A Villainess Should Be Strong

"I..." Estelle dragged out her words. She didn't know what to reply with.

Both options had positive and negative sides.

However, one side clearly weighed more on the negative side than the other.

The decision maker was no one else but her.

"It's not like you have to reply right now. I'm just saying that you might want to consider it carefully. Either stay as the Duke's daughter.. or become free," Yulia added.

To attain freedom. For a normal ten-year-old child, that shouldn't be raised as one of the choices.

However, because this was another world with less strict laws, there were ways for Estelle to detach herself from the Dukedom. It would be a bit hard, but if Heine, Minerva, and Yulia's help was counted, it wasn't impossible to get out of this dilemma with little to no damage.

The question here was either: a. Estelle will prioritize herself and stay with her warm family, ignoring all sorts of backlash, or b. Estelle will attain independence and separate herself from the family.

The second option would eliminate all chances of the nobles getting their reach into the suspicious matter that is Estelle's sudden drastic change in appearance.

There were many ways.

In the world, there were more than just one race.

Elysium, Sylvania, Alfheim, Vaitral, and Eliredien.

The five Kingdoms aside from Alynthi, home to the humans.

For her to quietly disappear into one of those places with the premise of a kidnapping or a long-term educational travel trip, it would be the best case.

She won't risk being found out to be a 'strong' person and getting tied down to the Kingdom. She wouldn't be caught. Her progress will be significantly heightened since she could act freely.

It was much more profitable, but she didn't want to do it.

Why? Why couldn't she bring herself to choose the clearly more profitable option?

Yulia herself didn't expect the girl to reply right away.

She was just there to raise the question.

She expected this development where Estelle would have problems deciding.

"I have to stay here- I mean, inside the Dukedom. Didn't you say monsters roamed the world freely? Then, wouldn't the Dukedom be in danger? As their daughter, I have to-" Estelle rambled on, her eyes unfocused.

Her heart was shaking.

Considering the two choices.

It was hard on her.

She desired half of both, yet she couldn't do that.

"Do you truly believe that they can bypass my barrier? Are you underestimating me?" Yulia snickered. Her tone changed.

Yulia was quick to get offended when it came to her skills. She held nothing but the utmost confidence in herself. Having her prowess doubted would arouse her displeasure.

"Monsters have become common. When you came back here, didn't you see a few crowding around this house? Minerva's house is literally in the middle of nowhere. That's how common monsters have gotten.

"I also put up several barriers around your territory. I didn't waste the four whole months you went away in vain. I continuously upgraded the protective abilities, and even added some offensive measures. I'm confident that the barriers I put up will be enough to counterattack against those pesky beings,"

"In truth, the current Dukedom is safer than the Royal castle," Yulia further strengthened her point.

Estelle grew silent. She pursed her lips and continued thinking.

"I can't leave Noah. We never know what might happen to him. I have to stay here!" Estelle defended.

"You can come with us. Space rifts exist. You can pay a visit everyday for all you want. We can invent a monitoring device. An alarm for danger. I don't believe that we can't do it. It'll take a few months, but we'll get it done,"

Yulia's words implied that it was simple to create an innovation. In truth, it was hard. Trying to jump over the steady technology advancement.

To think that Yulia was able to get on the same page as Estelle was mortifying.

With the two of them, it was possible.

But that wasn't why Estelle didn't want to leave.

"That's too complicated and unnecessary," Estelle rebuked.

"It's an invention that's going to be made one day. What's the difference if we speed it up by a couple years or decades?"

Indeed, monitoring devices will exist. Definitely. Even if it wasn't for them, someone would create it.

Estelle liked to innovate. Declining this defense would create a contradiction with herself.

"But-" Estelle kept thinking of another excuse, but nothing came up.

She fell into a trance.

There was a strange

Why was she so unwilling to be apart from her family? Was it just pure worry stemming from the fact that their enemies were everywhere, looking for ways to harm them?

What was she scared about?

Rejection?

Loneliness?

No way.

Why would she be lonely?

She was fine by herself.

Even if she didn't have Yuuma and Hikari in her previous life, she would've been fine.

She would've lived for a longer time. Became more successful. She was unparalleled.

Yes, she was unmatched. No one was able to stand up to her.

Except her two childhood friends. She was close to nobody.

Some people might call it a sad life, but she begged to differ.

She was successful. She stood on top of others.

What others had to accomplish with an entire team, she could do alone.

Wasn't that the best scenario? Unlike others, she didn't have to bother with unforeseen circumstances. Like betrayals.

Only because her company grew to such a large point did she have to employ several subsidiaries. To keep everything intact.

The company 'Estelle' was very secretive.

As Kirisaki Reina, Estelle always made sure that the activities were closely managed. There were several people who tried to harm her company.

Those same people were made to suffer without end, as Estelle got her thorough revenge by eliminating them from the society altogether.

One day they could be living happily, the other day they would be dirt poor and discarded on the streets.

Such were Estelle's straightforward iron rule.

If you treated her well and brought benefits, rewards would come your way.

If you dared to wrong her, then you can just start counting your happy days from then on. It wouldn't be long until you were beaten down to the ground by her.

That was why, no one dared to approach her and enter her close quarters except for her two childhood friends.

Scared. They feared Reina, who wouldn't give a damn about anything other than pursuing perfectness.

The lack of human emotions Reina had influenced her decisions. Sympathy would never be a deciding factor.

It was a matter of right equals reward, whereas wrong equals punishment.

In the same way, the abundance of human emotions Estelle had influences her thoughts and choices.

If Reina wasn't scared of being alone, that didn't automatically apply to the current Estelle, who regained her emotions.

So, Estelle's denial stemmed from her experience as Reina.

A lone wolf.

Now, she gained a lot of precious people.

Once she chose to be a lone wolf, she worried over what should be a simple thing for others.

Emotions and connections.

She just regained her humanity.

She didn't know it. What others took for granted, she saw as a very precious thing, akin to a treasure.

Because even as Reina, she longed to have this humanity.

To mingle with others. And experience all sorts of emotions.

"Estelle.." Yulia sighed. She was a keen person with the ability to read others' emotions with ease.

Reading Estelle was a simple thing to her, especially when the child didn't know how to control her emotions.

No matter how adult-like Estelle acted to be, Yulia still analyzed her as the individual she was. How she reacted to things. Not what she did and performed.

"Like you said before, things need to change. The world is beginning to evolve. Not only us, but everyone else, too,"

"Life isn't as fragile as you think. We lose some lives, learn from the loss, and prevent future losses by doing so,"

"Look at how fast people got back up on their feet. Your way of thinking is too close-minded. You need to consider not only yourself as an individual, but the community you're part of,"

Yulia talked to Estelle as if she was giving advice to a child.

In truth, Estelle was a newbie when it came to dealing with her emotions. Her control over them was the same as what her peers would have.

"Community.." Estelle mumbled.

She had been focusing on reaching results efficiently, but had always tried to solve problems by her own.

She would take help from time to time, but ultimately, most of it was done solely by her.

She just didn't feel comfortable leaving her back to others.

"If you don't know how to, then learn. Learn to fix a problem with a team. Don't shoulder it yourself. Not everything can be solved alone. Even I have to borrow Minerva or Heine's power from time to time,"

"I work alone, but that doesn't mean that I can't work with others. Being alone or together is not a fixed choice. You can switch. You need to understand this," Yulia hammered on the words into Estelle's mind.

One day, she could be alone, working in peace and solitude.

Another day, she could be surrounded by her close ones and borrow help from them.

It wasn't like she had to be alone all the time, or together all the time.

Estelle easily understood this.

"I guess so.." she cast her gaze downwards, looking at the floor in a daze.

"...I'll ask you one more time. Once you're ready, come and tell me.. no, us what your decision is," Yulia stood up from her chair and patted Estelle on the shoulder.

She then left for the door.

Estelle was once more left alone.