A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 81

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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 81
Scari rifled through the office documents with trembling hands, then pressed Melissa for answers.
“How on earth did Roki steal Kiana’s summoned beast? What? No, because he had nothing to steal, he took his nephew’s summoned beast and gave it to his own child? I’ve never heard of such a method existing!”
“I… I wouldn’t know… I was only five years old back then…”
Alex, who had been sitting quietly until then, opened his mouth.
“I have something to tell you, Grandfather.”
His voice was low and detached, yet carried a sharp edge.
“On my way to Riloni Academy, I happened to kill someone.”
No one was surprised that Alex had “happened to kill someone.” But everyone was shocked by what came next.
“That person’s dying words were: ‘Did you find out that Hyde chased after Roki because of his child?'”
“What?”
No one had expected the name of the three siblings’ father, Hyde, to come up here.
Scari quickly recalled the events of seventeen years ago.
Back then, after Enes died, Scari had told the half-mad Hyde: “Go get some air and deal with the monsters in the Northern Region for a while.”
Hyde left for the north through the Sotis Region, and despite everyone’s objections, he alone entered Arun, a dangerous area teeming with monsters. No one knew how he managed to pass through that treacherous terrain that even beasts couldn’t traverse. But after that, Hyde never returned from afar, only sending signs of survival for seventeen years.
Everyone had evaluated his reckless entry as “Hyde went mad because of Enes and crawled into that place through self-destructive behavior.” Joshua even criticized this part as casually as eating. In any case, entering such a dangerous area without any reason was itself an act of abandoning his children.
But if he had chased after Roki because of his child… anyone could deduce that he had noticed Roki trying to take Kiana’s summoned beast and followed him. And the ability of Roki’s mole summoned beast was tunnel digging.
“He noticed Roki trying to take Kiana’s summoned beast and chased after him all the way to Arun to stop him…”
Hyde had followed Roki and entered the tunnel with him, but it seemed he hadn’t been able to stop Roki. After that, Roki returned alone and lived with Melissa until she was seven years old before passing away, while Hyde remained in Arun, still only sending signals of survival.
Scari’s voice trembled as he longed for his son after all these years.
“That’s right… Our Hyde would never be so irresponsible as to abandon everyone and recklessly go that far…”
With the truth revealed after seventeen years, not only Scari but the three siblings quietly blinked their eyes.
Hyde hadn’t crawled into that place unable to control his emotions regardless of what happened to his child. He had risked death and rushed into that harsh place for his child. Joshua’s mouth fell open.
Silence fell, and Kiana blinked as she looked at Alex.
“Um… Brother… Thank you first…”
Her voice was awkward from such a long time without conversation, but sincerity was evident.
“Thanks to you, I learned facts I didn’t know, and things wrapped up well…”
At those words, Joshua slammed the table with a bang.
“Hey, I’ve been following your orders for days… Why does that bastard get to hear thanks first?”
At those words, Kiana opened her eyes brightly and answered.
“Oh, that acting… it was too realistic and made me uncomfortable. You should do it moderately. Of course, I was grateful anyway, you bastard’s real brother.”
Joshua huffed indignantly, then his expression became smug at the word of gratitude. Kiana quickly turned her head toward Alex and added.
“So Alex, put your sword away too.”
Alex, who had been drawing his sword toward Joshua without a word, quietly sheathed it again at Kiana’s words. That was truly a remarkable thing. Even Lea dropped the tiara she had been wearing on her tail in surprise.
After a brief silence, Joshua exclaimed in surprise.
“Wow, Alex actually listened to someone! My goodness… How should I express this thrilling feeling? Huh?”
And hearing Joshua’s words, Kiana was equally surprised and answered.
“Thr-thrilling… Maybe static electricity?”
“…I hope magical engineering fails.”
* * *
I asked my Grandfather to entrust Melissa’s disposition entirely to me.
【What a cruel punishment you’re planning….】
Lea clicked her tongue, so I told her there was no need to worry.
“Don’t concern yourself. I’m just going to send her away anyway.”
At my words, Melissa blinked.
“Send… you’re sending me away? Me?”
“What else would I use you for here? Aren’t you overestimating yourself?”
I kindly provided Melissa with an objective assessment of her worth.
“You know nothing, you’ll be useless in the future, you’re skilled at nothing, your body is weak, you’re unreliable, and you lack the ruthlessness to even be useful as a tool. You’re truly worthless for anything.”
“That… that may be true, but….”
“What. Did you think I’d have you spend your whole life removing strawberry seeds in the kitchen?”
“….”
Of course, the last parting words I’d said when we separated before were the chilling warning: ‘When we meet again, I’ll have you removing strawberry seeds.’ Looking at Melissa’s expression, she seemed prepared for something even worse.
I quietly observed the trembling Melissa for a moment, then slowly opened my mouth.
“You were too afraid to speak up either.”
In that instant, everyone’s eyes in the office turned toward me. Even Melissa, as if she couldn’t believe it, trembled her lips and only murmured my name.
“…Kiana.”
“You weren’t the one who suggested taking it first. You were too young back then. But how could I tell you that this summon was originally mine?”
“….”
“Especially when you had just arrived at the Ducal Residence without parents… I tormented you endlessly, claiming Piyak was mine… Yes, it wouldn’t have been easy for you to say anything either.”
“K-Kiana? You… you’re understanding me?”
Melissa asked, looking at me with tears glistening in her eyes. I quietly asked, my arms crossed.
“Then can you understand me, Melissa?”
“Huh?”
“When I was young… I kept having dreams that Piyak was mine, and I tormented you because it felt like you had taken something from me.”
“Ah… um….”
Melissa’s pupils trembled violently. Then she carefully nodded.
“Yes. I can understand….”
“Even the night you came at me with a knife?”
“…I… I understand….”
“Good.”
I declared cleanly.
“Both you and I were afraid of things, and we simply became a bit ugly in the face of them.”
“….”
“This is a belated apology, but I’m sorry for tormenting you when we were young. Of course, looking back now, there were justified reasons. I instinctively knew my summon had been taken from me, so whenever I saw you, I became so consumed with rage as if bewitched.”
In truth, from the moment I called for Melissa, I thought she wouldn’t know very much about what happened. Because there was nothing about it in the original story.
“After I matured, I always felt sorry toward you, and I thought one apology couldn’t end it… But since you deceived me too, I won’t feel sorry anymore.”
Melissa anxiously rolled her eyes, then nodded. And at that small nod, I felt an enormous sense of relief wash over me alone.
In truth, whenever someone cursed me as a villainess, I could usually let most of it pass. But whenever Melissa’s name came up, I would continuously shrink, knowing my own wrongs. Especially in front of my family, who knew well how much I had tormented Melissa. So I desperately wanted to have a moment in front of my family where I could offset my past wrongs against Melissa’s wrongs.
Melissa blinked, then carefully opened her mouth to speak.
“Then… is my punishment over with this…?”
“What are you saying? Have you lost your mind? Do you have no shame? Don’t you understand what you’ve done?”
She was crossing the line. I cut off Melissa’s words sharply.
“You came back from the Convent and immediately spouted off about washing your mouth and taking Piyak back from me, and most of all, you pushed me off the Tower. That’s attempted murder.”

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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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