A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 155

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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 155
* * *
It felt as though Dolores had been dreaming. As if possessed by a demon, she had been seized by an overwhelming urge to sell her very soul, to sacrifice this body itself for the power to destroy both the Tailizes and Prelai—any price would have been worth it.
But the moment Edmund and Kiana vanished, along with the lark and that strange seal, the compulsion evaporated just as suddenly.
“Have I… have I truly lost my mind?”
Dolores looked around in bewilderment, her head spinning as though caught in a dream. But wait—hadn’t Kiana and Edmund been standing right before her just moments ago? They had even unlocked the door with a key and entered.
As she glanced about nervously, turning her head this way and that—
“All done.”
With a metallic click, the lock was fastened shut. Astonishingly, Kiana and Edmund suddenly reappeared before her, along with the lark and the seal.
‘They definitely… disappeared for a moment there?’
Dolores felt the urge to slap her own cheek to confirm she hadn’t truly lost her sanity.
Though their clothing remained the same as before, Kiana’s hair was subtly disheveled and her dress somewhat askew. Her flushed cheeks and slightly ragged breathing differed noticeably from moments earlier. Edmund, meanwhile, wore the languid, satisfied expression of a satiated beast.
The sight left a bitter taste in her mouth.
“Let’s go.”
Yet Kiana, unlike before, spared her not even a glance, as though she were utterly beneath notice.
“I have no interest in exchanging words with a loser who possesses neither ability nor restraint. Handle the disposal yourself.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
Edmund spoke tenderly, wrapping an arm around her waist.
“Once you’ve outlived your usefulness, that’s all that matters. Which is precisely why I’ve kept her alive this long.”
“Come to think of it, we can’t dispose of her until the trial reaches its verdict, can we?”
“A trial? That’s nothing—any living person can receive one.”
Edmund laughed without the slightest hesitation, his words dripping with cruelty. Dolores felt as though she were trapped in a nightmare.
‘How is this situation so different from when they came in and humiliated me directly?’
Yet to call it a dream seemed impossible—their clothing was identical to before. Moreover, the tear in her own skirt from Kiana’s high heel remained exactly as it was.
And yet… she felt even worse now than when they had confronted her earlier. It was as though she were being regarded as nothing more than an insignificant insect. They had achieved total victory, and now even acknowledging her existence felt like a waste of their time.
“Hey!”
Perhaps that was why Dolores cried out as she watched Kiana turn to leave.
“What’s the difference between me and Enes? Tell me!”
She had superimposed Enes onto Kiana’s pink hair. And that particular expression of being cherished—the composure that had always emanated from Enes whenever she stood beside Hyde. It was a belated answer to what Kiana had said to her.
“That’s precisely why our father disliked you—because you couldn’t understand yourself.”
Those were the words Kiana had spoken before collapsing in the nobility assembly.
“What’s the difference?! What makes her different from me?! Tell me! Answer me!”
Dolores screamed, as though coughing up blood from her very soul.
Only then did Kiana slowly turn her head. Edmund too furrowed his brow with an expression of exhaustion—as if questioning why she would ask Kiana about matters concerning the previous generation, and whether Kiana could possibly provide a clear answer to such a subjective question.
Yet Kiana answered without hesitation.
“The individual is different.”
In that instant, Dolores blinked.
A brief silence fell.
“That settles it?”
Having delivered an answer that admitted no dispute, Kiana turned and walked away, her heels clicking against the floor as she receded into the distance.
* * *
And so I left Dolores behind and walked through the Imperial Palace Dungeon with Edmund. Dolores had been nothing more than the final bait to lure out Roki’s spirit—there was no further use for her. Edmund would handle everything else competently on his own.
Now it was truly over. The last threat had been eliminated. Mother would not return to life, and Father would never fully recover his sanity, but still… everything had been revealed, and there were no enemies left to obstruct us.
As I walked through the prison corridors, I felt an odd sensation. It was because this Imperial Palace Dungeon was the very place where I had been confined with Melissa before my regression.
Back then, I had been too busy grinding my teeth at that damned Hitten for throwing us in here. But now the situation was reversed—Hitten and Dolores were the ones locked away. So I looked up at Edmund and asked.
“Should we go see Hitten too?”
Having just revisited that past memory of being imprisoned, I felt compelled to see his current state with my own eyes.
“As you wish.”
Edmund smiled gently and guided me down another winding corridor of the dungeon. Unlike Dolores, who was grinding her teeth like a madwoman, Hitten lay collapsed and sleeping.
“Should we wake him?”
“No.”
There was no need to exchange words with him, so I shook my head.
“Just seeing him like this is enough.”
Edmund laughed quietly and pulled me closer with one arm around my shoulders. Seeing Hitten locked away here stirred a more complex emotion in me than when I had visited Dolores’s cell.
“We did it. I really feel like we actually did it.”
I spoke abruptly while gazing at Hitten, and Edmund, now knowing everything, understood my words perfectly.
“It’s all thanks to you, Kiana.”
“You worked hard too, to make this happen.”
“I suppose.”
Edmund answered playfully.
“I simply did what the notes told me to do.”
Notes… At that word, I couldn’t help but laugh.
From the note in mailbox 1135 telling me to return quickly, to the final message delivered through Piyak saying “don’t go to Arun”—we had been communicating through notes even as we maintained our fake romance.
“You listen well to me.”
Edmund said with a seductive glint in his eyes.
“Now that I think about it, that ancient oracle passed down through the Tailizes imperial family was correct.”
“What? What oracle?”
At my question, Edmund cleared his throat and spoke solemnly.
“There is an oracle: ‘In the notes that Tailizes receives shall lie the path.’ Such an oracle exists.”
Just as I was about to exclaim in delight, Hitten suddenly jolted awake from his wretched sleep.
“Damn it! Notes! Damn it! Yes, those cursed notes! Damn it, the content of those notes, damn it, they were all meant to destroy me! Blast it all!”
What was he saying? I couldn’t understand a word. Edmund and I exchanged bewildered glances as if asking, “Was he dreaming? Or has he truly gone mad?”
“Goddess Worshippers, Forgotten Worshippers, damn it, the Tailize Tree too, damn it, all of them said I couldn’t do it through those cursed notes, damn it!”
What was he talking about? Why would a god send notes? I blinked in confusion, and a guard behind me—one who had apparently served as his escort knight at some point—muttered.
“He has suffered from excessive delusions for quite some time.”
“Damn it, even a Spirit appeared at the hunting tournament! Damn it!”
Watching Hitten cry out in near madness, the Spirit nestled in Edmund’s arms clicked its tongue in exasperation.
【What’s he saying? Why would I send notes to that guy? He’s lost his mind.】
It was best not to engage in conversation with a madman. Edmund covered my ears to shield me from those harsh words, and we left the Imperial Palace Dungeon.
* * *
At that very moment, within the Imperial Palace.
Seliet was reading a book beside the Emperor.
The Emperor and Seliet had never been on poor terms as father and daughter. Of course, she was not his favored child, but still, Seliet felt genuine paternal affection from the Emperor. That was why, after Dolores had been cast out, Seliet was delighted to be able to visit the Emperor during his illness.
After the Crown Prince first appeared at the club house in the guise of a mysterious intruder, the Emperor had overexerted himself and fallen into a deep sleep. However, according to the Imperial Palace Physician, the time for him to awaken was drawing near. Seliet counted the days in anticipation of that moment.
“Your Majesty, please wake up soon.”
Seliet whispered softly with a quiet laugh.
“You must take my side quickly.”
A gentle madness flickered in her almond-shaped, beautiful eyes.
“The state marriage—let us push forward with it swiftly.”
Edmund was already extraordinarily busy with that very state marriage. Ever since he realized the current system was unsuitable for Kiana, he had been consumed with changing the laws.
Edmund was running about frantically, while she worked darkly behind the scenes in various ways. For instance, digging up weaknesses of other noble ladies who had their sights set on Edmund.
Now she only needed an authority figure who could make all of this happen quickly. Edmund could not push forward hastily because he needed to maintain a good impression with the Count Prelai family.
That was when it happened.
“…Mmm… Mmmm….”
With a groan, the Emperor slowly opened his eyes.

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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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