Villainess X Villain: They are obsessed with each other!

Chapter 226 -: 225 Departure.[1]

Meanwhile, far away on the continent of Auranel, the atmosphere surrounding the Hayes Clan Estate felt unusually heavy.

Deep within the estate grounds, an enormous transportation gate stood activated beneath the open sky, its massive circular frame glowing with layers of revolving blue runes.

Waves of mana pulsed outward at steady intervals, causing the surrounding air to distort faintly while servants and guards kept their distance from the platform.

The gate currently connected to one of the neutral trade zones near Saint Brian City, the great commercial center located at the heart of the continent of Alasker where merchants, nobles, mercenaries, and spies from every continent crossed paths daily.

In front of the gate, several members of the family had gathered to send the pair off.

Elizabeth stood quietly beside Nathaniel, though the softness in her expression carried visible reluctance.

Meanwhile, directly in front of her stood Rosel, who looked moments away from bursting into tears completely.

Her shiny eyes trembled constantly as she tried desperately to hold herself together.

The poor girl’s cheeks had already turned pink from suppressing tears for so long, and every few seconds her tiny nose twitched with soft sniffles she clearly believed nobody was noticing.

Unfortunately for her dignity, everyone was noticing.

Especially Julius.

Beside the transportation gate stood Rosalina and Julius themselves.

As always, Rosalina looked breathtaking enough to make several nearby servants lower their heads nervously whenever they accidentally glanced in her direction.

Her long black hair flowed all the way down to the ground like silk before being tied neatly into a practical knot, though two loose strands still framed her cheeks elegantly.

The black gown she wore matched her hair perfectly, while delicate golden patterns ran along the edges of the fabric like flowing sunlight woven into darkness.

Even her usually cold and arrogant eyes carried unusual gentleness today as she looked toward Rosel.

Meanwhile, beside her stood Julius in far simpler clothing compared to her almost terrifying elegance.

A loose black shirt. Dark pants. Hands casually tucked into his pockets.

He looked less like the young master of one of the strongest clans on the continent and more like someone preparing to skip responsibilities professionally.

"Do you two really need to go?" Elizabeth finally asked softly, unable to hide the heaviness in her voice anymore.

"Can’t you handle whatever this is from here? Is it truly necessary to travel all the way to Alasker?"

"It’s called seclusion, mom," Julius interrupted immediately with the exhausted tone of someone who had already explained this several times. "Very profound cultivation stuff. Extremely mysterious."

Nathaniel gave him a flat stare. "You made that sound even less believable."

Julius ignored him smoothly.

"Besides," he continued calmly, "the Holy Empire is in complete chaos right now. The Church is pressuring the Thorne Clan over the heretic situation, while the Velentina Clan is demanding answers regarding their envoy’s death. It’s basically the perfect opportunity to quietly disappear for a while."

As he spoke, his thoughts drifted briefly toward the mess currently unfolding across the continents.

Everything had aligned almost perfectly.

Uriel’s fabricated recordings had successfully turned suspicion toward the Thorne Clan, while the resentment-filled soul fragment planted into Crypian had guided events exactly where Julius wanted them to go.

The Velentina Clan now believed the Thorne Family had orchestrated the incident to provoke conflict between major powers, and no matter how much the Thornes denied involvement, the damage had already been done.

At the same time, the Church had begun pressuring them to surrender their youngest son as a heretic.

Pressure from both sides.

Suspicion from all directions.

And hidden underneath the chaos, Julius and Rosalina were quietly slipping away toward the Four Stationary Continents while everyone else remained distracted trying not to start a continental war.

Honestly, it was almost impressive how convenient disasters became when enough powerful people hated each other simultaneously.

A long sigh suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

Elizabeth rubbed her forehead helplessly. "I still don’t like this..."

"Relax," Julius reassured immediately. "You already left one of your avatars inside the ring. If anything happens, you can just connect through that version instead."

"That is not comforting."

"It should be."

Before Elizabeth could continue arguing, Julius suddenly crouched down and extended both arms toward Rosel.

The moment he did....The dam broke instantly.

"Papa...!"

Rosel lunged forward so quickly she nearly crashed into him face-first before wrapping both arms tightly around his neck.

"I promise I’ll behave..." she sniffled pitifully. "Can’t I come with you two...?"

Julius softened almost immediately.

For all his schemes, and casually catastrophic plans involving international incidents, he still completely folded against one crying child.

"I’m sorry, dear," he murmured while gently rubbing her head. "This trip is dangerous."

Rosel only hugged him tighter.

Meanwhile, Rosalina watched the scene quietly for a moment before smoothly rescuing Julius from further emotional collapse by taking Rosel into her own arms.

"You see," Rosalina said gently, "we’re going on a very important mission."

Rosel sniffed miserably.

"So once we finish the mission, we’ll come back and bring you gifts. Doesn’t that sound better?"

Rosel looked up at her with blurry tear-filled eyes.

"P-promise... you’ll return quickly?"

"Promise."

Rosalina smiled softly before hooking her pinky together with Rosel’s tiny finger.

Rosalina then leaned down and kissed Rosel gently on the forehead before stepping back.

Julius finally straightened and looked toward Nathaniel with a shameless grin.

"Alright, father. Mother. Try not to destroy the clan while I’m gone."

Nathaniel stared at him for several seconds before sighing deeply.

"At this point, I’m more worried about what you’ll destroy while you’re gone."

"Amazing. Such trust between father and son."

"None whatsoever."

Elizabeth crossed her arms immediately afterward. "And make sure neither of you does anything dangerous."

Julius and Rosalina exchanged a brief glance.

Then both of them very wisely chose not to answer that question.

Instead, they simply waved toward the family before turning toward the transportation gate.

Blue light swallowed the platform instantly as enormous waves of mana surged through the chamber.

The swirling transportation current distorted around their figures while countless glowing runes illuminated the surroundings like stars coming alive beneath the earth itself.

And just before their figures disappeared completely, Julius’ excited voice echoed loudly through the estate.

"It’s finally time to explore the Four Stationary Continents!"