emotions back, she was able to perceive others' thoughts much better. She was already an expert in doing so when she was Reina, but now, aided with her own understanding and firsthand experience with those emotions, she was able to digest other people's thoughts perfectly.

Alan's gestures, his tone, and his facial expression. It pained Estelle to see him like that.

"Father, I'm-" Estelle tried to justify her cause, but it only worsened the situation.

"What did I tell you?" Cutting off Estelle's words, Alan raised his volume. His voice was low and raspy as Estelle's beloved cold, but doting father persona was no longer there.

Instead, it was replaced with a detached man.

"Every time you come back, you're in a state where you're knocking on death's door. Irregular occurrences. Your indifference towards the matter. Have you ever thought about explaining whatever the hell you're doing to us?" Alan said without stopping. "Since you want to be so secretive and careless all the time, then so be it. Go," Alan no longer looked at Estelle and went back to his important documents he still had to check.

"Father.." Estelle's mouth open and closed a few times, but she still couldn't find a suitable comeback to her father's words.

Seeing that the man truly did not plan to interact with her any longer, Estelle left the room, sporting an apologetic look.

"How did it go?" Outside of the room, Minerva was there. The woman had chased her after she finished taking care of things in the manor, but by the time she got there, Estelle was already falling down from her position.

"Bad. Father won't talk to me anymore,"

"Well, that is quite understandable," Minerva nodded, which garnered her a glare from Estelle.

Estelle sighed in distress.

"The storm is still up, right? The other one,"

"Yes.. don't tell me? Are you still going to attempt it?" Minerva raised a brow.

"I'm going to try it one more time, but this time I will use a different method," Estelle tapped the cursed ring a few times, stroking it and having mixed thoughts about it.

On one side, she obliterated the storm in an instant thanks to the ring. As a result, she also had to suffer the brunt of it and got into bad terms with Alan.

It could be said that she traded the storm with herself, wagering her own health as the payment for eliminating the storm.

However, Estelle was doubtful.

Would it really be this rough? Was there not another way?

Estelle remembered that there was still another storm brewing in the city and contemplated. She reviewed her experience with using the ring.

When she absorbed the storm's stone, it was more like the ring's influence taking over her. It led her to the stone to the point of creating a force of attraction.

The situation was out of her control.

A thought sprouted inside her head.

What if she tried to manage the plan by herself? Not going along with the ring's wishes and just taking her own sweet thoughts?

She wanted to become the ring's owner. The energy at that time, her mana run rampant as she struggled to contain the stone's reckless thrashing.

She wanted to gain control. Make the ring operate by her will and not endanger her like before.

With that resolution, she also had another bizarre thought. Since even after the storm has been pulverized, she only lost consciousness and suffered from a migraine the following morning, wouldn't it be fine if she only had to take care of the smaller entity?

That was her guarantee.

With that same train of thoughts, Estelle once again packed herself up and set her destination to the other storm.

From the side, Minerva was repeatedly trying to convince her to rest, but Estelle did not listen.

Perhaps this was what caused Alan to finally lose it.

The mentality and tendency of always sending herself to danger without a proper, fully logical reason.

It was a world of Fantasy and Magic.

To Estelle, who had lived a world completely different to the one she was in right now, the world's concept was still quite funny even after living inside it for years.

She never did feel like she belonged there.

That was part of the reason why she was so daring, and why she repeatedly challenged herself.