Living as the Villain’s Stepmother - Chapter 208

“It’s against the knighthood rule for me to say it.” Hizette was still adamant about keeping it a secret, and Lila wasn’t having it.

“I think that rule applies to those who aren’t a part of the family, and I’m the Duchess of Wipere, so you’re saying that rule applies to me as well?”

The atmosphere was rigid. Hizette closed his mouth for a moment as he didn’t seem to have an answer. But after letting out a tiring sigh, he spoke.

“Then you should hear it from my lord–” He wasn’t finishing his sentence which was unlike his usual self. Lila crossed her arms as if she couldn’t understand. “My Lord probably already noticed that you have invaded here.”

Invaded?

That did not seem like a word that the duchess of the family should be hearing.

Hizette pointed at Lacias’s ring that was still bound in the pillar. Since it was reacting to Lila’s ring it meant that Lacias was already notified.

“You’d be able to hear a more thorough explanation from him…”

Lila’s eyes narrowed and her tone matched it. “You know It won’t be thorough at all, he will purposefully leave out the things I don’t need to hear.”

She purposefully showed more emotion than usual to make a point, but Hizette still wouldn’t budge. Instead, he lowered his head and stayed silent.

“I’m very curious,” said Lila. “What kind of item needs to be hidden from me to this degree?”

She scanned through the pillar with her tidy fingernail. Hizette’s eyes tenaciously followed. Like he had a duty to protect that pillar no matter the cost.

Lila took note of his reaction since he did not stop her, the pillar was firm enough to take more than just a touch. This brought Lila to bring something out of her pocket that instantly made Hizette more defensive.

“Lila, that’s dangerous.”

Lila pointed the barrel of her gun at the pillar and kept a tight grip on the trigger. She knew her ring was already loaded from the start of the game so she did not need to reload it.

“You’ve been calling me Lila since I got here. Why? Are you not accepting the fact that I’ve become the Duchess?”

No response.

“You’re not answering. They say silence is acceptance.”

“That’s not it,” he said hesitantly. “I just…”

He seemed to be looking for an explanation that wouldn’t insult her but instead, he just closed his mouth and leaned his hand against his forehead, it looked like he was annoyed at his loss of words.

For Hizette who didn’t really have a change in emotion, it was a rare sight. But neither Lila nor Hizette had the mind to go deep into it.

He eventually locked his eyes back to her pistol and reaffirmed his voice. “My Lord will be coming soon. So please, put the gun down and step aside, it’s dangerous.”

“Why is it dangerous? Shouldn’t you explain to me so I can understand and stop?”

“Please listen to me.”

That wasn’t enough to convince him as Lila predicted. “Why should I?” She objected.

“I’m asking you for a favor…” Hizette clenched his teeth as he held in the urge to shout at his master’s wife. “You…”

Hizette stopped himself from saying something rash by lowering his head in defeat. Lila caught a glimpse of a tear in his eye but she wasn’t sure.

“You what?” asked Lila, keeping her clutch strong.

“I’ll tell you.” In the end, Hizette gave in to Lila’s stubbornness. He wasn’t one to argue with someone of such status. “This is something you’d find out sooner or later, so I’ll explain it to you as objectively as possible. Please don’t be angry.”

“Be angry?”

“Yes, it feels like you might so I’m giving you a warning. That’s also why I was saying you should hear it from my lord.”

Lila took a deep breath and loosened her grip. “That’s fine, just tell me objectively.”

If it was Lacias, he would for sure smile slyly like a fox, trying to persuade her while hiding the truth and only telling her what he wanted her to know. Hizette was a much more reliable source of information.

“This tool has the rings of all the previous Dukes of Wipere. We’re yet to come up with a proper name for it so we just call it The Prisoner.”

Lila had a confused look on her face. “The Prisoner? So these rings are prisoners? Whose?”

“I would assume they’re prisoners of the Ahibalt Empire, but I’m not sure. The royal family is the only party more powerful than the Wipere family.”

This came as a shock to Lila but nothing that would ensue anger. After the founding of the Empire, the royal family was afraid of the Wipere family’s ability. Rings.

In very rare cases, commoners had the power to awaken this ability but the probability was very low. However, in the case of the Wipere family, almost the entire lineage could summon rings, not to mention how destructive their power was while wielding it.

The royal family picked out those who could handle rings from the commoners and made the ring knighthood, but when they saw that one Wipere was able to destroy them without a sweat, they decided to come up with a restriction.