Villain's Evolution: Investing in My Minions Yields Crazy Returns!

Central District of Starlight Royal Academy... White Tower.

This tower was one of the most striking structures in the entire academy.

It stood over two hundred meters tall, making it quite hard for anyone to miss it.

The entire tower was constructed from a type of white stone possessing exceptionally powerful mana conductivity. Complex magical patterns covered the outer walls, and from a distance, one could even faintly see pale blue energy slowly flowing along those lines.

The highest floor ordinary students were permitted to enter was the fifth. The sixth floor and above required special authorization.

Victor had only just reached the entrance when the two academy knights standing guard voluntarily stepped aside.

Clearly, Cecilia had already given instructions beforehand.

”Young Master Victor, Her Highness is waiting for you on the seventh floor.”

”Mm.” Victor entered the White Tower.

The magical elevator formation carried him upward.

A few seconds later, he arrived at the seventh floor.

Ding.

The magical doors slowly opened.

There was no large group of guards like he had imagined, nor was there a royal entourage.

The entire seventh floor was unusually quiet.

The enormous circular space contained only a handful of isolated rooms, and beside the floor to ceiling windows at the farthest end stood a silver haired young woman with her back facing him.

Sunlight passed through the glass and fell across her body.

The white and gold academy uniform outlined her already tall and slender figure, while her silver white hair fell all the way to her waist, carrying a faint sheen under the sunlight.

Victor walked inside calmly, the sound of his footsteps echoing throughout the spacious hall.

Only after hearing those soft, deliberate footsteps did the girl slowly turn around.

This was also Victor’s first time seeing Cecilia from such a close distance.

Exquisite.

That was the first word that came to mind.

But hers was not a fragile kind of beauty.

Her facial features were sharply defined, her violet eyes calm and deep, and combined with the bearing that had been cultivated in a royal family member over many years, even when she merely stood there in silence, ordinary people would instinctively maintain their distance.

According to the original novel’s setting, Cecilia was indeed one of the most beautiful female characters in the entire early stage of the story.

However, Victor’s gaze remained on her face for less than two seconds. Then it moved toward the space above her head.

[Name: Cecilia Saint Laurent]

[Age: 19]

[Level: 27]

[Profession: Holy Radiance Swordswoman]

[Talents: High Level Light Element Affinity, High Level Dark Element Affinity]

[Potential Evaluation: SS]

[Current Condition: ???]

[Current Favorability: 12]

[Current Destiny Trajectory: ???]

[Investment Value: Extremely High]

’Level Twenty Seven??’ Victor’s eyes flashed.

Six entire levels above the original Victor! No wonder she was considered one of the academy’s greatest geniuses of this generation.

”What are you looking at?” Cecilia suddenly asked.

Victor withdrew his gaze. ”I’m wondering what could possibly require Her Highness to personally invite me here.”

Cecilia looked at him for a moment and then said, ”Sit.”

A long table had been placed nearby, with steaming tea already sitting on top.

Victor did not stand on ceremony and sat down directly.

Cecilia sat opposite him.

”I saw what happened yesterday.” She went straight to the point. ”You spent eighty thousand gold coins treating a subordinate who lost.”

Victor lifted his teacup.

”So?”

”The old you wouldn’t have done that.”

”There’s something called change.”

”Overnight?”

”Maybe my head finally started working properly.”

Cecilia quietly stared at him.

Victor did not avoid her gaze either. Instead, he took a small sip of tea and then grimaced afterward.

Why would someone drink something as bitter as this? If not for the circumstances, he would have spit it out.

Cecilia watched him closely, paying strict attention to all the details in his expression.

After several seconds, Cecilia was actually the first to look away.

”I investigated you.”

”That, I figured out already.”

”And you don’t mind?”

”If Her Highness wants to investigate someone, I doubt you need their permission.”

Cecilia nodded her head, not denying it.

She extended a slender finger and gently tapped the table.

”Then I’ll get straight to the point. I need something from House Alves.”

Here it was.

Victor stayed calm, his face aloof and neutral as ever.

”What is that?”

”A usage slot for the Moonlight Sacred Spring.”

Victor’s movements paused slightly.

The Moonlight Sacred Spring.

He actually knew about this.

It was a special secret realm that existed within the northern territory controlled by House Alves.

At the center of that secret realm was a naturally formed mana spring.

Only once every three years would the spring accumulate enough water for use.

For ordinary professionals, the greatest effect of the Moonlight Sacred Spring was cleansing mana impurities inside the body and increasing the success rate of breaking through to the Tier Two life stage.

Its usage slots were extremely valuable. Even House Alves only received five every three years.

And the next opening of the Sacred Spring was only a little over twenty days away.

According to the original body’s memories, one of the five slots had already been implicitly reserved for Victor.

”You’re already Level Twenty Seven.” Victor set down his teacup, his face becoming serious. ”And you completed your first life stage breakthrough long ago. The Moonlight Sacred Spring shouldn’t have much effect on you.”

Cecilia’s gaze did not waver in the slightest as she said, ”I’m not using it to break through.”

”Then what are you using it for?” Victor’s eyes narrowed.

Silence! Cecilia did not immediately answer. She seemed to be in a world of her own, contemplating.

The system had already made it clear to Victor yesterday that this woman did not lack gold coins.

She did not lack equipment or conventional resources like most of his minions did.

What she truly needed was something that could resolve her most urgent current problem.

And now she had personally sought him out because she wanted access to the Moonlight Sacred Spring.

After putting two and two together, the answer was already obvious. The spring could alleviate some kind of problem affecting her body.

Thinking of this, Victor spoke inwardly.

”System. Can I inspect her current condition?”

[Target belongs to an SS Rank destiny individual.]

[Ordinary inspection authority is insufficient.]

[One targeted information analysis may be obtained through the Special Investment Event.]

”Analyze.”

[Analyzing target’s most urgent investment requirement...]

Cecilia clearly had no idea what Victor was doing.

After remaining silent for a moment, she finally spoke.

”I’ve been cursed.”

Almost at the exact same moment, the system panel changed abruptly.

[Analysis Complete.]

[Target’s Current Condition: Abyssal Heart Erosion Curse.]

[Rank: Unknown.]

[Infection Duration: 11 Months.]

[Current Corrosion Progress: 37%.]

[Estimated Time Until Complete Loss of Control: 89 Days.]

[Current Conventional Solution: None.]

Victor’s pupils contracted slightly.

Abyssal Heart Erosion Curse???

He had never heard of it, but from the sound of it, that was no small curse.

However, the final line given by the system was enough to explain the severity.

If there was no solution, then...

Under Victor’s gaze, she slowly removed her glove.

Across the pale skin of the back of her hand... a black pattern extended upward from her wrist.

The markings did not resemble ordinary wounds. They looked like something alive. As mana circulated through Cecilia’s body, the black markings even writhed ever so slightly.

”Eleven months ago,” Cecilia spoke calmly. ”I entered an Abyssal Rift controlled by the royal family. There, I encountered an Abyssal creature that had never been recorded before.

”Before it died, it left this inside my body. Royal healers attempted six different purification techniques. The Church also sent a Tier Six priest.”

She hesitated for a few seconds and then added, ”None of them worked. It devours external purification energy, then continues growing.”

Victor didn’t interrupt her. So far, everything matched the system’s information perfectly.

”The Moonlight Sacred Spring can suppress it?”

”It can’t cure it.” Cecilia put the glove back on. ”But it can temporarily slow down the corrosion. According to the calculations of the royal mages, if I fully immerse myself in it once, I should gain at least another three months.”

Three months. Victor glanced at the eighty nine day countdown displayed by the system. In other words, all she wanted right now was to extend her life.

”Why not ask my father directly through the royal family?” Victor asked.

As the Third Princess, if Cecilia merely wanted one usage slot for the Moonlight Sacred Spring, Duke Alves would most likely not refuse if the royal family formally requested it.

Why come to Victor?

...

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