[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess":3,"chapter-i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-216":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","I'm in Love with the Villainess!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},895376,1171,"Chapter 216: A Violent Interrogation","i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-216",216,"\u003Cp>Julius slammed his foot into the ground, skidding to a halt the moment he saw me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His face was smeared with grime, his expression a strange mix of forced confidence and raw, unfiltered terror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"W-What are you doing here!?\" Julius demanded, cutting the air with a sharp wave of his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I could ask you the same thing!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BOOM!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julius’s head snapped toward the shattered gate as the explosion echoed through the area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Get away, now!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Light Guardian]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His halo and wings erupted in a rush, forming incompletely as he chose speed over stability. Whatever he sensed, it was lethal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>FIZZLE!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julius twisted his body aside just as something entered the radius of his spell, the searing rays of light burning it away like flesh under a scorching sun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But whatever was being burned alive... didn’t seem to care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BOOM!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another explosion went off, this time from the tree behind Julius. It was like a massive truck had slammed into it, and the blast hurled him in the opposite direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dark Step]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I teleported behind him before he could crash into a pile of rocks, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him upright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What the hell is going on!?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"J-Just keep your guard up... we’re dealing with something that erases memory...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words stopped me cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Erases memory? How could he possibly know that? I mean, I know it does that—but how does Julius know?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What!? How do you know that!?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This isn’t the time to explain! I’ll tell you later—right now, we need to go!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He seized my sleeve as a surge of magic flooded through both of us. The instant he did, it felt like the invisible creature hunting us sensed it as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BADUMP!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our instincts screamed, but before it could reach us—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Light Transfer]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>ZIP!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We were ripped away and dropped into a narrow alley near the edge of the outer district—the farthest Julius could take us, and mercifully empty of people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that still wasn’t enough for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>THUD!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julius tightened his grip on my sleeve and slammed me against a concrete wall, his[Light Sword]pressed to my throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You knew about that place, didn’t you!?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice was harsh, accusing. He must’ve seen the panic and desperation on my face in that brief moment our eyes met—and that alone was enough for him to think I was involved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fine. I did.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I answered flatly, then grabbed the blade of his sword and drove my foot into his abdomen, sending him crashing into the opposite wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Now you’re going to tell me what the hell you were doing there.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s beside the point. You clearly knew that place existed—and whatever lived in it,\" Julius spat. \"Why the hell didn’t you tell us!?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Black Flame Manipulation]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My flames devoured his sword, and I seized him by the collar with both hands, hauling him off the ground and slamming him even harder against the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, I wouldn’t get this physical if I wanted information. But he was the one who pointed a sword at me first. Paying him back felt only fair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>THUD!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hurled him across the ground. Before he could get up, I pinned him there with my foot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tell me. Why were you there?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I asked again, voice low.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julius tried to slip free, but my strength held him down. Every time I felt magic stir in the air, I pressed harder, using pain to break his concentration before he could cast anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"L-Lillian asked me to investigate, okay!?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gasped, clutching at my leg with both hands, trying to ease the pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lillian sent him to check on the mining company?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Good enough, I guess...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And then?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"T-There was a hole... I checked it out with a team and got attacked, but I resisted the memory erasure long enough to teleport away.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I ground my heel in deeper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A-And I accidentally teleported it with me when it grabbed my foot at the last second!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I lifted my foot as soon as I had my answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So that’s what started all of this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julius sat up as soon as he could breathe again, one hand pressed to his chest as he healed himself, like he’d just had a mountain dropped on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But... while we were fighting it above ground, it suddenly acted weird, like it sensed a threat or something. It got stronger... and took out everyone I brought to investigate...\" he muttered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weird behavior? Definitely had to do with my spell...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for his strange confrontational attitude with me... that was likely from watching his comrades die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So my theory was right. All of this was just a string of unfortunate coincidences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now I had another question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I could block its memory erasure with black flames and the serpent’s amulet. What was Julius’s excuse for being immune to it, just like me?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You said it erases memory, how can you still remember?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I asked him, still looming over him but no longer pinning him down. I knew full well I couldn’t take it down myself anyways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last thing I needed was to alienate a possible ally. Even if Julius was the last person I wanted help from, he was still the strongest one available at the moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’d already gotten my revenge by kicking him in the abdomen and hurling him across the ground—no need to stay aggressive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides... for now, we were probably the only two people who could reasonably match its memory-erasing abilities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can’t tell you that...\" Julius muttered, refusing to meet my eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Typical.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Photographic Memory]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I searched the novel for possible explanations, but nothing showed up. Or at least... nothing that was directly related to his immunity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Look,\" he said, taking a breath, \"I know we got off on the wrong foot. And I still don’t know what you know about that place or... thing, but I want you to help me—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, shut up. Of course I’m helping you,\" I cut him off before he could finish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"H-Huh...?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He froze for a moment, clearly surprised by how easily I agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"R-Really?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do I look like someone who’d want a memory-erasing invisible beast roaming around?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I shot back, raising an eyebrow at him.\u003C\u002Fp>",1040,"2026-06-03T05:52:53.768Z",1,"novelbin.me","5a0b6ae4e6d2c73c2c92101a944b5a591d18645e4e88070e5f5727347fd89e1c","i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-217","i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-215",324,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-cover.jpg"]