The Yandere villainess loves the useless engineer

Chapter 45: Rescue

Hours passed slowly within the dungeon cell.

At first, I spent most of that time moving around the room searching desperately for anything useful.

Anything at all.

But there was nothing.

The cell was almost completely empty.

A rusted bucket sat in one corner beside the wall while a large filthy cloth laid across the stone floor which I assumed was meant serve as a bed.

That was it.

No loose stones.

No tools.

No weak bars.

Nothing.

The chains around my wrists rattled constantly while I hopped around the room awkwardly without my prosthetic leg.

Eventually exhaustion started overtaking frustration.

After hours of finding absolutely nothing useful, I finally lowered myself onto the cloth and closed my eyes.

Sleep eventually came despite the cold.

...

...

...

Tink.

Tink.

Tink.

I slowly opened my eyes.

Someone was tapping against the bars.

The dim dungeon hallway beyond the cell slowly came into focus.

Kael stood there calmly.

Two heavily armed knights stood beside him.

Neither of them looked particularly friendly.

Kael folded his hands behind his back while staring into the cell.

"Well?"

I slowly pushed myself upward against the wall.

"Have you decided cooperate?"

My throat felt dry.

But the answer still came immediately.

"No."

Kael remained silent for several seconds.

Then slowly—

He looked toward one of the knights.

The man immediately unlocked the cell door and stepped inside.

For one brief second—

I thought maybe they were just trying intimidate me.

Then the knight punched me directly in the stomach hard enough force all the air from my lungs.

Pain exploded through my body.

Before I could recover—

Another blow slammed into the side of my face.

Then another.

And another.

The beating became relentless.

Steel-plated boots drove into my ribs while fists smashed into my jaw and stomach repeatedly.

At some point I hit the ground.

The knight continued anyway.

Every attempt protect myself only delayed the hits slightly.

Eventually warm blood started dripping across the stone beneath me.

The knight finally stepped back breathing heavily before wiping blood from his gauntlet.

Kael calmly looked down at me from outside the bars.

"I’ll ask again tomorrow."

Then the three of them turned and left.

The cell door slammed shut behind them.

Silence returned once more.

I remained laying on the floor barely breathing.

Everything hurt.

My ribs burned every time I inhaled while blood slowly dripped from my mouth onto the cold stone beneath me.

Hours passed like that.

Then eventually—

Footsteps returned again.

One of the knights approached carrying a plate.

Without saying a word, he shoved it through the bars toward me.

Some kind of gray mush spread across the plate.

I couldn’t even identify what it was supposed be.

The knight stared at me briefly before walking away again without another word.

Leaving me alone once more with the darkness.

————

The days inside the dungeon slowly blurred together.

Pain became routine.

Every morning Kael would appear outside the bars with the same calm expression and ask the same question.

And every day—

I refused.

Then came the beatings.

By the third day, I barely looked human anymore.

My face had swollen badly enough that one eye barely opened while dried blood coated parts of my skin permanently.

Dark bruises stretched across nearly every inch of my body.

Worse still—

I had become frighteningly thin.

My ribs pressed visibly against my skin now from the lack of food.

Even breathing hurt.

The only thing breaking the endless silence anymore were the conversations between two guards stationed farther down the hallway.

Ironically, listening to them had become my only entertainment.

Usually they talked about women, alcohol, gambling, and complaining about work.

But today—

Something felt different.

"...I’m telling you, there weren’t any survivors."

One of the guards sounded genuinely unsettled.

The second scoffed.

"That’s impossible."

"I thought so too."

A pause followed.

"Fortress Holdsted is gone."

My eyes slowly opened slightly.

Holdstead?

That fortress protected the eastern roads leading toward the city.

It was massive.

The second guard lowered his voice slightly.

"You serious?"

"Dead serious."

The first guard swallowed audibly.

"They found the walls melted."

A cold feeling crept slowly through my chest.

"What?"

"The stone."

The guard sounded disturbed even saying it aloud.

"Melted."

Another silence followed.

"...That’s not possible."

"They also found armor fused into the ground."

The second guard nervously laughed.

"You’re drunk."

"I wish I was."

The first guard continued quietly.

"One patrol survived long enough make it back."

"And?"

The hallway became silent for several seconds.

Then finally—

"They said the sky turned purple."

My breathing slowed slightly.

The second guard spoke again, quieter now.

"...Purple?"

"They said darkness spread over the fortress first."

The guard’s voice became increasingly nervous.

"Then soldiers just started disappearing."

My heart pounded painfully against my ribs.

Another silence followed.

Then the second guard finally muttered:

"...You think it’s connected to that prisoner?"

The first guard immediately answered.

"Possibly."

Neither of them laughed this time. freeweɓnovel.cøm

Then quietly—

"Apparently before the commander died, he heard someone asking a question."

The second guard sounded hesitant.

"...What question?"

The first guard lowered his voice almost into a whisper.

"’Where is Leon?’"

Every muscle in my body froze.

A long silence followed afterward.

Then finally the second guard muttered:

"Probably just rumours."

A while later, footsteps echoed down the dungeon hallway again.

Kael appeared outside the bars calmly.

Though today—

He looked more tired than usual.

His eyes carried faint exhaustion beneath them now.

"You know the drill," he said quietly. freewebnøvel.coɱ

I tried answering.

But honestly—

I barely had the strength speak anymore.

So instead I just stared weakly upward from the floor.

Kael sighed slightly.

Then nodded toward the guards.

The beating started again.

This time I couldn’t even properly react.

Every hit simply blended together into dull pain.

Eventually they stopped.

The guards left first.

Then Kael followed them silently back up the stairs.

I remained laying motionless across the floor afterward barely breathing.

Hours passed before I finally managed dragging myself weakly back toward the filthy cloth in the corner.

At this point—

It genuinely felt like my bed.

I slowly curled against the wall before staring blankly into the darkness.

Then suddenly—

A scream echoed somewhere above.

My eyes slowly opened.

Another scream followed.

Closer this time.

Then another.

And another.

The sounds rapidly multiplied.

Men screaming.

Shouting.

Begging.

The further the sounds traveled downward through the halls—

The more desperate they became.

One scream abruptly cut off halfway through.

Then came another sound.

Heavy.

Slow.

Footsteps descending the dungeon stairs.

Two separate sets.

One calm.

One panicked.

Suddenly one pair of footsteps started running.

Then—

Kael practically stumbled into view before collapsing directly in front of my cell.

His face looked completely horrified.

"He’s here—!"

His voice cracked desperately.

Kael turned back toward the darkness beyond the hallway.

"PLEASE WAIT—"

Something hit him.

Not visibly.

Not physically.

Yet his body launched sideways violently into the stone wall hard enough make blood explode from his mouth on impact.

The entire dungeon went silent afterward.

Then slowly—

A figure stepped into view.

Lillith.

She stood completely covered in blood from head to toe.

I knew that not a single drop belonged to her.

Her expression looked cold.

Empty.

Almost monstrous.

Then—

When her eyes landed on me, everything changed instantly.

The moment she saw the state I was in, horror overtook her face completely.

Both hands immediately covered her mouth.

"...Leo..."

Her voice broke.

She looked like she couldn’t even process what she was seeing.

Then suddenly she flicked her fingers sideways casually.

CRUNCH.

The iron bars that had caused me days of frustration twisted apart instantly like soft clay before being thrown aside effortlessly.

Lillith immediately rushed into the cell.

Tears streamed down her face as she dropped beside me and carefully pulled me into her arms.

"It’s my fault..."

Her voice shook violently.

"I left you alone that night..."

She held me tighter.

"I swear on everything I have—I’ll never let you leave again..."

Her breathing trembled.

"Because you’re my everything."

I slowly looked upward toward her.

Blood covered almost every inch of her clothing.

Yet tears continued streaming endlessly down her face while she held me like something fragile.

So despite everything—

I gave her a weak smile.

The moment she saw it, her own expression immediately softened.

She smiled back through tears.

"Oh, you poor thing..."

Her fingers gently brushed against my face.

"You must’ve gone through so much..."

Then incredibly carefully—

She lifted me into her arms.

Almost like a mother carrying an injured child.

As she turned leave the cell, her eyes briefly shifted toward Kael lying broken against the wall.

A faint purple glow appeared within them.

Instantly Kael’s unconscious body lifted into the air behind us.

I weakly looked back toward him.

Lillith noticed immediately and then smiled slightly down at me.

A little too sweetly.

"I just want punish him for a bit later."

Something about the way she said bit made me feel genuinely bad for him.

Lillith slowly carried me through the halls afterward while Kael floated unconscious behind us.

The deeper we moved through the mansion—

The worse things became.

Blood covered almost every corridor.

Bodies.

Destroyed walls.

Burn marks.

At several points I saw pieces of armor embedded directly into stone.

If I had eaten anything within the past day—

I probably would’ve thrown up.

Eventually Lillith entered a kitchen area.

With one hand still supporting me effortlessly, she created a translucent purple chair beside the counter.

Then she carefully lowered me onto it with absurd gentleness.

Like she was afraid I might shatter.

Afterward she searched through the room before eventually finding a loaf of bread and several containers of water.

Then she returned beside me again.

Very carefully, she tore off tiny pieces of bread before holding one toward my mouth.

"Say ahhhh."

I stared at her weakly.

"...Lillith."

"Ahhhh."

Eventually I gave up and opened my mouth slightly.

For the next twenty minutes, she quietly took care of me.

Feeding me.

Giving me water.

Making sure I ate slowly.

Gradually, warmth started returning slightly into my body again.

Lillith immediately noticed the small amount of color returning to my face.

Relief flooded her expression instantly.

"Thank the heavens..."

She gently grabbed both sides of my face again.

"You’re alright..."

A while later she packed together a bundle of food and supplies before lifting me back into her arms again.

Kael still floated unconscious behind us as we finally departed the now silent mansion.

And the entire time—

Lillith continued holding me against her chest like I was the most precious thing in the world.