A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 183

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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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Side Story Episode 22
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Kiana crouched beneath a statue in the empty garden.
‘Wow.’
Edmund observed Kiana as she caught her breath, panting heavily.
‘She didn’t run that far or that fast, yet she’s making such a pained expression….’
The way she leaned against the statue and kept coughing made it look as though she’d just completed a marathon.
‘Her stamina really is quite modest. How adorable….’
Tears glistened in her eyes but didn’t fall. She seemed to be desperately holding back from crying.
Edmund, wearing the rabbit costume, carefully revealed himself before her. Kiana looked up at him in surprise. Recognizing the rabbit, she slowly opened her mouth.
“Oh? You’re… that rabbit who couldn’t bear to leave a sad child alone and ended up being the first to die?”
“….”
Now that she mentioned it, that was exactly this rabbit’s role. A powerless extra who comforted the sorrowful young protagonist before dying.
Edmund almost responded carelessly before hastily closing his mouth. If Kiana recognized his voice, it would be disastrous.
‘Aura…. I read in a book that you can change your voice by applying aura to your vocal cords….’
He’d never had occasion to change his voice before and had never properly attempted it. Still, it seemed he should try now. As he recalled the book’s contents, he didn’t answer Kiana, and silence stretched between them.
“Hmm.”
Despite everything, the cute appearance and the familiarity from seeing it once in Act One made Kiana not pull away. Instead, she simply stared at the rabbit costume with clear eyes.
‘Perhaps… were you lonely and waiting for someone?’
Edmund, filled with hope, carefully raised his hand and pointed to the spot beside Kiana. She immediately understood his meaning and asked.
“You want to sit next to me?”
He nodded eagerly, and Kiana smiled ever so slightly. Then she spoke in a gentle voice.
“Get lost. Do you think I don’t know who you are? Who would guess there’s a deranged murderer hiding inside that villainous rabbit costume?”
“….”
And so Edmund’s hope was shattered. But he couldn’t just leave like this. Edmund raised his hand and pointed to Kiana’s guard standing at a reasonable distance.
“I have my guard over there, so you don’t need to worry about that?”
Edmund nodded again. Kiana smiled warmly and continued.
“Then why do you want to sit next to me? Give me a rational reason. If I can’t be convinced, you’re just a creepy stalker rabbit, and I’ll chase you away.”
“….”
She truly was someone difficult to comfort even when she was sad.
‘She really doesn’t let anything slide….’
Edmund hastily adjusted his vocal cords somewhat with aura and then delivered the line this rabbit spoke in Act One.
“I’m a kind rabbit who can’t bear to leave a sad child alone.”
The moment he spoke, he felt it was a disaster. His voice hadn’t changed much from his usual tone.
“Ah.”
Kiana blinked her eyes.
Edmund felt dizzy seeing her shocked expression. It seemed she’d figured it out. Though he’d never spoken more than a couple of words before, he’d been subtly talking to her quite a bit up until now.
As Edmund desperately thought of excuses, Kiana slowly opened her mouth.
“You’ve gotten way too immersed in the play… Well, I suppose that’s fine….”
She hadn’t recognized his voice at all. Edmund sighed with relief internally, yet felt oddly disappointed. It was clearly fortunate, yet somehow disappointing.
“I’ve heard that some actors occasionally display such symptoms. If she’s not a deranged murderer but rather a deranged actress, well…”
Kiana continued, her eyes lost in thought.
“Speaking casually to a highborn noblewoman who even brought guards with her… I can certainly tell she’s not in her right mind.”
She then patted the space beside her with one hand, gesturing for him to sit.
“Though I suppose it was a bit harsh to kill her outright just for being a busybody. If she was deeply immersed in her role, it wouldn’t be easy to snap out of it immediately after that scene.”
“…”
Edmund was reluctant, but he sat down beside Kiana nonetheless.
Kiana let out a long sigh before asking.
“Did I look sad to you?”
At her words, Edmund stared at Kiana through the eye holes of the rabbit mask.
“My apologies, Kiana. Right now… it seems right to be by Melissa’s side. She appears to be quite hurt, and I couldn’t bear to leave her alone.”
When Lord Rodrigo said those words to Kiana, he too wanted to cry out. That Kiana also appeared deeply wounded, that she couldn’t be left alone either.
But if he were to rush over to Kiana with a crowd of people, it would only produce a result she disliked even more. He’d experienced this several times already, and each time, Kiana’s face would grow more contemptuous as she quickly fled the scene.
Edmund paused slightly before answering.
“You did appear… sad.”
He hadn’t thought much of it before, but now that he considered it, an actor in a rabbit mask speaking casually to the Princess was truly absurd. Since they were no longer delivering lines within the play, Edmund decided to speak more formally.
“Well… I suppose so.”
And Kiana, whose tears had dried without his noticing, let out a small laugh.
“But it seems Melissa is even sadder. Judging by how Lord Rodrigo went to her.”
At the mention of Lord Rodrigo’s name, Edmund’s heart clenched painfully.
“But when I see him… I really can’t help it, I get so incredibly angry. Especially when he claims to be ‘direct lineage’ while even keeping a summoned beast… truly…”
Kiana rambled on enthusiastically before letting out a heavy sigh and adding.
“Actually, it’s nothing special. It’s always like this when I come to the Imperial Palace. I do come to see Lord Rodrigo’s face, but I’ve never stayed long.”
Usually, young noble children came to the Imperial Palace for events like this. Edmund, growing gloomy at the mention of “Lord Rodrigo,” found himself saying something he didn’t mean.
“…Then wouldn’t it be better not to come at all? If you’re going to leave early anyway?”
Kiana didn’t attend such events frequently to begin with. For social gatherings not hosted by the Imperial Palace, she simply didn’t attend unless it was essential. Since Joshua and Alex also rarely attended social events, her absence was hardly noteworthy. Even today, neither Joshua nor Alex had come.
“Well, actually… I do want to see Lord Rodrigo…”
Kiana hesitated for a moment. Then, her eyes sparkling, she looked at the rabbit mask’s face and spoke.
“Rabbit, want me to tell you a secret? Something most people don’t know.”
“A secret…?”
“Yes.”
Edmund was slightly startled to see life suddenly return to Kiana’s eyes. Her cheeks had flushed as if she’d thought of something delightful.
Soon after, Kiana continued with an excited expression, as if telling a truly amusing story.
“You know that Ginkgo Tree Path that connects the Crown Prince’s Garden and the Rose Garden? There are automatic motion-sensing street lamps there that were imported from the Riloni Principality.”
Edmund’s brow furrowed slightly.
Automatic motion-sensing street lamps… Yes, those did exist. Since it wasn’t a path people used often, he’d completely forgotten about them despite their proximity to his palace.
“Normally, servants manually light the magic orbs at night and extinguish them at dawn, right? But those lamps on that path stay dark usually, and every time I pass through, they light up one by one in sync with my walking speed.”
Kiana even clapped her hands once, delighted at the mere thought of it.
“I figured it out—it’s based on motion recognition technology.”
After that, Kiana poured out words Edmund had no knowledge of whatsoever, like contact switches and external magnets.
“So that’s why we can use both infrared and ultrasound. From a magical engineering perspective, this is….”
Edmund truly had no answer to give, but he still found it pleasant to listen to Kiana speak so earnestly. He rested his chin in his hand and gazed at her.
Eyes gleaming with excitement, an expression that suggested she’d completely forgotten everything that had happened earlier, so thrilled merely to discuss magical engineering, her voice slightly raised with enthusiasm. How could anyone find such joy in something no one cared about, something no one deemed useful?
“…Are you perhaps bored? You can leave if you want. It’s actually a method to deter stalkers too.”
“Not at all.”
Edmund shook his head as he replied.
“It’s the most fascinating thing in the world.”
The costume was far warmer than expected, and sweat had already begun trickling down his spine. It fit his plump frame far too snugly. The increasingly tight fit grew more uncomfortable by the moment, and his posture began to slouch.
‘The Princess—she has no interest in me.’
His left hand, which he hadn’t properly wiped after pouring the carbonated drink, felt sticky.
‘Sometimes that bothers me a little.’
Inside the costume, he could smell what seemed to be someone else’s sweat rising up.
‘But still….’
Still, Edmund remained with his chin resting in his hand, watching her speak so passionately.
‘I just want the Princess to be happy.’
It truly felt like he could go on like this forever.

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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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