The Villainess Wants To Retire-Chapter 444: Past

Soren nodded slowly, the logic of her words sinking in. "You’re right. It is strange. Deep down, I’ve always known that something was... different. Maybe even wrong." He thought of the times his skin felt too tight, or the way the air hummed when he walked by. "But I never questioned it too much. I told myself it was because of my father."

"Soreth," Soren said the name with a complicated mixture of reverence and revulsion. "He was the most powerful ice mage in recorded history. He was unstoppable. A god-tier power that defined the era. It’s the reason Nevareth always won the wars, Eris. No offense to Solmire, but your fire mages simply couldn’t compete with the sheer scale of his ice."

Eris bristled slightly, her southern pride flickering in her eyes, but she knew her history. "None taken," she muttered. "Continue."

"Ice mages are generally more powerful than fire mages in this realm," Soren explained. "The environment favors us. But my father was beyond that. He was a force of nature... a walking catastrophe. That’s why he was feared. That’s why even Vetra, with all her poisons and her cunning, couldn’t take him down. She had to wait for him to destroy himself from the inside."

"But that power came with a price," Soren continued, his voice tight. "He became paranoid. He was terrified of being surpassed. He was a good ruler to the empire, perhaps, but he was a tyrant to his own blood. I had three older brothers. Legitimate sons."

"The eldest was powerful. His magic manifested young, and it grew fast. By the time he was eighteen, he was rivaling Soreth’s strength at the same age."

"There were rumors of a coup. Accusations that the three sons and Vetra were planning to overthrow him. Soreth convinced himself it was true. Maybe it was. I’ll never know. But he used it as an excuse to eliminate the competition. He killed them all. My brothers... his own sons. He wiped them out to ensure he remained the most powerful being in the North."

"He would have killed me too the moment he saw me for the first time if he had known how powerful I was going to become. But perhaps he believed since I had the blood of a slave then I would amount to nothing or not a threat at least. That’s why my mother died for that secret. When I finally manifested my full strength, it was ten times what my brothers had possessed at the same age. Maybe more."

"So, when I look at my power... the unlimited mana, the strength... I tell myself it’s because of him. The blood of Nivarre, Aenithra’s blessed. I’m powerful because my father was a monster in human form, and I am simply the final, most potent distillation of that monstrous bloodline."

He spoke with conviction, but his eyes betrayed him. There was a lingering doubt, a shadow that his father’s legacy couldn’t fully explain. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"I’ve considered other theories," he added, his voice dropping. "Concentrated bloodlines, or perhaps a specific blessing from the Frostmother herself. I’ve even wondered if it’s a mutation... something unexplainable in me."

He didn’t mention the horns. He didn’t mention the way his physical form began to shift when he pushed his magic beyond the breaking point. He told himself it was just a side effect of high-level casting, a physical manifestation of mana strain. But deep down, the question remained: What kind of man grows horns when he’s angry?

Eris processed his words in silence. "I see where you’re coming from," she said thoughtfully. "It’s a logical shield. If you’re just ’powerful blood,’ you’re still human. It’s easier to swallow than the alternative."

Soren turned his head to look at her, his eyes boring into hers. "So. My turn. Why did you ask? What made you think I was a dragon? You’ve seen me cast, you’ve seen the wars... but why that specific word?"

Eris felt the weight of the secret behind her teeth. She had seen his eyes. During their most intense moments... during the passion that had just left them both breathless... his pupils hadn’t been round. They had been slits. Vertical, predatory slits that glowed with an ancient, terrifying light. Just like Pyronox’s eyes.

She hesitated. If she told him, would it bother him? Would he become obsessed with the monster in the mirror? She felt a fierce, protective instinct. He was already carrying the weight of an empire; did he need to carry the weight of a beast too?

"I’ve just always been curious," she said, her voice smooth and practiced. It was a half-truth, the best kind of lie. "About why you’re so powerful. The way the ice responds to you... it’s not like a spell. It’s like the ice is alive and it’s listening to you. And your transformations... the way you look when you’re truly pushed... it’s unusual, Soren. Even for an Ice Emperor. I just wondered if there was something... more. That’s all."

Soren’s shoulders dropped an inch. He relaxed, convinced (or wanting to be convinced) that she hadn’t seen anything definitive. "Just curious, then," he said with a small, relieved smile.

"Just curious," Eris confirmed, her heart aching at the necessary deception.

Soren sensed the heavy mood and, in true fashion, decided to deflect it with the one thing that always worked between them. A teasing smile played on his lips. "So, you think about my power often? Wondering just how much I can do?"

Eris rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide her smile. "Don’t start, Soren."

"I wonder," he murmured, leaning closer until his nose brushed hers. "How much I can take? How much of that ’unlimited mana’ I can put to use making sure you never want to leave this bed?"

"Soren," she warned, but she didn’t move away.

He leaned in and kissed her. It was soft at first, a gentle appreciation for the conversation, but it quickly deepened. His hands found their way into her hair, pulling her close until the blanket was the only thing between them. Eris surrendered, her arms winding around his neck, the mystery of his blood forgotten in the cold of his touch.

"Admit it," he whispered against her lips, punctuating each word with a soft kiss. "You love my power." Kiss. "You love how strong I am." Kiss.

"Shut up," Eris breathed. Kiss. "Your ego is..." Kiss. "...insufferable."

Soren grinned against her mouth, his eyes glowing in the dim light. "But you love it." Kiss. "You love me."

Eris froze for a fraction of a second. He said it. It wasn’t a formal declaration, it was casual, buried in a tease, but it was there. Her heart hammered against her ribs, but Soren didn’t seem to notice the weight of his own words. He just kept kissing her, oblivious to the fact that he had just dropped a second bomb in the middle of their sanctuary.