Ascension Of The Villain

"Huh?" Vyan blinked, trying to process the unexpected gratitude.

"We know that Her Highness wouldn\'t have come here to our rescue if it wasn\'t for your earnest request," another chimed in. "So thank you so much for it!"

I wish my inttions were as pure as they think, Vyan thought, his stomach doing somersaults at the irony. It wasn\'t his inttion to get any spotlight.

Bringing Althea here was more about political maneuvering than saving lives, but who was he to spoil their illusions?

"Ah, it was nothing much. I did what I could—" Vyan began, attempting a modest tone.

"You ev st us doctors as soon as you heard of the news," someone else piped up.

"Also, didn\'t you say you would donate t thousand silver coins to the families who lost their members in the epidemic?" another voice added.

Wait, no, that is false news. It\'s five thousand—

"T thousand silver coins?" Suddly, he was sured by surprised gasps. "That is so gerous, Your Grace!"

As they looked at him with hopeful eyes, Vyan\'s smile stretched thin, teetering on the edge of panic.

I can\'t believe I am facing peer pressure right now!

"Please, don\'t praise me too much," he decided to handle it gracefully, despite the gears in his head turning at the estimated loss he would face from this \'gerous\' donation.

"I am just doing the bare minimum." The bare minimum of what, he didn\'t specify. "And you all don\'t need to pay me much atttion; please go and be with your family members."

Everyone exchanged glances, deeply moved by his supposed gerosity and humility.

As the villagers dispersed, gossiping about Vyan\'s supposed good heart, Vyan let out a dramatic sigh and began his search for Althea and Clyde among the crowded medical camps.

His expression was a perfect mix of concern and dignity, as if he were a noble hero from a tragic play. But the truth was, he was only worried about the finances.

The Walver village was famous for its exquisite fruit, and now, with its terrible condition, they wouldn\'t be able to supply the fruits according to their tder for the monster hunt festival. It would be a huge loss for both sides.

Wh he spotted Althea and Clyde, he decided not to bother them for the momt as they were busy with treatmts. So he took a leisurely a the village since the rain had died down.

Once he heard Althea was done treating all the emergcy patits, he strutted over to the pair with a glass of juice in his hand.

"Good work, Thea," Vyan mused, giving her a smile. "Here, have a drink," he offered the glass in his hand. "The villagers gave me this earlier, but I am not too thirsty."

"Thanks, Vyan," Althea said, her eyes looking tired.

"What about me?" Clyde asked with a hopeful look.

"I got this from that nice lady," Vyan pointed to a certain lady amidst a group. "I am pretty sure if you ask her, she will give you a glass too."

"Fine," Clyde pouted and walked over to that lady.

"Vyan," Althea called out, and he looked at her. "What do you think could have caused this epidemic?" she queried, taking a sip of her drink.

"Contaminated water," he answered, his tone filled with certainty. "The water flowing from the Karloz River is the culprit."

"Did you block access to the river, th?" Althea asked, sounding calm betraying the urgcy of the matter.

"Yep, I took care of that last night," Vyan assured, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and her eyes wided in surprise.

"How did you guess it so early?" she probed, curiosity evidt in her eyes.

"Well, it wasn\'t that I guessed it earlier. It\'s just that wh I heard the news first, my instinct was to block access to the village to prevt the epidemic from spreading further."

So, Vyan checked off the four major sources—air, water, soil, and food.

He had instructed some hired mages to cast spells: one to seal in the village air, another to restrict water from the Karloz River, a third to halt work at the farmlands, and finally, he had told everyone to stop eating anything that looked ev remotely suspicious.

"Wait, what do you mean \'seal in the air\'?" Althea interrupted, her eyes narrowing.

Clyde joined them and let out a sigh as he answered the question, "He meant to kill all the Walver villagers."

"This is called cutting losses, Clyde," Vyan shrugged nonchalantly. "Would you prefer the tire grand duchy to be affected? This was the only way to save the bigger population."

Althea\'s jaw dropped, and Clyde shook his head in disbelief. "You are unbelievable, Vyan."

Vyan flashed a mischievous smile. "Thank you. I aim to astonish."

"Wait, wh was it that you guessed it was the Karloz River?" Clyde asked.

"On our way here," Vyan simply replied.

The tsion betwe the two of them crackled as Clyde confronted Vyan, his words laced with accusation, "I get why you didn\'t hesitate to sd Princess Althea here because healers have immunity against all diseases. But what about the fact you let me barge in here without confirming the air isn\'t the source of contamination?"

Vyan remained unperturbed and deadpanned in response, "You were the one who was in a hurry."

"What—" Clyde began, bewildered, but he paused as Althea put a hand on his shoulder.

"Relax," she interved, her touch inadverttly setting Clyde\'s ears ablaze. "Vyan is just teasing." Her gaze fixed on Vyan, she added, "Isn\'t that right?"

"Yep," Vyan affirmed with a knowing grin. "I had already deduced the source of contamination wh I heard the death toll from you, Clyde."

"How?" Althea inquired, sounding intrigued.

"From what Clyde told me," Vyan explained, "the death toll stands at five hundred in this small village of five thousand. They all rely on the Karloz River for water, but it\'s obvious not everyone refills on the same day."

"If it were airborne," Vyan continued, "all five thousand would likely be affected by now. Soil or food contamination wouldn\'t spread this quickly. Water is definitely the common dominator."

"Damn, the brains on you," Althea applauded, impressed.

Vyan smiled modestly and said, "Well, I also had the foresight to bring you here."

Althea\'s expression turned sheepish. "I kind of feel guilty about my original motive for coming here," she admitted. "But I am glad I did. We are saving lives, at least."

Clyde finally snapped out of his daze and pressed, "What do you mean by a \'dirty reason\'?"

"Um, that\'s—" Althea hesitated, clearly conflicted.

Just th, the three of them heard some passing people whispering not-so-subtly nearby.

"Princess Althea swooped in at the first call from His Grace, but where is Prince Easton?" one voice sneered. "I am pretty sure he was informed of our perilous situation as well."

"Yeah, Princess Althea braved the storm, but Prince Easton couldn\'t be bothered. He must be too busy brushing his hair," another voice chimed in, sounding sarcastic.

"Typical," said a third voice, dripping with malice. "The crown prince must think he is too royal to get mud on his shoes in a \'peasant\' village."

"Meanwhile, his sister is out here, rain or shine, earning her \'future empress\' title."

"Yes, Princess Althea rode in like a Valkyrie to save the day!"

As Clyde pieced their words together like a detective untangling a plot twist, he gasped in realization.

"You two were scheming to spin this whole mess in favor of Princess Althea, wer\'t you?" he exclaimed.

"Of course." Vyan raised an amused eyebrow, a smirk decorating his face. "Why let a perfectly good disaster go to waste wh we can turn this tragedy into a gold opportunity?"