A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 121

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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 121
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Upon arriving at Levin Manor, I opened the Research Lab door without hesitation, only to let out a deep sigh once inside. Ah, what’s wrong with me? This daily habit of being in the Research Lab is truly terrifying.
‘I didn’t come here to research today.’
I needed to go to Sezare’s room and meet with him….
However….
“…Princess?”
Surprisingly, Sezare was in the Research Lab. And he was currently cleaning. When I looked at him in surprise, he laughed helplessly with a hollow sound.
“It’s just become a habit….”
His habit was as frightening as mine. I sighed once and walked into the Research Lab with heavy steps.
As I stood silently without speaking, Sezare slowly set down the experimental equipment he had been organizing. Then he approached me and spoke with a slight smile, his face as composed as always.
“Ah, you must have been quite surprised. I apologize. Even though we went together, I suddenly returned alone….”
“….”
“Being with the Empress was so overwhelming.”
“….”
“As a lowborn, simply being in the Imperial Palace was so difficult. Still, it was quite a good experience.”
“….”
When I gave no response, Sezare blinked his eyes a couple of times as if troubled. Then he smiled brightly again and changed the subject.
“But I’m late with my welcome greeting. If you wish to use the Research Lab, please feel free to visit anytime.”
“…I will. There are still cookies left that I was enjoying during my research.”
At my words, Sezare chuckled. Then, as if remembering, he opened the cookie jar on my desk and asked.
“Would you like some cookies? You barely ate any during tea time earlier.”
“…Yes.”
I quietly took out one cookie and ate it. The quiet Research Lab echoed only with the crunch, crunch sound of me eating the cookie. I could feel Sezare staring at the cookie crumbs I had dropped, thinking ‘when will I clean that up.’
Only after finishing one cookie did I feel mentally prepared. After taking a deep breath, I spoke slowly.
“I’ll clean this up. Since I dropped it.”
And after a pause, I added.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Sezare’s eyes widened.
A brief silence fell between us. He watched me quietly clean up the cookie crumbs, then slowly opened his mouth.
“It took a while.”
“Pardon?”
“For you to recognize me.”
Tilting my head in confusion, he kindly explained.
“I shrouded my face in an aura in front of others. Making it fade quickly from memory. When I removed the aura before the Empress, she also noticed immediately. But in front of you, Kiana….”
He smiled softly and continued.
“I never once shrouded my face in an aura.”
“…Ah.”
Only then did all the mysteries seem to unravel. No matter how much weight he had lost, erasing any trace of his youthful appearance, why no one else had recognized Sezare.
I too had once anticipated that ‘the Crown Prince could shroud his face in an aura to hide his identity.’ But because Sezare had not shrouded his face in an aura before me, I had not suspected him of being the Crown Prince all this time. Even when Sezare had asked me to ‘develop a magical tool that changes eye color.’
‘And Grandfather used to say that surrounding your face with an aura was genuinely difficult—even he could only manage it for a few minutes!’
But now that I thought about it, Sezare had been maintaining his aura almost constantly throughout the day. He had undoubtedly become a Sword Master far superior to my Grandfather. It was no wonder he had single-handedly repelled all the barbarians in the Levin Domain.
“I knew you wouldn’t recognize me, truthfully.”
Sezare was smiling, but there was something wistful in his expression.
“Still, the heart wants what it wants, so I held onto some hope….”
“Ah… I’m sorry if you’re disappointed.”
I studied Sezare’s features carefully as I apologized, and he shook his head gently.
“There’s no need to apologize now, Princess. I’ve always felt disappointed by you.”
“What?”
“Because you wouldn’t eat what I offered as a child, wouldn’t converse with me, wouldn’t smile for me….”
“I’m sorry, but I was like that with everyone.”
“And that’s precisely what disappointed me—being part of that ‘everyone.’ That’s what we call unrequited love.”
From Letter 1135, I already knew how long his unrequited love had lasted.
So that distant, yearning gaze I’d sensed from Sezare had been genuine all along. Even at the banquet, when we’d only just met, I’d wondered why his expression seemed so desperate….
“Then you must also know that the protagonist of Letter 1135 is me?”
“Yes.”
I answered with an embarrassed expression.
“And I know everything that happened to you six years ago today.”
A brief silence fell. Six years ago to this very day was when we’d met in the forest and exchanged magical artifacts.
Nothing seemed to have changed, yet simultaneously, everything felt as though it had shifted dramatically.
“At this point, it would be proper to explain today’s situation from the beginning.”
Sezare spoke first.
“I never trusted the Empress from the start. That’s why I didn’t reveal my survival for six years.”
“If you didn’t trust her….”
“The Empress is my biological mother, but she never loved the Emperor.”
I felt a bitter taste in my mouth as I gazed at Sezare quietly. Even so, the Empress was the Crown Prince’s biological mother….
“The Empress is a princess of the Kingdom of Sola. She loves me, her child, but she cannot abandon her own Sola royal blood.”
“….”
“Even if I suspected that my uncle Enoch had harmed me, she wouldn’t have uttered a single word of reproach. And yet, I returned alive.”
Sezare continued bitterly.
“My usefulness as a son would have been to grant both of their requests for mercy….”
When the word “usefulness” left his lips, my heart ached. Of course, he had betrayed that “usefulness” by attacking Enoch on the way back from the Imperial Palace.
Sezare must have known long ago that his mother would never be entirely on his side. That’s why he hadn’t contacted her all this time.
“Well, honestly, if some other capable branch member sat in that position instead of Enoch, the Kingdom of Sola would probably develop better.”
Sezare smiled slightly, then looked at me and asked in a somewhat softened voice.
“Weren’t you upset that I deceived you?”
“No.”
I answered immediately.
“It’s better not to know than to be entangled in such matters and face annihilation.”
“….”
I continued speaking honestly.
“To be truthful, I seriously considered pretending not to know until the very end. That way, even if things went wrong, I’d have an escape route.”
“If things went wrong, you mean….”
“If I were accused of treason or something like that, not only would I be finished, but Prelai would be destroyed as well.”
It was a situation I had already experienced before my regression. Therefore, regardless of anything else, I had no choice but to be cautious when it came to matters involving the Imperial Family.
“Because I believed there were things more precious to me than the Crown Prince.”
That was truly my honest feeling. It was also the reason I hadn’t pretended ignorance the moment I realized Sezare was the Crown Prince. As I laid bare my heart, silence fell over the research lab.
After some time had passed, Sezare asked with an unreadable expression.
“…Then why didn’t you pretend not to know until the end?”
“That’s….”
I sighed once and answered.
“Until now, there have been plenty of such people by the Crown Prince’s side….”
People who held things more precious than the Crown Prince. Retainers who remained at his side because they found ‘usefulness’ in him.
His sword master Orca, who desired a life of extravagance.
His guard Nix, who desired high status.
His attendant Ben, who desired the Princess.
His uncle Enoch, who desired financial support.
His friend Lord Rodrigo, who desired closer connections.
And… even his Mother, who treasured her homeland more.
Today had confirmed all of this.
I spoke slowly.
“I simply didn’t want to be like them.”
Sezare frowned and stared at me intently. Then he asked slowly.
“…Is it pity?”
“Good heavens.”
How could he say such a thing when he knew me well? I let out an incredulous laugh.
“Do I really seem like someone capable of harboring such warm feelings?”
“Then….”
“It’s because I like you.”
His eyes widened. I continued with a sullen tone.
“Because I like you, I couldn’t possibly pretend not to know. I’m not some stray bastard like you initially suspected, so how could I suppress my own heart?”

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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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