Villain Transmigration: Author Transformation

Near the outskirts of what seemed a bustling town across the arid lands, Strav and Ashtra landed in sheer silence, dropping off everyone behind their backs slowly.

Nathalie took a couple of thuds on the chapped ground, and she knew her black combat boots would've come in handy at this moment.

But then, Dusk and Dawn uprooted in their position as they looked at the place with a horrifying gaze.

She peered to the side, assessing Jonathan's reaction, but he also wore a grim visage overlooking the town.

Just when he was about to move, the twins blurted out, afraid of what their master had thought right now. He then met their eyes upon how they looked so lost after realizing where they were.

"Your Grace! This— isn't the place we…" Dusk stammered with his face turned paler than ever.

But then, Dawn went on his knees, grabbing the hem of Jonathan's cloak as he pleaded, "No! Please don't throw us back to this hell hole!"

They were still entering their late adolescence years yet they experienced the cruel reality from their childhood.

Before they were born young with a mindset no different from criminals and bandits— ruthless, starved, and eyes painted with no hope of a better future but only sought and lived for another day.

Which was what Nathalie wrote in the sequel.

Yet it was different now, they were educated, buffed, and trained to be a better person under his wing.

To them, he was their saving grace, and all of a sudden, it came down and crashed upon them so hard with the possible reality of putting where they belonged. 

After all, one of the major objectives that Nathalie knew about the twins was to rope Strav to her side, which was what Jonathan did beforehand.

But he wasn't that cruel enough to throw people after they served their purpose.

Meanwhile, Keith gritted his teeth, then averted his gaze of what seemed that was so eerily familiar to him.

Nurtured by Jonathan, the Twilight Twins had the potential to go far as they were already strong enough currently.

However, Nathalie wasn't the one to stand by, it might not be her place but she needed to tell them a hint of truth that would've assured them, at least.

[He wouldn't do that.] 

They were about to throw more of a tantrum as they were already bawling their eyes out and jaws dropped to the ground from her claims.

Jonathan sighed and lowered himself to pat them on their heads. 

"What Lady Mystique said is true, there's no way I would've returned you both—" Then, the two whimpered and launched at him with a tight hug. He almost lurched from his position from their weight.

If not for him propping his palm on the ground, he would've been knocked down easily.

'Look at these two, they're like big puppies,' she smiled. Her eyes roamed towards Keith, who had also softened from their reaction— he resonated with them so well.

Though, Jonathan had no choice but to give them a brief introduction to why they were back in this gruesome place, of all parts of the Western Territory.

"I hate to break it to you, but there have been some major trafficking issues happening here with the foreign borders."

Dusk and Dawn glanced at each other, who were also not foreign to the idea of it— any kind of commodity: be it a person or an illegal object, it happened, and slipping through the cracks and loopholes despite the implementation of the law.

"We're sorry for jumping out of conclusions as we've been driven by our emotions, Your Grace," Dusk pulled away and groveled, which Dawn followed too.

Thinking it wasn't about them, they curbed out of embarrassment.

"It's alright. Both of you, stand."

After which, Dawn continued from where they left off, "Do you, perhaps, need an intel? I'd be happier to oblige."

But then, they noticed a pang of guilt and despair in his gaze, whenever their eyes met on the man they looked up the most, eventually averting from them.

[Tell them. It's alright. They're grown men now.]

"Do you remember your uncle?"

Their eyes gleamed like no other: whenever their uncle mentioned, their ears would perk up with their tail popping out and wagging with vim.

"Of course! Our uncle is a great information collector in this town! He knew different ways and connections—!" Dawn chimed, but his ears got tugged by Dusk right away.

"Are you mad? Didn't he already throw us out after we got sold off by His Grace?" 

Suddenly, looking how their faces shifted to forlorn ached Nathalie's heart. Even she was surprised to know and hit her a lot harder now that it was the kind of storyline she chose for them.

Yet, it was such a blessing in disguise as it was none other than Jonathan taking care of them for good.

But then, the Grand Duke could only do so much, and the twins considered themselves fortunate despite it being planned all along.

"Well, both of you aren't wrong." Jonathan cleared his throat as he muttered, cutting off banters before it blew up. "But then, there's a major issue."

He went on to talk about rumors of a decade-long famine spread throughout the Western Territory, even affecting this town in the Drytop Hinterlands.

Though he didn't hint that it was about the changes in the manuscript, which he should never share with the rest, he delivered it as though it was mere speculation that he had to share them.

Which ended up affecting the Dysnomia Empire.

"Out of desperation, many volunteered themselves to work off and flocked to the foreign region in exchange for basic needs."

Which then had the three of them gasped, and Nathalie shut her eyes, shaking her head for he was the one delivering the bad news.

"That's not allowed!" Keith roared, after realizing what it was that bothered them for a while now. "It will incur the wrath of His Majesty!"

"Well? What do you know?!" Dusk snapped; he knew what it was like living such a life so he understood to some degree.

However, Keith wasn't the one to back down as he was in a similar position, snarling at him, "I've been there, little boy." 

He was about to respond when his other twin tapped his shoulder, astounded. "No, Dusk, you're missing the point."

"What is?!"

"Your Grace, are you telling me uncle is the one leading this?"