A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 159

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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 159
Lord Rodrigo’s eyes trembled with fear. He had already learned Sezare Levin’s true identity while imprisoned.
“Here.”
Edmund held a round magical artifact up to Lord Rodrigo’s eyes with his other hand.
“When you hold this magical artifact, which Lady Kiana developed, against your eyes like this….”
The moment Edmund pressed the artifact against his eyes, Lord Rodrigo began screaming in agony.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!”
Lord Rodrigo’s anguished screams echoed through the courtroom. It was such a harrowing sound that people instinctively shrank back.
‘That must hurt incredibly.’
Kiana also leaned back slightly, thinking to herself.
‘I did modify it to be more painful….’
By the day of the trial, Kiana had slightly modified the eye-color-changing magical artifact at Edmund’s request.
“I really want to show the eye color changing during the trial, but holding it for an hour is impossible. Could you make it shorter?”
“Hmm… it’s possible, but then the pain would be tremendous. The shorter the time, the more it hurts. I don’t really have the enthusiasm to modify it that way….”
“Actually, I’m going to use it on Lord Rodrigo Purbs.”
“What are you doing? Help me right now. I’m suddenly getting a lot of enthusiasm for this.”
So now Lord Rodrigo was experiencing pain several times worse than what Edmund had endured before.
‘Well, the total time is still short, so whatever.’
And shortly after, the magical artifact dropped from Edmund’s hand with a thud.
“Ahhhhh… ahhhhhhh….”
Lord Rodrigo trembled violently, tears streaming down his face as he let out hoarse cries.
“Over something this trivial.”
Edmund spoke with a sinister expression.
“I held the artifact against my own eyes directly, Lord Rodrigo. And on top of that, because you pushed me off the cliff, I was in terrible condition with severe injuries.”
Lord Rodrigo was in too much pain to give a proper response.
Edmund grabbed Lord Rodrigo by the hair and lifted his head to show everyone his pupils.
“Oh my….”
“Good heavens!”
“Wow, how fascinating.”
Everyone, including Alex, gasped in amazement. Lord Rodrigo’s eyes, which had been red, had turned pitch black.
“Well, I changed mine the same way.”
Edmund smirked and threw Lord Rodrigo to the ground.
It was a light, graceful motion, but the moment Lord Rodrigo hit the floor, he felt as though his body was shattering. That was because Edmund had thrown him while channeling his aura. Though the actual height wasn’t much, the impact felt as if he’d been thrown from a cliff.
Lord Rodrigo gasped in pain, realizing he had ultimately become disabled like the other Picnic members. In a way, Edmund had simply returned the favor. Edmund had also suffered from changing his eye color and nearly died falling from the cliff.
Edmund, as if displeased by Lord Rodrigo’s hair touching him, removed his gloves with an elegant gesture and let them fall onto his body. Then he lowered himself and whispered softly to Lord Rodrigo.
“From the moment you started bragging about your eye color….”
Lord Rodrigo was gasping for breath, tears streaming down his face.
“I decided I had to erase it from this world forever.”
Lord Rodrigo’s body trembled. He seemed to understand what Edmund was saying.
“You know? I’m Kiana’s first love. She really loved my eyes. They’re red, after all.”
On the day Sezare Levin visited Lord Rodrigo in the prison, Lord Rodrigo had mocked him like that. And what had Sezare Levin answered back then?
“I never knew I could be so childishly jealous.”
Simply because Kiana had briefly liked him, Edmund had permanently erased Lord Rodrigo’s eye color in front of everyone.
“Drag him out and dispose of him.”
Edmund commanded with a cold expression. Lord Rodrigo, already unable to move his entire body, was dragged away.
“Wow.”
Alex muttered with an excited expression, clenching his fists tightly.
“That’s my style.”
His eyes sparkled as he smiled with satisfaction.
“If the Nobility Council were like this every day, I’d attend every single session.”
And as Hyde was about to express violent agreement with that remark, Scari barely managed to cover his mouth.
“Please… Please just stay quiet today, Hyde. Please.”
In the meantime, Edmund returned to his seat.
“Well then.”
And the Emperor looked at the Announcer with cold eyes and spoke.
“Bring out the next criminals.”
He meant Dolores and Hitten.
* * *
Dolores was dragged into the courtroom in a state of near madness. The mere fact that she could see Hyde after so long made her lips tremble uncontrollably.
She paid no attention to Hitten, who had been dragged in with her. After all, Hitten paid no mind to Dolores either, and was simply muttering frantically, “God hates me… Those cursed ancestors and gods…”
The more lenient people were with themselves, the more they wanted to rationalize everything. Dolores too wanted to rationalize how she had fallen so far.
The beginning of Dolores’s desire was her infatuation with Hyde.
‘Yes. If I cannot have him, I must destroy him.’
She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth.
‘If I could see that perfectly composed face twisted in pain because of me, that would be enough.’
The moment she was dragged into the courtroom, Dolores frantically searched for Hyde with her eyes. Since the Prelai family was seated in the front, she found him immediately.
Hyde had grown larger and was wearing excessively ornate clothing, but he still displayed handsome features as a man in his prime.
‘…Ah.’
He must have been unable to refuse those clothes that Joshua had prepared for him. Hyde had always been weak to his family.
And seeing Kiana sitting next to Hyde made her even more alert. Just seeing that child who resembled Enes so much drove her mad, and she couldn’t bear to see Enes and Hyde together…
‘Truly a person beautiful enough that I cannot abandon my life and leave it be…’
That was when it happened.
“You bastards! You damn bastards!”
Upon seeing Dolores and Hitten, Hyde stood up and spewed curses even before Alex did.
“No, Hyde!”
Scari desperately grabbed and clung to Hyde’s waist.
“Are you out of your mind! This is an official occasion!”
Everyone except the Prelai family, Edmund, and the Emperor had shocked expressions. No matter how angry one was, a high-ranking noble cursing like that in such an official setting… Until now, only Alex Prelai had ever caused such a scene.
“Damn it! Should I not be out of my mind then! Krraaaaaaagh!”
With his eyes already rolling back, Hyde let out a bestial cry and suddenly bit the cork of the wine bottle he had received as a reward, spitting it out. The tremendous force caused everyone to gape in shock as Hyde began gulping down the wine straight from the bottle.
Everything happened so quickly that no one had a chance to stop it. With wine dripping down his chin, the scene looked absolutely scandalous.
“Ah….”
Kiana shrugged as if to say it was hopeless, yet she remained seated with an air of complete indifference, as though it had nothing to do with her.
“Wow, damn! Wow! Damn!”
Alex was cheering as if Hyde had outdone himself. Scari cried out in despair.
“Ah, come on! You absolute mess of people! Can’t you stop your father?! What kind of disgrace is this….”
Finally, Joshua sighed and shouted at Hyde.
“Father! That’s a limited edition—you’re getting wine on it!”
Surprisingly, Hyde reacted immediately.
“Damn! No! My precious treasures!”
Hyde stopped his unseemly drinking at once, but now everyone had learned about his changed taste in clothing. Moreover, his refined features had vanished, leaving only the wild, beast-like gleam in his disheveled hair etched in people’s memories.
‘Outwardly like Julius, but inwardly a horrifying hybrid of Alex and Joshua….’
Hyde examined his clothes once more, then rushed at Dolores again, spewing all manner of vulgar curses.
Naturally, everyone was shocked, but the most shocked of all was Dolores. She muttered like a person possessed, “…I staked my entire life… on a man like this….”
“What.”
Kiana shrugged once more as she watched the scene.
“The trial hasn’t even started yet, but in a way, this is the greatest punishment of all.”
Seliet, who had been watching her moment and quietly slipped into the seat beside Kiana, nodded with sparkling eyes.
“Yes, Princess. That’s absolutely true.”
“Oh, you startled me! When did you arrive?”
“Just now.”
Seliet smiled and squeezed Kiana’s hand firmly.
Kiana, seeking some stability amid these senseless people, gazed toward Edmund in the distance. Edmund wore an expression of clear displeasure.
‘Of course he would. The courtroom has turned into complete chaos.’
She thought that Edmund, who expressed his anger with such cold, eerie, and composed precision, might find this situation rather disagreeable.
Then it happened. Edmund’s brow furrowed distinctly as he issued a low warning. Though too far away to hear clearly, his lips made his meaning unmistakable.
“Remove your hand, Seliet.”
So that was why he had been wearing such a displeased expression….
“Now.”
Kiana concluded that Edmund was equally out of his mind.

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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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