A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

Chapter 413: The Only Color - Three - III

"Seri, why do you have such a talent when both of your parents are ordinary people?" Ansel asked in return.

Seraphina was stunned for a long time before she finally realized: "So what Ansel means is, Ravenna is like me... Ah! She was always like me, meant to be the protagonist."

Because of the talent, ability, and power that could overturn an era, one is chosen by fate to become the hero of the era.

Ravenna's talent had no conspiracy behind it, just as Seraphina's talent in battle was not bestowed by anyone. It was simply the unique result… of a millennium of repeated births and extinctions, among countless possibilities.

"But Leiden's daughter, Ravenna Ziegler, showed extraordinary talent, so naturally, Eileen placed his hopes on his granddaughter."

"And in this process, he learned from the failure of Leiden's education, no longer forcing learning, focusing on strengthening the emotional bond with Ravenna, as well as the shaping of thoughts and beliefs."

"His granddaughter did not disappoint his expectations, harboring great enthusiasm for that nonsensical ideal, so Eileen chose the most suitable time for his students to kill him."

"...Wait, wait."

Seraphina, utterly bewildered, turned to Ansel, her hand swinging from side to side: "This , so, Ravenna didn't let her grandfather down… why is his suicide... related to this?"

Ansel, propping his cheek with a smile brimming with amusement, said, "If I were to die now, what would you do, my dear Seri?"

"Hey, what are you saying?!"

Seraphina abruptly stood up, leaping into Ansel's arms, angrily covering his mouth: "Don't speak such ominous words!"

Ansel helplessly brushed her hand aside: "I mean hypothetically..."

"Not even hypothetically!"

"...In any case, if such a thing were to happen, what would you do, Seri?"

"I... I..."

Seraphina's tone visibly became frantic: "I would definitely save Ansel, no... I wouldn't let Ansel die! In any case... Ahhh! Anyway, I would certainly beat that guy to death first! No...

I would break his limbs, stuff his arms and legs into his mouth, and then—"

"Besides revenge, what else?" Ansel couldn't help but interrupt Seraphina's fierce words, "If at that time, I had entrusted Seraphina with something?"

"Of course, I would do everything possible to accomplish it," Seraphina replied without hesitation.

"Add one more thing, if that matter itself was something I had always been striving to achieve... That is to say, if at that time I told Seri, no matter what, to defeat fate?"

"Hmph! Then one day, sooner or later, I will devour that so-called damned fate!" Seraphina said, arms crossed and huffing.

Ansel, however, remained silent, simply watching her quietly.

After a while, Seraphina finally came to her senses, her face gradually revealing understanding, then turning into a look of shock.

"So... so," the girl who had just caught on said incredulously, stumbling over her words, "Her grandfather, he wanted to use this method... My God! He's brain must be sick!"

"But it's undeniable, the effect was remarkable."

The young Hydral gently stroked Seraphina's slightly disheveled hair, his gaze still fixed on the scenery outside the window, he whispered, "At that time, Ravenna was not some experienced youth; she was just a six-year-old child."

"In her life at that time, there was only an endless thirst for knowledge and the anticipation for the future described by Eileen."

"And under these circumstances... the grandfather who could bring her these things, just died, died a most miserable death, perhaps before dying, he deliberately left a message, named hope but in reality, a curse."

"You say..."

Ansel rested his chin on Seraphina's shoulder, half-closing his eyes, "What else could remain in Ravenna's life at that time?"

"Nothing but the entrusted beliefs and... the deep-seated hatred."

While the belief in the ideal itself, or the resolve intensified by hatred for the murderer, will all lead Ravenna down the path Eileen hoped to see.

"This is the lesson Eileen learned from Leiden," Ansel tugged at the corner of his mouth, "There's one point I disagree with the recorder of this scroll. Eileen did not become gentle; he wasn't trying to infect Ravenna with tenderness. On the contrary, he felt that Leiden's breakdown and hatred all stemmed from not being decisive enough, not thorough enough, not extreme enough, so..."

The young Hydral shrugged: "He was absolutely decisive, thorough, and extreme with his own granddaughter."

Holding Ansel, Seraphina felt a chill all over. She thought if she had such a grandfather, tsk…

She would have to break the old man's legs first!

"Then... then why did he ask his own students to do it?" Seraphina couldn't help but ask again, "Isn't it enough to disgust his own granddaughter... Does he have to disgust so many people? Those close to him are really unlucky!"

"This is precisely the most ingenious part of the plan."

Ansel shook his head and smiled: "Seri, would you allow cockroaches in your room?"

"Of course not!"

"Then, if a little cockroach dragged the cockroach leader's corpse to you and promised that there would never be cockroaches again, would you let it live?"

"This..."

The girl hesitated for a moment: "I think I would still squash it."

"But that's just because it's a cockroach, humans don't have extra emotions for cockroaches, but if it were a person... it would be different."

"In the sorcerer's domain of the imperial capital..." Ansel played with Seraphina's smooth and delicate hair, "Eileen Ziegler is that cockroach leader."

"And Hendrik, Ronger, and the other students... are the little cockroaches that offer up the corpse."

In Seraphina's eyes, which gradually showed understanding, Ansel once again looked out the window, where in the distance, the Tower of Babel's architecture with its simple artistic sense, and the scholars talking on the road, all displayed the thriving state of this organization for all to see.

"Just think about it, how could those who have always followed Eileen be accepted by the sorcerer's domain of the imperial capital? How could they, with such backgrounds, have the opportunity and resources to establish the Tower of Babel?"

The only reason naturally is... they used Eileen's corpse, the severed head, the gouged-out heart, to quietly tell a few big shots in the sorcerer's circle—tell them that we have repented, we are no longer that madman's students, look, this is the best proof.

"Even so," Ansel said with a sense of poignancy, "It took Hendrik nearly seven to eight years to establish a foothold in the imperial capital and build the Tower of Babel... And then, just a few years after its establishment, it was on the verge of collapse. If it weren't for aligning with Evora, it would have vanished into thin air."

After listening to Ansel's words, it took a long time before Seraphina could muster a response: "This old man, is truly... dangerous."

"Do you think it ends here?"

"... Ah?"

"In other words," Ansel said with a chuckle, pinching Seraphina's dumbfounded expression, "You think that Eileen built the foundation of the Tower of Babel with his own head and heart, but do you really believe that the Tower of Babel was his main force for changing the world in his heart?"

"Don't forget... in the realm of creation, only true geniuses can achieve unparalleled transformation."

"This rebellious tower, reaching towards the sky and challenging the rules that have sedimented over thousands of years of transcendence, is not just a vessel, but also..."

"A cold workshop piecing together the puppet known as 'Ravenna'."

*

The puppet, kneeling on the ground, surveyed all those present, capturing their evasion, astonishment, panic, fear, and bewilderment in her gaze.

She staggered to her feet, her eyes, marked by myriad expressions, devoid of any light.

"Merely having the resolve to start is not enough."

She whispered softly, "It must be enduring, persistent, day after day, without interruption, influencing and affecting, to allow me to accumulate belief over time, every moment, and thus... I must be placed in an environment that perpetually chases that ideal fervently."

Looking at this group of dear elders, the most important in her life, the puppet leaned on the doorframe, revealing a mocking smile: "Right... among you."

Using his own death to anchor the only thing of value in Ravenna's grey childhood, the sole belief that existed.

Then, exchanging his own death for the soil in which the Tower of Babel could be born and grow.

Lastly, using this soil to inversely cultivate and promote Ravenna's growth, immersing her day after day in that fervent nourishment, deepening her pursuit of that ideal day by day.

Unwavering, unbetraying, unyielding, without end.

So, why, despite never truly understanding this world, never witnessing real suffering firsthand, did she still think of bringing about a change that could make life better for the common people?

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Because this was the environment she grew up in—this was all she had been exposed to since she was six, apart from belief and hatred… until now.

Everyone around her told her this, everything around her conveyed this to her—embrace the passion and fervor to change the world, this is your grandfather's legacy, this is the reason for your existence.

You were... born for this.

Thus, after fifteen years of hard labor, the Ravenna Ziegler of today was finally pieced together.

Ravenna Ziegler, who never thought there was anything wrong with her actions;

Ravenna Ziegler, rational and decisive enough to sacrifice everything;

Ravenna Ziegler, who, despite being almost fundamentally destroyed by Ansel, never completely gave up;

And... Ravenna Ziegler, for the sake of that future with infinite possibilities, whose every possibility got erased.

*