A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 78

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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 78
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The Prelai Ducal Residence had a tower dedicated to managing messenger birds. Since birds favored high places, only a select few servants handled their care, which meant the tower remained nearly deserted most of the time. This was precisely why Melissa felt a slight unease when Kiana summoned her there.
Moreover, since the message had been delivered through Kiana’s maid via a note, she couldn’t even ask for clarification.
“What is this about?”
Joshua, standing beside Melissa, glared with visible irritation.
“Why summon her to the tower all of a sudden? How unsettling. Honestly, every time Kiana does something like this, I just can’t control my—”
That was when it happened. Kiana’s maid, Alice, suddenly cried out with a sharp gleam in her eyes.
“Oh! Just a moment. There’s an insect here!”
She swatted a nearby insect against a pillar, leaving a faint crack in the stone. Both Joshua and Melissa flinched involuntarily as Alice flexed her muscular arms and politely asked.
“My apologies, Young Master Joshua. What were you saying? Is there something you’d like me to convey to the Princess?”
“Oh, no.”
Joshua immediately responded upon seeing Alice’s broad shoulders.
“I was just saying that my composure is actually excellent in situations like these. Be careful on your way, Melissa. I should head home now too.”
“Alright, brother. You’ll dress up nicely again tomorrow, right? Your fashion sense is so good that I look forward to seeing it every day.”
“You certainly have an eye for these things. See you tomorrow then.”
With that, Joshua departed in his carriage. Given how dusk was already settling in, it was indeed time for him to head home.
Melissa climbed the tower with quickened steps.
At the top of the tower, Kiana was already waiting, dressed in casual indoor clothes and carrying a large bag across her shoulder.
“Kiana? Why on earth are we here… and what’s that bag?”
“Oh, you’re here?”
Behind Kiana, who responded expressionlessly, the messenger birds were merely dozing on their perches.
“Would you like to come over here, Melissa?”
“Hm?”
Melissa cautiously approached Kiana. What Kiana was pointing to was a perch made of gold.
“What is… this, Kiana?”
“I’ve been preparing it since I was young.”
“What?”
“I had a vague sense that I would summon an avian creature. It was merely a premonition. Joshua and Alex said they had similar premonitions too.”
“…”
“So I made this while waiting for that creature, saving up my allowance bit by bit.”
“Kiana, I’m not sure why you’re telling me this…”
“I’m someone accustomed to communicating through magical engineering, with clear formulas and logical reasoning.”
Kiana gazed at Melissa steadily as she spoke.
“So it’s been rather difficult for me to claim that Piyak is mine based on mere feelings, intuition, or dreams.”
At the top of the tower where birds freely came and went—a place designed for birds, not humans—there were no railings installed. Thus, Kiana’s indoor clothes fluttered wildly in the night breeze.
With her hands clasped behind her back, Kiana smiled slightly and spoke.
“But now I think I can definitively prove that Piyak is mine.”
“What?”
“Since Piyak came to me, its delivery speed has been increasing. I examined the ancient texts in my Grandfather’s study, and it said that summoned creatures display their greatest abilities when following their original master’s commands.”
Melissa’s eyes widened.
“Until now, I’ve been ordering Piyak around alone, so there was no evidence. But the last time I sent Piyak, all of you were there to witness it.”
Now that I thought about it, that was true. While Melissa’s eyes darted about nervously, I drove the point home with certainty.
“Now, if Piyak returns faster than expected, that itself proves that I’m Piyak’s true master.”
“Wait, Kiana. The summoning was clearly something I—”
“Melissa, you always ruin yourself by trying so hard to seem virtuous.”
I stood with the night sky at my back and spoke coldly.
“You knew all along that Piyak originally belonged to me, didn’t you?”
Melissa flinched and swallowed hard. I continued.
“That’s why even when people pointed fingers at me, you kept insisting that I was definitely a direct heir, and when you left for the Convent, you gave Piyak to me—to ease your guilty conscience just a little.”
“Kiana, wait. That’s not—”
“But you shouldn’t have done that, Melissa.”
I smiled with my eyes narrowed, and it was so beautiful yet so chilling that Melissa felt her body trembling.
“Want some advice?”
My tone was genuinely compassionate, yet superior—kind words that somehow sounded all the colder. I continued.
“When you do something wrong and then clumsily pretend to be good to justify yourself, your tail always gets caught.”
Now her hands began to shake as well. I looked at Melissa with complete confidence.
“Piyak will return soon, Melissa. I’m the true master, so I can feel it.”
Melissa’s mind went blank.
“And once I become a legitimate direct heir with a summoned creature, I’ll drive you out first. I don’t know what methods you used, but you definitely stole my summoned creature.”
I stroked the golden torch and laughed with satisfaction. Then I lifted my chin and spoke.
“I called you here so you wouldn’t feel too wronged. You did something truly terrible to a child who made this torch and waited for her summoned creature every single day.”
Melissa swallowed dryly. Her opponent had already prepared everything to say, while she had come unprepared and was now flustered.
These days felt like a dream—so wonderful. Even more so after all the hardship she’d endured. Everything had been perfect, just like when she first arrived at the Prelai Manor at thirteen. The luxurious clothes, the delicious food, the servants attending to her, the countless men who came to see her.
A cadet branch that commands summoned creatures receives support funds comparable to a direct heir. So she had always lived in abundance. To abandon all of this and suddenly leave home one day on an intense impulse to become a priestess—that had truly been madness.
“Melissa, go back to the Prelai Manor. This commoner’s life cannot compare.”
If she had learned anything, it was that her father Roki Prelai’s last words had been right.
“Even as an orphan and a cadet branch… I will make you no less than a direct heir Prelai.”
His judgment, having once been a nobleman and then lived among commoners, had been cold and clear. Melissa was deeply grateful for that paternal love.
“So that no one could say anything about the half of commoner’s blood flowing through your veins, and so you would never worry about money for the rest of your life.”
Of course, her mother, who had been a maid of the Prelai Manor, had held a different opinion.
“No, Melissa. Let’s hide. Yes? Stealing a summoned creature… if that’s discovered, none of us will be safe. Do you know how terrifying the Duke is…”
Her mother had suggested hiding rather than finding a way to return the summoned creature. Of course, honestly confessing everything had never been an option in her mother’s mind either.
So Melissa had lived with her mother for some time after summoning the creature. Only after her mother passed away at thirteen did she entrust herself to the Prelai Manor, and only then did Melissa understand that her father had been right.
The life of a princess that her father’s love had created was sweet. But in exchange for that love, Kiana could easily take away the life she had enjoyed. She could drive her out and still have more. Or rather, she might not stop at simply driving her out after finding out the full truth and insisting, “She really stole my Piyak!” She could do far worse.
‘Just as Mother feared until the day she died, I might have to pay an enormous price.’
That was when it happened.
Kiana stumbled slightly. Behind her was no railing, only a sheer cliff.
For a moment, Joshua’s words from before flashed through my mind.
“Ever since Nix stepped on your foot, you’ve been wobbling around. Aren’t you getting treatment?”
Melissa swallowed hard.
Joshua had left earlier. She watched with her own eyes as he climbed into the carriage and departed. Scari was in the office. As she climbed the tower, she caught sight of Scari’s back through the office window, working at his desk.
And to reach the Aviary Tower, one had to climb the stairs. Since she had ascended, she heard no footsteps on the staircase. Moreover, Joshua had seen that she was summoned here only after receiving Kiana’s note….
Melissa’s resolve, though startled, came swiftly.
Kiana’s height was considerably shorter than Melissa’s, and for reasons unclear, she was even carrying a ridiculous-looking bag, making it difficult for her to maintain her balance.

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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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