As Epel vents his frustrations to Deuce in Book 5 he receives a phone call from his mother, who reveals that Vil has promoted the apple juice produced by their village on his Magicam, saving them from a financially unstable situation.
Epel returns to the school and tells Vil that while “Deep down, (he’s) always looked down on people who care about being cute or charming”, he finally understands what Vil meant when he talked about power. Vil responds, “There is one form of power that can bring people to their knees. It is more overwhelming than violence, more eloquent than word. I speak, of course, of beauty…You were fortunate enough to be born with the weapon called ‘charm’. Whether you sharpen that weapon into something useful or let it rust away is up to you.”
Epel says he wants to get powerful enough to beat both Neige and Vil himself.
By the end of Book 5 Epel is asking Vil to allow him to take center stage in the performance he never wanted to participate in in the first place, saying that he is “a legit poison apple now” and he wants to take Neige down, not see Vil embarrass himself in front of an audience by performing post-overblot and running out of stamina mid-show.
Vil refuses Epel’s offer, saying that he stills expects Epel “to captivate the hearts of the audience,” but, “As long as the spotlight shines on me, I wouldn’t leave the stage even were I to be struck by an errant boulder. I’m going to keep struggling to the bitter end. I won’t lose hope in my victory. So give this villain a chance to stay on stage to the very last.”
During Halloween we see Epel try to protect Vil from Magicam monsters who would have uploaded his picture without his consent, which earns him Vil’s gratitude.
Twisted Wonderland Reference Note 