Too Lazy to be a Villainess novel Chapter 223

Chapter 223: A Poison for a Poison

[Lavinia’s Pov— Dark Forest—Continuation]

"Don’t touch his chest wounds, Osric." I peered over the flank of my horse, one manicured finger pointing with perfect boredom at the slick stain on Caelum’s upper side from his heart. "There’s poison in it."

Osric’s hand froze mid-reach. He blinked, then looked at me the way a man looks at a blade: polite, nervous, and unwilling to be the first to test it. "Why—why would you stab him with poison, Lavi?"

His voice had that low, angry-edged concern I was starting to find... adorably protective.

"Ex-actly," Caelum croaked from his awkward perch atop Osric’s horse—dangling like a bad ornament—"She is... monstrously cruel. So cruel." He sounded offended by the mere suggestion of it.

Osric, apparently out of ideas, gave the prisoner an instinctive, scandalized thwack across the cheek. "Shut up," he muttered.

I only shrugged, wide and unapologetic.

"What’s wrong with that?" I said, tilting my head with that practiced air of a queen explaining arithmetic. "That bastard poisoned me once." I let the memory gleam in my voice like a sharpened coin. "So I gave him a present in return. A poison for a poison."

Osric’s jaw tightened. "You could have—"

"Saved the theatrics for dinner?" I finished for him, grinning in a way that looked suspiciously like electricity. "Nah. I prefer my revenge pretty." I tapped the pommel of my saddle with a nail.

"Also, the most interesting part is that...it’s a slow poison." I let the words hang, soft and cruel. "It will first gnaw at his insides—nice, slow, delicious—and then it will take him. Eventually. Patiently. Like a storm."

My laugh spilled out—half witchy, half delighted. "Heh—heh—HAHAHAHA..."

. . .

Osric exhaled a long, exhausted sound. "Lavi, please. He must live until interrogation. He’s the only one who can tell us who was helping him until now." His voice snagged on the list like a blade catching cloth. He hates being blind. He hates loose ends.

I waved him away, as breezy as someone dismissing a raincloud. "Oh, don’t worry." I gave him a look that was equal parts promise and threat. "He’ll live. Long enough to squeal. Then? Well... we’ll decide if he gets to keep breathing."

Osric’s mouth flattened into that impatient line he gets when I’m being melodramatic—and yet he didn’t argue. Because somewhere beneath the scolding and the worry, he trusts my cruelty to be precise. Practical. Effective.

Solena circled above us, a streak of golden feathers, and Marshi strode at my side, golden fur smoking with that calm, dangerous patience of his.

The forest slid by in a wash of black and ember, the night holding its breath as we all rode—queen, knight, and divine beast—carrying a sick, sneering man who thought he’d outlived their kind.

Osric’s sigh broke the silence. Not weary this time—something gentler. He glanced at me, his eyes catching the faint firelight. "You did well tonight, Lavi."

I glanced at him. He had that warm smile. often, warm enough that I felt it prickle down my spine before his words even landed.

"I’m proud of you." His voice was low, steady, and almost reverent. "You hunted him alone. You cornered him when he thought himself clever. That’s not luck—that’s strength. The kind an empress should have."

The words hit me harder than any blade.

"...I—" I coughed, fidgeting with the reins like they were suddenly the most fascinating things in the world. "Yes. Thank you. Very much."

The edges of my voice frayed, betraying the heat crawling into my cheeks.

Osric only chuckled under his breath, not mocking, but pleased—like my embarrassment was some secret treasure only he was allowed to see. His hand brushed his horse’s reins, steady as ever, yet the curve of his lips lingered on me as though I was the only light in the dark forest.

We rode further into the night, my pulse louder than the hoofbeats, his words burning through the cold like fire.

And I hated how much I liked the way he said it—you’ll be a good empress.

***

[Emperor Cassius POV — Imperial Palace—Throne Room]

The murmurs in the throne room cut through the air like blades, soft but incessant. Whispers of disbelief, accusations, and mockery bounced off marble walls.

"I... I can’t believe the hidden emperor was Caelum," one noble hissed, voice trembling with awe—or fear.

"I agree..." another chimed, a hint of venom in his tone. "...so the Marquess Everett was involved in this treason as well?"

"Who knows..." a third voice murmured, glancing at the chained man on the floor. "...just look at him kneeling like that. His dignity must be completely shattered."

The laughter started next. Quiet at first, then growing—mocking, cruel, thoughtless. "He walked like a king, a leader even... and now?" another sneered. "Look at him! Pathetic!"

I had left her to face him alone. Alone. And yet, my chest tightened at the thought. I could not be there to shield her, to cut down the men who dared even glance at her the wrong way. Not this time. A parent must, at some point, allow their child to walk into danger—to carve her own path... but the thought did little to ease the fire of worry coiling in my gut.

"She isn’t hurt," I whispered under my breath, almost a prayer. She isn’t hurt. She’s strong. She’s... Lavinia.

The words snapped me fully back. My hand clenched into a fist. My voice cut the murmurs like steel. "Regis! Shut his mouth before I separate his head from his damned body!"

The tension in my chest eased a fraction. Osric. That boy... a steady blade in the darkness. I knew Lavinia was not alone. She was alive. My daughter’s fury was matched by his watchful presence. Good. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

I can trust that boy with this.

I exhaled slowly, heavily. My gaze shifted back to the chains, to the trembling man kneeling before me, and then... my thoughts raced again to Lavinia. She’s out there, somewhere in the dark. Hunting. Surviving. Beating him at his own game.

And still, a part of me ached. I should have been there. I should have guided her hand and kept her safe.

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