A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 119

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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 119
As we settled before the Empress, she smiled faintly and spoke.
“Please, enjoy yourself freely. Tell me what I might do for you, Princess. Surely you have your own reasons for insisting on meeting me.”
The attendants skillfully brought out tea and pastries. They were lavish yet refined, showing meticulous care in every detail.
“I do hope it suits your palate, though I worry it might not.”
The Empress asked gently, and I smiled and answered honestly that there was no need to worry.
“I have no background knowledge or particular interest in tea, so to me, it all tastes the same. Please don’t concern yourself.”
“Ah, I see. Well, that’s a relief.”
A peaceful atmosphere settled over the serene garden of the Empress’s Palace. The sky stretched high, the weather was pleasantly cool, and the faint fragrance of flowers drifted through the air.
I didn’t know the name of the tea the attendant had prepared, but it was undeniably sweet. I care for nothing but coffee, though Enoch might ask me to bring some back. After sipping the tea for a moment, I pretended to lose my balance and deliberately spilled the hot water across my dress.
“Oh…”
“Princess!”
The Empress was more startled than I was.
“Are you alright? It wasn’t too hot, was it?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
I pulled a handkerchief from Sezare’s pocket and dabbed it carefully before standing up cautiously.
“I’ll just go tidy my appearance a bit. Is that acceptable?”
Sezare had never once asked me to leave, but I understood roughly why he had come here. The Empress, bewildered, hastily called for an attendant.
“Then, Countess Tenao shall show you the way.”
“Yes, I’ll excuse myself for a moment.”
And so I rose to follow the Empress’s attendant, never once meeting Sezare’s eyes.
* * *
After Kiana disappeared, the Empress felt somewhat uncomfortable. She had no acquaintance with Sezare whatsoever.
She had no acquaintance with Kiana either, but at least they shared the common ground of being women. She had been away from society for far too long. Thus, she felt rather flustered about what to say to a young nobleman. Moreover, Sezare’s demeanor was remarkably composed and unhurried, making the situation all the more difficult.
Typically, those visiting the Imperial Palace for the first time would be intimidated by its closed-off magnificence. Rare teas and pastries that couldn’t be found elsewhere were enough to astonish anyone. Yet Sezare showed no sign of intimidation whatsoever, simply sitting with perfect ease.
Eventually, unable to bear the awkward silence, the Empress spoke first.
“The Princess is taking rather long. The Marquis must be growing bored.”
“Not at all.”
Sezare answered while sipping his tea with refined grace.
“This Setez-Calosa aroma is quite exquisite. Cinnamon cookies would pair better than chocolate ones.”
“That is…”
The Empress’s expression froze in an instant.
The Empress had never mentioned the name of this tea before. Kiana had shown no curiosity about it.
Yet Setez-Calosa leaves were truly rare—a tea one could scarcely taste outside the Imperial Palace. And cinnamon cookies at that…
“Chocolate cookies are too sweet with Setez-Calosa. I prefer cinnamon cookies.”
Sezare set down his teacup with elegant grace.
*Clink.*
The sound seemed oddly loud.
Sezare’s fingers withdrew from the teacup with elegant precision. The Empress’s gaze fell upon the cuff of his sleeve, his buttons, his collar—every angle aligned with meticulous perfection, not a thread out of place.
Most people remember disorder, not perfect alignment. They merely lump it together as “neatness.” But the Empress understood the difference well. That subtle distinction between orderliness and razor-sharp precision.
Because… she’s my biological mother.
“I… I am….”
The Empress lifted her eyes and gazed at Sezare Levin.
His eye color differed from hers. His hair color was different. Even his build was different. He had grown considerably taller than she remembered. But Edmund had disappeared six years ago. Back then, Edmund was in the midst of his growth spurt, his height increasing steadily.
Though his features had shifted subtly as he lost weight, the traces of his former countenance were unmistakably visible. As his mother, she could discern these minute details far more swiftly than anyone else could.
“Good… good… heavens….”
And the moment she met those unfamiliar golden eyes, the Empress felt as though her breath had been stolen. She could not trust herself. How had she failed to recognize him at first glance?
When she had arrived with Kiana, she had caught a fleeting glimpse of Sezare Levin, thought him handsome, and then forgotten him just as easily—as if it were all a lie. How could she have done such a thing? Even the slightest scrutiny revealed something so vivid….
“Ah….”
The Empress’s hand, clutching the teacup, began to tremble violently. It was a moment so tense that she could not even pretend to be unaware.
“I’ve heard the Imperial Palace has many eyes to see and ears to hear.”
Sezare Levin spoke leisurely. Yet his tone carried an unmistakable warning—do not let it show.
“It would be fine if it were just me, but since the Princess came along as well.”
In the end, the Empress could only manage a slight nod while holding her breath. There would certainly be Dolores’s people watching, and if she made a mistake, Kiana could be caught up in it as well.
Sezare Levin continued speaking, glancing at the Empress, who had gone rigid.
“It seems Your Majesty is quite worried about Enoch.”
“…Ah, well….”
The Empress answered absently, her entire body tense.
“He is the King of Sola, after all…. He has no heir yet, and there are no other direct descendants remaining….”
“….”
A long silence fell. It was the Empress who finally broke the quiet, unable to bear it any longer.
“So, if… the Crown Prince truly has returned, I hope you might show Enoch some mercy… even if he has done something wrong to his nephew, it was for the sake of the nation….”
Sezare Levin’s eyes were cold. He cut off the Empress’s rambling words.
“It sounds as though you value your younger brother more than your son.”
“Ah, ah, my son might still be alive….”
The Empress glanced at Sezare Levin, then gripped the hem of her skirt tightly.
“…To be precise, it’s not my younger brother, but my homeland….”
Sezare Levin sipped his tea leisurely. And as the Empress watched him, she added pitifully.
“Well, I would have certainly stopped him if I had known, but since what’s done is done….”
“….”
“You see, Count… my son is truly remarkable. Really, he’s my son, but he was so extraordinary.”
The Empress murmured in a trembling voice.
“So… I had such a feeling that he would return alive. Without my help, even. After all, he was… someone who resembled me not at all, someone so utterly perfect in every way. But… but the Kingdom of Sola is different.”
“….”
“I cannot do without it… Enoch cannot be spared….”
“I understand Your Majesty’s meaning well.”
Sezare Levin rose slowly.
“In fact, I suspected as much.”
Standing with his back to the sunlight, a composed smile graced his face. As though everything had unfolded as expected, as though the Empress’s reaction was hardly surprising at all. As though he had known all along that she would ask him to show mercy to his uncle.
“That’s why I didn’t contact you. I simply came because I wanted to hear someone’s words.”
“…If it were someone else…”
“But not another day. Today.”
Sezare Levin’s golden eyes regarded the Empress with glacial coldness.
“I never expected to hear such words from you on this day of all days.”
The Empress’s complexion visibly drained of color.
Six years ago, on this very day, the Crown Prince had vanished. Though much time had passed and others had moved on without concern, the Empress could not forget. She could not forget the date of that final Picnic when her son disappeared.
“Please convey my apologies to the Princess, but I must take my leave first. I do not wish to show her such a disheveled state.”
Sezare bowed with perfect courtesy, though his tone was frigid.
“Forgive my rudeness, Your Majesty.”
The Empress trembled as she gripped her teacup tightly. Her expression seemed somehow unmoored. She drew a deep breath and spoke rapidly in a hushed murmur.
“I… I waited for my son with all my heart. I prayed every single day. Please let him be safe, please let him return to me.”
Tears glistened faintly in her eyes.
“But… I simply… I only wish for both of them to be safe.”
She whispered desperately, her voice barely audible.
“He cannot be deeply involved. Those people could never have truly considered Enoch one of their own. He must have simply… simply drifted along with them, perhaps coerced into silence…”
Sezare regarded the Empress quietly for a moment, then smiled faintly.
“Do you know what, Your Majesty?”
“Ah… yes?”
“After that unforeseen accident, I barely survived, but my sense of taste was paralyzed. I cannot taste anything at all.”
The Empress’s eyes widened. Sezare continued with an elegant smile.
“Your son will not have fared unscathed either. The Crown Prince is no god, after all. It would be impossible.”
“Ah…”
“Your Majesty needed a son who would be generous to the Kingdom of Sola. That was his usefulness, was it not? Well, when one thinks of it that way, it is hardly surprising.”
Without waiting for the Empress’s response, Sezare turned with measured grace and departed from the Garden.
The Empress could only lower her trembling teacup, unable to bring herself to stop him.

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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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