I Have 10,000 SSS Rank Villains In My System Space Chapter 488: Nerrisa Offended By Razeal

Razeal frowned when he heard Merisa call out to him again from behind. His footsteps stopped, but only because the voice had caught him by surprise. Slowly he turned his head over his shoulder and looked back at her. There was no warmth in his expression. No curiosity either. If anything, he looked tired. Tired of the conversation. Tired of the emotions. Tired of anything. After everything that had already been said today, he genuinely couldn’t understand why she was calling him back again.

"What?"

His voice came out colder than before.

"Do you still have something to say?"

The look in his eyes made the question even harsher. It wasn’t anger. It was disbelief. Genuine disbelief. After everything he had just told her, after everything she had admitted, after every painful truth laid bare between them, what could possibly still be left to discuss? What explanation could she still have? What defense? What excuse? What justification? In his mind there shouldn’t have been anything left.

Merisa saw all of that written clearly on his face.

She saw the impatience, The disappointment, The exhaustion. And strangely enough, she couldn’t even blame him.

Not anymore.

Slowly, she shook her head.

"No."

Her voice was quiet.

"I don’t have anything left to say in my defense."

The words came out slowly because she truly meant them.

There was no argument left. No attempt to defend herself. No desire to explain away her mistakes.

Not anymore.

"I’ve realized that I was wrong."

Her eyes lowered briefly.

"Completely wrong."

The admission felt heavy.

Yet also strangely freeing. Because for the first time she wasn’t trying to justify anything. Wasn’t trying to convince herself she had done the right thing.

Wasn’t trying to protect her pride.

"I am not that shameless enough to reject what you said."

A bitter smile appeared on her lips.

"Nor disgusting enough to lie about it."

Her fingers tightened slightly.

"Everything you said was true."

The air fell silent. Even Razeal didn’t interrupt her.

Not because he agreed or because he forgave her. But because he could hear she genuinely believed those words. Atlast she have that little of dignity to accept that.

Merisa took a slow breath before looking back into his eyes.

"It’s just..."

For the first time today, she hesitated.

Actually hesitated.

Because she already knew she had no right to ask what she was about to ask. And that made her feel shameless.

Embarrassed.

Almost disgusted with herself. Yet she still forced the words out.

"There is one thing I hope you’ll do."

Immediately Razeal’s expression darkened.

His frown deepened.

Hope? She hoped he would do something? Even now? Even after all this?

The request alone irritated him.

The fact that she still wanted something from him felt almost absurd.

Merisa noticed the change in his face immediately.

But she continued anyway. Because this wasn’t for her.

"Please."

The single word came out quietly. Not as an order. Not as a request from a Matriarch.

Not as a mother demanding something from her child.

Just a plea.

A genuine plea.

"Please go and talk to Nova."

The moment those words left her mouth, Razeal’s face visibly became colder. Merisa’s heart tightened painfully.

Yet she continued. Because if she didn’t say it now, she never would.

"I know what happened." Her voice trembled slightly.

"I know how badly she disappointed you."

"I know she hurt you."

"I know she failed you."

Every word became harder to say. Because she knew they were true.

Painfully true.

But she still forced herself forward.

"Please... just hear her out."

Razeal remained silent his eyes fixed on her.

Merisa didn’t move closer.

Didn’t dare.

She stayed exactly where she was.

Almost as if she believed approaching him would only make things worse.

"That punishment..."

Her voice became softer.

"The punishment was never her decision."

A painful expression crossed her face.

"I forced her into it."

"Everything she did back then..." Merisa lowered her head slightly.

"She did because of me." For a moment she looked genuinely ashamed.

Then she forced herself to continue.

"And the way she acted afterward..."

A sad smile appeared.

"You know Nova better than I do."

The smile looked miserable.

Broken.

"She was never good at expressing herself."

"Never good at showing affection."

"Never good at showing people what she’s feeling."

Her eyes became slightly wetter.

"She justt doesn’t know how."

And that was the truth.

Nova was brilliant, Powerful, Feared throughout the empire. Yet somehow completely hopeless when it came to emotions.

"I know she disappointed you."

"I know she hurt you."

"But she loves you."

The words came out almost desperately.

"She really does."

There was no manipulation behind them.

No scheme.

No hidden motive.

Only a mother trying to speak on behalf of another child who wasn’t here as knowing her pain.. as atleast make something right.

But Razeal’s expression didn’t change. Not even slightly.

"I don’t need to hear anything."

His answer came instantly.

Cold, firm and final.

"It is not my responsibility to understand everyone." His crimson eyes stared directly into hers.

"Nor is it my responsibility to understand why people fail to express themselves." His voice remained calm.

Which somehow made it hurt even more.

"Only actions matter."

The words struck heavily.

"As I already told you."

He slowly shook his head.

"It doesn’t matter anymore." For a brief moment something dark passed through his eyes.

Something tired.

Something hurt.

"I know who loves me."

Then his gaze hardened.

"And who doesn’t now."

Merisa visibly flinched.

Not physically.

Emotionally.

Because those words pierced straight through her.

Yet Razeal wasn’t finished.

"So yeah.. better stop giving lip service."

His voice sharpened.

"People who truly love you don’t need to constantly tell you."

His eyes never left hers.

"You know it from their actions."

Silence followed.

A painful silence.

Merisa stood there quietly.

Her fingers trembling.

Her heart aching.

Because she couldn’t even reject those words.

Then suddenly...

She spoke.

"She pierced a sword through my heart."

Everything froze.

Razeal’s eyes narrowed slightly.

His lips stopped moving.

The words caught him completely off guard.

Merisa’s voice trembled.

"Nova pierced a sword through my heart."

This time even Nerrisa’s head snapped toward her.

"What?"

The Empress looked genuinely shocked. Actually shocked. As though hearing this for the very first time. Even she never expected that.

Even Sofia looked over silently. The atmosphere immediately changed. The weight in the air became heavier.

Merisa lowered her head. And finally... The tears she had been holding back all day escaped.

One rolled down her cheek.

Then another.

Then another.

Not loud crying.

Not sobbing.

Just silent tears.

The kind that came when someone no longer had the strength to hold them back.

"She tried to kill me."

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Her own mother."

Another tear fell.

"Because she believed I destroyed her relationship with you."

Razeal’s lips slowly pressed together. Tightly.

Merisa could still remember that moment. The look in Nova’s eyes.

The rage.

The pain.

The betrayal.

The heartbreak.

Not the eyes of the Raven Princess.

Not the eyes of the feared leader of R.A.V.E.N.S.

The eyes of an older sister who believed her little brother had been taken away from her forever.

"She was furious."

Merisa’s voice shook.

"Not because of power."

"Not because of politics."

"Not because of family reputation."

Her tears continued falling.

"But because she thought she lost her little brother."

Finally she looked directly at Razeal.

Her eyes red.

Wet.

Filled with pain.

Filled with pleading.

"Razeal..."

Her voice cracked.

"Nova is innocent in this."

She swallowed hard.

"She was wrong."

"Very wrong."

"I know that."

"But she wasn’t cruel."

Another tear slid down her face.

"She wasn’t uncaring."

"She wasn’t heartless."

The pain in her eyes deepened.

"She was just another idiot in this family who loved you and still managed to hurt you."

And for the first time since she called him back... Merisa wasn’t trying to save herself.

She was only trying to help her daughter.

"Not me. Not Selena. Not Celestia. Not anyone else." Merisa’s voice trembled as she looked at him, her eyes still wet. She didn’t even bother wiping away the tears anymore because there was no point. They just kept coming.

"I am not asking you to forgive any of us." She shook her head immediately as if afraid he would misunderstand her.

"I know how shameless that would sound. I know we don’t deserve it. I know I don’t deserve it. After everything you said today, after everything I realized today, I don’t even have the right to ask for something like that." She took a shaky breath before continuing.

"But Nova... please. Just Nova." Her voice softened when she spoke her daughter’s name. Not because she was trying to defend her, but because she genuinely felt helpless.

"Please just give her one chance. One conversation. One opportunity to speak. You don’t have to forgive her. You don’t have to agree with her. You don’t even have to accept anything she says. But please... just hear her out once. And for a few moments... try to understand her position too." Merisa lowered her head briefly before raising it again.

"I don’t know what you think of her anymore. Honestly, I don’t. But I can bet my life on one thing. There is absolutely no chance Nova doesn’t love you." Her voice became firmer.

"She might not know how to show it. Actually no, she definitely doesn’t know how to show it. You know her better than anyone. She’s crazy. Reckless. Stubborn. Impulsive. Completely incapable of handling emotions like a normal person. She doesn’t know how to express affection. She doesn’t know how to explain herself. She doesn’t know how to let people know she cares. She’s a disaster when it comes to relationships. But you cannot tell me she doesn’t love you." Her voice cracked slightly.

"She loves you, Razeal. She loves you more than she loves me. I know she loves me. I know that much. And yet..." Merisa’s lips trembled.

"She stabbed me. She pierced a sword through my heart because she believed my decision destroyed her relationship with you. She tried to kill her own mother because she couldn’t forgive what happened to her little brother. That’s how much this affected her."

For a few seconds there was only silence. Razeal stared at her without speaking. Then he slowly closed his eyes and shook his head. The movement was small, but it carried so much exhaustion behind it that even Sofia noticed.

"Stop." His voice was quiet. Not angry. Not shouting. Just tired. Deeply tired.

"Just stop." He opened his eyes again and looked directly at Merisa.

"Are you not exhausted?" he asked. "Because I am." The words were simple, but there was something painfully honest about them.

"Stop telling me what I should do. Stop telling me what I should understand. Stop telling me what I should feel or not. I already explained everything." He pointed toward his chest.

"I don’t care anymore about some grand sacrifice. I don’t care about some meaningful gesture. I don’t care who stabbed who. I don’t care who suffered. I don’t care what people did after everything was over. I saw what I needed to see and I understood everything I needed to understand." His gaze remained cold.

"You keep trying to explain why everyone acted the way they did. Why Nova acted that way. Why Selena acted that way. Why Celestia acted that way. Why you acted that way. But do you know what nobody ever tried to understand?" His voice lowered. "Me."

"But she cares!" Merisa suddenly raised her voice emotionally. "She cares and you said yourself that actions matter! Isn’t that proof? Isn’t that exactly what you said?" Her tears continued falling as she looked at him desperately.

"You said actions matter more than words. Then isn’t that proof? Doesn’t that mean something?" Razeal stared at her for several seconds before suddenly letting out a small laugh. Not a happy laugh. A cold laugh. A sarcastic one.

"Proof?" he repeated. "Alright. Let’s talk about proof then."

Merisa’s heart immediately sank because she already knew she wasn’t going to like what came next.

"Tell me something. When Selena and Celestia revealed the truth to the entire Empire... what did Nova do?"

Merisa froze. Completely froze. Her lips parted, but no words came out.

Razeal noticed immediately. "Nova cared a lot about justice, didn’t she?" His voice remained calm.

"The last time I checked she was standing beside Selena asking me to apologize as so full of justice ." His eyes narrowed slightly.

"So tell me. When she found out she helped destroy my life... what justice did she deliver?"

Merisa remained silent. Because she didn’t have an answer. And that silence itself became an answer.

Before she could force out a reply, another voice entered the conversation.

"Selena and Celestia already have paid the price." Nerrisa spoke calmly from the side. Her voice was completely different from Merisa’s emotional pleading. Calm. Controlled. Rational. Everyone turned toward her.

"They confessed before the entire Empire. They publicly admitted they were wrong. They admitted you were innocent. They destroyed their own reputations with their own hands. And you know better than anyone how much reputation matters to people like them." Nerrisa folded her arms. "That is punishment. That is justice. Anything beyond that becomes unreasonable."

For a moment there was complete silence.

"Hehhh?" Then Razeal laughed.

The sound made even Sofia glance toward him.

Because there was absolutely no amusement in it.

Only disbelief.

Cold disbelief.

"That’s justice?" he asked quietly. Then he looked directly at Nerrisa. "That’s what you call justice?" He shook his head slowly as if genuinely struggling to believe what he had just heard.

"They destroyed my life." His voice became harder. "My life." The words carried an enormous amount of weight.

"And your version of justice is that they feel embarrassed? That they lose some reputation? That they feel guilty? That they stand in front of people and say sorry?" His laugh returned. Even colder this time. "That’s not justice. That’s not even a slap on the wrist." He stared directly into Nerrisa’s eyes.

"You tell me they paid the price. Paid what price exactly?" His voice sharpened. "Did they lose five years? Did they lose their family? Did they lose their future? Did they become hated by an entire Empire? Did they get whipped a hundreds times? Did they get treated like filth?" Every question landed harder than the last. "No. They didn’t." His eyes narrowed. "So tell me again. From which side exactly is it unreasonable to demand more?" The atmosphere instantly became tense.

Nerrisa’s eyes slowly narrowed as she looked back at him. She didn’t like his tone. Not one bit. Until now she had tolerated a lot from him. She understood his pain. She understood his anger. She even admired parts of him. But this conversation had now moved toward Selena and Celestia. Toward her daughter. And hearing him speak this way about Celestia made something inside her react instinctively. She knew exactly how much Celestia had suffered after that also. She knew the guilt. The regret. The little self-hatred even if she tries to hide it from her. She knew what that public confession had cost her. And now hearing Razeal dismiss all of it so easily left a bitter feeling inside her chest.

For the first time since this entire conversation began, Nerrisa found herself looking at him not with amusement, not with curiosity, not with affection, but with genuine displeasure. Because while she could understand his pain... she could not agree with what he was implying now. And judging by the look in his eyes, Razeal didn’t care whether she agreed or not.

"It’s very funny when you say that." Nerrisa suddenly spoke in a much softer voice than before. The irritation she had been showing moments ago was still there, but now it was mixed with something else. Disappointment. Genuine disappointment. She looked down at Razeal for a few seconds before continuing, her platinum eyes fixed on him as though trying to understand what was going through his head.

"You know... Celestia knelt before me and begged me to save your life when she heard about this stupid war." The words immediately caused the atmosphere to shift.

Merisa’s eyes widened slightly obiously never expecting that..

Even Sofia turned her head.

And Nerrisa simply continued speaking.

"My daughter has never asked me for anything in her entire life. She never does. Not because she doesn’t have wishes. Not because she doesn’t want things. But because she’s too proud. Even as a little girl she was like that. She would rather suffer silently than ask someone for help. She would rather lose something precious than lower her head and ask for it. That’s just who she is."

A small frown appeared on her face.

"But for you... she did Twice." The silence deepened.

"Would you be surprised if I told you she placed a sword against her own neck and threatened me to help you?"

This time even Merisa looked shocked.

Nerrisa shook her head slowly.

"She told me that if I didn’t go save you, she would kill herself." Her voice remained calm, but there was still a trace of disbelief hidden inside it.

"Do you know how surprised I was at that moment? My daughter. Celestia. The same girl who would rather break than bend. The same girl who values her pride more than almost anything. Kneeling before me. Crying. Begging."

Nerrisa let out a quiet breath.

"And now when I look at you asking for punishment for her... honestly, it almost feels laughable."

Sofia’s face immediately darkened.

That platinum-haired bitch again. Every time she heard another story about Celestia she became more annoyed.