A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 149

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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 149
Left alone, I stretched and recalled the memories Piyak had shared with me once more. As Edmund’s haggard face came to mind, a wave of sympathy washed over me again.
“But wait, why didn’t he change his eye color and hair color?”
He would have created magical artifacts to change eye color, and hair dye was readily available in stores anyway. There was no reason not to change them. Was something truly amiss?
“I suppose I should just call someone…”
Just as I made up my mind and reached for the bell pull, I heard a soft sigh followed by an unexpected presence.
“How unfair, Kiana.”
“Kyaaaah!”
“If you were planning to call anyone, why not simply call me?”
Sezare… no, Edmund sat beside my bed as naturally as if it were the most ordinary thing. Since his appearance was identical to before, it would take some time before the name “Edmund” came to mind immediately.
In any case, he had connections. Infiltrating Prelai Manor was difficult, but once inside, entering my room was child’s play, or so he’d said.
“Good heavens…”
I blinked, expressing my delight.
“Did you really sneak into your benefactor’s room after she regained consciousness just a month ago?”
Edmund wore an embarrassed expression, yet remained perfectly still as he gazed at me intently and smiled.
“The Physician said you needed rest, so I was merely watching over you… but I worried how much your arm might hurt when you pulled the bell pull.”
Anyone listening would think my arm was gravely injured…
“In any case, to answer your curiosity…”
Edmund, shamelessly acknowledging his audacity, continued in a gentle tone.
“When we parted last time, you said Sezare’s appearance was exactly your style. So I didn’t particularly want to change it.”
Goodness. I’d only mentioned it in passing…
“Kiana.”
Edmund quietly took my hand and smiled.
“After you collapsed like that, each day felt like hell. Those days watching your blood dry… now it all feels like a lie. Everything feels so right now.”
With his other hand, he caressed my cheek as if touching the most precious thing in the world. I nodded, acknowledging the hardship he’d endured.
“Yes… you’ve been through so much. Just looking at your haggard face tells me how hellish it must have been…”
Edmund’s condition looked worse than ever. Yet that hollow, sharp-edged atmosphere somehow suited him remarkably well.
“I will recover, Kiana. With just a little time, I can truly return to how I was before. Please believe me.”
Edmund made his vow about his appearance as solemnly as if swearing an oath of loyalty.
“So even if my appearance falls slightly short of your expectations…”
And before I knew it, a large diamond brooch was placed in my hand.
“Will you accept my heart, Kiana?”
It was the enormous diamond I’d once received through the Goddess Statue and later sold to Sezare for money, now crafted into a brooch.
“I thought making it into a ring might interfere with your experiments… and if I made it into a necklace, I worried the weight might hurt your neck.”
Looking at that diamond again, it was truly enormous.
“Young Edmund waited all this time, holding this jewel, hoping you would abandon Rodrigo and give him a chance…”
He brought the back of my hand, still clutching the diamond brooch, to his lips as he continued.
“Count Sezare Levin also waited. After reclaiming his place, for the moment when he could finally make the romantic confession he’d always dreamed of…”
Each movement of his lips sent a ticklish sensation through my toes.
“But it was all foolishness. As the Spirit said, I should have expressed my heart the moment I could. So I will wait no longer and confess now.”
Wow, from an outsider’s perspective, the timing really couldn’t have been worse. Even though I’d been lying unconscious, I’d only just awakened and hadn’t even properly groomed myself, while Edmund looked more exhausted and haggard than ever before.
“I love you, Kiana.”
But for us, it was the perfect moment.
“I have loved you for a very long time.”
He drew closer, pressing his body against mine.
“I no longer wish to be the man who intruded into my benefactor’s room, but rather the man who cannot leave his lover’s side.”
“Are you saying you secretly intruded into your benefactor’s room just as she regained consciousness after a month?”
Displeased with my earlier words, he now seemed determined to define our relationship with absolute clarity.
“We never heard from Kiana about the fact that you two were in a relationship. We only know for certain that you two have separated.”
“When Kiana awakens, she can tell you herself that I have the right to visit my lover’s bedside.”
What he’d said to Grandfather with such confidence was actually a lie. We had parted without ever speaking the word “lover” aloud to each other. So Grandfather had been deceived by the cunning Sezare. The memory of Edmund as a righteous and upright young man was simply too vivid…
“I promise I will do my very best, Kiana.”
Edmund closed his eyes and smiled seductively.
“Every day I thought about how I would make you happier than any past you might be wandering through.”
I felt a pang of sympathy hearing how much anguish he must have endured.
“So, will you accept my feelings?”
His confident and relaxed voice trembled ever so slightly at the end. I could sense his nervousness.
I answered plainly to ease his tension.
“Well, you probably already know what my answer will be anyway. Why are you so nervous? Just do your best from now on, then.”
Edmund laughed with delight at my words. Then he carefully pulled me into his embrace.
“Aaahhh!”
Of course, no matter how carefully he held me, my muscles—unused for so long—were startled greatly, and Edmund, as if he’d anticipated it, murmured with a serious expression.
“First, we need to loosen up your body, Princess.”
He began gently stroking my shoulders as he spoke.
“I have a rather high understanding of human anatomy, so please leave it to me.”
As if a Sword Master wouldn’t be skilled at such things…
“Mm, ahhhhh…”
Wherever his hands touched, rubbing and pressing, stimulation flowed through me, and my stiff body gradually began to soften.
“Of course…”
He was now fully on my bed, whispering as he nibbled at my ear.
“This is a pleasant task for me. Caring for you has always been so.”
Even in this situation, he remained utterly cunning and fox-like.
Shortly after, the Physician who came in to check on my condition again was startled.
“My, Princess. Even with my proper care, I’m amazed at how well you’re moving your body so quickly. I even brought medical massage supplies, but your recovery is better than expected…”
I could only laugh awkwardly with a slightly flushed face.
In any case, nothing Edmund had said was wrong. His understanding of human anatomy was indeed high. And it was true that he’d done quite a bit of that pleasant work before leaving.
* * *
Dolores sat in her prison cell, biting her nails.
“This is insane… These damned Prelai bastards…”
She was so furious that even Roki had deceived her that she could barely contain herself. She lacked the objective self-awareness that the scheme she and her son had devised was far too insufficient compared to Edmund’s capabilities.
“This cannot be how it ends.”
Edmund seized control of the Imperial Palace with remarkable speed.
The nobles whom Hitten and Dolores had trusted fell silent at the sight of the Levin Domain’s army, unable to do anything but shrink back before such overwhelming force. Moreover, Edmund handled various matters with competence and, armed with irrefutable evidence, systematically eliminated Hitten and Dolores’s closest associates—they had no recourse.
The Emperor remained unconscious, hovering at death’s door, and so this could rightly be called Edmund’s era. Furthermore, with the incident exposed before witnesses, neither Hitten nor Dolores had any excuse. The fact that it had occurred during a noble assembly only multiplied the number of those who had seen it.
“…This cannot… This cannot possibly be the end….”
Each night, Dolores was tormented by Enes’s phantom. The specter appeared with that infuriating smile of victory, robbing her of proper sleep.
“Hyde Prelai, had you chosen only me… none of this tragedy would have occurred. Why did you choose Enes, who had nothing….”
And naturally, that hatred redirected itself toward Kiana, who had suddenly appeared in the assembly hall. Because Kiana resembled Enes far too closely.
“Your daughter, your son, your husband… I cannot bear to see your family happy.”
Dolores muttered toward Enes’s phantom.
“Even if my body shatters… I will never let this be the end….”
Lost in such madness, she did not notice something fall with a soft thud into a corner of her prison cell.

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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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