A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 114

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

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Chapter 114
Only then did I understand why the Spirit kept going on about kissing. This Spirit was genuinely curious about what it was.
But I couldn’t exactly declare, “We weren’t actually lovers.”
【If you had lied while invoking my name before me, you wouldn’t have survived.】
The Spirit had just said exactly that moments ago.
Of course, I knew the simplest and most efficient solution.
‘Being honest is the worst option. I’ll just close my eyes and press my lips together and be done with it. Sezare and I are only fake lovers, not real ones anyway. I need to survive first.’
…But… I clearly knew that method….
‘However….’
Strangely, Sezare’s face kept flickering before my eyes.
Since our fake lover status had an expiration date, something felt awkward and I couldn’t bring myself to speak, but regardless, we did have affection for each other. Yet kissing another man… no matter how much my life depended on it, I….
‘What am I saying? This isn’t a fake relationship anymore.’
I thought to myself, my heart trembling.
‘Even in this extreme situation, he’s already become my real lover in my heart? I really do love Sezare….’
Then, the Crown Prince standing beside me slowly opened his mouth.
“Spirit.”
【Is he going to say he can’t? You two said you liked each other.】
“It’s true that I like this woman. I like her… and so….”
The Crown Prince’s calm words continued.
“I can also tell that this woman doesn’t want to kiss right now.”
【He didn’t say anything about that?】
“But I can still tell.”
The Crown Prince’s intonation was so artificial that I couldn’t read the emotions mixed into his tone. Though he was currently busy slaughtering people, some remnants of the righteousness he once possessed seemed to linger, as he began explaining gently to the Spirit.
“Noticing even the smallest things about someone you love… is more certain proof of affection than a kiss.”
【What is he saying!】
Of course, the Crown Prince’s virtue went unrewarded this time. If the Spirit were the type to accept things at once, it wouldn’t have thrown a tantrum like a child in the first place.
【So you don’t want to kiss someone you like? You don’t want to touch them, embrace them?!】
The Crown Prince breathed slightly trembling breaths.
I continued keeping my mouth shut as he intended, but it seemed like this would go on endlessly. Just as I was about to say something, he spoke.
“…I want to, of course.”
【See!】
“I want to touch her, embrace her, kiss her, and do more. Because I love her so much, because I crave her desperately.”
At that calm confession, I forgot what I was about to say.
“Every night I imagine it, and every day I barely restrain myself.”
【Gasp, oh my goodness!】
The Spirit, delighted beyond measure, leaned its back against a rock and rolled about, crying “Ahahaha! I love this! I love it so much!” and causing quite a commotion. The Crown Prince showed no reaction to this shameful display and continued speaking calmly.
“But such desires are deeply intimate and private, and it is also human nature not to wish to display them to others.”
【Huh? You don’t want to show it?】
“I suspect Elika Prelai and Edmund Tailyes felt the same way.”
It was a gentle but firm refusal.
I was wondering if this foolish spirit would really accept this, when the Crown Prince slowly turned his body toward me.
“As a token of gratitude for providing an answer….”
The mist was gradually lifting now, and the silhouette of the Crown Prince turning toward me became clearer than before.
“…I shall show you only this much.”
He slowly removed one glove.
“Forgive my rudeness, Princess.”
“Yes?”
“Though my intentions are not entirely pure, it seems only right that I offer this much in return for waking me.”
After whispering softly, he slowly brought his index finger to my lips.
The unfamiliar sensation of his finger brushing against my lips made my body flinch. It was such a trivial touch, yet I trembled—perhaps because I could feel that he was nervous too.
My breathing became unnatural. When his finger, which had been resting lightly, pressed gently against my lips, I grew anxious that my saliva might touch it. The fine hairs on my body stood on end.
He slowly withdrew his finger from my lips and brought it to his own. The gesture seemed reverent somehow, yet strangely decadent.
His lips touched the finger that had touched mine. That fact felt oddly embarrassing. It was truly a trivial contact. Yet in that brief moment, time seemed to stop.
The mist slowly fading, the subtle scent of water, an otherworldly atmosphere as if separated from the rest of the world, the sensation of bare skin still lingering on my lips.
His lips visible through the hood curved upward slightly as if smiling. I stared wide-eyed at those red lips forming a gentle arc, at the long finger resting quietly upon them.
…Wait…. This can’t be….
‘…Sezare?’
Until now, I hadn’t known because I was being carried or standing beside him, but now I could see…. It was a familiarity I couldn’t ignore.
The Crown Prince’s letter had been truthful. I was so indifferent to others that I had even asked the Spy Maid, whom I’d seen two days in a row, “Was that you yesterday?”
To be honest, I didn’t remember the young Crown Prince’s face well, and I had no confidence I would recognize him even if he appeared as an adult.
But….
“Noticing even the smallest details about someone you love… is more certain proof of emotion than a kiss.”
If that person was someone I loved, I had no choice either. I could discern the other person from a single gesture, the slight angle of a smiling lip, the vaguely familiar back of a hand.
How long had we spent pressed together in the Research Lab? How many moments had I stolen glances with a fluttering heart while we were together? Now I realized our heights were similar too….
【Good heavens.】
And while I stood dazed, remarkably, the Spirit was satisfied.
【If they’re that nervous over just this, one of them would probably faint if they actually kissed. It’s something they wouldn’t want to do in front of others. Fine. I accept.】
The Crown Prince quietly put his glove back on.
The Spirit yawned and splashed into the water with a plunge. Only when the Spirit’s tail completely disappeared beneath the surface did a very small murmur follow.
【…It’s still sad that Eli and Edgar died. I wish they hadn’t sulked and refused to sleep just because I wouldn’t kiss them, and had simply spent a year together with those two instead.】
The Spirit was no longer visible. It seemed he didn’t want to show us his true sorrow.
【Life is shorter than expected, descendants of Eli and Edgar.】
But his voice, which seemed somewhat melancholic, still echoed across the pond.
【Live without any regrets. Don’t leave behind any sorrow from missing opportunities to love. So I hope Ed and Eli kissed secretly without my knowing.】
* * *
On the way down from the Forest, the Crown Prince carried me again. On our return, we said nothing.
Only after we had descended quite far into the Forest did I speak first.
“Are you going to Arun?”
“Probably.”
“There are so many monsters on the way there that humans can’t go, but Uncle Roki has a summoned beast that digs tunnels, so he managed to get in somehow.”
“Demons are meant to be killed, that’s all there is to it.”
The Crown Prince answered matter-of-factly, as though he were simply going out to slay a few beasts.
“Please don’t go.”
I spoke quietly.
“I was already planning to go there anyway. I need to rescue my father. I’ve been waiting for the right moment, and it will arrive soon enough.”
“But you said there are many demons, Princess. It’s dangerous….”
“Surely you don’t think I’d be foolish enough to slaughter every demon in sight on my way to Arun?”
“….”
The Crown Prince, suddenly cast as the foolish one, fell silent. I wrapped my arms around his neck and spoke softly.
“I always thought my father would hate me. So even when we were apart, I felt no longing. But I realize now that I simply didn’t understand his circumstances.”
“….”
“I’ve always run from my family. The truth is, I was afraid—afraid that my suspicions might be correct. So this time, I want to meet my father myself and hear his side of the story first.”
“I will support you, Princess.”
The Crown Prince smiled faintly as he spoke.
“Your words resonate with me.”
“Resonate?”
“I too have family I’ve been avoiding.”
“Ah….”
I nodded quietly. After all, the Crown Prince had made no contact with the Emperor or Empress. I found myself torn between thinking “How can you not reach out to your parents?” and “Can you even trust them as parents now?” The circumstances were simply too complicated.

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

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