A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 43

—————

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

—————

Chapter 43
That wish seemed unexpected to Avian as well. He gazed at Kiana with bewildered eyes.
“Uh… well, why on earth would you wish for something like that…”
“It’s a secret.”
Kiana replied expressionlessly before stretching once.
“Then I’ll be going. I’ve made all the wishes I wanted to make.”
Avian, who had been staring at Kiana intently, spoke in a low voice.
“…Princess.”
“Yes?”
“Have you decided on an escort for the upcoming imperial banquet?”
“Yes. Count Levin arranged to pick me up.”
Kiana answered matter-of-factly.
“As you know, my grandfather and Joshua haven’t attended banquets in a long time, and Alex isn’t in the Capital. Why do you ask?”
“Ah… I thought if you hadn’t decided yet, I could offer to escort you. Well…”
Kiana looked at Avian with an expression that said ‘why on earth would you?’ Avian laughed awkwardly and continued.
“I felt like I wanted to observe you more closely… but it seems I’ve missed the opportunity to escort you.”
Upon hearing those words, Sezare’s fist suddenly clenched tight. Just as he was about to reveal himself without thinking of the consequences, Kiana blinked and replied.
“Being an escort doesn’t mean you can observe me more closely, does it?”
“Is that so? Then what should I do?”
“First, you’d need to get a microscope.”
“Pardon?”
“A high-magnification compound microscope, that is.”
A brief silence fell. Even Sezare, who had been about to rush out, stopped in his tracks.
“…Shall we go, Princess?”
Avian sighed once, then without asking further, mounted his horse alongside Kiana.
“Since it’s getting late, I’ll save my other questions for next time. You need your rest too.”
“Yes, it’s not urgent, so ask slowly.”
“Usually it’s the person asking who says things like that, not the one answering…”
“So you’re complaining? How dare you? You owe me a debt of gratitude, remember? Don’t forget it.”
Kiana made a show of reminding him, and with that, the two rode away.
Even after they departed, Sezare stood rooted to the spot as if enchanted. The conversation he’d had with Ranaq before setting out came back to him like a dream.
“Ranaq.”
“Yes?”
“Telling a stupid bastard trash that you can do it… what kind of emotion do you think that is?”
“Redemption?”
“Saying that someone can become a good person?”
“Comfort?”
“Wishing for someone to be happy?”
“Sympathy?”
“And what is my emotion right now, when none of your answers satisfy me?”
“…Abuse of power?”
Sezare couldn’t fault Ranaq. He knew objectively that was the correct answer.
His foul mood wasn’t Ranaq’s fault. It was because of Kiana.
Why had she said such things? That he would become a good person, that he could live well, that he should find happiness—why had she said such things…with her heart-racing gaze fixed so earnestly upon him.
‘If she hadn’t said those words, I wouldn’t have thought about them all day.’
In the end, Sezare forced himself to change the subject to escape those thoughts.
“Ranaq.”
“Yes?”
“Besides the Emperor, is there truly anyone left in the Capital who wishes for my return? Even a single person?”
“How would I know? I only just arrived in the Capital recently.”
He’d asked Ranaq such a question to remind himself that he was a person lonely to his very bones. But….
“May the Crown Prince return safely and ascend to the throne without incident.”
Truly, a wish without the slightest hesitation. What was the reason? Only the Goddess Statue, which had witnessed all of this, stood silently before the quiet night sea.
Suddenly, he grew curious about the contents of the note Kiana had written. The image of her profile was vivid—standing composed, collecting the diamond with a bitter expression, writing the note with grace.
The rosy wisps of her short hair fluttering in the breeze and her somewhat troubled expression. The note folding carefully twice in her small hands, taking on a neat form. How had she received his sincere message not to concern herself with dangerous things?
Sezare stood quietly for a while, then pressed the fish scales on the Goddess Statue once more. His heart began to race strangely. It felt… somewhat thrilling. Like his heart had sunk when he discovered her note in the mailbox.
In that moment, that small note had been like a path. Like a saying passed down through the Taelis bloodline for ages.
A path shall exist in the note that Taelis receives.
After waiting a moment before the device, a perfectly angled note emerged. Sezare unfolded it with trembling hands.
“….”
Sezare folded the note and carefully placed it back in the device.
* * *
That night, in the distant Southern Region. Alex was dreaming.
“Why are you like that, Alex? Is Kiana very cute?”
“Yes, Mother. How can a baby be so adorable?”
“And here you were complaining that you didn’t need a younger sibling.”
“I thought all younger siblings would be like Joshua. But Kiana….”
“Kiana?”
“…She looks so beautiful because she resembles you.”
“Then later, when I want to see myself, I can think of myself while looking at Kiana. There will come a day when both Hyde and I are gone, and only you remain in this world.”
Kiana and Alex had a five-year age difference. Therefore, he had vague memories of when Kiana was a baby. Though Kiana herself wouldn’t remember those days.
And….
“…It seems the Lady has run away with the stable master Paul!”
At that time, Alex was only ten years old. And Alex too was of House Prelai.
“I can think of myself while looking at Kiana.”
How should he treat her? Not knowing that, he was afraid to even speak to her.
In the meantime, Kiana had been sharp with everyone.
“Don’t touch me. Just leave me alone!”
Locked away in her room, refusing to communicate with anyone.
For Alex too, losing both parents in an instant was the same. At that time, he himself had been overwhelmed just trying to hold himself together.
Childhood passed in that manner. And now, at an age quite advanced, though late, I still wished to have a proper conversation. Even though Kiana had ignored all my letters at the Academy….
In any case, returning to the Prelai Ducal Residence meant she had taken a step closer to her family, didn’t it? Then I too had to take another step forward. No, even two or three steps….
Once I returned to the Prelai Ducal Residence, I decided I would have a conversation with Kiana.
“When I see Kiana, I can remind myself of who I am.”
The eldest grandson of House of Prelai, Alex, opened his eyes wide. It was one of those nightmares from the past that he kept having.
Short blonde hair, deep yet fierce red eyes, thick and coarse features, and the black clothes he always wore. He was the young man most often said to resemble the imposing Scari Prelai.
Long ago… there was a time when everyone laughed happily, saying Alex resembled Scari, Joshua resembled Hyde, and Kiana resembled Aeneas. And the moment Alex opened his eyes, reality came to mind and his mood soured.
He had come all the way here searching for the mastermind behind the maid’s clumsy assassination attempt on Scari. So he hadn’t even seen Kiana’s face when she arrived just hours later that night. Yet even after coming this far, he still hadn’t found the maid’s mastermind and would have to return to the Ducal Residence empty-handed.
As he raised his body, Jeonseogoo, who had been at his bedside, fluttered his wings once. Alex instinctively spat out a curse as a matter of habit.
“If you’ve arrived, you should announce yourself, you bird-brained idiot.”
Then, looking displeased with Jeonseogoo, he snatched the letter from him.
“…What is this.”
And as Alex confirmed the contents of the letter, his red eyes became tinged with madness.
“These Academy bastards….”
【Master?】
Ulf, the grey wolf who was Alex’s summoned beast sleeping beside him, yawned and opened his eyes.
【Why do you have that expression like you’ve been hurt a lot in the middle of the night? At least when you were sleeping, it seemed like you’d been hurt just a little.】
“I need to leave for the Riloni Principality immediately.”
Alex spoke in an ominous voice.
“There’s something I need to sweep away.”
【Oh. It’s been a while since you’ve danced with your blade, huh?】
Ulf stretched greatly. And he cried out with eyes gleaming with madness.
【Let’s go! Kill them! Sweep them all away!】
It was exactly like Alex’s eyes. Alex’s red eyes glinted as he mounted the grey wolf.
“Run the shortest route. No matter how treacherous the path.”

—————

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

—————