A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

—As long as she becomes Ansel's secretary, she can perfectly handle all matters for him. The woman kneeling before her must be thinking exactly that.

That's why Mr. Ansel brought me here. He wants Ms. Nerilia to see my capabilities.

In less than a day, Mr. Ansel directly addressed this issue himself...

When it comes to critical matters, there is no waiting, no watching. Before Marlina even realized she had been "blacklisted" by Shadewell, Ansel had already sensed Nerilia's discontent and brought her here to resolve it.

Marlina admired and was grateful for Ansel's efficiency and decisiveness. She admired how Ansel, even without constant oversight, could see everything clearly at a glance; she was grateful that even in this situation, he chose her over his long-time follower.

But Marlina also knew... this approach wouldn't convince Nerilia.

"This is not enough, Master."

Sure enough, the girl heard Nerilia's slightly hoarse voice: "Handling all this for you, mere 'cleverness' is far from sufficient. If you need a secretary, I can serve. If not me, you should choose a member of Shadewell."

Yes, far from enough. Marlina whispered in her heart.

While chatting with Ansel, she hadn't noticed Nerilia behind them. If Ansel hadn't mentioned Worker Bee tailing them for a while, she wouldn't have known they were being watched.

Marlina Marlowe was not an extraordinary being; this alone could invalidate everything about her.

But at this moment, facing Nerilia, who wanted to negate and even replace her, Marlina felt little anger—despite the immense effort she had put into obtaining this position.

Because if she were in Nerilia's place, Marlina would make the same choice—how could she entrust such a heavy responsibility to someone who wasn't even an extraordinary being? Even if Ansel was the one leading everything, this position shouldn't be held by a mere mortal with some "cleverness."

Marlina even felt a bit of admiration for... Nerilia's courage.

"This is my personal decision, Nerilia." Ansel looked down at the woman who remained kneeling, unchanged, his tone somewhat indifferent, "Are you going to defy me? Just because of your 'presumption'?"

"Because you have never been a tyrant who acts arbitrarily."

Nerilia finally lifted her head, gazing into Ansel's eyes: "And you have never sought blind followers."

Blind... followers.

Yes, I also understand that a mere mortal cannot bear such a position, and I would share Ms. Nerilia's thoughts.

But could I, like her, defy Mr. Ansel's will when he has already made a decision?

Marlina's mind was somewhat dazed, her sister's resolute words and determined expression from that day seemed to linger before her eyes.

As she was lost in thought, Ansel and Nerilia exchanged glances for a few seconds before Ansel shook his head with a sigh:

"I wonder if I've been too indulgent with you all."

Though he said this, he didn't seem to oppose much.

"You see, Marlina," the young Hydral turned to the somewhat dazed girl beside him, "if all the information from Shadewell is given directly to me without going through you, then your role as a secretary is almost redundant. And Nerilia's concerns do have some merit."

He spread his hands: "What do you think should be done?"

"I..."

Marlina, coming back to her senses, was silent for a moment, then looked down at Nerilia, her gaze gradually becoming resolute.

"Ms. Nerilia," Marlina said earnestly, "what must I do to gain your approval?"

"It's not just me, it's all of Shadewell."

Nerilia looked at Marlina expressionlessly: "Since the Master has entrusted this task to us, we will not let it pass through the Garden's hands."

Marlina was stunned for two seconds, then said incredulously: "You... you all care about that?"

"Of course, it's not just that. Your being a mortal is the greatest limitation. As for the differences between the Garden and Shadewell... do you think it's merely internal strife?"

The woman sneered: "Conflict does exist, but the fundamental reason is that Shadewell and the Garden have completely different ways of doing things, even... they repel each other."

"Growing up in the Garden, you are destined to fail at this job, even if you become an extraordinary being, Miss Lotus."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

…Lotus

After that simple test, Nerilia had also mocked Marlina with the term "Lotus."

A surge of nameless anger welled up in Marlina's heart.

She could always recognize reality, accept reality, but that didn't mean she never felt any grievance, any anger.

She could only... accept it.

Those emotions never disappeared into thin air; they took a long time to be swallowed and digested in a lonely corner.

Whether it was Garden or Shadewell... everyone looked down on her.

When she requested access to the archives and adjusted the time flow so drastically, did Rhine not notice anything suspicious?

It wasn't that it didn't notice; it simply believed Marlina lacked the capability and the courage.

Shadewell was even more straightforward—you are simply not good enough.

These people had their reasons and their confidence to think this way, but did that mean she was truly worthless?

If she only wanted to become an extraordinary being, she would have done so long ago. But what she wanted was always the position closest to Ansel.

"Miss Nerilia," Marlina's voice grew colder, "I don't want to hear these things. I just want to know what it will take for Shadewell to hand over the information Mr. Ansel needs to me."

"Impossible," Nerilia replied without hesitation, "You will mess everything up, and we won't stand by and let that happen."

"Just take care of Master's daily needs. You don't need to meddle in other matters."

Marlina's clenched fists turned white from the force.

She had no room to negotiate with Nerilia. This unassailable superiority made a new, unprecedented… rage surge in the girl's chest.

Even if she became an extraordinary being, they wouldn't let her handle things?

Why?

*

"So, you send them to that…Dream Island?"

In the headquarters of the Adventurers' Guild [Hive], Worker Bee was reporting to his boss.

The leader of the Hive, [Queen Bee], a beautiful mature woman, was leisurely stepping on a man with one foot while the other leg was crossed. She asked slowly, "How's the quality?"

"Top-notch," Worker Bee gave a thumbs up, "My judgment is never wrong, boss, you can rest assured."

"Have you checked his identity?"

"Hard to verify, another guy claiming to be Faust."

"...Heh, another Faust."

Queen Bee sneered, "How many Fausts have there been this month?"

"Uh, six... no, seven, or eight? I forgot, but this one is definitely better than the previous ones."

"Have you tested him?" the woman asked nonchalantly.

"Tested him before knowing his name, at least fourth-stage, maybe even fifth-tier. But since he didn't chop my head off immediately, he's definitely not Faust."

"Fifth-stage? A fifth-stage pretending to be Faust to visit a brothel?"

Queen Bee couldn't help but laugh, "Don't be too imaginative. Just introduce him to more of our friends. By the way, about Bryce Palmer—"

Before she could finish, the crystal on the table suddenly flashed.

The woman squinted slightly and snapped her fingers, causing the crystal to project an image of a tall, pale woman holding a cigarette holder, with black eye makeup and crimson lips.

"Isn't this our little Snake Attendant?" Queen Bee propped her chin up with a seductive smile, "Why the sudden contact?"

"The guy Worker Bee brought."

The woman, referred to as "Snake Attendant," said coldly, "He killed two people and ran."

Queen Bee's expression froze, and Worker Bee was stunned.

What made their expressions even more remarkable were the words that followed:

"One was your person, the other was Bryce Palmer's. You figure it out."

The projection disappeared, and Queen Bee slowly turned her gaze to the ashen-faced Worker Bee.

"You said… he didn't kill you at that time?" Discover exclusive content at empire

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