The Villainess is the Villainess [LitRPG]

Book 2: Chapter 19 - The Fires of Determination [Part 1]

Education is not the filling of the pail, but the lighting of the fire.

- William Butler Yeats.

Flames ravaged Meridian, turning the horizon into a glowing inferno beneath a pall of smoke that dominated the sky. Fire had taken root in the granaries and roared through the neighboring buildings, fueled by new wooden constructions that yielded to the blaze with terrible ease. In the face of this disaster, the Academy—shielded by its layered wards and protected by the might of Earth, Air, and Water Mages—stood unscathed. Yet elsewhere, a broad swath of the city was tasting the hungry kiss of flame.

In the face of this disaster, classes were promptly canceled, as many of the gifted teachers and senior students of the Academy were called upon to protect the city.

Amid the chaos, Seraphina de Sariens merely observed for now. She had foreseen all of this and had invested heavily in grain for precisely this reason. Meridian's winter would be a harsh one if the grain in the destroyed granaries were not replenished, and relief from the kingdom at large could be painfully slow—travel and communication still reliant on the quickness of a horse or the swift wings of a messenger bird.

From her contacts at Lehman's Bank, Seraphina already knew the grim news: Grain prices were set to quadruple. A less ambitious investor would have rushed to sell at the first opportunity, pocketing a tidy sum as the city's demand soared. But not Seraphina. She had no intention of merely turning a profit; she desired the city's devotion, its gratitude, its awe. Timing was everything.

With her trading company—officially owned by her loyal maid, Miriam—Seraphina plotted her grand move. When the city's fury at the established grain factors reached its boiling point—when the people had seen their neighbors price-gouged into near starvation—she would step in. She would release her grain at a modest markup rather than an unconscionable one, emerging as the savior of Meridian's populace.

And oh, how they would love her for it. The other grain factors, those who lined their pockets amid tragedy, would find themselves branded as villains. Seraphina, meanwhile, would appear as an angel of mercy. A smile, chilling in its certainty, curved her lips as she envisioned the final act in her plan: more fires, this time destroying the warehouses of her rivals. The despair and rage of Meridian's citizens would find a target, and who could blame them for turning to arson when they felt cheated and left to starve?

That was the scenario she envisaged.

All these thoughts and more played through Seraphina's mind as she studied the black-and-white stones before her. She and her Page, Ibn, were seated in a secluded nook of the Academy gardens, playing the ancient game of Stones—or Baduk in her native language.

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In this paradise of soft greens and pastels, neither smoke nor flame would intrude upon their game, nor would the troubles of the common folk. Unlike Este Lize, the Silver Witch, she needed this time to relax. A little bird had told her that the silly girl was even now trying to fight the blaze with every scrap of magic she possessed. It was not worth Seraphina's time and effort to lend a personal hand to the efforts to save the city.

Who truly cares if a few NPC peasants died? she thought to herself. One might argue they were fated to perish, their entire lives leading to that singular moment when they were consumed by fire. At least their screams didn't carry this far; sound pollution would have been such a vexation.

Seraphina, with her blonde hair and vivid green eyes, leaned forward on her elbows, her gaze moving across the board. Stones had not been a feature of "The Maiden of the Wisterias," and she wondered how a board game from her world had managed to cross over. Perhaps, centuries ago, another Visitor, a person from a different world like her, had introduced it. A hint of curiosity tugged at her thoughts—what other bits of Earth's legacy might lie yet hidden in Zed Valize?

Hovering close, Miriam served tea with swift efficiency while Eloise quietly turned pages in a hefty tome, her delicate features creased into an expression of thoughtful concentration. A few steps away sat the unlikely Desdemona, close enough to Ibn to offer the occasional remark—advice so questionable that it was at least half the reason for the strategic predicament he now faced.

Seraphina tapped a manicured nail on the table, quietly savoring her plans for the future.

Her Page studied the board with a mixture of dogged determination and dawning resignation. A faint bead of sweat clung to his brow, and he reached for a black stone, rolling it between his fingers. The red-eyed boy placed his black stone in a spot the young noblewoman had seemingly overlooked.

Across from him, Seraphina seemed the very picture of poise—her posture relaxed, a serene half-smile curling at the corners of her lips. The young girl glanced down at the shape of her white stones, then back up at Ibn, not unkindly.

Desdemona hovered just behind Ibn's shoulder. "Have you considered playing here?" she said, tapping the edge of the board with her finger, brimming with self-importance.

Seraphina raised a delicate eyebrow. "Careful, Ibn," she teased with good humor, "Desdemona's suggestions might not be as cunning as they appear."

"Ha!" the brunette scoffed.

The young boy frowned, placing his black stone in a position that expanded a narrow territory on the upper side. Seraphina nodded in mild approval.

"That's a better idea," she remarked. She lifted one of her own white stones and, for a moment, briefly toyed with the notion of playing on to secure the top corner. Finally, however, she placed her stone firmly in a different place. This move reinforced her hold along the top edge, preventing any last-minute invasions and leaving Ibn with fewer prospects. The move grated on her, as Seraphina was not accustomed to playing defensively.