A Runaway Villainess, Now Healing In An Enemy Country - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 25】

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I only got up after sleeping for another full half day.

And I was paying the price for causing such a huge incident.

“Why can’t you eat properly? Are you still in pain?”

“Ally. When four people are staring at me like this while I’m eating, wouldn’t anyone feel the same?”

It was so overwhelming that I couldn’t tell if the soup was going down my throat or up my nose.

Their excessive concern was beyond anything I’d ever experienced.

They crowded into my small room with eyes blazing, watching me intently, which was truly troublesome.

And for good reason.

“Irene, let’s have you examined once more.”

“I said it’s not necessary.”

“I’ll bring a new physician. Belmayer is somewhat backward after all, so should I find one from the Empire instead?”

Even Giselle, the primary or perhaps only brain of Winter Castle, was spouting nonsense.

“Please, I’m begging you, let’s not do anything crazy.”

My head was throbbing.

No matter how many times I emphasized that I was fine now, perfectly okay, their excessive concern showed no signs of subsiding.

Nishe, with his thoroughly disgruntled expression, glared at me.

“Look who’s talking. Your heart stopped beating.”

I had already heard that my heart briefly stopped beating. I was surprised that my body had such a severe reaction for the first time.

However, I’m a results-oriented person.

“It’s beating just fine now, so what’s the problem? Want to feel it?”

“You crazy… Show some remorse.”

“I am. I told you I won’t do it again next time.”

When I answered carelessly, Nishe finally stormed out, practically breathing fire.

“Bullshit. You’ll do the exact same thing again.”

Bang!

The sound of the door slamming was thunderous.

While I was newly impressed by Nishe’s insight, I was also bewildered, thinking ‘Then why tell me to show remorse?’

I was told I had been bedridden for three days after that incident.

They said the first day was dangerous enough that I was hovering between life and death, but that seemed like an exaggeration.

‘If it had been that dangerous, I wouldn’t have used it in the first place.’

Even if my total mana capacity was lacking, my circuits had excellent recovery resilience. In other words, while I had severely overexerted myself, it wasn’t to the point of death.

“Irene, are you really sure you don’t need an examination?”

“Of course. I’ll tell you if I’m in pain.”

Her eyes showed she didn’t quite believe me, but fortunately, the flexible Giselle didn’t press the matter further.

Instead, her younger brother personally corrected the grip on the spoon that was barely hanging in my hand.

“Eat. Irene needs to eat well.”

Jepi’s green eyes stared at me persistently. I could even sense a sense of mission in that gaze.

“Eat it all.”

“Mm-hmm.”

I’m trying hard to pretend I don’t know, but I actually do.

‘When they’re being this obvious about it, I can’t help but know.’

Right now, they’re worried about me.

Not because I’m helpful to Winter Castle, or because I play a role in suppressing the Duke’s magi, and completely unrelated to any value or usefulness I possess.

Just…

As if I were truly family.

This kind consideration of worrying about my health instead of interrogating me about what happened with Noaren feels heavy.

Thinking about my disgraceful behavior that day made me feel even more unsettled.

‘…I acted too emotionally.’

While Noaren wouldn’t do something as foolish as petitioning the Emperor about me for the sake of his family, it was certain that the situation had become complicated.

Having my location discovered was an unforeseen accident to begin with. His desperate attempt to take me away was also unexpected.

Would he come looking again? He wouldn’t just barge in recklessly, would he?

And what was that about Eshe Karte? Had such an incident occurred in the original Belmayer as well?

…Everything was completely jumbled and messed up.

That night.

When everyone was asleep, I, who had been lying in bed with my eyes wide open, quietly slipped out of my room.

This was because Ally and Jepi, who had been standing guard like sentries, had finally fallen asleep in front of the fireplace. Their excessive concern had now become almost obsessive.

‘They probably think they’re nursing me.’

To me, it felt no different from surveillance.

They treated me like some sugar doll, even trying to help me get out of bed.

Walking wherever my feet took me, I soon found myself in the open castle corridor. The view was bright due to the particularly bright full moon.

Then I paused.

“Hmm.”

I could sense magi nearby.

It meant the Duke was right around this corner where I could see him immediately. Without hesitation, I turned my steps in the opposite direction.

“…Ah! What, what is it?”

“Irene.”

But the Duke I had clearly avoided was standing right in front of me.

Did he teleport or something?

The man, who looked even more ghostly in the night, spoke.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

His voice was rough, as if locked up.

The part where our gazes met felt ticklish. For some reason, I felt like I’d been caught stealing and rambled incoherently.

“I wasn’t avoiding you… I was… just going to take a look at the training ground. It should be this way.”

‘That excuse is too crude!’

I screamed silently to myself.

The Duke was currently the number one person I wanted to avoid. There wasn’t a specific reason, but that’s just how I felt.

Ever since Giselle told me that he had been by my side the entire time I was asleep, I just felt that way.

Suddenly, the Duke turned around abruptly and spoke with his back to me.

“Follow me. I’ll guide you.”

“…Aren’t you slee— I mean, aren’t you busy?”

“Did I look busy to you?”

I was speechless at that remarkably factual observation.

In the end, I found myself following the Duke to the training ground in a daze. As expected, it was a desolate sight with nothing much to see.

It was just something I said to cover up.

“Your body.”

“I’m fine. I slept so much that I can’t even fall asleep now.”

“Then we can start lessons tomorrow.”

“…Excuse me?”

The Duke explained curtly and unhelpfully.

“Magic lessons.”

“…Wait. You’re not saying that you, Duke, will become my magic instructor, are you?”

“You understood correctly.”

My mouth fell open wide enough to dislocate my jaw.

What conclusion had he reached on his own without my knowledge? Had what I said right before fainting been ‘become my disciple’?

That wasn’t it. At that time, this man had probably…

“Don’t die.”

My vision was hazily blurred so I couldn’t see his face properly, but at that moment I thought he was crying.

More precisely, it was intuition rather than thought.

I tried to wipe it away but lost consciousness just like that.

But when I met the Duke again in my right mind, he made an absurd announcement with a face devoid of any moisture.

“I will teach you magic, Irene.”

“It’s an honor, but… is there really a need for that?”

“There is. You learned it wrong.”

His tone was resolute as he immediately reprimanded me.

I was confused whether I should be offended by that criticism or grateful that a former Mage Tower master was offering to be my teacher.

“Do you dislike it?”

“Even if I said I disliked it, you wouldn’t stop anyway.”

“I don’t force unpleasant things on you.”

“…”

“I ask again. Do you dislike it?”

Ah, really.

This kind of thing is unbearably awkward.

Being the subject of worry, having my opinion respected by someone who has no need to do so, having someone try to understand my mood or condition for trivial reasons.

Making me want to depend on them.

Making me feel like I’m not sufficient on my own.

“…No, I like it.”

The answer came out very hesitantly, slowly.

I thought up excuses like he was a great mage after all, it was an attractive proposal, and such.

So I absolutely wasn’t being swayed.

Even if he’s kind to me now, will he continue to be so?

People easily change their hearts according to momentary emotions. They might transform into completely different people.

My feelings were complicated to death when the Duke suddenly asked.

“You don’t have any friends, do you?”

What kind of mood-killing nonsense is this out of nowhere.

Do I look that friendless? It was true and also absurd, so I laughed rather than getting angry.

“I don’t.”

“And no family left either.”

The Duke’s face as he asked with such certainty showed not a trace of playfulness.

In that moment I had a premonition of something, and I couldn’t bring myself to answer that question, closing my mouth.

As if he hadn’t expected my answer from the beginning, the Duke continued what he had to say.

“Then, Irene.”

…No, don’t say any more.

The moment I hear it, I’ll surely be swayed like being swept up in a typhoon. All my previous resolutions will become meaningless.

I can’t trust it. I resolved not to believe.

Finally he speaks.

“Winter Castle will become your family.”

A man who seemed alone in the world was saying this to me, so it sounded exactly like a hallucination.

A very strange, uncomfortable, tickling resonance.

Not connected by blood, not bound by engagement, not sharing the same past.

And yet, family.

“…You said you suspected and were wary of me.”

“I’ve stopped that now. I thought about it, and you’ve never once taken my words at face value.”

Eyes that looked white in the moonlight held me.

“So I decided not to go along with your wishes either.”

“…”

“I’m going to be on your side.”

“…”

If words so unbelievable become believable instead, if I want to believe them, am I going crazy?

I want to try believing just one more time, one last time. Actually, I’ve been doing so for a long time, continuously.

Perhaps ever since I heard that prophecy.

“You will be happy. In Belmayer.”

‘…Will that really happen?’

It’s something I want to believe but can’t be certain of.

The current me lacks more courage and peace of mind than it appears. It’s an absurdly large leap to jump into uncertainty.

So just maybe.

“Next winter… will you make that offer again?”

If time passes and I gain something called leisure.

If he’s still alive next year. If we face a future not written in text instead of destruction.

If he says this to me again.

“Then I’ll become your family.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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