A Runaway Villainess, Now Healing In An Enemy Country - Chapter 58

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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 58】

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“This morning, a thought suddenly occurred to me.”

In the Imperial Council Chamber of Hilbarsia Imperial Palace.

The Emperor sat leaning back against the high throne, speaking in an extremely bored tone.

“The thought that whenever one problem seems to be resolved, bigger problems keep arising one after another.”

Since those words were indeed correct, Chessier remained silent.

The chaos the Empire had experienced over the past three months consisted entirely of things that caused terrible repercussions. However, the Emperor had not shown anger differently until now.

It might have been because she lacked the central mechanism that enabled emotions, or it might have been because she judged it to be within the range of having alternatives.

But this time, the Emperor displayed an unprecedentedly cold rage. That anger was so tremendous that the entire Imperial Palace became a thin ice where even breathing could not be done easily.

“So what I wanted to hear from the Prince today was to ask when he would stop his life as a cripple, and how he would find and bring back the missing Countess.”

“…I will take responsibility and definitely find her.”

The disgraceful incident from a few days ago was largely Chessier’s responsibility, as he had the highest command authority at the scene.

He had been swayed by emotions, failed to judge calmly, and ultimately ruined everything.

“But I cannot marry Lishie.”

So to correct all the things he had ruined, he had to say this first. Even if it brought unnecessary anger, it didn’t matter.

This was the conclusion he had reached after spending every night in agony since encountering Irene’s corpse that wasn’t a corpse.

“You must not betray me, Your Highness.”

Keeping the childhood promise he had made with her.

He ignored things like it being already broken, impossible to correct, or irreversible. He couldn’t think logically right now, and in fact, he didn’t want to.

“I intend to continue my engagement with Irene.”

The Emperor, who had surveyed Chessier’s dark circles around his eyes, rough skin texture, and disheveled appearance, asked back.

“Do you mean you’ll abdicate to your cousin?”

“…Your Majesty.”

“A Prince who won’t marry the Countess is not needed.”

The Emperor had harbored thoughts of bringing her into the Imperial Court from the moment a Countess appeared in the Empire for the first time in a hundred years.

It was a simple reason. Because that was the most effective way to absorb the symbolism that the Countess possessed.

So if there hadn’t been a proper disqualifying reason for Irene, the Emperor would have created one directly. Chessier’s emotions had never mattered from the beginning.

At least in the Emperor’s mind, their broken engagement had been predetermined.

“Prince. I’ve been in a very bad mood lately anyway… Everything has gone awry and the Imperial Court’s authority has been trampled into the ground.”

“…”

“And now the Prince is even overshadowed by a woman who became vermin and died. How long must I watch this state…”

Since the holy war in history until now, the Empire had been slowly crumbling from the invisible parts. The Emperor had felt this since childhood.

The contaminated regions were expanding little by little each year, and new vermin and their habitats were appearing every year. What about the various problems that followed?

They were very diverse, from simple casualties to the public’s anxiety caused by those tainted by magic and the troubles caused by doomsday theorists who said God was dead.

Since taking the throne, the Emperor had used that insight to ensure all these problems didn’t surface.

“Humans like to rely on God. The more chaotic the times, the more they want to confirm God’s existence…”

In the midst of all this, fortunately, a Countess appeared.

“In the end, this Empire needs sanctity.”

Just her appearance alone put countless chaos to rest.

So Lishie was a great Countess just by her existence alone, even without accumulating great achievements like the great Countesses in history.

Because she was proof that God had not abandoned the world.

“Nothing is more important than making sanctity belong to the Imperial Court. How the Prince’s feelings toward the Countess changed so urgently doesn’t matter at all.”

She was extremely self-centered, but the Imperial Court and Empire were included within that scope. It was the psychology of an owner rather than a leader.

And the most convenient way to own a person was marriage. She herself had welcomed a companion according to such logic.

“So decide here. Whether you’ll find the Countess and welcome her as Crown Princess, or abandon the title of Prince.”

“…Are you saying I have no other value whatsoever?”

“I cannot find a reason why only the Prince must inherit the throne. Do you see any value other than bloodline?”

There wouldn’t be any. At least to you, I have no value at all.

Chessier thought somewhat self-mockingly and looked up at his mother, who was heartless to a degree that seemed fresh.

Metallic gray eyes pierced through him.

Under that gaze that seemed to observe objects rather than people, he always felt like his value was being judged.

“…Your Majesty’s words are correct.”

To the Emperor, he was not a son, but a successor who was unsatisfactory for having nothing particularly outstanding.

He still hadn’t seen the ultimate mastery of the sword. He wasn’t exceptionally intelligent or had any special talents.

He was generally excellent, but that was largely thanks to his innate status and good environment. He could be called hardworking, but not a genius.

Compared to the two siblings of Baltres who were called geniuses of their generation, he was just an ordinary person caught in an inferiority complex.

…Among them, Irene was truly a genius.

A mage’s rank is determined by the innate amount of magical power. This was an absolute indicator that couldn’t be changed by simple effort.

But Irene’s magic transcended the limits of the magical power she possessed. With her fearless and ingenious calculation methods and application abilities.

Though he didn’t know about magic, he well knew that her papers were always topics of discussion during their academy days.

If there was talent, it would be something like that. The power to make the impossible possible, to destroy existing common sense and create one’s own standards. An ability he didn’t have.

“What does it matter if you’re not first place? Whatever number it is, I’ll recognize Your Highness. I’ll support you.”

“…Looking at it, the Duke’s daughter always seems to say nice things at the right moments.”

“Because I like you. Because I’m always watching over you… Ah. Is it too creepy if I say it like this?”

Irene was always within his line of sight.

With eyes that curved softly with rippling affection, with a raw heart that shouted with her whole body that she liked him…

Only recently had he finally realized.

He couldn’t help but love Irene. It was impossible not to fall for someone who gave their sincere heart to such an extent.

In moments Chessier wasn’t aware of, he looked for Irene first above all else. Even in moments when he ‘believed’ he loved Lishie, the place his gaze reached first was always Irene.

Even when their eyes met, he was busy pouring out harsh criticism and anger, but his gaze was always like that.

That blatant emotion that made him wonder why he hadn’t noticed.

His past self felt like a completely different person. Whether he was crazy or thoroughly bewitched by something, either way, he definitely wasn’t in his right mind.

The more he pondered about Irene, the more severe headaches clung to his mind, but he couldn’t stop such thoughts at all. As if a dam blocking his thoughts had collapsed…

“Prince. Your contemplation is quite long.”

A coldly indifferent voice without inflection broke his reverie.

Chessier looked at the Emperor’s emotionless silver-gray eyes and pulled out a not-so-old memory.

“It would be troublesome if you fell for him.”

That bastard who, because of the excessive resemblance, made him eventually seek an audience with the Emperor to ask with his own mouth whether she had hidden an illegitimate child.

…That woman that bastard was holding.

She was definitely Irene.

Irene was not dead.

It was an assertion that leaped steeply over logic, so even if someone asked if he was crazy, he would have nothing to say.

Anyway, he thought he was either crazy or going crazy, one of the two.

So Chessier spoke. Without attaching a subject.

“I will find her and welcome her as Crown Princess.”

Like this.

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Meanwhile, the Baltres Mansion was walking on thinner and sharper thin ice than the Imperial Palace.

But there are always those who cannot contain their curiosity anywhere. Ben, a low-ranking patrol guard, whispered to a laundry maid he had recently become close with.

“Is it true that they’re holding a funeral at the annex?”

“Sigh, they’ve already been at it since morning. You’d better not go over there.”

“Why? There’s no body anyway.”

Then the maid with twin braids cupped her hands around her mouth and whispered even more cautiously.

“That’s not the problem—the Duke has been staying there the whole time. If you get on his bad side… you’ll get struck by lightning.”

“Ugh…”

This house’s young lady had quite the spectacular achievements right to the end. Not only did she completely ruin the festival procession, but she even suddenly turned into a vermin and died.

“But why are you so interested in all this?”

Ben hadn’t actually witnessed any of the events from that day, but he had encountered Irene before the incident occurred.

Until now, he’d been too scared to speak up easily, but with things having turned out this way, his mouth was itching to tell the story.

“It’s a secret… only you should know. I actually met that woman before she died, you know? She was completely like a demon.”

That was the moment.

A man dressed entirely in black appeared in the secluded garden where they were, scattering sharp magical power.

“You.”

“Hi, hiiiek!”

When those red eyes fell on him, Ben recoiled in terror as if burned by fire.

“You said you met Irene?”

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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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