The Villainess Returns with a System-Chapter 133: Odd-Shaped Cogs

Edith couldn’t sleep for two nights straight; she barely closed her eyes to rest, but every bit of her conscience was gnawing at her.

She had always been a bit of a zealot, not just in terms of faith, but she saw the Establishment as the fine-tuned machine that brought prosperity to this empire she was privileged to live under. As a noble, she believed in the noblesse oblige and always thought that adhering to it was what set aristocrats apart from others.

But ever since that day she ran into Vivian Moore, her black-and-white worldview was shattered. Vivian was supposedly someone who represented rust in this machine they lived in, but as she got closer, all that Edith felt was that Vivian was simply an odd-shaped cog. It functioned, but it didn’t fit well with others.

Yet here was the thing: Edith was not stubborn, and to her, an odd-shaped cog could be the start of a new evolution in the machine. Maybe this odd-shaped cog could be the future and how all cogs were supposed to function from now on.

All the inaction and bureaucracy that she so much loathed were not a part of Vivian’s routine. If action was needed, action was taken. When Princess Charlotte wanted help, Vivian rushed to the Palace. When Natasha Ivanov was proven to be corrupt and crooked, Vivian didn’t ask for permission and took action, eventually leading to a bold, gun-blazing escape.

There was no hesitation; it was what Edith liked the most about Vivian and what she wanted the people around her to be like. Truthfully, Edith found a kindred soul in Vivian.

Then it hit her.

She was an odd-shaped cog, too.

How she discovered that wasn’t something instantaneous, as no belief could be shattered overnight. In fact, Edith didn’t want to believe that until she witnessed the rust behind all the cogs she knew firsthand.

She witnessed it in the Royal Palace with a prince making a commoner take over a garden that belonged to a royal princess just because he could. She witnessed it with her brother, who was under orders from the very same prince to operate a false treasury convoy for personal gains, even with her ex-fiancé, who seemed to be in on the action as well.

Everything regarding those people, whom she was supposedly on the side of, was shifty and dishonest. She was still bound to their service since her eldest brother was a supporter of that political faction with the blessings of their father. Her family’s interests were flowing in that current, and so she had to follow suit.

After the Brookwell Scandal, the prince’s image was tarnished in those circles who knew what went down that night and who operated that false convoy. Edith was well aware that Edmond was scolded badly for slipping like that by the Count of House Black, but all Edith thought was that her father was displeased with the shaming actions of the prince’s faction.

But a few days later, Edith joined a crackdown on the insurgent organization that was called the Kabal in the secret files. According to Edmond, they were a group of secessionists who wanted to weaken the Empire and break it apart. For that, Edith followed her beliefs and joined the raid.

Her duties kept her on another site during the raid, but as she saw the wake of the Bloody Swan, she believed that such a terrorist was a major threat and set aside her agreements with her brother and his cronies.

But the reaction that the Swan triggered from the prince’s faction may have revealed their true colours to Edith. At first, they sent her to invite Beatrix Morgan under the pretext that her fiancé, Ian, was injured, and somehow, the crazed girl came with Edith, no questions asked.

It seemed to her that Ian and Beatrix had some sort of a bond, but the relationship was rather odd between them, yet who was she to meddle? Still, it seemed that even Beatrix was burdened with the fact that Matilda was the one who healed Ian rather than being thankful. Still eccentric in a way, but she didn’t wish to meddle.

As Beatrix started to use her Magic to track the Bloody Swan, things started to get out of their appropriate order. They had the blood of the Bloody Swan on Edmond’s blade, but as it seemed difficult to do an actual tracking, they actually chose to lay a curse on the Swan through Beatrix, something that distressed Edith greatly.

Somehow, Beatrix was harming herself by her own magic, with full endorsement of her "dear" fiancé, her own brother, and even the head of the faction, Prince Liam.

To Edith, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back, but rather than speaking against a prince, she found herself suffocating outside the room, unable to do anything to stop the madness.

Certainly, Beatrix was unwell; she chose to torture herself as a form of avenging Ian and showing love to him. Rather than appearing heroic, she seemed obsessive, crazed, and trying to prove something to someone who didn’t even care.

Ian’s eyes were lecherous and were one of the few things that triggered Edith the most. He always had his eyes on Matilda, even in the presence of his fiancée, the very thing that triggered Edith to break her own engagement with Richard out of pride. Beatrix, however, was quite the opposite, trying to do something completely different and, to Edith, very wrong.

If not for Valentine stepping up almost against everyone, Edith would have been left carrying something dark in her heart from that night. He ended the madness, and Edith joined him by threatening to pressure her brother, who was part of this insanity, by reporting to their father.

Edmond didn’t seem to care, though, making Edith go directly to her father, who didn’t seem to care as well.

"Be thankful you were raised right, Edith," her father said when she requested to meet him first thing in the morning. "I have heard about that girl, Beatrix Morgan. Her tendencies are eccentric, to say the least. The Graysons have sponsored her with a great deal of assets to make her into a powerful witch. Sadly, the Morgans are known to be callous towards their daughters."

"How so, lord father?"

"It is not a secret. I’ve heard stories about how the women are raised in House Morgan as mere resources and tools of political marriage," Count Lucius said while putting down his reading glasses and giving his full attention to his daughter.

"Wasn’t I the same then?" Edith asked with a bitter look in her eyes. "House Marshall also demanded that I learn Aura so that I could produce powerful heirs when I was going to be wed to their heir."

Count Lucius stood from his chair, a tall man with black eyes and long black hair, almost reaching to his waist. He looked very handsome and not a year younger than twenty, but he was a monster whose strength, age, and many other personal details were kept as state secrets. This handsome and secretive man was still a very affectionate person, and as he stood in front of his daughter, he patted her shoulder and spoke:

"There’s a stark difference, dear Edith. Your marriage was merely an agreement between me and Henry Marshal. Your training was what should be properly done whenever a girl is to be wed in the House of War. But even if you weren’t to be wed, if you were to ask me that you would want to learn Aura or Magic, I would have never said no. And when you came to me, angered at that boy Richard, and wanted to break off your engagement, did I decline your request?"

"No," Edith shook her head.

The Count patted his daughter’s head and smiled.

"Then what should we do about Beatrix Morgan?" she asked.

"Why would we do anything?" he asked back.

"Because it is not right," she replied firmly.

"That is true. However, I wouldn’t do anything personally," he replied with a very relaxed face, resting against his desk.

"Why?" she asked with frustration.

"It is the way this world works, Edith. We can’t fix anything just because we don’t like it. As for the Prince and Edmond, they are supposed to learn from their mistakes on their own. The whole Empire will be carried by them one day; they must learn, and the best way to do so is by making mistakes."

"What about proper guidance?"

"Not everyone is as adherent to guidance as you are, Edith. Most humans learn from their mistakes and are extremely stubborn, even when told to do something in some way. A hands-off approach with theoretical references is always better when raising leaders."

"And if it causes their demise?"

"This is what pragmatists call natural selection. If Edmond causes damage so severe that he can’t recover from it, your other brothers will take his heir position. They are all eager to please... while not as efficient as Edmond, I’m afraid."

"And what about right and wrong?" Edith asked, almost feeling a strange coldness coming from her father.

"Right and wrong are not where we operate, Edith," her father replied. "Each generation brings forth its own trends and morals. What was shameful in my father’s time is legal in my time; what was shameful in his time was a crime in his father’s time. In my opinion, the only wrong that persists at all times is trying to resist the bold change of the future generations."

That pragmatic view of the world left Edith stunned, unable to refute her father, whom she always saw as warm and good. Maybe that side of him was only directed to her, but how he treated his sons and the rest of the world was entirely different.

It bugged her, but he was right about one thing: he raised his children to think of their own, and what is right to him can be wrong with them by that logic.

But that pragmatism—is it just her, or would the rest of her generation not be so pragmatic? To find out, Edith needed to see someone she could talk to freely, a friend with ideas as bold as hers.

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