A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 173

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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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173.

Power.
What is power?
Sephiroth—no, Ruellin—was once the eighth princess of the Empire in that distant past, when it was merely a minor kingdom.
Not even a legitimate daughter, but a bastard born from a single night between the King and a foreign dancer.
With princes aplenty to inherit the throne, no one spared a thought for the despised ugly duckling who had lost her mother early.
Not until she turned twelve.
The girl whom everyone ignored and deemed worthless had, ironically, inherited the royal bloodline most purely.
Magic.
One day, she could wield it.
The legend spoke of the kingdom’s founder being descended from dragons.
Whether that dusty old tale held truth mattered little.
The moment she could command a power thought long extinct, the King’s attention fell upon her like a thunderbolt.
Her shabby quarters were replaced, her clothes and meals transformed.
From a wretched existence lower than a mere servant, she became a true princess.

― I have great expectations for you, Ruellin.

I was simply overjoyed.
Lonely and forsaken as I had been, the King’s attention and my siblings’ kindness—received for the first time in my life—intoxicated me utterly.
So consumed by that joy and rapture that I willingly placed the noose around my own neck.
Around the time I swore blind devotion and love to the King.
He waged war.

***

The infinite expectations and support of the King, my siblings, ministers, and nobles proved tragically misplaced—my magic was far from extraordinary.
I could pour tea with a mere flick of my hand and teleport the short distance from my chamber to the garden, but such parlor tricks were worthless on the battlefield.
My most remarkable ability was merely to shake a person’s psyche through nightmares.
I could never achieve the miracles of the founder and great mages of old—summoning fireballs from the heavens, conjuring storms to sweep away the enemy.
The King was deeply disappointed.
As the kingdom’s forces fell steadily into disadvantage despite his ambitious war, I grew frantic.
I needed to prove my worth.
I could not bear to lose the attention and love I had barely obtained.
What could I do?
Tormented by endless deliberation, I rushed to the front lines the moment I heard the border had fallen.

― All forces, retreat! Fall back!
― Close the castle gates! Hold the line!

The Northern Barrier, which the King had boasted was an impenetrable fortress, was crumbling in pathetic ruin.
As the sun descended, the forward garrison fell to complete annihilation, and the outpost castle was captured.
Ruellin, hidden among the captured prisoners, slipped secretly into the enemy commander’s tent that night after he had collapsed from celebrating late into the evening.
It was remarkably easy to trigger the trauma of someone who had endured such horrors on the battlefield for so long.
At dawn, the commander awoke with eyes rolled back in white, slaughtered dozens of his own subordinates, and took his own life.
The enemy forces, suddenly bereft of their entire leadership, descended into chaos, and the Kingdom’s army—having received advance notice from Ruellin—seized the opportunity and launched a successful surprise attack.
When the King heard this news, he was overjoyed.

― Just as I thought! I always believed in you!
― Splendid, my daughter! Only you bring joy to this father’s heart!

There were no grand rewards like those given to my brothers or the knights who had earned merit, but that was more than enough.
Ruellin trembled with rapture at the sight of my father’s radiant smile.
Enough to forget even the terror and guilt of having committed murder for the first time.

***

After that, she continued to infiltrate enemy encampments using magic.
Her methods of killing became increasingly cunning and vicious.
Beyond merely shaking their minds with nightmares, she poisoned their food and wielded daggers with deadly precision.
Occasionally she encountered formidable individuals whose minds resisted her enslavement magic, leading to perilous encounters.
Sometimes she was mistaken for a camp follower and endured shameful ordeals.
Yet each time, she drew upon her resourcefulness and somehow survived.

― Splendid work, my daughter.
― You’ve suffered much, sister.
― Truly remarkable, Your Highness.

With just those words, I could endure anything.
Thanks to her exploits, the Kingdom expanded its territory with unstoppable momentum.
The war finally ended only when the realm had grown too vast to be called a Kingdom anymore.
The King changed the nation’s name to the Empire and crowned himself Emperor.
Ruellin attended her father’s coronation with joy in her heart.
Despite all that suffering, she received only a handful of gold coins and trinkets of jewelry, but it didn’t matter.
Around that time, some of the attendants and knights who followed her would criticize her for not demanding titles and territories from the Emperor, but she let it pass through one ear and out the other.
After all, she was no longer a princess—she had become an Imperial Princess, and she would spend her entire life in the Imperial Palace.
What use did she have for such trivial titles or territories?
It was truly naive thinking.
She would soon learn painfully that an Imperial Princess, no matter how many accomplishments she achieved, could never remain in the Imperial Palace for life.

―Ruellin, you know that I cherish you most among all my children, don’t you?
―Please hear your father’s plea. The behavior of the Second and Third Imperial Princes has been most unsettling of late. I’ve subtly conveyed that I’ve already decided on a successor to inherit the throne.
―I know you were disappointed that I didn’t grant you a title. But there was good reason for that as well, so help your father. You are the only one I can truly trust.

My heart raced at those subtle whispers.
The Emperor had not yet publicly announced his successor.
Unlike the First Imperial Prince, who had remained unseen as a commander, the Second and Third Princes had repeatedly distinguished themselves through their combined efforts.
If even those two failed to satisfy him, wasn’t she the only one left?
‘Imperial Crown Princess. The next Emperor.’
From the eighth princess cast aside to the Emperor’s successor.
I tried to convince myself it was premature speculation, but anticipation swelled within me.
Desire was inevitable.
‘Just a little more. If I gain just a bit more of his trust here, then I too.’
A true member of the royal family, a true child receiving my father’s love and confidence.
I didn’t even need him to pass the throne to me.
Ruellin simply wanted to solidify her precarious position, which had always been like driftwood.
So she carried out the Emperor’s commands without hesitation.
The Second and Third Imperial Princes had adored her like true siblings ever since she proved her worth on the battlefield, so approaching them was not particularly difficult.
There was no guilt or hesitation.
If one were to ascend to the throne, one must naturally eliminate rivals with one’s own hands.
Ruellin used magic to put the two princes into a deep sleep.
Then, together with the knights the Emperor had assigned to her, she headed toward the Caspian Gorge.
It was an era when, rather than Gate Waves, the occasional appearance of magical beasts was called Monster Waves.
Ruellin decided to throw the sleeping pair down into the gorge below, then disguise their deaths as the tragic demise of princes who had gone out to subjugate monsters.
After finishing the deed, she killed everyone who knew of this fact to prevent any loose ends.
Not only the knights who had moved the princes, but also the maidservant who had served her for so long, and even the Coachman.
The journey back to the Capital where the Imperial Palace stood, traveling alone without any attendants, was grueling and exhausting.
But her heart was so elated that she didn’t even notice the hardship.
After all, I would become a worthy heir to the Emperor.
Even if that weren’t the case, wouldn’t I become at least the daughter most beloved by Father?
But.
What awaited me when I arrived at the Imperial Palace in rags after a fortnight was marriage to the First Prince, who had become Crown Prince.

***

The moment I stepped into the Imperial Palace, I was bound with golden chains that sealed my magical power, and like a criminal, I was transferred to a remote and humble estate belonging to Count Frederick.
There was no grand wedding ceremony, nor even a marriage vow.
Bound as I was, I spent the wedding night with a man I was seeing for the first time, and from then on, I was called the Countess.
My husband was a commoner-born knight who had earned his title for his great contributions in this continent’s war.
He was the same age as me, and his appearance was reasonably handsome.
Should I be grateful that he wasn’t the fourth or fifth wife of some decrepit and slovenly royal?
Or perhaps I should be thankful that he merely exiled me instead of killing me, knowing everything I knew.
After the hastily arranged marriage, Ruellin frequently found myself lost in a daze.
I had been foolishly used and then discarded like a worn-out tool.
It was unexpected, but I wasn’t so dull as to deny that I had been abandoned.
‘Why?’
Yet I couldn’t understand it.
Not me, not the Second Prince, not the Third Prince either.
Why had the Emperor chosen the First Prince as heir—a man who did nothing but idle away his days?
To me, the Emperor was like the heavens themselves.
I believed him to be a great and wise ruler.
He had recognized my worth, and the war he started ultimately ended in the right way.
Wasn’t it wise of him to incite foolish me to eliminate the Second and Third Princes without dirtying his own hands?
I couldn’t fathom why such a man would choose that wastrel as Crown Prince, or why he would cast me aside when I could have been useful in so many ways.
‘I never coveted the throne, nor did I ask for any reward….’
It felt as though I had reverted to being a lowly eighth princess.
It was endlessly miserable and pathetic.
Surprisingly, it was my husband—a man who seemed to be nothing but a figurehead—who awakened me from this state.

― How long will you remain in such a daze?
― They say you’re the greatest archmage of this era, the one who led the unification of the continent, yet you accept such treatment without even growing angry?

He would often come to find me lying listlessly and scold me.
No matter how many times I ignored him, he never grew tired.

― Why are you the one getting angry?

So one day, I couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

―It’s pathetic and frustrating.
―If you just lock yourself in your room and wallow in self-pity, do you think the Emperor will acknowledge you? Do you really think anyone will mourn if you starve yourself to death?
―Come outside and have dinner. During the war, more people died of starvation than soldiers who fell in battle. Stop your spoiled complaints.

When I lived in the Imperial Palace, no one had ever spoken to me that way.
Even as a neglected princess, I was still royalty.
I should have been angry at those words.
Yet for some reason, I found myself following the man as if enchanted.
Upon entering the Dining Room, I saw an elaborate banquet laid out.
At a glance, the ingredients were far too expensive and lavish for the scale of Count Frederick’s Estate.
My expression grew peculiar as I recognized the kind of nourishing delicacies one might see at the late Emperor’s birthday celebration.
‘Surely he didn’t go to such trouble because of me?’
That couldn’t be it.
After all, I wasn’t the only one who disapproved of this marriage.
Yet even as I thought this, the moment I picked up my utensils, I noticed his fierce expression noticeably softened—strikingly so.
The two of us began our meal in quiet silence.
As I nibbled at the food before me, I unconsciously gestured with my hand.
Splash―
The water pitcher, which had been sitting some distance away, floated gently up and filled both his cup and mine.
Next, the plump roasted pork that had been placed in the center was cut to an appropriate size and gently set upon both his plate and mine.
A servant who had come in to attend us belatedly stumbled back in shock.
The man let out a hollow laugh.

―If you eat like that every time, won’t you forget how to use cutlery?
―Everyone seemed to like it when I do this… Don’t you?
―It’s not that I dislike it… Never mind.

The man shook his head and soon quietly cut and ate the pork I had offered him.
As the meal drew to a close, he rose from his seat first.
Leaving behind a cryptic remark.

―Do only what you wish to do. Don’t force yourself for others. Especially not for me.

***

After that, Ruellin dined with him every evening.
She couldn’t explain why.
She had thought their relationship awkward and uncomfortable, yet it proved to be anything but.
Seeing his face daily, conversation flowed more freely with each passing night.
Having endured the same battlefields, they found common ground with surprising ease.
What grew between them extended far beyond mere words.
Evening meals became lunch, lunch became breakfast, breakfast became afternoon tea, and afternoon tea eventually led to shared drinks—and by then.
Ruellin had already laid bare her entire soul to him.
The man—no, her husband—listened to her story with clenched teeth, tears streaming down his face.
I had witnessed countless people weep amidst war, yet this was the first time I found someone’s tears beautiful.

Let us return to the Capital.

He spoke with a trembling voice, as though making a solemn vow.

Only when you possess what rightfully belongs to you can I rest easy, knowing I can finally sleep soundly.

At that moment, Ruellin believed her husband was revealing the ambition he had concealed.
It was a foolish interpretation, yet she could not help it.
All she had known throughout her life were people driven by such desires.
Only after his death did I understand.
That plea to return to the Capital was his way of saying he loved me.

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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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