Ascension Of The Villain

Vyan blinked, trying to make sense of Fred's words. "Come again?"

Fred stood up and paced in front of him, wild-eyed and breathing heavily, his hands shaking with barely restrained fury. "It was you!" he hissed, pointing an accusing finger at Vyan. "You killed my baby boy!"

Vyan stared at Fred, utterly baffled. "Wait, wait, what?" he stammered, trying to wrap his mind around the accusation. "I did that? How could I— I was a kid!"

"Oh, you are now acting all innocent, huh?" Fred scoffed, itching his hand. "You were bothering my Arthur in the playground as always! You were teasing and name-calling him, and then, you… you," his breaths got shallow, "You pushed him down! His head hit the stone—and then you ran, like the coward you are!"

Vyan gaped at the man, jaw-dropped. There was so much he wanted to say in defense of that, but... seriously, what the fuck?

Even if his childhood memories didn't start coming back, this accusation still wouldn't have made sense.

"I am sorry for what happened to your son, but," he took a pause, thinking of a way to say it without sounding completely insensitive, "back when I lived with my family, I never went out of the manor to play."

"Manor?" Fred spat the word like it was poison. "Don't try to act rich with me, boy. You were the son of a milkman!"

Vyan was left speechless. He opened his mouth to shout, where the heck did you get that ridiculous idea?! and then closed his mouth like a goldfish.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep, calming breath, consoling himself with the fact that he deserved an award for still staying patient.

"My father, you see, wasn't a milkman. In fact, he was the Grand Duke. You know the one who was accused of treason? The Grand Duke of Ashstone? I am his youngest son—Vyan Blake Ashstone."

"Oh, please." Fred rolled his eyes. "Feed that lie to someone else. You are that milkman's kid who murdered my son, I know it. I may not have known your name back then, but I sure as heck remember your pretty face—those golden amber eyes."

Vyan's eyebrows shot up. Just in case, he still had any doubts about his innocence, this just killed them all. "Golden amber eyes?" he repeated, his tone exasperated. "That is not even my real eye color."

Fred leaned in closer, scrutinizing Vyan's face with an irritated glare. "Oh, shut it. I know these red ones are fake. You can fool the entire nation with that Grand Duke act of yours, but you can't fool me."

"Believe it or not, these red eyes are the real deal," Vyan sighed. "My father casted a spell on me to hide my identity back then."

"What a noble story, tch. Do you think I will buy that? How stupid do you think I am?" Fred arched an eyebrow, mocking.

Well, plenty stupid, Vyan thought, considering you could plot all this against a child but couldn't be bothered to find out his actual roots.

"You were in the carriage where my son's murderer was supposed to be inside," Fred further explained. "So don't make up stupid lies. Saying you are the Grand Duke's real son, what a joke," he laughed in derision. "You know what? Perhaps, I should personally gouge your eyes out and prove that I am right."

Vyan could hardly believe the absurdity of the situation. He was tied up in his old torture place, being accused of a crime he didn't commit, by a man who thought he was a milkman's son with fake eyes. And now this lunatic wanted to personally inspect his eyeballs?

Just fantastic. As if ruining half of Vyan's life based on a misunderstanding hadn't been enough already.

With a dry chuckle, Vyan quipped, "Okay, let's say that I am faking my position and everything, but you do know that the power I hold is not a lie. If you kill me, you have no idea what's coming for you."

"Oh, I know," Fred smirked, "and that's why I will make sure that the entire nation only sees you as a criminal. They will thank me for ending your life," he laughed, unhinged.

"You can gouge my eyes out and you still won't be able to prove that I am not the Grand Duke's son, because the truth is, I am."

"No, no," Fred shook his head, smiling, "I am not actually going to take out your eyes. I will paint you as a criminal—like the murderer that you are." He pulled out the hammer that had been tucked in his back pocket, then his eyes shifted to Clyde lying on the ground, still unconscious.

Vyan became alerted and asked cautiously, "What are you planning exactly?"

Fred tilted his head to the side, casually tossing and catching the hammer in his hand, with a psychotic grin etched on his face. "Well, it's a simple plan, really. What if the Grand Duke was found in an abandoned house with the dead body of his aide, who is also the son of another noble?

What if it spreads among people that you were planning to overthrow the emperor and your good-hearted aide refused to side with you?"

Vyan simply blinked at the irony of fate. He actually was planning to overthrow the emperor. But obviously, in reality, his 'good-hearted aide' was in support of it.

"Alright. So how are you going to do it?" Vyan asked, almost challenging.

"I have already told some of the imperial guards on my way here that I spotted two strange noble men lurking around this abandoned house. They should be arriving here soon."

"Wow, what a plan," Vyan let out, his tone mock-impressive.

Fred clenched his fists, getting angrier. "Why… Why aren't you getting scared yet?!" He approached Clyde and raised his hammer. "I am about to kill your aide, and you can't do anything about it. Don't you feel helpless? Aren't you at least feeling scared about the consequences?"

"Well, not really," Vyan mumbled innocently as he glanced at the normal handcuffs around his wrist. They were not mana-restraining ones like Clyde's, and Vyan had noticed that from the very beginning; that was the reason he was calm this entire time.

This sad excuse of a human being had no idea about Vyan's magical power.

"You…" That was the last straw of Fred's patience, and with that, he swung the hammer aiming for Clyde's head.

Instantly, Vyan broke free of his handcuffs and was about to hit Fred with a spell when someone else tackled him to the ground, pinning his body against the dirty floor.

Vyan froze, getting surprised for the umpteenth time today, as he uttered in a low, baffled voice, "Prince Easton…"