Villain's Odyssey: Enslaving heroines, Conquering Villainesses Chapter 13: Betrayal

"What’s wrong?" Calla raised an eyebrow.

"Sigh." She exhaled sharply. "Get out. Both of you." Her voice was raw and unfiltered.

Maria—once Azalea’s fiancée, now engaged to Ansley—turned to Isabelle, uncertainty etched on her face.

"Should—?" she began to ask, but Isabelle cut in.

"lla, I know you’re hurting. You were close to Az too," Isabelle said gently, trying to reason with her. "But you have to understand—he betrayed us."

Calla shot her a scathing glance as she swung her legs off the bed. "You? I still can’t believe it!" Her voice cracked, thick with disbelief and fury. "You, of all people? You actually believed he would hurt you?!"

Isabelle sighed again, rubbing her forehead. "I saw it with my own eyes. He stabbed Auston."

Calla’s nostrils flared. "And that was it? You didn’t even ask why? He was weaker than any of us, Isa—an alchemist, unawakened. How could soone like him break a forcefield created by the Dean himself?!" Her voice trembled with the sheer absurdity of it. "How could you believe sothing so stupid?"

"I..." Isabelle closed her eyes. Deep down, she knew. She had been clouded by anger. She hadn’t questioned. She hadn’t cared. She had simply lashed out.

Even now, accepting the truth was a struggle. Admitting her mistakes ant confronting just how terrible of a person she’d beco.

"But—"

"Auston, right? That’s what you were going to say?" Calla stood before them, her presence cold and unwavering. "Well, I’m not surprised. You abandoned a childhood friend—the one person who’s always been there for you—without hesitation. For a stranger."

"It’s not like that!" Isabelle shouted.

"Then tell how it is!" Calla snapped.

Isabelle bit her lip, speechless. Maria turned away, sha flickering across her features. She wasn’t innocent either. She had been the one to ask for the arrangent to be dissolved. And sohow, she ended up engaged to Az’s brother. In a way, she was part of the chain of events that led to his disownnt.

Calla scoffed. "Well... enjoy yourself with Auston. You’ve been doing it all this while anyway. Now that Az is dead, might as well have a blast." She walked out.

"This will be the last ti we speak as friends. Don’t even bother visiting next ti—I’ll make sure you don’t get in."

The door slamd.

"Isa..." Maria murmured, glancing at the platinum-haired girl who once again found herself in tears—a habit she’d picked up from the very person she had betrayed in front of everyone.

Chomp.

The young man ate until there was nothing left in the spatial ring.

He was down to his last piece of bread—a chunk he’d ant to save for later—but he hadn’t noticed. Lost in thought, he’d devoured every last bite.

"Haaah!" A sharp gasp pulled him back to reality.

He turned his head. Anna was sitting up.

Here it cos, he thought, bracing himself.

But as he moved to stand, "Ugh," he groaned. Pain lanced through his arm like a bolt of electricity. He stared at it—his skin was glowing.

He looked at Anna.

Her tattoo—it was glowing too. A vivid, brilliant blue.

Then, just as suddenly, it faded. The tattoo vanished.

"What...?" He frowned.

She looked only half-conscious, her gaze unfocused and blank as she sat upright.

Then—sothing shifted.

His instincts scread. He bolted upright, scanning the room for a weapon.

Nothing.

But he did see the door.

His mind ran through a dozen escape simulations in an instant. He exhaled. His gaze hardened.

Anna tilted her head. Her eyes widened. Her arms stretched forward.

In an instant, a ball of fire coalesced in the air.

"Wordless casting," he whispered.

There was no ti to think.

Run.

He darted for the door.

Her arm tracked him.

"Die... DIE!"

BOOM!