A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 79

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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 79
“Kiana, I truly wanted us to get along well together.”
Melissa opened her mouth with a trembling voice.
“The direct line unable to summon, the cadet line able to summon—we could have lived as equals, so peacefully….”
Tears began to well up in her eyes.
“I’ve done all I could. Honestly, I felt sorry.”
“What?”
“So I silently endured your torment, took your side in front of others, and even temporarily gave Piyak back to you….”
“Hey, what are you even saying right now….”
“Because you… you behaved so terribly. If you had just said we’d live peacefully together at Prelai Manor, regardless of who Piyak went to….”
Melissa took a deep breath. And she recalled her final conversation with her father, Roki.
“Father? But isn’t that a bad thing? Taking what belongs to someone else….”
“Don’t be naive, Melissa. Just close your eyes once, and the life you’ll enjoy becomes truly magnificent.”
Yes. By closing her eyes just once, she had truly enjoyed wonderful days.
‘From the moment I ignored Mother’s advice and came to Prelai Manor, I chose to follow Father’s will….’
So in this moment too, if she just closed her eyes once….
“If only you’d been a little kinder, Kiana. If you hadn’t threatened me like that, I wouldn’t have gone this far.”
If Kiana fell in this moment, she would certainly die on impact.
Joshua would testify on her behalf. He’d say Kiana was the one who summoned him first, and if she’d mistepped, he’d claim that was how she always was. Then she wouldn’t lose Piyak, the full truth of all these events wouldn’t come to light, and she wouldn’t have to face punishment for her crimes.
Everyone would call her kind. Everyone knew she’d protected the wicked Kiana despite all the torment she’d endured.
‘So no one will suspect me.’
With her resolve set, Melissa pushed Kiana off the tower while tears streamed down her face.
Kiana didn’t even have time to scream as she tumbled like a piece of paper, falling. Melissa remained atop the tower, her hands trembling violently as she gasped for breath.
‘I did the right thing. I did the right thing…. If Kiana found out everything, she’d kill me…. So it was unavoidable to protect myself….’
That was when it happened.
Poof!
A sound like cloth unfurling echoed out. Melissa looked down at the base of the tower in shock.
“What, what is that?”
Kiana was wearing something that looked like an umbrella—a round checkered cloth draped over her shoulders. It appeared to have burst out from some unknown bag.
It was quite ridiculous looking, but Melissa couldn’t laugh. Because Kiana’s descent was impossibly slow. At that speed, she would never be hurt.
And there was no time to be surprised by this unimaginable sight.
【Wow, something like this actually exists in the world.】
Lea slithered smoothly out from behind the tower column.
【So Piyak really was Kiana’s summoned beast after all.】
Melissa’s heart sank. She had only confirmed that no people were there, but she hadn’t confirmed the absence of summoned beasts. Lea, being a small serpent, could easily hide her body behind the column.
‘Joshua left, but Lea stayed behind!’
She had never even imagined Joshua would leave his summoned beast behind.
【This can’t be.】
And from the sealed tower ceiling came a resonant voice.
【So that arrogant brat was really Piyak’s owner.】
It was Hou’s voice, coming from above the ceiling where I hadn’t even noticed he was perched.
【Even pushing your own cousin? Wow… this is… I’m so shocked I can’t even speak.】
Melissa wanted to faint.
A summoned creature could immediately transmit memories of what it had witnessed directly to its owner. If the summoned creature had seen and heard everything firsthand, there was now no room left for Melissa to claim she was wronged.
‘Then this is…’
Melissa finally understood.
‘Was it all a trap? Could even Joshua, that luxury-obsessed show-off, have been part of it?’
* * *
The ‘portable parachute’ that burst out of the bag with a pop was a magical artifact I had been crafting all this time.
‘Wow, unbelievable.’
I sighed slowly as I descended.
‘She really did it. She really pushed me…’
My heart pounded violently. The image of Melissa’s face as she shoved me forcefully kept flickering before my eyes.
‘It’s so bitter that it turned out exactly as I predicted.’
Why had Melissa hidden the fact that she had stolen my summoned creature?
There was only one answer. It was because the treatment of collateral branch members who possessed summoned creatures in the House of Prelai was inevitably favorable.
Julius, the second-ranking figure in the Prelai Family hierarchy, could actually command a summoned creature, which was how he gained his intelligence and position. Moreover, because commanding a summoned creature came with the obligation to respond to calls from the direct line, he received substantial financial support throughout his lifetime.
“Honestly, who really thinks Lady Kiana is a true Prelai? She doesn’t even have a summoned creature. You’re the one who’s the true princess of Prelai, Melissa.”
“Please don’t say such things. I don’t think that way.”
“Melissa, after what Kiana did to you, how can you say that? You’re really kind.”
So it would have been difficult for her to give up the summoned creature. Yet under the guise of taking my side, she rationalized it to herself as ‘I’m not really a bad person.’ Melissa was someone who had been brainwashing herself with the thought ‘I’m not that bad.’ The moment she decided Piyak was unnecessary, she even made the decision to ‘return it to my owner.’
That’s why I exploited Melissa’s personality. By acting truly despicable and giving off the impression that I wouldn’t leave her alone. So that she would utter the words, ‘If you hadn’t gone that far, I wouldn’t have done such terrible things.’
‘My prediction was exactly right.’
I thought this as I descended at a slow pace.
“But you should have refrained from doing that, Melissa. Want some advice from me? When you do something wrong and then awkwardly pretend to be good while rationalizing it to yourself, your tail always gets caught.”
That was genuinely sincere advice from me. Melissa fell into the trap precisely because of what I had pointed out.
If she had simply pushed me without any self-rationalization and said nothing, my plan wouldn’t have succeeded. But with Melissa, I was certain she would reveal her own weakness with her own mouth in order to convince herself that ‘I’m not that bad of a person.’
‘She never would have guessed the summoned creature was listening from the tower.’
Of course, I had instructed Joshua to ‘take Melissa’s side excessively all this time.’ I told him to emphasize her injuries every time she fell.
The Spy Maid deliberately sent my note when Joshua was present, which became his signal. He boarded the carriage while having Lea hide above the tower.
I had also tipped off Hou. To listen to my conversation with Melissa from above the ceiling of the Aviary Tower.
【What? You want me to climb up there and hide in the middle of the night? Kid, I’m Scari’s summoned creature, not yours. I have no obligation to follow your orders.】
“Without me, you’d be stuck inside the greenhouse by now, unable to take a single step outside, while only increasing Grandfather’s worries.”
【When are you going to stop bringing that up…】
“The fact that you can even fly to the ceiling of the Aviary Tower is all thanks to me, and now you’re ungratefully refusing? Back then, while starving, I poured coffee and digestive medicine into you, which probably cut your lifespan by an hour. Wow, with such ingratitude, how could I possibly have your injuries treated in the future?”
【…Fine, I’ll go! I’ll go! I’m going!】
Hou was clearly quite shocked by this revelation. This fact would definitely reach Grandfather immediately.
‘If I had asked Joshua to take my side, Joshua would have suffered even more. Because it would look like the direct line was ganging up together to torment someone, just as Melissa said.’
I didn’t explain anything to Joshua. That was because Melissa was still family to him regardless. ‘Being unconditionally nice to Melissa and cursing me’ was something he could do without apologizing to anyone, so I made the request easily.
I wanted ‘objective truth,’ and so I didn’t want Joshua to take my side subjectively. That’s why even if Grandfather suffered mental anguish, I didn’t honestly reveal it. I wanted that once everything was confirmed, my family would make their judgment based on that established truth.
‘I clearly said I’d return Piyak. Now that I’ve made that promise, it’s done.’
Everything had unfolded according to plan, and while I felt a sense of satisfaction, I also experienced an odd, unsettling emotion about Melissa being such a wicked person.
I truly believed until this incident occurred that Melissa was genuinely kind-hearted. I thought all the fault lay with me, that my own inadequacy was making me jealous.
‘Wow, she really is something else….’
Regardless, attempting to kill me was unmistakably malicious intent. This was attempted murder.
‘And even knowing that Piyak belonged to me, she really kept her mouth shut until the very end….’
“But now I think I’ll be able to definitively prove that Piyak is mine.”
“What?”
“Since Piyak came to me, its transportation speed has been increasing. I examined the ancient texts in Grandfather’s room, and apparently summoned creatures display their greatest abilities when obeying their original master’s commands.”
What I told Melissa was naturally a complete lie. I had never seen any such ancient texts in Grandfather’s room. I simply thought that if Melissa knew something, she would react to words of that nature. And my prediction proved correct. That made it all the more absurd.
p.s. I send my deepest admiration for your tiny kindness that only I have noticed, and I’m enclosing a meaningful gift for you.
Even when sending that letter, which felt like I was doing her a favor, Melissa had known everything all along…. Despite my lack of affection for her, I was utterly flabbergasted.
“By the way… how did Melissa steal my summoned creature in the first place? Is there even a method for that?”
As I pondered this while descending, someone gently caught me in their arms before my feet could touch the ground.
“Wha—wha—what?!”
So someone had been waiting on the ground to catch me. But who on earth was catching me so firmly? I fell at a completely unexpected moment?
After confirming who had caught me without a word, I gasped in surprise and murmured.
“…Alex?”
“What in the world is this….”
It was Alex, who had returned with lightning speed after completing all his tasks. Behind him, the Gray Wolf, Wolf, yawned widely with its mouth open.
Alex furrowed his brow and asked in a low voice.
“What on earth is going on, Kiana? What are you doing right now?”
Well…. I thought he might be somewhat startled, having arrived at Prelai Manor only to see me falling from the sky. And the bizarre form of the ‘portable parachute’ would certainly have seemed strange to him too. A question like ‘what are you doing?’ was entirely justified.
So I blinked my eyes and answered truthfully to my eldest brother, whom I hadn’t seen in such a long time.
“Falling motion with air resistance.”
“….”

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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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