A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

Annelisa diligently sifted through them, selecting the most heartfelt and exquisitely crafted gifts, and arranged them earnestly in Ansel's bedroom, from the floor to the walls, from the walls to the ceiling, either piled up or hung with exquisite gifts.

She also meticulously cut out the wishes and gratitude she had for Ansel and assembled them into a colorful, large heart, placed at Ansel's bedside. Looking at the different handwriting and content, but the sincere emotions so uniformly expressed, Annelisa herself was somewhat moved.

Every decoration in the room, every blessing and word of gratitude, was crafted by Annelisa over these two days, without the use of any extraordinary powers, purely by hand.

At the moment of completion, she experienced a profound sense of fulfillment, not only for the joy it would bring Ansel but also for the recognition and support he had received from so many people, and for the achievements her son had made at such a young age.

It was the purest and most blissful fulfillment of Annelisa as a mother.

"Ans must be returning soon, hehehe... I wonder how delighted he will be to see all this!"

After casting a supremely satisfied glance around the bedroom one last time, Annelisa left the room contentedly. As she closed the door, her eyes suddenly sparkled with excitement, for she sensed Ansel's presence, that all-too-familiar essence...

"...Huh?"

In just a moment, Annelisa's expression froze.

"Ans..."

The woman's demeanor subtly shifted, and she vanished from the corridor, leaping out from behind a potted plant at the entrance of the teleportation room and barging through the door without even knocking.

"Ans, what's wrong with you? You —"

Annelisa's expression was one of acute distress when she caught sight of Ansel, and she was momentarily stunned.

"What is it, mother?"

The boy tilted his head, smiling gently, "Is it that you've missed me so much after just two days?"

His clothes, his face, his demeanor were all exactly as they had been when he left, as if nothing had changed.

His sea-blue eyes still shimmered with that intoxicating, gentle clarity.

It seemed that in that instant, when Ansel returned via the teleportation array, the chilling, terrifying darkness she felt, so familiar and seemingly all-consuming… was all an illusion.

No... something's not right!

Even though she detected no anomalies, a mother's intuition propelled Annelisa to rush to Ansel's side. She crouched down, cupping the boy's face in her hands, and asked in a whisper:

"Anl, what has truly happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

Ansel looked at his mother, puzzled, "I'm fine, what about you?"

"That's not it..." Annelisa's grip on Ansel's cheeks tightened, "Your aura, just now, in that instant... it was distinctly that of the abyss!"

"You haven't yet taken the pact, you're still so young, how could you... how could you possess such a profound abyssal aura!"

"Mother."

Ansel gently caressed Annelisa's cheek, "Are you overly worried about father? The stress is too much, causing these illusions—"

"Ansel!"

The woman shouted angrily, "Don't try to deceive me! How many times have I told you, I am your mother! You will never fool me in your lifetime!"

She stared intensely into Ansel's eyes, her voice shifting from anger to a powerless plea:

"Tell mother, what exactly happened? Mother will help you, no matter what the problem is, I can surely resolve it."

Yet, her son, so familiar yet so estranged, merely looked at her and smiled.

"It's alright, mother," the boy murmured dreamily and ethereally, "It's all fine now, there won't be any issues…"

But in the next moment, he snapped back to reality, as if unaware of his previous demeanor, and cheerfully said: Stay tuned with empire

"Let's not talk about this much now, mother, I wish to see the flowers."

"..."

She finally understood why she felt something was amiss.

It was instability, her son... was extremely unstable. As if he could crumble at any moment, like a vessel riddled with cracks, on the verge of shattering.

Annelisa's lips trembled slightly, but after a moment of silence, she still took the boy's hand and softly replied:

"Alright, mother will take you to see the flowers."

As Annelisa led Ansel to a secret space known only to their family, she continuously tried to infuse her own strength into Ansel's body, but no matter how much she tried, she only felt... within Ansel's body, there resided an insatiable, indiscriminate monster.

When Annelisa brought Ansel into the sea of flowers, she immediately held him down, and every flower, every blade of grass in the vast floral expanse seemed to come alive, emitting a silent yet awe-inspiring aura.

The power of nature, the force of life, swirled around Annelisa's body and also around Ansel, lying in the flowerbed.

"Ans, don't move, let me try to handle this now..."

"Mother."

The boy spoke so tenderly, placing his hand on the woman's anxious face, "Don't worry, I am fine, I am well."

He shifted his body slightly, resting his head on Annelisa's lap, and quietly closed his eyes.

"Let me rest for a while, this will suffice."

"..."

Beholding the child who had never before revealed such a serene demeanor in her presence, Annelisa found herself compelled to momentarily cease all actions, her hands trembling slightly as she gently caressed Ansel's forehead.

She was utterly incapable of… discerning Ansel's current condition.

The boundless and profound aura of terror... had it harbored even the slightest malice towards her, it might have obliterated her in an instant.

Moreover, this aura was retracting at an astonishing pace, withdrawing to its deepest core, so much so that even she, being in such close proximity, could not detect the slightest anomaly.

"Ans..."

Annelisa was consumed by fear, her character, forever optimistic and lively, had never before displayed such stark panic and dread in front of Ansel.

"What has happened...? How could you, why would you...? These past days, what exactly have you been doing?"

The boy, lying tranquilly on his mother's lap with his eyes closed, offered no response.

After what seemed an eternity of prolonged silence, he finally spoke, "To do what is right, Mother."

"What right thing! What... what have you done to yourself!"

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