A Runaway Villainess, Now Healing In An Enemy Country - Chapter 43

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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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【Episode 43】

 

If someone else had said it, I would have mocked them asking what kind of ghost it was when it wasn’t even a Vermin, but unfortunately, since he was the one speaking, it overflowed with credibility.

 

That’s right. When he already sees the future and souls, what else would there be that he couldn’t see, including ghosts?

 

“You, you can see ghosts too? Do they really exist?”

 

Horror is like poison to me. I’d rather have death game genres, but ghost stories and such are a bit…

 

Even that evil spirit-possessed mad tree was quite burdensome.

 

It was fortunate that it had the form of a tree, but if it had been a spirit, I might have clung to Davuer like a cicada stuck to an old tree and screamed.

 

“No, it’s not what you’re thinking. What do you mean by stealing from there?”

 

‘…I will definitely fix that habit of his someday.’

 

That bad habit of answering questions with questions!

 

How many times is this now? I wish he would refreshingly give the conclusion first and then explain.

 

I ground my teeth inwardly but obediently replied outwardly.

 

“It’s a family treasure. A sacred object from the Temple.”

 

“…Temple?”

 

“Yes, it’s been about two years since we received it.”

 

Two years ago, around the time Lishie awakened as the Countess, a sacred object donated by the Grand Temple.

 

To be precise, from the Temple to the Countess, and Lishie gave it to the family to be selected as a family treasure. In other words, it’s an object with a very short history of being a family treasure.

 

I drew a circle in the air with my finger and said.

 

“It’s a jewel about this size. It contains sacred power, and since it’s from the old days when sacred power was great, it still has healing effects.”

 

“…”

 

“It’s not divine but… still, Davuer, wouldn’t it help somewhat in calming your magi?”

 

If I hadn’t thought that, I wouldn’t have bothered trying to steal it at this point.

 

Though it was partly to visit the Duke’s Mansion for contact with Mel, if my appearance was discovered while trying to kill two birds with one stone, it would rather be a disaster.

 

But.

 

‘Good timing, good luck, today is the day.’

 

Things were going much more smoothly than expected. I didn’t even need to search through the servants’ quarters looking for Mel.

 

The man who had stopped like a painting opened his mouth roughly.

 

“…Sacred power is of no help whatsoever.”

 

Rather than certainty, it was a dry, textbook-like tone as if stating a fact that had already occurred.

 

Since he was so definitive, I couldn’t even argue back. I became a little dejected and lowered my eyes.

 

I wondered if I had just raised a flag and reflected on myself. I should have asked beforehand before coming.

 

“Well… still, since we’ve come this far, we can’t return empty-handed. We have to take something.”

 

As I pulled the hand I was holding, Davuer, who had been two steps behind, was drawn down to where I stood.

 

I asked him as if whispering.

 

“But before that, what did you mean about ghosts?”

 

“Probably in that Temple object you mentioned…”

 

Is it possessed by a ghost or something?

 

“It seems like the soul of a dead person is trapped there. That’s probably the true identity of the ‘sacred power’ contained within.”

 

‘…It really is possessed by a ghost!’

 

After finishing his words, Davuer strode down the stairs, so I had no choice but to follow him without time to think further.

 

‘I’d like to see clearly what’s inside that head of his.’

 

As I unconsciously thought that while looking at his neat back of the head, he glanced back at me as if he had read my mind.

 

His somewhat hurried pace slowed down.

 

“In the past, Temples conducted experiments to forcibly awaken divinity.”

 

“…Experiments? No, is forced awakening even possible?”

 

“Of course not. It only produced countless failures.”

 

Davuer pulled back his hood that he had been wearing low as if it were bothersome. Due to the yellow light, his hair looked almost blonde for a moment.

 

With a face that seemed to sneer…

 

“I was one of them too.”

 

He began telling an old story.

 

* * *

 

Central Hilbarsia Imperial Capital.

 

The Emperor’s Audience Chamber, with one side made of a massive glass window, used only the moonlight coming through that window as illumination.

 

A space thick with the grassy scent of sleeping herbs.

 

The Emperor, sitting with her chin propped obliquely on the throne, raised her closed eyelids and recited flatly.

 

“Duke, in truth, I do not wish to severely punish your eldest daughter.”

 

A face unbelievably smooth for someone well past forty. Honey-like golden hair and frost-like gray eyes symbolizing the Imperial family.

 

Having an appearance identical to the first Emperor, she was similar even in temperament, never having shown emotion even once since ascending the throne.

 

No. It would be correct to say she had no emotions to show.

 

The Emperor lacked humanity. Her actions and judgments moved sharply within her own rationality.

 

Duke Baltres, Kalian, answered by bowing his waist without making a sound.

 

The Emperor, looking down at him, continued speaking.

 

“As long as that child is ‘still a Baltres’, I cannot help but punish the Duke.”

 

It was the crime of attempting to assassinate the next Emperor. And according to Imperial custom, treason was dealt with through collective punishment.

 

Kalian recalled Noaren’s report from several weeks ago.

 

“I found Irene, Father.”

 

Noaren at that time had his usual neat appearance, but somehow looked strangely disheveled, as if he had been thoroughly tumbled somewhere.

 

Kalian glanced at such a son, then turned his eyes back to the documents he was approving and asked.

 

“Why didn’t you bring her back?”

 

His work was already excessive. Since Irene had disappeared without notice, the tasks she had been doing also became the Duke’s responsibility.

 

Paradoxically, it was only after Irene disappeared that he could strongly feel Irene’s presence.

 

To Kalian, Irene Baltres had always been a Duke’s daughter rather than just a daughter. He had never felt even a handful of paternal love since that child was born.

 

However, he had treated her sufficiently as a Duke’s daughter and had covered up her countless incidents and accidents. He did so as a Duke rather than as a father.

 

So why she disappeared, where she was, or what she was doing wasn’t particularly important to him. Unless it was about the damage Irene caused to the family.

 

“Irene is in Belmayer.”

 

“…Ha.”

 

“The assailant who attacked His Highness the Prince that day was Irene. Lishie has been hiding her all this time. And.”

 

“And? If there’s more I need to know here, don’t drag it out and report it.”

 

“…She’s holding out, saying she abandoned the family so she won’t return. An unexpected situation arose, so I couldn’t bring her back. I apologize.”

 

But it became important.

 

Since she had gone out ignoring even the house arrest order, he hadn’t thought she would return obediently, but this incident exceeded his common sense.

 

Kalian was coldly furious.

 

“Irene would never abandon the Baltres name. Even if she ran away, she’ll eventually come back.”

 

“Father.”

 

“Don’t report this matter to His Majesty the Emperor. I’ll handle it myself, so you stay out of it.”

 

Kalian kept silent about Irene until the moment the Prince woke up. Even knowing that if he couldn’t hide it forever, it would be better for the family to report quickly and cut ties, he still did so.

 

“But the Prince awakened.”

 

The Emperor said.

 

“He was so angry upon awakening that he immediately ordered your daughter to be captured. How could I oppose that?”

 

It appears he cannot express what he has not done, but he has not done it.

 

Yesterday afternoon. Right after the Prince requested a manhunt for Irene, the Emperor summoned the Duke and said this.

 

“Since the Prince who returned from death’s door desires it so much, what choice do I have? You must know her whereabouts.”

 

In other words, if he reported Irene’s location now, it meant he would turn a blind eye to Baltres without questioning their guilt.

 

However, Kalian knelt and begged for mercy.

 

In truth, even he didn’t know why he did that. If he expelled Irene from the family, he could easily escape this predicament.

 

It’s not as if he loves Irene differently as a daughter. Moreover, even her value as a princess has now faded.

 

He should have made a judgment for the sake of his family.

 

And yet, why?

 

He thinks about it coldly.

 

First, the Emperor didn’t want to deliberately harm Baltres, whom he uses like his own hands and feet, and the family of the Countess who would soon become part of the Imperial family.

 

Even if treason is a crime that extends to family members, he thinks punishing it would be inefficient as the losses would outweigh the gains.

 

To the Emperor, Baltres was, in some sense, a limb harder to replace than even the Prince.

 

Kalian relied on precisely that point, and the Emperor neither affirmed nor denied, dismissing him.

 

And tonight, he summoned him again.

 

“You must know well the reason the Prince suddenly changed his mind.”

 

He knows. Isn’t it because of Lishie?

 

He had heard about it during the day. If Lishie stopped the Prince, then Kalian had to stop the Emperor.

 

Because.

 

“Has the Duke’s mind still not changed?”

 

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

 

Because Irene is a Baltres. Blood ties cannot be severed even with a blade.

 

He cannot let a daughter of Baltres die in such a manner.

 

Kalian decided to embrace the criminal Irene while trying to rationalize his own bizarre choice.

 

“How unlike you. But very well. I am magnanimous, so I will not seek out and punish your daughter.”

 

The Emperor was clear about give and take.

 

In this conversation, what she desired was one thing.

 

“I will relinquish the reconstruction rights to the Mage Tower.”

 

Kalian gave up his lifelong aspiration that he had secured as compensation while promoting the royal marriage between Lishie and the Prince.

 

The man who had put Irene on the scales of value judgment and even obtained the key to fulfill his aspiration, made an irrational choice to save Irene.

 

A choice different from the truth that Irene had known.

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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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