Reincarnated as a step-dad in a fantasy world-Chapter 369: Wives (3)

"These guys... they really don't take me seriously, huh?" Lilia chuckled, glancing at Anna.

"Not in the slightest," Anna replied, her expression somber. "If you allow me, I'll teach them a lesson they won't forget."

"Leave them alone, they'll soon learn from their mistakes," Lilia said, a smile forming on her lips. "What I'm more interested in is why this young woman isn't joining the others in their little argument."

The woman she was referring to was a young woman with long hair and amber eyes, standing silently in a corner, not mingling with the others or even speaking with them.

"Perhaps she's just shy," Anna said thoughtfully. "If I remember correctly, unlike the others, this one used to live in the slums before being kidnapped by Night. Maybe she suffered some trauma back there."

"Mmm," Lilia nodded, still observing the girl with a curious glint in her eyes.

Eventually, the others settled their argument, and to Lilia's surprise, the one chosen to go first was none other than the beefy guy.

'Why waste time arguing if you were going to pick him anyway?' Lilia and Anna thought in mild irritation.

Grinning, the muscular man stepped forward. "Looks like I'm up first. Don't worry, sweetheart, I'll make sure to leave you in one piece so the others can still have their fun."

"That's kind of you, I guess," Lilia replied with a slight smile, taking a single step forward. "Let's begin, then."

The moment she said those words, all warmth vanished from her face. Her expression turned cold and serious, impossible to read.

Seeing her expression shift so drastically, the man instinctively felt a chill run down his spine. For the first time, uncertainty crept into his heart. He hesitated—but it was already too late. The fight had begun.

A few minutes later...

"Arg..."

Painful groans echoed through the training room as the beefy man who had gone up against Lilia lay sprawled on the ground, clutching various parts of his body while blood trickled from the corner of his lips.

The scene was particularly gruesome. Everyone watching—except Anna—stood frozen, faces pale as if their souls had left their bodies.

And who could blame them? They had just witnessed a one-sided massacre. The man hadn't stood a chance. He had been beaten black and blue without even landing a single blow.

Now, he was crawling at Lilia's feet, grunting and groaning in agony.

"You are weak," Lilia finally said after a long silence. "And to think you all argued because you believed he was the strongest among you." Her eyes, still icy cold, swept over the remaining nine recruits.

"I've been tasked with training you by my husband, and I intend to do exactly as he asked. I will turn you into deadly weapons, the kind that can crush an army—but only if you follow my rules."

She paused, letting her words sink in, then continued, her tone sharper than ever: "Rule number one: when I speak, you don't move, you don't talk, you don't even breathe loudly. If you break this rule, I will punish you—and trust me, you won't like it."

"Rule number two: my orders are absolute. No exceptions. No excuses."

"If you can follow these two simple rules, we'll get along just fine. If not..." She didn't need to finish. The broken man at her feet said enough.

"Now that this is out of the way," Lilia said, still cold and composed, "next in line, step forward."

***

As Lilia was busy "training" her soldiers, Anita could be seen walking out of the mansion and distancing herself from the mansion, going toward the forest that encircled the plain where the mansion stood.

As she got a bit farther from the mansion, she glanced at the space ring Lilia had gifted her and with an intention on her part, a book appeared in her hand.

The book in question was a brilliant blue that made it seem almost magical. Unfortunately, due to the faded marks and worn edges, it could be said to have lost most of its mystical charm. The leather was cracked in several places, and the corners were bent and frayed, giving it the look of an old, well-used heirloom.

Despite what it might seem, Anita wasn't going so far just to read a book. Well, technically she was doing so, but the reason why she was going so far from the mansion wasn't just to read the book.

This book in question was a gift and a heritage from her late mother. Unfortunately, due to the fact that seeing the book always reminded her of her beloved mother too much that it hurt, Anita never brought herself to open it and see what was inside.

However, after what happened to her with her being abducted and nearly losing her life, she decided to finally open it. Thankfully her father had managed to save the book even when their house had been burned down by the members of Night.

Not wanting to miss on what her mother had wanted to tell her if she passed away without opening the book, she finally brought herself to open it after she settled in the Eswald's mansion, and it was after she read through the first few pages of the book that she realized how much of a fool she had been to not have opened it earlier.

If she had, nothing that happened to her or her father would have occurred, and that was for the very reason that the book her mother left her was filled with knowledge on how to become stronger. Not just that, but through its pages, she learnt how to cultivate her ability—yes, cultivate, not awaken.

As she came to understand, the Virax were different from other races; they had a much closer relation to mana than even the elves. But it didn't only have advantages. Since they were so attuned to mana, ironically, something that every other race obtained upon reaching adulthood had become harder for them to gain. They had to go through a winding and difficult process to cultivate their abilities, and some members of their race actually never managed to awaken theirs at all.

Inside the book her mother left her, the latter explained the steps she had to take to cultivate her ability and the methods to better use her closeness with mana.

She had been warned by her, though, to never let this book or its contents fall into hands she didn't have absolute trust toward. That was why she decided to train in a desolate and uninhabited place—and why she was in the forest right now.

As Anita walked through the forest, heading toward its center, there was a sudden spike in the surrounding temperature. freeweɓnovel.cøm

"Why is it so hot here?" she wondered, but still, she continued on until she noticed something glowing behind two trees in front of her.

'What the hell?' Anita thought in shock as she discovered the source of the heat.

Before her, seated in a meditative position, she could discern the outline of a woman with dark skin and black hair styled in dreadlocks. In a five-meter radius around this woman, everything had been melted. A pool of lava bubbled quietly beneath her, as if the ground itself had been liquefied by her presence.

'Wh-Who is this?' Anita wondered, quickly putting away her book.

"Who are you?" Anita heard someone ask from behind her—and before she knew it, the woman in front of her had vanished.

Slowly turning around, Anita came face to face with the very same woman she had just been observing, the latter's golden eyes staring down at her, drilling holes into her.

"I saw you coming from the mansion, but I've never seen you there, so—who are you?" the woman inquired.

"She saw me from that far?" Anita thought, shocked. Still, she forced herself to reply, "I work at the mansion. I'm a cook there."

Instead of relaxing at her answer, the woman's brows furrowed in suspicion. "Lilia would never allow a mere cook to wander so far from the mansion without being under surveillance."

"Sh-She's the one that gave me permission, I swear!" Anita said, waving her hands nervously, her eyes glowing with a pale blue light.

Suddenly, the woman's eyes widened as she saw the glow coming from Anita's eyes. "You're a Virax, aren't you?" she stated more than asked, her voice tinged with realization.

The woman stepped back slightly from Anita, a cautious glint in her golden eyes. "I wonder how come a Virax is working as a mere cook for us. Who are you really?"

"So you're an inhabitant of the mansion?" Anita asked, her tension easing now that she realized the strange woman might not be an enemy.

"You could say that," the woman nodded. "You can call me Eleanor. And you still haven't answered my question."

"Oh, well, I'm not just a cook. I'm also the fiancée of the manor's master," Anita replied, her cheeks turning slightly red.

Contrary to the surprised reaction Anita expected, Eleanor's expression twisted into one of exasperation. "So you're saying you're Alex's fiancée?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Anita nodded.

Eleanor stared at her for a moment before letting out a long sigh. 'I see he's fallen back into his old habit of collecting women,' she thought with annoyance. 'I'll have to speak to him about that.'

What Eleanor didn't know, however, was that she herself was soon going to join the list of women Alex had conquered.