Mastermind: Genderbent Villainess

"Tanya, how strong are you now?" Penelope asked, lying on their bed beneath the blankets.

"Stronger than many." Tanya simply answered. Sometimes she believed that a vague answer was the best answer. Especially when she did not necessarily want to spoil anything. 

"Stronger than most ants or stronger than most people?"

"Both." Tanya smiled, rolling over and snuggling with Penelope.

"Sometimes I feel like you are getting stronger by the day. Tanya, I know you are powerful, but please never lose sight of the things that matter most to you. I don't want you to become someone you're not."

"Awww…" Tanya smugly grinned.

"What if I told you that I could level a small kingdom already? Would you believe my words?" Tanya knew that Penelope had much faith in her, but she still felt skeptical of whether she would believe that Tanya was already this powerful. Would any 16 year old noble girl have such power at a young age? Not if their name isn't Tanya Vermillion.

"Of course I would believe you, I love you enough to trust such big words. And before you get in the mood again because of this lovey-dovey talk, my back is tired. So please keep those lewd fingers to yourself…" Penelope rubbed her back gently, feeling the fatigue from her late night activities with Tanya.

"Hmmph! You made my back hurt much more that time and you're already backing out now? Hmmph!" Tanya turned her back towards Penelope, prompting the other to spoon her.

"Tanya, stop being such a baby. Young noblewomen should not act so petty."

"Young noblewomen shouldn't be sleeping together before marriage, but I guess you don't mind that." Tanya immediately fired back, sticking her tongue out as to show her win. 

With a tongue as sharp as a blade and a blade as manoeuvrable as her tongue, she was indeed unparalleled within her age bracket. Tanya just loved to be witty with Penelope and the girls, that's what many people love about her; her sharp words and her lethal nature.

"Ugh. Tanya, you are just too good at this.you won't even let me have a win for once~!" The feeling of frustration could be felt from the bottom of her heart, Tanya could feel Penelope's chest beating loudly, to the point of exploding with emotion.

"Stop being so embarrassed. That's not a good quality for a young noblewoman." Tanya suddenly commented after noticing Penelope's mental state.

"I can't help it." After all, Tanya was taught by Penelope. In just 16 years of life, Tanya had already done so many things that Penelope felt quite insignificant. How could she possibly not feel embarrassed?

"You are no fun sometimes, hmmph!" 

"Could you at least tell me what ascension level you have reached?" Penelope asked, holding Tanya tighter.

"I guess… but I want to know now~! It's important.."

"What is it?"

"A secret."

"Tell me please…" 

"..."

"I want to compare whether I am weaker or stronger than you… if I'm not stronger, then I would feel a bit useless." Penelope finally answered.

"Fine." Tanya then quietly whispered something into Penelope's ears, causing the latter to gasp before fainting from shock.

It would be no surprise to see someone faint after hearing what Tanya had just said. In fact, it would be a surprise if one did not have a reaction such as Penelope's. Tanya was a monster in human skin, approved by a powerful goddess too.

When others were constrained by the limits of the jobs available to them, Tanya had not so much a problem. She had everything open to her, even the path of gods. Such abilities naturally caused some excessive power scaling and near insane levels of inequalities of her job levels. 

As far as she was concerned, her levels were broken. She would have to test her might against more powerful opponents to truly know the extent of her power as of now. At the very least, she knew that she could wipe out an army of the Estelle forces.

Thinking of this matter, Tanya slowly decided to leave it for another time. She went to sleep and again woke up hours later.

Penelope had already gotten up and began cooking breakfast for Tanya, evident from the smell she had caught coming from over yonder. Tanya felt quite at home whenever she could bear witness to Penelope's cooking. Although not the greatest chef, Penelope could still be considered quite good.

"Oh Penny, what are you cooking today?" Tanya asked with a dark red bathrobe covering her previously naked body.

"Eggs Benedict." Penelope quickly answered after taking out the poached eggs.

"Oh? Same as usual. I thought you might try to spice things up after hearing what I told you last night…"

"Tanya, I would rather not think about that right now… I have already lost all of my pride as your educator and senior. If you are that powerful at this age, I might as well become a housewife."

"Don't give up, I love it when you bounce back." Tanya patted Penelope's shoulder gently before heading to the bathroom to take a shower.

'Goodness, the wedding day is approaching so soon… It's been a decade and now our relationship has somehow developed into this… if someone told me this would happen, I would have laughed at them. Now, I am marrying my young miss, I even took her virginity and gave her my first kiss!' Penelope could not help but reminisce, time had flown by so fast. Soon before she knew it she might be an old lady seeing her final days with Tanya. However, Tanya would much rather become disabled than let Penelope die from old age.

She did not seek ascension for power, she desired it for love. If she had to live a dull eternity by herself, she would much rather die.

'To think Tanya actually told me that she had already become a 4th ascension being last week… she has become so much stronger…'

As the sun dawned over the academy another time, the two went out of their dormitory and did their daily activities. The dresses were already picked and all of the wedding procedures had been rehearsed weeks ago. Now they just had to spend time as a future family would. Off to meet with Yuri and Rose.

Meanwhile, things had not been so peaceful in the mansion of the former duke of the Golde kingdom, Duke Barwon.

"Who are you?! Let me go!"

"Mr Barwon, Master has instructed us to bring you back alive. But do not feel safe. You will be dying nevertheless, not even the entirety of this lesser nation can save you!" A homunculi laughed. This feeling was indeed a real emotion. They were so thrilled to have captured the one that had dared to harm their master's home. 

"Wha-what!?"

"But she did not say for you to be left unharmed. You will not be intact when we deliver you to our supreme mother, master, god; but you will be breathing and feeling all of the pain you should~"

CLICK

4 homunculi approached while another stood in standby with a healing potion in hand.

"Tear of his arms and legs."