A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

"Shall we enter?" Ansel tilted his head slightly, his tone laced with playful mockery, "Step foot into this place you've opened up your detestation for countless times three years ago?"

"Firstly, replace 'opened up' with 'complained'," Ravenna responded, her face devoid of emotion.

"Secondly, I've complained to you about this no more than ten times."

With that, she shifted her gaze from the opulent architecture within the estate to the guard who was ostensibly on duty but had completely missed their presence.

"As for the answer..."

The scholar in pursuit of truth, her voice slow yet resolute, uttered words of disdain, "I have no reason to halt here."

Her response was as Ansel had anticipated. The young Hydral stared into the estate, already aware of the trajectory fate had set for Ravenna.

In the six years of struggle, Ansel knew well that in the game against fate, even if he could eliminate almost all variables within his power, it was impossible to have complete control. Adapting to circumstances and making temporary arrangements were far more important than pre-planning.

Ravenna Ziegler had parents, relatives. She couldn't possibly have been born a monster capable of controlling her emotions. Despite her... complicated childhood, these people were still the best tools to evoke her emotions.

Fate tried to stir Ravenna's emotions, which Ansel had anticipated. His original plan was to render Ravenna emotionless, turning her into a mere tool.

Although his actions upon returning to the capital seemed unrelated to this goal, they were merely probes and preparations.

Fate had two "reasonable" paths to choose from. The first was to follow the original trajectory, destroy the Tower of Babel, and exile Ravenna from the capital.

This path had been temporarily blocked by Ansel through the empress's absurd game. Holding the Tower of Babel, he could ensure the organization's safety to the greatest extent. So... fate would naturally choose the second path — to maintain Ravenna's emotions by using people and events as much as possible without destroying the Tower of Babel.

Although Ansel could predict the general direction, his control here was far less than in the capital of the Red Frost Territory. He had no way of knowing how fate would push things forward, but following the line of Eileen would definitely not be wrong.

He just didn't expect... fate to be so direct, involving Ravenna's parents.

The young Hydral's lips curled up slightly. Unpredictability didn't mean unmanageability. After hundreds, even thousands of games against fate, he had a clear understanding of that "great" existence, whether it was simply rigid or purely disdainful of flexibility.

Since fate wanted to evoke Ravenna's emotions through her parents, the first thing to resolve was their conflict. Normally, in pursuit of the truth about Eileen's death, Ravenna should choose to infiltrate the Ziegler estate. But to make her communicate with her parents, our dear Venna would choose under the drive of fate...

"Guard."

Ravenna, who had been hiding, suddenly appeared, startling the gatekeeper.

"Notify the master here," she said emotionlessly to the guard who had instinctively drawn his weapon, "Visitors have arrived."

"You... who are you?"

The guard's sword was pointed at two figures who had appeared out of thin air, both of whom seemed rather ominous… Although one of them appeared harmless, her icy, stern gaze and the sense of danger that her demeanor exuded clearly surpassed her harmless appearance.

"I said, inform the master of this place that there are visitors. Do you not understand?"

Ravenna furrowed her brows and repeated, "Is this how you perform your duties as a guard?"

As an uninvited guest who had appeared out of nowhere at the entrance of someone else's estate, probably only Ravenna would command the guard in such a tone.

"Mr. Guard," Ansel stepped forward and spoke gently, "Could you please inform the Ziegler couple that Ravenna and her friend have come to visit? It's just a notification, is that alright?"

Despite her disguised appearance, the aura of Hydral managed to calm the guard considerably. He took out a telecrystal from his pocket, all the while keeping a wary eye on Ansel and the increasingly impatient Ravenna. After waiting for a short while, he spoke into the crystal:

"Good day, Butler Cain, there are two people who wish to visit the lord and the lady. They claim to be... Ravenna and her friend. Should I let them... What? I...

Alright, I understand."

The guard's expression during the communication was quite a spectacle. After he finished, he immediately sheathed his sword and bowed deeply in a terrified and timid manner, "Please forgive me, forgive my rudeness! Miss Ravenna, and this gentleman! Butler Cain will be here shortly, please... please come in!"

Although Ansel understood why Ravenna was doing this, he still asked with a light laugh, "So, you're planning to confront your parents face to face, even though you're here to investigate Eileen's cause of death? Aren't you afraid of alerting them?"

"...Even if he is as cowardly and despicable as he is,"

Ravenna, who was walking side by side with Ansel into the estate, whispered, "He wouldn't commit the beastly act of patricide."

"So, you're planning to beat around the bush." The young Hydral stroked his chin, "Let me think... how should I sabotage this?"

Ravenna looked up at him but didn't say anything.

They had just entered the estate when an elderly man, dressed neatly and standing upright, hurried over. The tears that welled up in his eyes when he saw Ravenna from afar were not fake.

"Miss, Ravenna... Miss!"

The old butler, who was kneeling on one knee in front of Ravenna, sounded somewhat choked up, "You... are you willing to come back?"

"...I just want to ask some questions, don't overthink it, Cain."

Ravenna looked at the man in front of her, who was even older than Saville, and seemed too old to be a butler. Her eyes showed a moment of confusion, but she quickly suppressed it.

"I thought you had been dismissed by them a long time ago."

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