[BL] The Darling Villain

Chapter 71. The Best Liar

Author's Note:
Merry Christmas! 🎄🎄🎄
Here is a Christmas present from me to you:

*****

Lucilline awoke to the glass ceiling of miniature crystals, as if an entire sky of gems were combined into the sheen of ice. He could hardly believe his eyes.

The black-haired nobleman laid in a tower, the surfaces of walls frozen over in frost.

By his side, an amused laugh sounded, "Welcome to my tower, the Castle of Isdis Kingdom!" Khione smiled, showing off a row of white teeth, more brilliant than any of the jewelry speckled upon her crystallized self. Two pair of deadpanned golden eyes stared at her. Lucilline needed some time to recover from the shock—he thrashed around, sitting up harshly then looked around.

There was only an empty room of ice... and Khione.

Where was everyone else? His frown couldn't have been anymore apparent.

"We are on the second floor of my tower," Khione explained shamelessly, "The rest of your buddies are relaxing downstairs like the fools they are."

There was no response from the black-haired nobleman.

Lucilline had no reaction.

"What a bummer," Khione rambled. "I was hoping for a better response than silence." She flaunted her white hair, her skin sprinkling like crystals bathing under the sun. "Anyways, since this Queen is such a kind-hearted person, I shall allow you and your team to recover from injuries. Afterwards, I will see you off from my kingdom."

To this, Lucilline silently nodded.

"Thank you for your kindness." It would be all too easy for Khione to order her "Sugarplum" and kill them all in an instant. Lucilline decided that the right approach would be to accept her offer.

Khione flashed him a weird expression, her brows contorting into puzzlement.

"I didn't think that a human would be so kind to their elders." The Queen of Isdis Kingdom hummed to herself. "In the past, humans used to call us ice people monsters. Even hunted us for fun. I didn't expect for my kingdom to be destroyed by not humans, but rather demons."

Upon hearing this, Lucilline's eyes softened.

He'd learned about the ice people's history. Their bodies were made of ice and could only live in the cold regions. However, soon enough, humans discovered the existence of ice people and hunted them for their crystalline skin.

Ice people naturally had a deep animosity towards humans. To their surprise, it wasn't the humans who destroyed their life. It was the demons—who colonized over territories—and intended to overtake theirs. The ice people became extinct due to the demons' colonization, and they were gradually forgotten by the rest of the world.

"I'm sorry." Lucilline softly spoke.

"Hah?" Khione looked at him as if he was the stranger creature out of the two. "What are you apologizing for? Don't you dare pity me! I am much stronger than—"

Instead, she found herself unable to continue her words.

A pair of auric eyes stared at her, sorrow melting into liquid gold. There was something in Lucilline's gaze that told her he shared the same grief as her. The black-haired nobleman did not need to say much. His lips pursed in a thin line, "You miss your family, don't you? I miss mine too."

Khione fell silent. Her expression became indecipherable.

Her hands shook for a second there, "Who doesn't."