Disqualified as a Villainess - Chapter 2

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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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#2.

In the original work, Kelsedny Admiral was an otherworldly existence that defied any human description.
The Decart Imperial Family’s apostolic abilities were “multi-ability possession” and “ability plunder”—making him one of the apex predators who dominated or killed ability users to steal their powers.
‘Readers with unconventional tastes like myself preferred the Admiral—a sexy madman far more captivating than Dominic.’
He appeared infrequently, which was disappointing, perhaps because his rank far exceeded the male lead’s and he was established as the strongest.
‘I want to be despised relentlessly by a handsome man in uniform.’
It’s a perverted desire, but it’s my salvation, so I can’t help it.
I approached Kelsedny Admiral, who turned away with his sharp jawline on display, and smiled sweetly.
“They say you’re everyone’s ideal type and a government-level handsome man—and you certainly live up to it. Looking at you, I feel the presence of a wall. Do you know what kind of wall it is?”
“….”
“Perfection.”
The Admiral stared at me in silence as I continued my fawning remarks.
Soon, his stubbornly closed lips relaxed, and a faint sigh escaped.
“Ah.”
With that utterly expressionless face, would he show me about five thousand points of disdain?

Favorability decreased [+100]

But contrary to my expectations, the increase was disappointingly modest.
At that level… doesn’t that mean he likes me?
I need to research words that he can’t bear without despising me.
“You even saved me from nearly falling from a height of 7 centimeters. How can I ever repay such kindness?”
The heels I wore today were 7 centimeters tall.
Whether my expression betrayed ‘I desperately crave your contempt’ or not, he retreated as much as I closed the distance between us.
“Didn’t you hear me tell you to get lost?”
“That doesn’t matter to me.”
The handsome man in uniform from whom I’ll extract disdain is what matters most.
I studied his navy uniform, tailored perfectly to his frame.
In my personal opinion, he was a man who exuded an unparalleled presence compared to the male lead.
How much would he hate me if I asked him out directly?
“That….”

[Favorability decreased [+200]

He rejected me with disdain before I even finished speaking?

[Favorability Decreased [+100]

I hadn’t done anything. Does he dislike me simply for breathing?
How truly grateful I am.
I composed myself with elegant grace and opened my mouth once more.
“Ah, forgive my tardiness in introductions. I am….”
A shadow flickered across the Admiral’s brow.
Watching the champagne flute in his hand tilt slightly, I flinched and drew my shoulders inward.
A man of his temperament would have been justified in pouring champagne over my head without hesitation.
Yet nothing of the sort occurred.
For some reason, he remained motionless, glass held aloft.
“In any case, delighted to make your acquaintance.”
I commandeered a champagne flute from a passing guest and clinked it against his, offering a smile. The Admiral, whose expression had grown peculiar, withdrew his glass-bearing hand and spoke with deliberate emphasis.
“I have no interest.”
Before I could say another word, he departed with the measured stride befitting a military man.
The noble ladies observing the exchange whispered mockery behind their fans, yet I paid them no mind, my gaze fixed upon the retreating Admiral.
His appearance lived up to the accolades of being the Great Empire’s most handsome man, and the women lingered nearby, hoping for an opportunity to engage him in conversation.
Kelsedny Admiral, perhaps sensing the most brazenly covetous gleam in my eyes among them all, met my gaze directly.
The moment I offered him a graceful eye-smile, he turned his head away sharply.
‘Like a prim black cat,’ I mused.
Yet observing how he maintained his courtesy while ignoring me with such composure… he seemed far more reasonable than the original work had suggested.
Perhaps this was merely the disparity between fiction and reality?
I watched as the Admiral accepted a drink from a fawning nobleman.
The Admiral, who had been studying the glass being filled with keen attention, tilted his head slightly.
“If His Excellency would be so kind as to view this favorably… Ahhh!”
Splash.
Watching him pour the drink over the nobleman’s head—as though watering withered roots—I realized my judgment had been premature.
The ladies who had been seeking an opportunity to approach the Admiral scattered with remarkable speed.
Cowards, the lot of them. Surely a man of courage would seize beauty for himself.
In any case, I had confirmed the Admiral’s attendance at the soirée….
‘Time to begin.’
Though I had encountered an unexpected target, my true purpose for attending this gathering lay elsewhere.
I slipped into an empty chamber under the pretense of freshening up, then changed into a Royal Palace maid’s uniform I had hidden in advance.
My destination: the Palace Annex where the Admiral was lodging.
It was time to execute my plan—concealing myself in his chambers without anyone’s knowledge.
Of course, the room’s occupant must remain equally unaware.

***

My objective was none other than to intercept the letter of cooperation that the original Octavia had sent to Kelsedny Admiral.
Though I didn’t know the letter’s contents in detail, it would serve as decisive evidence leading to Octavia’s eventual execution, so I absolutely had to steal it.
Even if I committed no crime myself, it could become a source of future trouble.
‘And I need to find out what kind of deal Octavia proposed to the Admiral.’
It was currently nine o’clock at night. The banquet typically concluded around four in the morning.
At the earliest, he wouldn’t return until midnight.
Disguised as a maid carrying a laundry basket, I arrived safely before the Admiral’s door and surveyed my surroundings.
Creak—!
I carefully stepped into his room. It was luxurious yet devoid of decoration or paintings, giving it an empty, hollow feeling.
‘It’s like the room of an obsessive fanatic….’
I set the laundry basket beside the bed and carefully observed where letters might be kept.
Since he was a man who rarely even read the correspondence that came to him, there was a high probability he didn’t yet know this letter had arrived.
As I surveyed the room, I discovered a neatly organized stack of unopened letters arranged at right angles.
‘It’s like looking at a spam folder where someone has agreed to every single terms and conditions that exists.’
There were far too many. No wonder he didn’t read them.
I began quickly sifting through the letters.
Apart from the important correspondence he had sorted, roughly eighty percent were confessions of love and fan letters addressed to this popular man.

「We of The Skeptics wholeheartedly support His Excellency the Admiral, the black jewel of the Great Sea.」

He even had a fan club. That said it all.
Perhaps because his surname was Decart, the fan club’s name was remarkably philosophical.
Fortunately, I was able to locate Octavia’s letter quickly.
While gathering the letter, I discovered one with strange characters written in the recipient’s field.
‘This looks… like a cipher?’
It was a security cipher that Dominic primarily used in the story.
An ultra-high-difficulty cipher used by the royal and imperial families, impossible to decode without the aid of a decryption device.
Seeing that it remained unopened, he hadn’t read it yet.
A suspicious feeling washed over me, so I quickly grabbed it and tried to leave the room in haste.
Click.
The sound of the door opening echoed through the chamber.

***

‘Already?’
The guards at the Annex could be fooled by the laundry piled high enough to obscure their faces, but pretending to be a maid right now was impossible.
I crawled beneath the bed as quickly as I could, holding my breath at the sight of polished military boots entering the Bedroom.
‘Why has he returned so soon?’
It was Kelsedny Admiral.
Less than twenty minutes had passed since I’d entered this room.
Unlike the measured gait from before, his footsteps drew closer with a heavy, sluggish rhythm.
The reek of alcohol wafting this far suggested he’d indulged heavily in that brief span of time.
‘Is he too drunk to notice someone’s in the room?’
Beyond the bed where I hid, I watched him collapse onto the sofa, his back settling against it with languorous ease.
I’d expected him to maintain his rigid composure even in solitude, but clearly he was only human.
Soon he began drinking straight from a bottle of potent whisky sitting on the side table.
‘Drinking again? He’s guzzling it like a heartbroken fool.’
Either way, this worked in my favor. I could only hope he’d pass out quickly.
As time crawled by, more than ten empty bottles accumulated on the table.
My body, crouched beneath the bed, was beginning to cramp painfully.
“Sigh.”
The way he hung his head, exhaling one sigh after another, made him look precarious—a man clinging to alcohol just to survive another day.
He drained the last drop from the bottle, then rose slowly to his feet.
His military boots approached until they were inches from my hiding place, and the bed shook with a dull thud.
Swish.
I heard the sound of fabric sliding against bare skin as he undressed.
The clothes I’d arranged in the laundry basket stacked up with perfect, knife-sharp creases.
‘How is that possible when he’s this drunk?’
With that kind of discipline, he was definitely the type to shower before bed.
Right—I’d escape while he was in the bathroom.
As I clenched my fists in determination, a clean fragrance and cool breeze seeped beneath the bed.
‘Damn magitech….’
It was a combat-grade hygiene module developed by my second brother, Vittore, after he’d grown disgusted with filth during a past mission deployment—a module that left everything smelling of sunlit, pristine linens.
Freshly cleansed, he lay back down on the bed.
‘I’ll have to slip out while he’s asleep.’
How much time passed after that, I couldn’t say.
Whether he slept poorly or not, the sounds of him tossing and turning eventually ceased, and his breathing became steady and even.
‘He should be asleep by now…?’
Listening to his breathing fall into a regular rhythm, I carefully extracted myself from beneath the bed.
Rubbing my cramped legs as I stood, I looked down at the Admiral lying on the bed.
Unlike drunkards who collapse in absurd poses, he’d even bothered to change into proper pajamas and lay sleeping with exemplary composure.
Moonlight filtering through the curtains illuminated his face, which was flawless and perfectly symmetrical.
Long, graceful eyes and lengthy lashes, lips curved upward even in repose, and high cheekbones casting shadows across his profile.
Trying to enchant me even in sleep—what a seductive devil.
I was about to turn and slip away when it happened.
“Oh!”
Suddenly, my wrist was seized and I was dragged onto the bed.
Thud—!
My vision spun, and I felt the cool silk of the bedsheet against my back.
“?”
The moment I opened my eyes, they locked with the deep gaze of Kelsedny Admiral.
He had positioned himself above me, his hand gripping my wrist as he looked down at me.
I’d been caught.
My mind raced through escape routes, but my gaze froze on his face—his eyes held an entirely different light than before.
Whether it was intoxication or something else, I couldn’t tell, but the flushed edges of his eyes felt dangerously captivating.
He smiled as though he had been waiting for an eternity.
“Darling, why did you take so long to come?”
“…Pardon?”
Darling?
His eyes curved gracefully as he watched me blink in bewilderment.
Was this truly the cold and indifferent prince?
His tone and demeanor were so completely different that I couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or awake.
Could intoxication turn him into someone who flirts and seduces?
His warm breath descended close to my cheek, carrying the sweet scent of alcohol and an intoxicating fragrance.
Heat seeped through our touching skin.
Like an affectionate cat, he rubbed his cheek against mine.
“Now that I have beheld the Admiral’s presence, I have no further regrets. I should take my leave…”
I shrank back from the dangerous intimacy, clutching the sheet.
“You want to leave?”
His languid voice accompanied the motion of his arm wrapping around my waist, pulling me close enough that I could feel the warmth of his breath.
“That is to say… I meant to return home in a proper manner.”
The moment I clarified my meaning, his sensual eyes gradually dimmed, tinged with melancholy.
His gaze was plaintive and clinging, yet his words were not.
He tightened his arm around my waist and whispered.
“If you’ve driven me to madness, you must take responsibility.”
Beneath the drunken words lay a madness that transcended mere intoxication.

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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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