Disqualified as a Villainess - Chapter 11

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

#11.

Before returning to Uncle’s House, Octavia made her way back to Father’s Study. The lights remained on late into the evening, as if he had been waiting for his daughter to visit.
Octavia hesitated outside the door.
She had already expended considerable goodwill by borrowing a private Research Laboratory under the pretense of needing Father’s assistance to resume her studies in Magitech Engineering.

“Should I decipher it directly for you, or would you prefer I teach you the method?”

The Ludovisi Representative, who had activated the decryption apparatus, concealed his delight, though his heart soared with genuine joy.

♥Affection Increased♥ [+3,000]

As befitted a Magitech Engineer, he harbored a cherished dream of teaching his daughter the intricacies of his craft.
Octavia, who had summoned her courage to grasp the door handle, drew a sharp breath and stepped back.

“All of it… because of me….”

She recalled the original narrative’s description—corpses displayed in the Square as monuments to sin and consequence.
The scene of Octavia clinging to her Father’s legs in tears was so harrowing that even readers could not bring themselves to call it satisfying.
‘I want a family too.’
To be precise, it was a longing for the warmth of familial affection.
In her previous life, she had known such tenderness. Parents who had departed the world in her childhood, and Researchers at the facility who had cared for her as parents would.
It was why stories of family moved her so deeply.
‘If I accumulate enough negative affection, perhaps we could share a meal together?’
With a bitter smile, Octavia released the handle, turned away, and walked down the Corridor, now cold in the night air.

***

At the sound of footsteps beyond the door, the Ludovisi Representative sprang from his seat.
“Octavia….”
He reached his hand toward the closed door.
But before he could even speak, urging her to come in and talk face to face, the footsteps receded into the distance.
He sank back into his chair, running his fingers through his hair.
“Of course. She still despises me.”
After his wife’s death, he had devoted himself entirely to his work, leaving young Octavia alone.

“My dear, Octavia is the child with whom I have spent the least time, is she not?”

He gazed down at the purple bracelet resting upon his desk, his mind drifting to the words his wife had spoken before her death.
It was a mana stone bracelet—a gift he had presented when he proposed to her, after she had lost her sanctity and been cast out from the Holy Temple.
He was now recalling his wife’s final testament: that he should one day pass this bracelet to Octavia, his youngest daughter.
Lost in thought, he was interrupted by a knock at the door, and the Chief Researcher entered.
“Representative, there is an urgent matter I must discuss with you.”
Beside her, who spoke with careful deliberation, stood another researcher.
“This difficult problem was solved in merely six hours, and it was established using a century-spanning methodology. The approach taken was extraordinarily unconventional—a perspective no one else had conceived.”
The trembling voice of the Chief Researcher carried the exhilaration of having discovered a truly exceptional talent.
“Have you identified who solved it?”
In response to the Representative’s question, she gestured toward the researcher standing beside her.
“It was the new researcher who just joined us. Isn’t he remarkable?”
The new researcher’s face was flushed with anticipation, brimming with excitement at the prospect of a reward.
The compensation given to a researcher who solved such a difficult problem was far more than mere bonuses or vacation time.
Along with the honor of publication in academic journals came an enormous monetary reward, the establishment of a private research laboratory, and substantial research funding.
Yet the Ludovisi Representative’s expression remained utterly unchanged.
He handed the researcher a single sheet of paper with a slightly modified version of the problem.
“I’ll give you one hour. Can you solve it again here and now?”
“O-one hour is impossible. Three hours would be sufficient.”
The new researcher stammered in response. Since the methodology was already known, he could produce an answer regardless.
“Someone already accomplished it in thirty minutes.”
“Pardon?”
At the Representative’s words, the new researcher’s face drained of all color. He had realized his deception had been exposed.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice? I have no use for someone who steals the accomplishments of others.”
The Ludovisi Representative exchanged a meaningful glance with the bewildered Chief Researcher.
His career as a researcher—indeed, his entire future as an engineer—was now finished.
The Ludovisi Representative had already confirmed through the decryption device’s usage logs the method by which Octavia had solved the cipher.
Though he could not know the decrypted contents themselves, he could discern that the decomposition technique and solution methodology were identical to those used in solving the difficult problem.
‘So Octavia was deliberately concealing her talents all this time.’
She was his own daughter, so there was no room to doubt her abilities.
Yet the thought that she had hidden them because of his own indifference pierced his heart with anguish.

***

Capital Commercial District.
Serkan, dressed in formal attire and a hat, observed someone intently over the newspaper held in both his hands.
Possessing the ability to conceal himself, he was following—or rather, observing—Octavia Ludovisi on the Admiral’s orders.
‘She’ll be in danger wandering alone like this.’
A frail non-ability user, her refined clothing and striking appearance made her conspicuous.
No matter how safe the Capital’s security was, she was an easy target.
And now she had ventured into a dimly lit Shop Alley.
‘Does she have no fear?’
The thought had barely finished when men who were unmistakably thugs approached her.
“Walking alone without an escort?”
“What if bad people took you away?”
At their insolent remarks, Octavia’s expression turned cold.
“I’m busy, so get to the point.”
“Nothing much—just need to borrow some money. Walking around alone dressed so finely is dangerous, right? Think of it as protection money.”
“If I refuse?”
“Then we’ll have to take it by force.”
Just as Serkan was about to rise from his seat upon witnessing Octavia being extorted by these villains, it happened.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Argh!”
Men in black clothing suddenly burst forth and began beating the thugs mercilessly.
“P-please spare us! We were wrong!”
With her face bruised, Octavia smiled sweetly at the begging thug.
“Hand over the money.”
“Y-yes, of course.”
As Octavia counted the wads of cash they had scraped together from various places, her brow furrowed.
“Is this all? Carry more money with you next time.”
‘Who’s the robber here?’
Serkan’s expression turned bewildered as he watched.
“Remember this: if you ever cross paths with me, Octavia Ludovisi, again, you’re dead.”
She spoke like a dark underworld boss spreading her notorious name far and wide.
Yet she used the stolen money for poor children.
“Children, I’ve already paid for bread at that bakery over there, so go eat whenever you want.”
“Really? Lady, thank you so much!”
“If you’re grateful, come embrace me.”
The children, who had often been turned away because of their shabby appearance, hesitated.
Then they rushed toward Octavia, who opened her arms without reservation, and embraced her.
“Eat well and grow nice and plump.”
She pinched their cheeks without the slightest displeasure.
‘Is she some kind of outlaw hero?’
Serkan, watching from afar, murmured in bewilderment once more.
Thereafter, she visited every shabby shop in the alley, purchasing only the most peculiar wares, until she entered the most suspicious establishment and made an extraordinary request.
“Do you have any hidden treasures here? Items you’ve kept, thinking that someday a chosen one might arrive and purchase them? A ‘Dragon’s Heart’, perhaps, or a ‘Philosopher’s Stone’?”
“W-well, we don’t have anything like that. What about these stuffed dolls my wife made? She worked so hard despite her illness, but they simply won’t sell.”
Contrary to the shop’s damp and dreary atmosphere, adorable stuffed dolls were displayed throughout.
At this, Octavia pressed her forehead and sighed heavily.
“Good heavens, can’t you establish a more conventional worldview? Then, would you show me the most special and expensive item you have?”
The Shop Owner timidly presented a staff carved from wood struck by lightning.
Without hesitation, Octavia snapped the staff in two.
“Ahhh! That precious thing! That’s a staff that attracts wealth lightning!”
“Who would believe such an unscientific claim?”
She uttered those cold words and departed.
Just as I was thinking this was indeed unfortunate, a brown-haired gentleman wearing spectacles appeared and handed the owner a stack of banknotes.
“Payment for the staff. Use this to renovate your shop. It should look more like an establishment dealing in suspicious items.”
“T-this is far too much.”
“Consider it wealth lightning. And I’ll purchase all of the dolls.”
It was clearly someone Octavia had sent.
‘Is she kind?’
While Serkan stood bewildered, Octavia had already begun quarreling with a Noble carrying a puppy.
“How dare you speak so harshly to someone of inferior station….”
“If you want to trouble me, bring something better than archaic class hierarchies—try the Grand Unified Theory of the Universe.”
The Noble, defeated in the argument, wore an expression as though he might weep.
“My puppy is already suffering, and now a commoner causes such a scene.”
“I can see it’s a patellar dislocation. Take it to the Universal Love Monastery. The monks there possess healing abilities for animals.”
‘A kind person…?’
Faced with her incomprehensible conduct, Serkan found himself utterly confused.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————