A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 202

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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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Commemorating the Webtoon Adaptation
Side Story 5
“Hmm? What business would the Crown Prince have meeting with a Gypsy? You’ve only ever visited respectable places, haven’t you?”
At Kiana’s reasonable question, Edmund’s ears flushed red as he mumbled.
“…I went to the Clock Tower alone in secret, and on my way back… since you’re always at the Clock Tower… anyway.”
He, who had shrunk back in embarrassment for a moment, continued his recollection.
“That’s when the Gypsy showed me a crystal ball and said this. She was a terribly ill-tempered old woman….”
“Hey, hold on there. Don’t you want to see your future?”
“…Who are you?”
“Well… I’m a rather skilled Gypsy, but somehow I ended up rolling all the way here. Alright, anyway… just 100,000 Gold! For 1,000,000 Gold, I’ll show you the future of your pathetic one-sided love!”
Kiana opened her eyes wide and asked.
“What? A con artist. So what did you do?”
“I ignored her and walked past. Then that Gypsy grabbed me and started shouting at the top of her lungs.”
“Hey! I’m not a con artist! I grabbed you because you’ve got a million Gold in your possession right now! How’s that? Impressive, right?”
At those words, the young Edmund had inwardly scoffed.
Who in the world carried a million Gold around with them?
“And you don’t have a single friend! How about it? Isn’t this enough reason to believe me?”
At that time, people surrounded young Edmund in abundance. He had more than ten close friends, and he would have entrusted his very life to his closest friend, Lord Rodrigo. So Edmund turned away without looking back and distanced himself from the Gypsy.
But quite some time later, Edmund discovered that everything the Gypsy had said was true.
Lord Rodrigo, whom he had trusted as a friend, betrayed him. After he went missing, not a single “friend” actively searched for him.
And that day, in Edmund’s pocket was a diamond he had always carried with him, wanting to give it to Kiana. That diamond was worth approximately a million Gold.
Furthermore… though he hadn’t noticed it then, that Gypsy had also known that he was in the midst of a “pathetic one-sided love.”
“When I think about it, wasn’t she remarkably skilled?”
After that, he never saw that Gypsy again, but Edmund occasionally recalled her ill-tempered face.
“If only I had gotten a reading from that Gypsy back then, what kind of future would she have shown you?”
“I wonder. And how differently would our future have turned out….”
The two tilted their heads, feeling each other’s warmth.
In their imagination, sixteen-year-old Edmund hurriedly turned back toward the Gypsy.
* * *
“Wait, wait there!”
Fortunately, the Gypsy Old Woman hadn’t gone far. She was simply sitting haphazardly on the ground.
Edmund swallowed hard and spoke.
“A million Gold won’t work. I don’t have that much cash.”
A reading about the future of the woman he loved? Did that mean he could see Kiana as an adult?
But unable to give up the diamond in his breast, Edmund awkwardly attempted to negotiate.
“And I don’t even know exactly who you are.”
“Me?”
The Gypsy scratched her ear and replied.
“My name is Khansia Pers… Is that enough? Truth be told, I’m not someone who should be here like this, but I conducted some forbidden experiments and ended up falling into the wrong dimension.”
He couldn’t understand what she was saying at all.
There were two words that Kiana would have loved. Experiment and dimension!
“Let’s experiment, experiment! If you’re curious, you have to experiment first!”
“Two dimensions are flat, three dimensions are solid!”
As I recalled Kiana’s murmuring, my face began to soften. The Gypsy, detecting that oddly gullible expression, suddenly barked at me.
“So you’re telling me you won’t even give a million gold to this poor old woman who has nowhere to stay and no money for meals? The Crown Prince of the Empire? Huh?”
“…H-how did you know I was the Crown Prince….”
“Hah! So you’re going to see the future or not? Not a single coin off from a million gold!”
I blinked blankly. This Gypsy really did seem to have genuine abilities.
I swallowed dryly and made a proposal.
“If you’re worried about meals and lodging, go to this place. I’ll write you a letter of introduction. Then you won’t have to worry about either.”
“Hmm?”
“It means you can stay as long as you want and eat to your heart’s content.”
“Hmm. You’re trying to dump me at an inn? Then I’ll have to eat and drink my fill worth a million gold.”
I took out a pen and paper I had on me right there, and wrote a letter against someone’s wall in flowing script. It was a command from the Crown Prince, requesting that the old woman who held this letter be taken care of.
“I’ve never written a letter this way before… Well, Gabriel doesn’t care much about formality, so it should be fine.”
Since there was no envelope, I wrote the address on the outside of the letter.
I handed the letter and a silver coin to the Gypsy.
“Take a carriage with this. It’s too far to walk. Just show the Coachman this address here.”
“Well, fine.”
The Gypsy grinned and extended her hand. Up close, the Gypsy’s hand was filthy, and her clothes looked like burlap.
‘…Ugh.’
Being fastidious by nature, I unconsciously stepped backward. Keeping my distance as much as possible, I handed over the letter and coin while holding my breath.
“S-so… K-Kiana’s future….”
“Sure.”
The Gypsy quickly tucked what she received into her bosom and pulled out a crystal ball.
And in that moment.
“…Huh?”
An image shimmered and formed in the crystal ball.
“A wedding!”
The Gypsy grinned and spoke. Indeed, Kiana with her pink hair elegantly pinned up was wearing a white wedding dress. Her happy face and gaze full of love were breathtaking.
Before I could properly take in her beautiful and lovely appearance.
My eyes widened.
The Gypsy chuckled and added her commentary.
“There’s the groom, the groom!”
A tall man with black hair in a tuxedo was approaching Kiana. Since I could only see his back, his face wasn’t clear. But in the brief moment I caught his profile, the man’s eyes were golden.
I murmured blankly.
“…N-not Lord Rodrigo… right?”
I hadn’t seen his features clearly, but I’d never seen a man with such an appearance in the Capital.
“A-a foreigner? Is the Princess marrying a foreigner?”
As I stood in shock with my mouth agape, the image in the crystal ball vanished.
“Well, I’ve kept my promise.”
The Gypsy tucked the crystal ball back into her bosom. Seeing Edmund’s crestfallen expression, she cautiously retreated, worried he might cause a scene.
“So, having proven myself quite skilled and accurate, I shall take my leave.”
Of course, Edmund was not the type to cause trouble. Yet he had received an enormous shock.
That Kiana—an adult woman—had shown such a radiant smile not to Lord Rodrigo or himself, but to a third party.
‘…If she weren’t connected to Lord Rodrigo anyway….’
The feelings he had suppressed with rational thoughts—that he couldn’t interfere in his closest friend’s romantic affairs—stirred restlessly within him.
‘My, my own feelings at least…I could express them….’
Kiana surely didn’t even properly know of his existence. His chest tingled with the desire for her to notice him, even just a little.
‘But, but what if the Princess finds it burdensome? As the Crown Prince, it would be awkward for her to refuse outright….’
His scattered thoughts gathered back together. Yet because of these tangled musings, Edmund could not return directly to the Imperial Palace.
He merely stopped by a bookstore frequented by commoners and secretly purchased books like “How to Confess” and “100 Behaviors Women Love in Men”—volumes that didn’t exist in the Imperial Palace—before returning to the Crown Prince’s Palace late into the night.
But the next morning.
The Emperor, who had been ailing, suddenly summoned Edmund to his chambers.

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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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