A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 122

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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 122
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Piyak was lounging in Kiana’s room for the first time in ages, taking it easy.
【Kiaaa, this is so comfortable. So comfortable!】
So Piyak began rolling around on the premium bed provided to him.
【No more need to get stronger, and I love it!】
The maids brought him plenty of high-quality snacks, and his already plump body grew even rounder. Piyak yawned and muttered to himself.
【…But I didn’t hate the feeling of my stats increasing.】
I had always thought of myself as a weak summon, but I didn’t dislike the sensation of continuously growing stronger. Of course, I always protested to Kiana that she worked me too hard. But secretly, I felt a quiet pride watching my delivery times keep improving. I kept my mouth shut because if I said such things to Kiana, she’d probably work me even harder….
【No, why doesn’t Kiana give me any work? Honestly, she still doesn’t even know my true abilities. If I trained, maybe I could deliver faster or carry heavier things….】
Piyak suddenly sat up and muttered before startling himself.
【Have I gone mad? What am I thinking….】
As Piyak raised one wing to slap his own cheek, he suddenly noticed Alice tidying up Kiana’s room.
Hmm…. Kiana’s Spy Maid had become far more muscular than when I first saw her. And because of that, she carried out all sorts of tasks Kiana assigned with remarkable efficiency….
【Hey there.】
So Piyak carefully called out to Alice.
【How did you do that?】
“Huh?”
Alice startled and nearly dropped the teacup she was holding, but caught it with practiced ease.
“What, what do you mean? Piyak?”
【You’ve become incredibly strong since I first saw you. You lift heavy things so well….】
“Yes?”
【I want to become strong too….】
Alice gazed at Piyak for a moment, then smiled warmly and answered.
“I worked hard, Piyak.”
At the word ‘worked hard,’ Piyak startled without meaning to, but Alice continued gently.
“I wanted to be helpful to Kiana. After facing the limits of my abilities once… I never forgot that helplessness, and I trained every night since then.”
Piyak suddenly felt an unexpected sense of kinship with Alice and caught his breath.
The limits of my abilities… My own weakness when I was too afraid of Alex’s sword technique to deliver the letter in the end….
【If I work hard too… if I really work hard, can I become strong?】
When Kiana first told me to work hard, I had only found it unsettling, but now I was speaking those words myself.
“Of course.”
Alice subtly flexed her muscles as she spoke.
“Look at me now.”
【….】
In Piyak’s mind, a vivid image unfolded: overpowering Alex’s sword technique, slapping Alex’s cheek with his wing, and handing over the letter. Since I had been genuinely terrified of Alex’s sword dance before and never dared approach, even imagining it sent a thrill through me.
【Then I’ll work hard too! I want to become strong!】
“You will? I’ve been training every night and getting lonely….”
Alice smiled brightly and said.
“Let’s train together every night then!”
* * *
“Kiana….”
Sezare looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“…Do you understand what you’re saying right now? What that means?”
“Of course I do. Is there anything I don’t know?”
I answered with a sly smile.
“Actually, I figured it out in the Forest of Spirits. You said you trusted my terrible eye for detail, but even so, I’m not so blind that I can’t recognize a man I love.”
Sezare’s eyes widened.
“Comforting you today serves no purpose for me whatsoever.”
Without regret, just as I had practiced on my way here.
“But I couldn’t leave you alone.”
I took a deep breath and spoke with sincerity.
“At least for today.”
A brief silence fell between us.
Sezare took a deep breath, then laughed—ha, ha—while gripping the edge of the table.
“Well.”
I fidgeted with my fingers before speaking.
“Yesterday, when I said something about reaching out to family first… was that why you decided to meet with the Empress?”
I hadn’t meant it as a command, but it certainly had carried that implication. Sezare answered my careful question with composure.
“Well, it’s true that I listen well to what you say, Princess. Even if it’s just something said in passing. But….”
He approached me and slowly arranged my disheveled hair, whispering tenderly.
“From the start, I had my own hopes, which is why I proposed trading the right of Imperial Family audience with you. So please don’t worry yourself, Princess.”
“….”
“Of course, it was convenient to use that as a pretext to stay by your side.”
In the end, was the value of the Imperial Family audience right limited to just that? Everything had gone according to his plan. Bittersweet as it was.
When I remained silent, Sezare smiled again.
“In any case, thank you for everything, Princess.”
“….”
“Many things have been resolved thanks to you.”
There were so many of those “many things” that I couldn’t even list them all to take credit.
Especially changing my eye color…that must have been a tremendous help in moving freely while avoiding Hitten. No matter how much I obscured my impression with an aura, I couldn’t make people forget my eye color.
And before returning to the throne, he would have commissioned me again to change them back to their original blue through magical artifacts. After all, there’s no official way to change eye color, even if sacred relics can prove bloodline.
‘So that’s why he kept contacting the Academy before the regression.’
In the end, it meant I was essential for his grand plan.
‘What’s different from before the regression is that I arrived in the Capital faster.’
Sezare gazed at me quietly and added.
“I did think you would eventually see through my identity, Princess, given how clever you are.”
It also meant he wasn’t surprised that I had caught him.
“It wasn’t comfortable deceiving you. But if I had been honest with you instead, that itself might have become a burden given my position.”
Hmm, listening to him speak, it seemed like part of him actually wanted to be discovered. He spoke from a very close distance.
“I always wanted to stand before you looking my very best, Princess. Yet whenever I found myself at my lowest, you would extend your hand to me. Just as you did six years ago.”
“What…”
I laughed awkwardly, a bit embarrassed.
“Back then, I left too quickly to really call it extending a hand. But anyway, I think things are different now than they were then. At least right now, I like you.”
“That’s true.”
Sezare smiled softly.
“I’m no longer that foolish boy from back then.”
His expression held something amusing, yet his eyes—now filled entirely with me—burned with intensity.
“If I had heard such words from you back then… my heart might have burst, and I would have fainted from the shock.”
“Ah… and now?”
“My heart still feels like it might burst, but I’ve become cunning enough to say such things.”
His face was close to mine. I had certainly thought my confession was quite cool, but somehow his suggestive presence made my heart begin to race uncontrollably.
“If you pity me today…”
His low voice—whining yet soothing at once—brushed softly against my ear.
“You’re allowed to hold me.”
His slightly narrowed eyes were dangerously beautiful. I scoffed and answered.
“This is ridiculous and absurd. You’re really laying it on thick in the middle of all this, aren’t you?”
And I carefully approached and gently embraced him.
“Well, if someone accepts even absurd flattery, there’s nothing to be done about it.”
But the moment I lightly wrapped my arms around his back, I realized I had let my guard down far too much. He seized the moment and pulled me into a tight embrace.
We had engaged in countless physical contacts during our fake romance. Among all those touches, this was the most impulsive and most raw embrace.
Unable to bear his weight, my feet dragged backward. My body tumbled onto the narrow bed as if collapsing. My heart pounded wildly, my toes curling inward. Heat seemed to rise from my trapped body. Wrapped in his clean, masculine scent, my stomach churned with emotion.
“If you keep toying with someone’s heart like that, you’ll be punished.”
His teasing yet soothing voice touched my ear. I had to listen to him while held so tightly I couldn’t move an inch.
“If you keep this up, you’ll grow up to become the Crown Prince’s consort. Is that acceptable?”

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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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