A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 82

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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 82
“I… I didn’t mean to. It was just an impulse…”
An impulse. Well, that was possible. So I extended some empathy toward Melissa.
“Well, then I also impulsively want to push you out that window right now. Is that okay?”
“…”
I could feel cold fury radiating from my Grandfather’s face as he listened to our conversation. But it seemed he was holding back because I had asked him to let me handle this entirely.
The moment Melissa pushed me from the Tower, she had essentially crossed a bridge from which there was no return. Yet despite that, Melissa was still my Grandfather’s granddaughter. My Grandfather harbored subtle affection, and I thought it would be too great a burden for him to dispose of Melissa himself. That’s why I stepped forward.
“As atonement to me, you will become a nun again. That is my judgment.”
“…What?”
“You tried to kill someone. Spend your entire life washing away that sin.”
As my words ended, silence fell over the office. Joshua blinked with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Really? Truly? Kiana is ending it like this?’
“Continue serving the world as you were. That will do more good for the world than having me take you away and pick strawberry seeds.”
Having to do such grueling work for the rest of her life would certainly be difficult.
“Return to the Convent. And publicly, we bury this matter.”
Melissa’s return had been an unexpected variable for me. Therefore, if this matter interfered with my future plans, it would be problematic.
“You came back to the Prelai Manor because you missed your family, but unable to forget the memories of your service work, you eventually return to the Convent.”
I grasped Melissa’s shoulder and spoke.
“Everyone will remember Melissa as kind and virtuous.”
Melissa’s eyes flinched.
“To those men of yours, you will forever remain an angelic first love.”
“K-Kiana?”
“That matters to you, doesn’t it? Not marrying that man, but leaving only good memories. Isn’t this an incredibly happy ending?”
Melissa’s lips trembled. The way her eyes cast downward made it clear she had judged this preferable to being remembered by everyone as ‘the thief who stole Piyak from Kiana.’ She was so consistent that she was easy to read.
I spoke coldly.
“So don’t tell anyone about this, and just quietly return to the Convent.”
I still didn’t know the full truth of everything.
The fact that Alex had accidentally killed ‘that one’—it meant this wasn’t something Roki acted on alone. There was definitely someone behind the scenes, and we had no idea who they were.
In that case, it was wise not to signal that I had figured it out. As long as the House of Prelai remained convinced they didn’t know, they would let their guard down.
I spoke to her eyes as if casting a hypnotic spell.
“Nothing happened between us. Do you understand?”
Melissa nodded frantically. Now everything was decided. So I bid Melissa farewell with good intentions.
“Now get out to the Convent immediately and never come back. I don’t want to see your face ever again.”
And Joshua quickly interjected from beside me.
“That’s still too harsh.”
Melissa looked at Joshua with hopeful eyes. It was a foolish move that showed she didn’t understand Joshua’s character.
“How can you send an attempted murderer off nicely to a Convent?”
Joshua dramatically exclaimed, his long hair flowing.
“What if Alex escorts her to the Convent? And Alex just needs to tell the Abbess that Melissa is sincere about her service work!”
At those words, Melissa’s expression became as if the heavens had collapsed.
If Alex told the Abbess that, the Abbess would truly do her very best to honor Melissa’s sincerity. She would have her serve diligently from dawn until midnight.
Alex’s eyes flickered with irritation as he glared at Joshua, but Grandfather intervened with a sigh.
“That’s quite a good idea, Joshua.”
Grandfather continued, his gaze fixed on Melissa.
“I was already thinking about what else to add to Kiana’s punishment.”
At those words, Alex’s brow furrowed slightly. I expected a stream of curses to pour out, but strangely, Alex’s lips remained firmly sealed.
‘…What’s this? Has he become civilized?’
But in the original story, he never became civilized until he was dragged to the gallows.
Grandfather hastily persuaded him.
“If Melissa tries to escape, you can destroy everything!”
In the end, Melissa began hiccupping with a face that looked like she might throw up.
Thus, the escort transformed into surveillance in an instant. I smiled contentedly and clapped my hands.
“It looks good for public appearances too. Your cousin is personally seeing her off.”
That was when Alex quietly nodded.
“Fine. Let’s do it that way, Kiana.”
What? He completely ignored everything Joshua and Grandfather said before. This seemed like he was only responding to my words. As if… he were a well-trained hunting dog….
“However, when I return, I’d like us to talk for a moment, Kiana.”
…Talk? Did Alex just say talk?
My eyes widened like saucers. Of course, Grandfather and Joshua, and even Melissa, were equally shocked.
Alex cleared his throat with a few coughs before speaking.
“I’m saying this because I’m worried you might misunderstand something, but I cherish you.”
“….”
We blinked with bewildered expressions. I slowly nodded and replied.
“I know.”
“…You know?”
“I didn’t know before, but I found out when I returned to Prelai Manor this time. Turns out everyone cherished me, so you must have cherished me too, right?”
“….”
Alex’s expression became momentarily confused. All the many words he had prepared became invalid, and his face looked like something had broken.
“Anyway… let’s have a conversation about that… when I return.”
Then Joshua stood up and clapped his hands.
“Wow! Impressive! Alex spoke without mixing in vulgarities, like a normal person! Wow… oof!”
Of course, in the middle of it, Alex kicked him and sent him rolling across the floor.
* * *
“What?”
Sezare Levin jumped to his feet upon hearing his subordinate’s report.
“The Princess fell from the Tower?”
The composure that always filled his eyes had completely shattered. One of his informants had reported that Kiana had deployed a portable parachute and fallen from the Tower.
“I need to go immediately.”
“Yes?”
“To Prelai Manor! Right now!”
Sezare rushed out without even remembering to put on his gloves.
“I need to see with my own eyes that the Princess is safe.”
* * *
Melissa left the Prelai Manor immediately with Alex, looking like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
“Piyak.”
Grandfather spoke kindly to Piyak, who seemed somewhat bewildered.
“Would you mind having a conversation with me for a moment? Since this is the first incident to occur within the House of Prelai, I’d like to hear your account of what happened.”
【Yes, though I’m not sure how much help I can be…】
In any case, Grandfather was the person who knew the Prelai Family best.
Joshua remained as well. After all, Joshua was someone who loved all information. But after handing Piyak over to Grandfather, I left the office. I claimed I was uninterested in the family’s history and was exhausted. When I said I wanted to sleep because I was tired, both Joshua and Grandfather quickly urged me to go rest, even pushing me out the door.
So when I left the office, my destination was not my room but the Tower of the Prelai Family.
I climbed the stairs slowly once more and stood at the top of the tower. Then I carefully ran my hand over the golden torch I had used to provoke Melissa.
“I prepared this from when I was young. I vaguely thought I would summon a bird-type summoned creature. It was just a premonition. So I made it with the heart of waiting for that child.”
What I told Melissa was the truth. This was my first gift, prepared with an excited heart for my summoned creature when I was a child. If the summoning succeeded, I had planned to show it to you immediately, to prove how long I had waited for you.
The reason I hadn’t shown this to Piyak until now was because I had been overly conscious of the fact that I hadn’t directly summoned Piyak myself. Even now… truthfully, I found it difficult to confidently show this to Piyak. Because Piyak and I lacked that thrilling summoning experience that all Prelais spoke of.
Just now, both Grandfather and Joshua received memories from their summoned creatures without difficulty. But Piyak still couldn’t transfer memories directly to me, and the memories of when Piyak was with Melissa remained in my head only in the form of the original text.
I carefully ran my fingers over that golden torch. The summoned creature that should have come never arrived, and Father still hasn’t come. It seems Father must have noticed something was wrong with my summoned creature and entered that deep place.
My nose stung even more.
All this time, I had only thought Father would be extremely indifferent to me. Perhaps because of Mother’s denial, he would find me repulsive too. So I believed he had ventured into that harsh place, leaving his young children behind. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding with a similar grain to what Joshua had made.
Before the regression, when I heard the news that Father had passed away, I didn’t grieve greatly.
‘But… what if being trapped there was because of me?’
How many things had I lived not knowing? As I recalled my hazy memories of Father, I let out a deep sigh.
The things I didn’t know, the things I never even thought to correct because of that, and the misunderstandings that had accumulated among family members in the process… It felt as though the opportunity to regress had been given precisely so I could set all of this right.

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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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