Sexy "British Villain"(2)

Although he himself wanted to offer it to her—to try to embarrass her—Rachel's straightforwardness crushed him like a coffin lid.

"A joke," she said, lifting her head, a satisfied grin spreading across her face.

For a moment longer, the dark-haired man looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Pff…" suppressing a chuckle, he finally understood her little prank.

"You have a great sense of humor. You've settled the score with me."

Rachel just smiled again in response.

"I admit, I never imagined the person leading the most influential dark guild like this… I thought it would be a gloomy woman dressed all in black. But you turned out to be such a sweet, friendly… lady."

(Vassarian bit his tongue to avoid calling her a Witch, as others usually did.)

"To be honest, I never liked that color in clothing," she pouted childishly, pursing her lips.

"Hm, you're right. I never would have thought that the head of the Black Guild, who is called the Witch, would be sitting in front of me in fluffy pink slippers and drinking cocoa with marshmallows."

"A true villain never looks like a villain."

So, while chatting and discussing the details of the matter, the first meeting between two criminal world figures passed.

A couple of hours later.

The day was in full swing, the sun high in the sky.

It seemed enough time had passed since the ruler of Edis left, but her face remained suspiciously calm—showing that her mood was still not good.

Sure, she talked casually with her new acquaintance, but that didn't mean she was thrilled.

The fact that the head of Edis himself had stormed in—with important news, no less—was essentially proof that he wanted to curry favor with Rachel. To get closer to her and thereby strengthen his own power.

For the Black Guild, it would have been an excellent chance to prosper… But who said the guild was Rachel Roxberg's top priority? The Black Guild was a product of her boredom, which she tried to suppress by taking orders and earning profit.

Unlike power-hungry Vassarian, who tried to blind her with lies…

Rachel didn't want to get involved with such a problematic man. She just wanted to live the quiet life of the "Witch" and head of the Black Guild.

Rachel sat in the living room in pajamas, complaining about today's guest while Annelise brushed her hair.

Several minutes had passed since Annelise began her work.

Rachel sat sulking silently, with the expression of… an angry hamster disturbed from sleep?

"Vassarian Azekian… that damn son of a bitch," she finally said after the long silence.

Reflexively looking around, Rachel made sure the maid was the only one who heard it.

Actually, she rarely used such harsh words aloud. Usually, she stuck to mental epithets like "bastard" or "brat."

Yet, when those words came out loud—they didn't match her innocent image at all.

"Madam, don't say that," the maid said with a surprised half-open mouth.

"Why not? What's wrong with that? It's the absolute truth!" The vampire crossed her arms and clicked her tongue, frowning.

"You're insulting dogs."

"Huh? Yeah… right! The poor puppies would be upset… Then—trash!"

"Trash can still be useful somewhere," the maid instantly replied.

Madam looked at her thoughtfully and answered:

"Non-flammable and not recyclable!"

Annelise wanted to add something more but sighed tiredly, realizing arguing further was pointless. Like with a child.

A man about twenty-five years old, with silver hair, a handsome cold face, and the physique of a warrior, sat in the office filling out documents.

Some time passed—the door knocked, and without waiting for an answer, it immediately swung open.

A guy with a cheeky smile appeared in the doorway, not regretting at all disturbing the white-haired man so rudely.

"Izzeckiel, it seems the Emperor invited you to the banquet celebration. I advise you to accept, he won't leave you alone easily," he said, handing over a letter, still in a great mood.

After a couple of seconds, the man called Izzeckiel gave the intruder a disapproving look:

"Hey to you too, Jack…" His face was, as usual, gloomy but calm.

Taking the letter, Izzeckiel skimmed through its contents:

My dear Izzeckiel Flaylmery,

I want to express my immense gratitude for your courage. I will never tire of repeating how glad I am that our country has warriors with boundless holy power.

Your modesty amazed me when you declined the victory ball. I decided to send the invitation to you first...

Not finishing to the middle, the paladin put the letter aside and cast a gloomy glance at Jack.

"Ha… only you would think to intercept a letter from the Emperor himself. And so brazenly read it."

"And you're still the same cold one… How cruel to your best friend," Jack sighed dramatically.

"Skip the greetings. Why are you here?"

"You wound my heart! In the capital, everyone talks about you! All the ladies are thrilled! Is it strange that I came to show support for my dear friend?" Jack crossed his arms with dissatisfaction.

"…"

"Hey, you could at least say something! Anyway, congrats on your victory," Jack clicked his tongue and scratched the back of his head.

"Yes. Thanks," Izzeckiel, with a stone face, resumed reading documents.

"What?! What's with that dry 'yes'?! Do you even know that you are the most talked-about person in the capital?! If not the entire country…"

"You know I don't care," the paladin replied calmly, turning the page.

"Yeah… What else could interest a psycho like you besides revenge?" Jack tousled his hair.

For a moment, a shadow flickered in Izzeckiel's eyes. His gaze darkened.

But quickly regaining composure, he looked away, was silent—and, as if forcing himself, finally said:

"They refused."

"What?.. That's impossible."

Shocked, Jack stared at him without blinking.

"That's it. They refused. I even contacted the head of the Black Guild branch—and he refused."

"What did you say?.. The head?.. How did you even contact him… No, wait. What did the people of Edis say?"

"No matter how much I offered—they all refused. Then I noticed surveillance. Vampire mercenaries.

I wanted to find out who sent them. Even used power… But they only cursed me before I… got rid of them," Izzeckiel said with disgust, feeling no guilt.

"That's just impossible. Wasn't that woman… just a normal vampire?.."

Still disbelieving the white-haired man's words, Jack rubbed his temples. His head began to ache from the overload of information, and his brain, like himself, utterly refused to believe what Flaylm said.

"Woman?" His partner repeated hysterically mocking the word, then his voice was full of disgust again:

"Just a vile spawn. She's not even human." Finishing the phrase, his face became frightening, radiating a thirst for murder.

"Sorry…" The brunette's eyes showed regret, and blinking his fluffy lashes, he stared down at the floor.

"You have nothing to apologize for. It's not your fault," Izzeckiel calmed down and forced a smile.

"No, I scoured the entire information guild as you asked, but no one knows anything about her."

"What?.. Although it's quite expected if even the Witch's assistant kept silent about her." He smirked and looked away, pondering again.