A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 74

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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 74
Sezare found himself thinking that she seemed to demand coffee endlessly. Moreover, she hadn’t eaten breakfast, hadn’t eaten lunch either….
It was only on the second day, when he received the fifth coffee request, that Sezare finally couldn’t bear it any longer. He personally took the coffee to the Research Lab instead of sending a servant and knocked on the door.
“Just leave it.”
Kiana’s voice came from inside the Research Lab.
“I’ll pick it up when I have time.”
Without responding to her words, Sezare simply stood before the Research Lab door, holding the coffee. Silence fell once more.
Standing in front of the Research Lab, he heard strange murmurs.
“This isn’t right… Let me try again. Why isn’t the error showing up?”
Wouldn’t it be good if no error appeared? Sezare furrowed his brow.
“Hmm, that’s right… Yes. That’s it… I should get some data to spike around here.”
Wouldn’t it be bad if data spiked? Sezare tilted his head in confusion.
“Ugh, I need to take a break and come back to this.”
Suddenly, the door cracked open. Kiana, wearing glasses, and Sezare locked eyes in an instant. Both of them simultaneously wore expressions of shock.
“Duke? Why are you here….”
“Just a moment.”
Sezare furrowed his brow and yanked the door fully open. Then he stood frozen in place as if utterly dumbfounded. Kiana quickly snatched the coffee from Sezare’s hand and spoke with an embarrassed tone.
“Well, I….”
In just one day, the Research Lab had become a garbage dump.
The floor was completely covered with parchment papers filled with equations, leaving no space to step. Items were scattered between them. On one wall, digestive medicine, empty coffee cups, empty bottles of stimulants, and candy wrappers had accumulated. Even the makeshift bed he’d prepared yesterday already had cookie crumbs on it….
The fastidious Sezare looked like he might faint.
“This is… what on earth….”
“That’s exactly why I said not to let anyone in.”
Kiana let out a deep sigh.
“I thought you preferred things to be organized and tidy, Duke. But I can’t research that way.”
“…Well, let’s say I understand. I respect that.”
Sezare’s eyes were fixed on the empty stimulant bottles.
“But why are there so many of these empty bottles?”
“I drank them all….”
“They weren’t for experiments?”
“Why would I use them for experiments?”
“So you’re telling me you consumed all those stimulants and this much coffee into your stomach?”
“Along with the digestive medicine….”
Sezare blinked, momentarily at a loss for words. Kiana stood quietly, rolling her eyes like a guilty puppy, then suddenly placed her hands on her hips.
“But Duke, can’t we clean up later? Right now, developing the magical artifact is what’s important, isn’t it?”
“Enough. That’s not the issue right now.”
Sezare spoke curtly, his face somehow angry.
“If that’s not the issue, then what exactly is….”
And ignoring Kiana’s protest, he spoke to Ranaq.
“Clean all of this up.”
Ranaq quickly gathered the coffee cup, candy wrappers, stimulants, and digestive medicine, whisking them all away.
“This is how I normally research! My efficiency drops without stimulants!”
As Kiana spoke in an aggrieved tone, Sezare looked down at her with a stern expression.
“Stimulants are bad for your health.”
“What does it matter? It’s my body, I’ll use it as I see fit!”
“You’ll die young, Princess.”
“When I take stimulants, I accomplish two people’s worth of work alone, so ultimately it’s the same. My brain works more efficiently with a younger mind for the reduced lifespan I’ll have.”
Sezare stared at Kiana with an incredulous expression, then let out a deep sigh.
“When did your research habits become this problematic?”
“This isn’t the first time you’ve seen me research, is it? Why are you making such a fuss…”
Kiana spoke with a sullen expression.
“This is my research, Duke. I have the right to control my own research.”
“And the Princess is my client. So do I also have the right to control the Princess?”
Kiana’s mouth fell open. Then she spoke as if exasperated.
“You’re really being too much to me, Duke.”
“You’ve been too much to yourself, Princess.”
….
After responding firmly, Sezare asked in a soothing manner.
“Two people’s worth… So you need two people’s worth of work in the end?”
Then he made a slow proposal.
“Then shall we research together?”
“…What?”
“Instead of taking stimulants, use me as your assistant. Then you’d have two people’s worth, wouldn’t you?”
Kiana’s words caught in her throat for a moment. Sezare didn’t miss that opening.
“I’m fairly competent at mathematics too, so it would be more efficient that way. I’m not as skilled as the Princess, but I follow instructions well.”
“Hmm….”
Her interest piqued, Kiana’s eyebrows raised slightly.
“An assistant… you? Sezare, do you understand what you’re saying right now?”
“What does it matter? I’m using my own body as I see fit.”
Turning her own words back on her, Sezare added in a soothing tone.
“You’re from the Academy, so you know well. Just use me the way a professor uses graduate students. That would be better, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh.”
The expression on Kiana’s face, which had been full of discontent, gradually softened. His proposal was that remarkable.
“…Really?”
“Yes. But there are a few more conditions.”
Kiana had served as a research assistant before, and before her regression, she’d even had graduate students under her. So she roughly knew what they would demand. Reasonable things like minimum wages, set working hours, or respectful treatment….
So Kiana smiled brightly without concern and said.
“Say whatever you want, it’s fine.”
However, what came from Sezare’s mouth was unexpected.
“You will eat meals on time. You must eat properly at the dining hall. And change your posture once every hour, and stop taking stimulants.”
“…Pardon?”
Kiana stared at Sezare blankly, blinking her eyes.
‘What is he asking for? This man is truly strange…’
But wait. Something feels off about this.
As Kiana reviewed the original work’s information, her heart suddenly sank. Usually, men would tell Melissa “You are quite an unusual woman,” and that’s when they would begin to fall for her.
As Kiana swallowed dryly, Sezare added gracefully.
“And I shall regulate the amount of coffee myself. Ah, while we’re at it, I’d also like to examine the quality of your sleep.”
“Um… well… Duke? But wouldn’t it be bothersome and troublesome for you to go to such lengths for me? This feels more like an assistant and guardian combined…”
To be precise, it was the worst combination of an assistant’s grueling labor and a guardian’s sense of responsibility. Yet despite Kiana’s suspicious objection, Sezare merely smiled enigmatically.
“It’s no trouble.”
He moved diligently and began organizing Kiana’s experimental equipment first.
“When I was young, this was my dream for the future.”
* * *
“Kiana, are you back?”
When I returned to the Ducal Residence at night, Melissa came running from in front of the garden where she had been waiting.
“Is it because I came back that you’re acting like this? Is that why things keep going wrong?”
It seemed Melissa was worried about me. So I told her not to worry and to go to sleep quickly.
“What business is it of yours? Don’t talk about things you don’t even understand. Get out of my sight right now.”
Of course, Melissa wasn’t about to leave immediately. She spoke earnestly with her hands clasped tightly together.
“Kiana, I want to get along with you. Of course, I understand that you’re jealous of me. But I also envy you as a direct heir…As you know, being a direct heir of Prelai carries great significance…”
Just then, Joshua suddenly appeared as if by magic and stood beside Melissa.
“Kiana!”
Joshua swept back his long hair and expressed his anger intensely.
“Melissa wants to get along with you, so why are you glaring at her like that?”
Since Melissa arrived, he had been attached to her from morning to evening. After spending a few days with me, he realized that Melissa was such a wonderful younger sister.
“I didn’t know how precious you were to me, Melissa. Forgive me for being indifferent to you. I’ll do whatever you ask,”
He spoke such an unnecessarily dramatic line as naturally as breathing.
“I didn’t realize you were the child shining alone like that full moon in this dark Ducal Residence…”
Honestly, I couldn’t bear that statement. I spoke coldly in anger.
“The moon cannot shine alone. It reflects the sun’s light.”
“…I hope magical engineering fails.”

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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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