Disqualified as a Villainess - Chapter 23

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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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#23.

Dominic, apparently deeming my scorn beneath his notice, spoke again with renewed conviction in his voice.
“Lady Chloe once saved me when I was stranded in the Contaminated Zone. It was nothing short of a miracle. Perhaps she has even caught the eye of the God of Order.”
Ewain, clutching the shattered consecrated brooch in his hand, then began speaking as though he had made a truly momentous discovery.
“There are cases where individuals maintain lower-tier abilities normally, yet suddenly manifest their true potential. Lady Chloe’s latent power may well be at least Grade 3 or higher.”
The Bishop, who had been listening in silence, smiled warmly.
“I sense a different sacred power than before. Let us measure her sacred power again. If she is Grade 4 or above, she will be eligible to join the Holy Temple Society as clergy.”
Ewain gazed at Chloe with an expression of genuine delight.
“I knew it would be so. I had always expected great things from you.”
“Expected? I was already certain of it.”
Even Dominic stepped forward, setting himself against Subnam in opposition.
Suddenly, protagonist worship? I stared at them all with bewilderment.
The woman who arrived via nepotism, infected her colleagues with illness, and destroyed an entire organization—she was remarkable?
By that logic, shouldn’t I be inscribed on the list of one hundred great sages who saved the nation, having provided the luminous stone and sacrificed myself for the Princess?
‘This is… the protagonist narrative correction law at work.’
The world has always favored the protagonist, with those around them proclaiming her extraordinary, magnifying even trivial deeds into grand achievements worthy of praise and applause.
But without an incompetent villain to defeat, the protagonist would never shine.
“Ugh!”
I clutched my hand and let out a loud groan, drawing everyone’s attention.
In truth, my hand had suffered frostbite from May’s freezing ability.
May, who had been embracing the Bishop for purification, noticed my pale blue hand and widened her eyes.
“Before the cold spreads further through the bloodstream, heal Octavia at once! She must be in tremendous pain right now, truly…”
I had simply hidden my suffering because I had a high pain tolerance.
It was far more effective to reveal pain at the opportune moment.
“Is this the time to debate whose credit it is? Lady Octavia was the only one who stepped forward and took the risk!”
In the end, May brought all the controversy to a close.
A vulgar and calculating woman, yet ultimately one who yearned for the other’s genuine sincerity.
I had obtained the recognition and trust that Chloe was originally meant to receive.
‘If Chloe awakened her abilities earlier than in the original story, it would actually become a disadvantage.’
Both high society and temple life required their own trial-and-error, experience, and the cultivation of connections.
This meant she had skipped the entire growth process essential to the protagonist.
Could someone who had been reincarnated with spoiled destiny, lacking the tempering of hardship, possibly defeat me—a mad scientist equipped with an unshakeable mind?

***

‘Who should I ask for healing?’
As I turned my gaze, I spotted Kimihee, whose silver hair gleamed with an almost crystalline purity.
What a perfect opportunity—to receive both healing and disdain from the High Priest who despised me and made his contempt abundantly clear.
“Ugh… it hurts so much. Might some noble soul take pity and heal me? I would repay such kindness most generously.”
At my words, several decidedly worldly priests rushed forward to offer their services.
“If I may provide the healing…”
“Allow me!”
A VVIP patron who donated vast sums to the Holy Temple Society and its clergy, blessed with beautiful features—there was no reason to refuse her.
Except for Kimihee.
“I’ll request Kimihee.”
Using my privilege as a VVIP patron to designate my preferred priest, I selected Kimihee, whose schedule was booked solid for the entire year.
“Follow me.”
Kimihee exhaled a sigh and swept his silver hair aside, gesturing for me to come along.
“Of course.”
I feigned pain and frailty as I followed him, my eyes drifting toward Chloe and Dominic.
Both their expressions were quite amusing.
“We don’t need to go all the way to the Holy Temple, do we?”
He spoke with indifferent detachment as he led me toward a less-trafficked area, glancing back at me.
Beneath the colonnade, shadows fell across his delicate features, particularly where the eye patch covered one side.
“This will be my first time receiving purification. I’m not a mana user, after all.”
“Purification? Why?”
“You made contact with the aura of the Chaos Commander.”
Kimihee stepped closer, his cold gaze looking down at me.
“You’re quite short.”
“You’re just tall.”
“Since I don’t wish to bow my head to you, stand on your tiptoes.”
“Why should I?”
“You think holding hands will be enough to solve this?”
Given my naturally contrary disposition, being ordered around pricked my pride.
I seized the neat collar of his priest’s vestment and pulled him down to meet my eye level.
“I’m the Holy Temple’s greatest donor and your most valued customer. Is this how you treat someone of my standing? Aren’t you afraid of customer complaints?”
“What you purchased with money was my divine power, not my attitude.”
Perhaps a priest rating system should be implemented. I glared at this prickly priest who never backed down, then suddenly grew curious. “I’ve heard men can be intimate with people they dislike. Is that true for you too, Priest?”
He clasped my frozen hand, interlocking our fingers, and answered in a tone dripping with ennui.
“I’m doing it for money right now.”
“I’m still doing it for money right now.”

Unfavorable rating increased [+30]

A holy priest making such vulgar remarks without a shred of shame….
I swallowed the blasphemous words that had risen to my throat. I had no idea what else might be stripped from me if I were charged with insult.
Along with a deep sigh, I felt warmth enveloping my entire body. The scent of sandalwood that clergy favored tickled the tip of my nose.
But the voice of Kimihee, who held me in his embrace, was utterly cold.
“If you wish to sleep with a priest, please inquire separately at the Monastery. There are many people seeking purification for such purposes, after all.”
The higher one’s sacred attribute, the more sanctity could be infused with minimal contact.
The Kingdom’s Saint and Empire’s Saints were beings of such formidable sanctity that they could purify multitudes merely by reciting scripture.
Yet Kimihee was skilled enough that even a handhold sufficed, was he not?
While I stood dazed in his embrace, he spoke to me.
“The Ludovisi Representative made this, didn’t he?”
With the question, his interlaced hands slowly descended along my wrist, fingers tracing the mana stone bracelet.
It seemed his intellectual curiosity—regarding magitech, theology, and sorcery—had been piqued.
“I didn’t steal it. Father gave it to me.”
Since Octavia had once pilfered this bracelet, I found myself making excuses with a guilty conscience.
“Given the high-grade mana stones inscribed on the bracelet, it doesn’t seem to be a mere auxiliary tool for the powerless. For a simple catalyst….”
His olive-hued eyes, which had been examining the bracelet intently, curved gently as if assessing what I knew of it.
“Unnecessarily beautiful, isn’t it?”
Was that… a highly refined insult—suggesting that I, a mere talking potato, possessed a supercomputer of infinite potential yet squandered it playing Minesweeper?
Magitech is stratified by the knowledge possessed by its engineer.
The more knowledge accumulated, the more transmutation blueprints one possessed. A bracelet containing the very essence of the greatest magitech engineer would be worth coveting.
“You covet this bracelet?”
“Merely curious. About many things. I wonder if this bracelet temporarily elevated that woman Chloe’s lower-tier blessing level.”
‘Temporary elevation. His suspicion that it might not be complete awakening aligns with mine.’
His downturned silver eyelashes slowly lifted.
“Especially, within your body….”
BOOM—!
In an instant, a tremendous explosion erupted, and the wall of the building beside us crumbled with a deafening roar.
“Gasp, huff… I thought a reactor had blown….”
Startled, I clung tightly to Kimihee’s waist, catching my breath.
What on earth was happening?
Following Kimihee’s gaze, which now enveloped my back, I spotted a man standing at an awkward angle in the distance.
“An accident.”
Kelsedny Admiral, standing with dignified composure in formal attire and a long coat, brushed off his black-gloved hands.
“I was throwing a ball for a dog.”
He offered a rather adorable excuse.
Why was that man here?
And where exactly was the dog that would retrieve such a nuclear missile of a projectile…?

***

“Do you keep dogs? Show me when you’re being nice about it.”
Kimihee watched as Octavia slipped from his embrace and darted toward the Admiral like an arrow.
“Your healing isn’t complete yet….”
He blinked, observing his own hand extended toward her retreating figure.
“What is this.”
The faintly lingering golden light shimmered and dissipated like wind-scattered dust.
He belatedly recognized the change within himself. The tangled energy from the previous chaotic mission had been reorganized—not through purifying divine power, but through the concept of restoration.
‘Why do I sense the aura of an apostle from that woman?’
Without the perception of a saint-level being, he would never have noticed. But Kimihee possessed exceptional aura-detection abilities, allowing him to discern it.
Kimihee’s expression grew puzzled as his gaze met the Admiral’s cool eyes.
‘Does the prince really have something going on with her?’
How could an omnipotent being who had absorbed the powers of ability users and chaos corruption for generations become entangled with a non-ability user?
Intrigued, Kimihee tilted his head, watching Octavia follow the Admiral obediently.
“The healing… the Admiral will handle it himself.”

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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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