I Only Summon Villainesses

The Cāng Lán compound sat near the top of the island’s crescent, separated from the rest of the settlement by a high wall of pale stone capped with dark tiles. The entrance was a wide gate, its wooden doors painted a deep red that had faded with time into something closer to rust. Above the gate, carved into a stone tablet and inlaid with what looked like mother-of-pearl, were characters I couldn’t read but assumed spelled out the household name.

Two guards flanked the entrance. They wore layered robes in shades of dark blue over light armour that incorporated the same scaled pattern I’d seen on the attendant’s forearms. They watched us approach without expression and parted when Lín Shuǐyáo raised her hand.

Inside the compound, the careful construction I’d noticed throughout Chén Lián was elevated to something else entirely.

The courtyard was vast, floored in smooth grey stone, with a garden at its centre built around a pool of still water. A single tree grew from an island in the middle of the pool, its branches heavy with white blossoms that drifted down to the surface and floated there. Covered walkways surrounded the courtyard on all sides, leading deeper into the compound.

Lín Shuǐyáo led us across the courtyard and through one of the walkways without pausing. The interiors grew quieter as we moved inward. The ambient noise of the settlement faded, replaced by the soft sound of water moving somewhere beneath the floor. The corridors were lined with painted panels depicting scenes I caught only in fragments as we passed: waves crashing against cliffs, figures in flowing robes, creatures I didn’t recognize swimming through dark water.

Finally, she stopped before a set of sliding doors.

“The Matriarch will see your representative first. One person.”

Levi glanced back at us. Then, for reasons I still don’t fully understand, everyone looked at me.

“What?”

“You’re the talker,” Nisha said.

“Since when?”

Levi gave me a lazy shrug.

“Well, you’re the one in a more suitable position to do it… you’re strong. And you’re the only Heroic Summoner we have… well, to be quite frank, Villainous Summoner.”

I looked at Tristan. Tristan looked at the ceiling. I sighed, straightened my clothes, and stepped forward.

“Fine.”

Lín Shuǐyáo slid the door open. The room beyond was large, sparsely furnished, and dominated by a raised platform at the far end. On that platform, seated behind a low table of dark wood, was a woman who looked old enough to be ancient and young enough to be ageless. Her hair was pure white, pulled into an elaborate arrangement held in place by pins that caught the light. Her robes pooled around her like spilled water.

She looked at me.

I looked at her.

’Careful,’ Kassie said quietly. ’This one is dangerous.’

The Matriarch smiled. It was a pleasant smile. The kind that made you wonder what it was hiding.

“So,” she said. “You are the ones who wish to take my commission.”

I returned her smile with one of my own.

“We are. And I’m told it’s quite the job.”

Her smile didn’t waver.

“Quite,” she agreed. “Sit.”

I lowered myself into a lotus position across from her.

Silence settled between us. In that stillness, maids in delicate robes and ivory skin moved without a sound, placing a tea set beside me and another before the Matriarch. The porcelain clinked softly against the dark wood, and then they were gone.

The Matriarch spoke first.

“The Lotus Leaf tea is our island’s specialty. Our family has held the responsibility of processing this leaf throughout all of the Waterlands, and we oversee its distribution as well. Our unique brewing techniques earned us that privilege.”

She paused, watching me with those crimson eyes.

“Are you familiar with the Waterlands, Sir…?”

I’d been staring at the tea before me. Crystal blue, so clear it looked like water given colour by light alone. When she paused for my name, I straightened.

“Cade. My name is Cade.”

“Hm. Sir Cade. What a foreign name.”

I let out a chuckle.

“Are you familiar with the Waterlands, Sir Cade?”

I shook my head.

“This is my first time in the Waterlands.”

“Hmm… fair. Then this shall cause no problem for us.”

She folded her hands on the table.

“This commission is simple. I’m willing to back it with a reward of one million gold crowns, of which, should you accept, I’ll be paying five hundred thousand up front.”

I let the number sit for a moment. A million crowns. Once, that figure would have made my pulse jump. But I’d been at the Night Auction. I’d spent sums that would have made the old me pass out. I had to keep reminding myself how rich I actually was, and at the same time, there was nothing wrong with getting richer.

The Matriarch, however, was not finished.

“Aside from the gold, should you complete this mission, we shall open the doors of our Archive to you. We, the Boundless Wave Clan, are one of the ancient existing clans not just in Crystalis Archipelago but in all of Ashara. You would find only two older than us.”

Her tone remained measured, almost conversational.

“I am also willing to offer you my daughter’s hand in marriage, connecting you to the next Matriarch of the Boundless Wave Clan.”

For a moment, my thoughts went blank. Not from the gold. Not from the Archive. The marriage offer. That was what caught me off guard. What kind of job demanded this level of payment?

I showed nothing. No widened eyes, no shift in posture. Truthfully, maintaining composure was easier than it should have been. The gold didn’t move me because I’d already crossed the threshold where numbers that large lost their weight. The Archive was interesting. The marriage was alarming. But none of it was worth losing my face over before I’d even heard the job.

The Matriarch studied me for a breath, then smiled softly.

“It seems I have failed to enthuse Sir Cade with these rewards. Well then, is there something you would add to the offering? Something that might motivate you to want to win?”

I raised my head and looked at her from across the room.

Her white hair fell like a river of silk. Crimson eyes glistened against ivory skin, and her face was the kind of beautiful that felt deliberate, as if every feature had been placed exactly where it would do the most damage. Her robes draped from her shoulders, the fabric pooling at her collarbones, revealing the cleavage of her breasts which alone was enough to make my mind want to go insane.

I inhaled and spoke with an unhurried tone.

“You.”

My eyes met hers evenly.

“The reward I want you to add is you, the Matriarch.”