Aetheric Chronicles: Reborn As An Extra

Chapter 393 The Villianess's Story [4]

"But I thought I was stronger back then," Liora said softly, her eyes narrowing as she continued to stare at Veda. "I thought I was smarter. I thought my hatred would fuel me, make me sharper, colder. I believed I could outplay you, trick you into thinking I had forgiven you. That I could live with this emptiness inside me and bide my time. But I was wrong..."

Liora let out a bitter chuckle, devoid of humor, her expression hardening. "I didn't realize that you had already figured it out—that you knew about my hatred long before I ever thought I had hidden it. You watched me all this time, pretending I was still your obedient student. Letting me go deeper, letting me sink further into this darkness."

Veda's breath grew rapid, her throat tightening in desperation.

She opened her mouth, but no words came at first.

The once-calm, calculating look in her eyes began to crack, the weight of Liora's accusations digging deeper into her soul with each word. She couldn't deny it. She couldn't deny any of it. The truth had already escaped, and now, everything was unraveling.

Liora took another step forward, her voice dropping to a near whisper, "And yet, you said nothing. You allowed me to descend into this madness, knowing full well where it would lead."

"But..."

Liora's gaze flickered briefly, as if searching for something within herself before she continued, her voice low and trembling with emotion, "...Just when I was preparing for my final masterpiece... when I thought I'd finally have my revenge, you..."

She stopped, her lips pressing into a tight line, eyes glinting with restrained fury.

"You ambushed me."

Veda flinched, but Liora didn't stop. Explore stories on empire

Her voice grew colder, sharper with every word, each one cutting deeper than the last. "You told the officials about me. You didn't just betray me, Veda—you orchestrated the entire thing. You tipped them off and then... you let that room explode."

Liora's fists clenched at her sides, her body trembling with the effort to keep her voice steady. "You let the room explode, knowing full well that I'd be in it, hoping it would get rid of both your precious secret and me along with it."

"You wanted it all gone, didn't you? Your dark past, your forbidden research. You made sure I'd take the blame for everything—the forbidden arts, the experiments, the secrets no one else could ever know."

Her words echoed with bitterness and disbelief, but beneath it all, there was a rawness that made even Adrian, watching from the sidelines, feel the depth of her betrayal. Even though he didn't completely believe her words, seeing Veda's expression told him there was truth in it.

Veda's breath hitched. "Liora... that's not—"

"Don't you dare." Liora's voice was a low growl now, her eyes flashing dangerously. "You let me be hunted down. You let me be branded a criminal, a monster, for what you did. You let me take the fall while you walked away free, with your hands clean and your reputation intact."

Tears threatened to break in Veda's eyes, but she couldn't look away from the fury and devastation on Liora's face. The weight of her past actions bore down on her like a vice, choking her with the realization of the ruin she had caused.

"Liora, please… you don't understand," Veda pleaded, her voice barely a whisper.

"I understand perfectly." Liora's words were ice, her voice void of emotion now. "You were scared. Scared of what you had done, scared of what people would think if they knew the truth. Scared of me, outachieving you and overthrowing you. So...

"...you threw me to the wolves to protect yourself."

Veda shook her head, but the denial felt weak, hollow, even to her. She had made her choices, and now they stood before her, embodied in the person of the woman she had once trained, once trusted—her greatest failure.

The silence returned, a heavy, crushing force that seemed to steal the air from the room.

Adrian could only watch, bound and powerless, as the storm between them raged on. The tension was suffocating, the air thick with the weight of years of buried guilt, anger, and regret.

"I gave you everything," Liora whispered, her voice softer now, broken. "I trusted you with everything. And you... you betrayed me in the worst way possible."

"Not once..."

"But twice. Each crueler than the other."

Veda's heart pounded in her chest, the words she had wanted to say for so long dying on her tongue. There was no justification, no explanation that could mend the years of pain and resentment between them.

"I didn't want it to end like this," Veda said, her voice trembling. "I didn't do it."

"Neither did I." Liora's gaze softened for a moment, her anger giving way to something deeper—an unbearable sadness. "But you left me no choice."

Liora took a slow, measured breath, her expression shifting from fury and sadness to something else—something almost wistful. "Thankfully, I managed to escape, though the person I was back then… she's long gone, dead in the ashes of your betrayal."

She let the words hang in the air for a moment, a bitter smile curling on her lips.

"I struggled," she continued, her voice lowering, almost as if she were recounting a long-forgotten memory. "So much so that you can't possibly imagine. But eventually... I succeeded." She lifted her chin, pride swelling in her voice. "I formed my own force. I found people who believed in me, in my cause.

And I made a plan—a plan to bring you down, Veda. You, your beloved city, and the citizens who ridiculed me, who called me a criminal."

Adrian felt his chest tighten as he listened, helpless, watching the scene unfold before him. His mind raced, but he couldn't move, couldn't act—just watch.

Liora's eyes gleamed with something darker now, a dangerous glint that sent a shiver down his spine. "Actually, I was planning to do it a little later," she admitted, a soft chuckle escaping her lips, her tone suddenly casual. "When the summer started, to be exact. But it all changed when a certain someone showed up..."