Too Lazy to be a Villainess novel Chapter 321

Chapter 321: The Fall of Red Wall

(Lavinia’s POV —Eastern Region, Towards the Red Wall Castle—Pre-Siege Night)

The moon hung in the sky like a dull silver coin—cold, distant, and unimpressed by mortals trying to survive beneath it, the sun will rise in three hours.

We had marched through the forest and plains for hours. By the time Redwall Castle’s massive silhouette emerged in the distance, night had fully settled.

We made camp in the thin stretch of dead valley before the fortress—just out of archer range, just close enough to taunt.

No torches were lit.

No banners waved.

Silence itself became our armor.

Marshi prowled the perimeter, growling at anything that dared rustle. Solena perched on a rock, wings folded but eyes sharp—the calm before she carved the sky.

And then—Footsteps. Hundreds of them.

Colonel Zerith approached, fist to his chest.

"Your Highness," he announced quietly. "The villagers have gathered. All of them."

I didn’t move at first.

Then I rose.

My cloak dragged behind me as I walked toward the open valley edge—and there they were.

Villagers. Hundreds upon hundreds... stretching into the darkness. Men, women, even teenagers—carrying wooden sticks, broken tools, rocks, clay jars—anything that could look like a weapon from afar.

Their bodies shook from cold.

Not from fear.

From hunger.

And yet—every single one of them had come.

When I stepped forward, silence wrapped them like a spell. Torches lit their faces from below—hollow cheeks, tired eyes, and lips cracked from lack of food.

Starving people who were ready to risk everything.

Not for loyalty.

Not for patriotism.

For survival.

I nodded once.

"Thank you for coming." The sound alone made them flinch—like praise was foreign.

"You are here because I made a promise," I continued, voice steady, cold, regal. "Help me take Red Wall Castle... and you will eat every day. You will work and be paid. Your children will never starve again."

Their breath trembled.

A young boy stepped forward—barely sixteen, fists shaking as he clutched a broken rake. "What if... we die before we can reach that kingdom, Your Highness?"

The way he asked—blunt, exhausted—cut deeper than a blade. I walked toward him and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"You won’t die," I said. "Because you won’t be fighting."

A shock rippled through the crowd.

I turned—loudly enough for all to hear: "You are not my soldiers. You are not weapons. You are a wall."

Confusion flickered in their eyes.

I lifted my hand toward Red Wall Castle in the distance.

"When Red Wall sees you approaching, they will hesitate. They cannot fire arrows at their own civilians without consequences."

Arwin stepped forward, taking the cue with a soldier’s precision.

"That hesitation," he said, "is when we break their gates."

Haldor followed—voice low and lethal. "And if anyone tries to harm you... they will die before their arrow can land."

A wave of relief—sharp, fragile—passed through the villagers. Osric stood stiffly to my side. Quiet. Watching. Heart and duty wrestling in his eyes.

I raised my voice one last time. "Walk toward the castle. Bang on the gates. Demand food. Shout. Riot."

My gaze sharpened.

"BE LOUD. GET ANGRY. MAKE THEM PANIC."

The crowd flinched—then slowly nodded. A storm was forming—the kind that wasn’t lightning but the rage of the starving.

I turned to my army.

"SOLDIERS — FORM BEHIND THE VILLAGERS. NO ONE BREAKS FORMATION."

68,000 soldiers straightened as one.

Across the valley, Red Wall Castle seemed untouchably colossal—blood-colored stone rising like a giant from the earth.

But tonight... it would tremble.

I smirked, voice low enough that only the closest commanders heard:

"Once the sun rises... we attack."

Not with brute force. Not with reckless valor.

With strategy.

With precision.

And with fury wrapped in discipline.

"If my plan works," I continued, eyes locked on the crimson fortress, "the Red Wall soldiers won’t even have a chance to strike. We will seize this castle in a single day."

Arwin exhaled sharply—half in disbelief, half in awe.

"And if Red Wall falls..." he muttered.

"We will have broken the spine of Meren," I finished.

Somewhere deep in Red Wall, horns sounded—clumsy, frantic, and uncoordinated. Soldiers raced to the walls, but they didn’t know what to target.

I sat atop my horse, cloak snapping in the wind. My People behind me, waiting for the right time to attack.

They were fueled by me.

And when I spoke again, my tone was cold enough to frost steel:

"If they want to use their starving people as weapons... then we will use their tyranny to destroy them."

***

[Minutes before dawn]

Villagers—hundreds of them—gathered before the gate, fists pounding the wood with starvation and rage fueling every strike.

They screamed:

"OPEN THE GATES!"

"WE ARE YOUR PEOPLE!"

"FEED US!"

Hunger sharpened their voices into a weapon. Soldiers on the walls hesitated—confused, defensive, and afraid.

Exactly as I planned. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

One guard finally shouted, "BACK OFF! OR WE FIRE!"

Haldor smirked. "They don’t know whether to defend or apologize."

I tilted my chin. "Let that confusion choke them."

A guard—trembling in fear—threw a stone.

CRACK.

The rock slammed into a villager’s skull. The man dropped, blood pooling warm and wide. Everything stopped.

Then the villagers ROARED —

"YOU KILLED HIM!!!"

"MONSTERS!"

"OPEN THE DAMN GATES!"

Perfect.

THUD—!!

THUD—CRACK!

BOOOOOOM!!!

The Red Wall shook—not from the ram — From the fear of the ruler who walked through it.

BOOOOOOM—!!!

SLASH–SLASH–SLASH–SLASH–SLASH.

ROAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

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