A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 19

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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 19
The moment I returned to the Prelai Ducal Residence, it felt as though bombs were falling relentlessly. The Academy matters, Piyak—everything seemed to be collapsing at once.
I found myself momentarily entranced, gazing at Piyak’s fluffy silhouette. Then Grandfather cleared his throat with a soft sound and spoke.
“Go after him.”
“Pardon?”
“Summoned creatures are emotionally quite dependent on their masters.”
Grandfather continued, looking directly down at me.
“Even if you spoke thoughtlessly, it likely wounded him. Go and comfort him.”
Did Grandfather just call me the ‘master’? I stared at him in surprise. I had fully expected him to be angry that I had ultimately taken Melissa’s summoned creature from her.
‘I must have been quite the troublemaker.’
Even if Grandfather wouldn’t go that far, I never anticipated he would so readily acknowledge me as Piyak’s master.
‘And in front of the Ducal Residence servants, no less.’
“I… well…”
As I hesitated with a look of surprise, Grandfather added quietly.
“A summoned creature obeys only its master’s commands. Since Piyak heeded your orders, that makes you his master.”
“…”
“That’s all there is to it. Don’t dwell on the past or overthink it.”
Grandfather patted my back gently. Goodness. Was Grandfather really giving me sincere advice about the summoned creature—the very symbol of House Prelai? Something felt profoundly strange.
“Alex… please don’t curse in front of the summoned creature. A summoned creature’s temperament follows that of its summoner, does it not?”
“Joshua, if you start giving the summoned creature jewels like that, you’ll have to give them forever. Don’t develop bad habits.”
“Melissa, if you mindlessly obey everything Piyak says, what will you do? You must make your own decisions.”
I had always envied Grandfather—the only adult in House Prelai—whenever he gave the children advice about summoned creatures. And now that such a thing was happening to me, I felt bewildered and flustered.
“Setting all that aside, you are my granddaughter. So why do you seek my approval regarding your summoned creature?”
“…”
I couldn’t bring myself to say that I might not truly be ‘your granddaughter.’ That words… I simply couldn’t speak them. There was no way to prove it anyway.
The truth was, I had no desired answer or attitude from Grandfather. That was the problem. Even if Grandfather said, “You are naturally Hyde’s child,” I would be consumed by guilt. Conversely, if he said, “It’s fine even if you’re not Hyde’s child,” I would sense that Grandfather was also conscious of that fact and would shrink away.
In any case, the problem lay not with people but with the situation itself, and there was no right answer for my family or for me.
“And the Prelai Ducal Residence is not the Academy. So…”
In the midst of this, Grandfather spoke with firm resolve.
“You will no longer conduct research while skipping meals and pouring stimulants into yourself like that.”
As I was subtly trying to grab stomach medicine because my insides ached, I broke into a cough instead.
“In any case, go quickly and comfort your summoned creature.”
This entire situation was far too embarrassing. It felt awkward to brazenly call myself Piyak’s master in front of Grandfather… So I decided to express only the slightest acknowledgment that I had accepted his advice.
“Yes, I understand. I shall hurry after him at once and not only soothe his minor emotional wounds but also thoroughly correct his whining habit of complaining to his master. Having deeply embraced Grandfather’s wisdom in my heart, I am now reborn as Piyak’s true master.”
“…”
“I suspect she’s just shirking her duties…”
And immediately I began rushing toward my room where Piyak had flown off to.
* * *
At that very moment, an urgent visitor arrived at Prince Hitten’s office in the Imperial Palace.
“Your Highness!”
It was Lord Rodrigo. He had rushed to Prince Hitten immediately after meeting with Kiana.
“You visit far too often.”
Prince Hitten spoke with a shallow sigh.
“You know the Imperial Palace isn’t receiving guests due to His Majesty’s illness. No matter who you are, if you keep coming like this, the palace staff will start to notice.”
“Just this once!”
He didn’t even bother with courtesy, simply sitting down in front of Prince Hitten and speaking.
“Please help me just this once.”
….
“I have a request.”
Prince Hitten regarded Lord Rodrigo with a cold expression, then quickly wiped it away. Rodrigo failed to notice the shift in his demeanor and continued immediately.
“I wish to marry Kiana Prelai… that duchess.”
Lord Rodrigo’s ability to grasp situations wasn’t particularly slow. So after exchanging a few words with Kiana, he had realized she no longer harbored any obsession with him.
“Why ask me? If you want to do it, just do it.”
Prince Hitten smiled crookedly, speaking as though it were nothing serious.
“You never lacked interest in that duchess before.”
“But that’s…”
Lord Rodrigo bit his lower lip for a moment before answering in a dejected tone.
“My feelings seem to have changed. It’s probably because it was something from childhood.”
“How amusing.”
Prince Hitten, showing no particular interest, shifted his gaze back to the documents he had been reviewing.
“It would be much easier if Your Highness would help a little.”
Lord Rodrigo continued with sparkling eyes.
“Wasn’t it true that I sought to form a marriage alliance with House of Prelai? My broken engagement with Melissa was entirely one-sided, so if Your Highness would directly hold me accountable for that…”
“Rodrigo.”
Prince Hitten spoke in a low voice.
“I believe I already granted you an unreasonable favor last time. I had your older brother dispatched to the outer territories for combat, didn’t I? Isn’t that enough?”
“Instead, he accumulated merit there and returned earlier than expected, earning even greater recognition from Father!”
House of Purbis was a place where succession was determined by ability. Therefore, Rodrigo, as the second son, was also aspiring to become the heir. However, until now, he had consistently been outshone by his older brother. Since his personal abilities couldn’t compare to his brother’s, Rodrigo was attempting to increase his value through connections.
“But marriage is different. There is no better match in the entire Empire than House of Prelai.”
….
“In this situation, we must even consider the very slim possibility that Kiana might roast her family alive. Please pressure the marriage to happen as quickly as possible.”
Prince Hitten maintained a displeased silence.
“Your Highness.”
Lord Rodrigo, sensing the strange atmosphere, subtly lowered his voice.
“We are close friends, are we not? Your Highness must grant my request. What I have done for you is hardly anything compared to what you’re being asked.”
Prince Hitten’s eyes narrowed. Yes, it was true that he had received help from this man before. And afterward, it had been fitting for them to become publicly known as closest friends.
“The true power of this Imperial Palace rests with Your Highness the Prince…”
Lord Rodrigo spoke with a servile smile.
“No matter how prestigious Prelai is, they cannot refuse a proposal from Prince Hitten. The future Emperor, after all.”
It had already been seven years since the Emperor fell ill with a chronic disease. Even the most skilled physicians had attached themselves to his care, yet his condition showed no improvement. Yet the Emperor still had not appointed Prince Hitten as Crown Prince. The reason was that the body of the Crown Prince who had gone missing six years ago had still not been found.
In any case, it was true that Prince Hitten had become the real power of the Imperial Palace after the Crown Prince disappeared. The Emperor was ill, and the Empress had secluded herself since the Crown Prince’s disappearance.
In his youth, the Emperor had taken multiple Imperial Consorts due to diplomatic concerns, but heirs were scarce. Thus, he had only fathered three children: the Crown Prince born of the Empress, Prince Hitten born of the Third Consort, and Princess Seliet born of the Fifth Consort.
Seliet’s place in the succession was lower than Hitten’s, and her mother had died early, leaving her without any backing whatsoever. Therefore, she wasn’t even considered a threat. Moreover, Dolores, the Third Consort and Hitten’s mother, wielded considerable influence in politics. Yet despite all this, Prince Hitten was deeply irritated by the fact that he was not the Crown Prince.
“Still, I’m not the Crown Prince, am I? It’s possible my beloved younger brother might still be alive, isn’t it?”
As Hitten subtly backpedaled, Lord Rodrigo chuckled and spoke.
“But haven’t you already investigated and quietly eliminated all youths around the age of the blue-eyed Crown Prince? Blue eyes themselves are quite rare, and as you know, there’s no way to change eye color.”
“Hmm….”
“So rest assured. He must have fallen from that cliff and died back then.”
And he lowered his voice to a whisper.
“Because I pushed him myself.”
It was a way of reassuring Hitten while simultaneously reminding him of his own merit.
Hitten regarded Lord Rodrigo quietly.
He was a young man he had used precisely because he was said to be the missing Crown Prince’s closest friend. He couldn’t possibly harbor genuine friendship. For instance, he hadn’t even revealed his determination to eliminate the House of Prelai, which troubled him in many ways.
Moreover, he disliked how Rodrigo kept bringing requests while bringing up the past like this, as if blackmailing him.
“Very well, Rodrigo.”
So Hitten smiled faintly and changed his demeanor, speaking kindly.
“Try to get along well with Lady Kiana. I’ll help you to a reasonable extent.”
If he could send Rodrigo away together with the House of Prelai like this, it would actually be beneficial. After all, it meant one fewer person who knew the truth.
“Lady Melissa…. No, the Saintess—since there was no engagement between us, I can’t simply push marriage on her. However, if there’s no particularly suitable match otherwise, I can at least pressure her to consider it positively.”
“That will be sufficient.”
Rodrigo grinned and nodded.
“Would the youngest granddaughter, cast out as she is, even have anyone interested in her? Honestly, it’s only because everyone is too afraid of Duke Prelai to say anything….”
Rodrigo’s voice grew even lower.
“That lady who can’t even summon a Summoned Beast couldn’t possibly be a true Prelai.”
And he even chuckled as if amused.
“By any measure, she’s not of Prelai blood, so it’s a mystery why the House of Prelai keeps her.”
Hitten laughed without much sincerity at Rodrigo’s words, then immediately wrote a brief letter to Duke Prelai. It contained exactly what he had mentioned to Rodrigo earlier.
“In any case, I understand.”
And Hitten handed the letter to Rodrigo pointedly.
“Then do your best.”
“Thank you. I’ll have it sent to the Prelai Ducal Residence first thing tomorrow morning.”
Watching Rodrigo bow deeply in gratitude, Hitten laughed quietly.
And the next morning.
With a single marriage proposal letter sent by Rodrigo, the Prelai Ducal Residence was thrown into complete chaos.

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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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