A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 205

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Commemorating the Webtoon Adaptation
Side Story 8
Kiana explained without much enthusiasm before beginning to read the next paragraph.
“He said he’s like a plant.”
Kiana interpreted his words about needing light in her own way as she spoke.
As expected, Joshua didn’t understand.
“What?”
“He sent flowers to express that feeling.”
“What? Isn’t that insane?”
The Street Lamp Path of the Imperial Palace, where lights automatically illuminated whenever someone passed by.
Kiana snapped the letter shut as she spoke.
“There’s something about magical engineering I don’t know. I think it’s a challenge.”
Joshua let out a deep sigh.
“Is that so? Hearing nothing but incomprehensible nonsense from you, I see he’s a lunatic related to magical engineering. No wonder he didn’t seem quite right.”
Then he brushed the dust from his clothes and asked with suspicion in his voice.
“You’re not lying or anything like that, are you?”
“I stake my knowledge of magical engineering on it—I haven’t made up a single false word.”
“Fine. Let’s go home now.”
“You go ahead.”
Kiana waved her hand as she spoke.
“I’m going to turn around and take the Street Lamp Path.”
“Then let’s go together. We came together anyway.”
“You irritate me when I’m thinking about formulas. If you really want to come along, there’s a condition. You have to listen to my entire explanation about the sensors in the street lamps.”
At those words, Joshua recoiled in horror and frantically waved his hands.
“I’m going ahead.”
That’s how quickly Kiana dispatched Joshua. Then, after taking one deep breath, she slipped out of the Banquet Hall in the opposite direction from him.
* * *
Kiana hurried to stand before the Street Lamp Path.
Since it was a place with few people, no one was around.
With both fists clenched, she opened her eyes wide and spoke distinctly.
“I’m here.”
After a brief pause, she added.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
At that same moment, Edmund emerged from behind the street lamp with a swift motion.
A plump young man with tense blue eyes stood before Kiana.
His warm, teddy bear-like impression and thick limbs caught her attention.
His appearance was truly comforting just to behold. It contrasted sharply with her own gaunt frame and hollow expression.
Kiana suddenly realized this was the first time she’d seen the Crown Prince this close. His flawless, chubby cheeks gleamed smoothly in the moonlight.
She wondered if they would be soft and warm like freshly baked bread if she touched them.
Kiana was startled by her own thoughts.
Edmund spoke with a flustered expression as Kiana quickly regained her composure.
“H-how did you know I sent it? That letter… I didn’t even write my name…”
“How many people in this Empire could address me as Princess while speaking so casually?”
Kiana answered with crisp certainty.
“And a person of power capable of sending flowers without even Joshua knowing, someone I’ve met but never had a proper conversation with—it could only be the Crown Prince.”
Edmund’s expression turned deeply shocked.
Seeing his face contort with something close to alarm, Kiana crossed her arms and spoke with irritation.
“This is elementary deduction, isn’t it? You didn’t anticipate this while writing the letter?”
“No.”
Edmund answered awkwardly.
“I never thought the Princess would devote that much mental energy to human affairs and make such inferences…”
Essentially, he was astonished by the mere fact that Kiana had used her brain cells on something other than magical engineering.
Kiana raised one eyebrow at his response, uncertain whether it was praise or criticism.
Seeing her expression, Edmund quickly collected himself and cleared his throat.
“A-ahem. S-so, Princess. You’ve already guessed what I’m trying to say…?”
“You wrote it all down.”
Kiana looked directly into Edmund’s eyes as she spoke.
“You want to become a magical engineer like me, don’t you?”
“…Huh?”
“You said you feel small in front of me. The only thing I do better than you is magical engineering, right?”
From the moment she read the letter, Kiana had interpreted Edmund’s intentions this way.
She too felt a certain radiance when reading papers by renowned scholars. And it was customary for them to receive flower baskets as congratulatory gifts whenever they filed a patent.
Moreover, Edmund had requested a conversation. Yet the only topic she could discuss with genuine confidence was magical engineering.
“Of course, the Crown Prince admiring a noblewoman of the same age is… somewhat burdensome. So you want to discuss the principles of the Street Lamp Path with me first, don’t you? You said you might know something more than I do. Did you perhaps pay off some scholar from the Riloni Principality?”
“P-Princess.”
Edmund pressed his forehead with a dizzy expression.
Having witnessed such expressions many times, Kiana didn’t bat an eyelash.
“I’ve been curious why the sensor isn’t working anyway. Tell me quickly.”
As far as she knew, Edmund was someone who excelled at everything. Therefore, she found it unsurprising that he showed talent in magical engineering as well.
“I didn’t know you were interested in magical engineering, Your Highness…”
“No, I’m not really interested in magical engineering.”
Edmund hastily interrupted Kiana’s words. Then, after taking a deep breath, he declared with resolve.
“What I’m interested in is you, Princess.”
“…Pardon?”
“I… Princess… what I mean is, I like you…”
“Me? You like me?”
“Yes. I know you like Lord Rodrigo. But think about it carefully. Surely you’re not someone who can only like Lord Rodrigo.”
Suddenly, the contents of the letter began to reconstruct themselves in Kiana’s mind.
Then all those sentences—they weren’t about magical engineering at all, but about her?
Every single sentence… truly every sentence expressing his affection for her?
Kiana’s lips began to part wider and wider.
“Not now—three years from now!”
Edmund spoke urgently.
“Can you give me an answer in three years? In the meantime, I’ll lose weight… and if you’d like, I’ll study magical engineering more too! I’ll work harder to become someone like Lord Rodrigo. I swear I won’t burden you. But… I just wanted to have the courage to convey my feelings.”
“Your Highness, why would you…?”
Kiana asked back with a dazed expression. She genuinely couldn’t grasp the reality of it.
“What could possibly be lacking in Your Highness that you’d choose someone as hopeless as me…?”
“That… well… Princess. I’m fine with anything you say, but please don’t insult the woman I love right in front of me.”
Beneath Edmund’s somewhat subdued words lay an unmistakable sincerity.
“This street lamp… it doesn’t have a sensor malfunction—it’s a component issue that prevents it from turning on automatically. It’s been broken for a while now. All this time, I’ve been turning it on manually.”
“What? Manually? Your Highness, you have?”
“Yes. Because you loved this path…”
Only then did Kiana’s cheeks flush crimson, her bewilderment giving way to overwhelming emotion. In that instant, she felt the full weight of the affection Edmund had quietly accumulated behind the scenes.
It was a pure, earnest confession of love—something she had never once experienced before.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————