Disqualified as a Villainess - Chapter 32

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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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#32.

This hidden space lay deep within the Kingdom Borderlands, shrouded in an atmosphere as oppressive as an underground dungeon.
Rather than guards, security barriers and detection systems had been installed, but disabling them proved effortless.
I withdrew a palm-sized case wound with copper wire.
Zzzt—!
It was a device constructed on the same principle as a compact EMP disruptor used during wartime to paralyze systems and communications networks.
All I needed to do was emit a powerful surge of magical energy to incapacitate this facility’s systems.
Besides, I left no traces—I was a non-ability user.
With my preliminary work complete, I stepped inward with measured caution.
Even stripped of power and imprisoned, the handsome priest May had hidden away remained royalty, and the Royal Family was never a target one could afford to underestimate entirely.
Because it was I who had thrown myself into danger for May, not Chloe, I had effectively seized the secret the Princess had concealed.
‘Originally, this would have been Chloe’s tool to exploit.’
In the original story, Chloe used this as leverage against May, feeding the information to Octavia.
Octavia’s contact with the Chaos Forces was itself a trap of her making.

“What if you let me use you instead?”

But that message I had sent through the Chaos Commander did not appear in the original narrative.
That was precisely why I had come to verify matters.
“Priest, might I receive your assistance? If you refuse, I shall expose your existence and have you executed.”
At my words, the man seated beyond the bars in the deep shadow let out a low chuckle.
Soon a gentle, baritone voice reached my ears.
“Isn’t that blackmail?”
He wore the black vestments of a clergyman, with a grotesque plaster statue of a horned ram inverted upon his head.
That statue was a control restraint that severed his abilities.
I smiled with equal composure.
“You really do… hit the mark. It is blackmail.”
“How did you find this place?”
“Roughly speaking, through expensive, illegal, and forensic scientific methods.”
There was no need for detailed explanation, so I glossed over it and broached the main subject.
“I’m going to ask you questions now, and if you don’t tell the truth, it will sting.”
I had developed a lie detector using electrical current after conducting human experiments on my cousin Cedric.
Of course, I had also added an electric shock function that would sting upon falsehood.
He showed no sign of fear at my sinister interrogation device.

Favorability increased [+30]

…Why do I even like you?
The masochistic deviant spoke without hesitation.
“Under my oath to God, I’ll answer truthfully—but only three times.”
“Three times? Are you playing mind games with me right now?”
“That was two. You’ve got one left.”
This two-headed fool…. Are you some kind of free-tier AI?
Knowing he’d count that as a question too, I chose my next words with deliberate care.
“Did you cause Prince Jeriel’s shadow possession syndrome? Were you acting under someone’s orders?”
“Impossible. I lost my power and became a prisoner of the Control Cult Forces. I’ve never even met him, and I can’t leave this place.”
Just as we called them disorder and chaos, treating them like demons, they called us not order but oppression—the Control Religion—treating us like demons of control. And they called themselves not chaos, but ‘freedom.’
The lie detector beneath his hand remained silent.
Of course, it was only about seventy percent accurate and designed for psychological pressure, so I couldn’t be certain of the truth.
He shrugged, his gaze fixed on me.
“And you—seeing you in person, you’re quite beautiful.”
The moment the words left his mouth, electricity crackled from his hand with a sharp snap.
“Ah, that stings.”
A lie, then.

Favorability increased [+20]

The neck beneath the plaster mask had flushed slightly red. He’s definitely a pervert.
Perhaps he’d even volunteered to enter the cruel Princess’s Prison?
Harboring reasonable suspicion, I continued my interrogation.
“Why did you send a Chaos Commander to tell me to choose you?”
“You know about dominion contracts, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Exactly what it means—form a relationship with me instead of the Admiral.”
His languid voice drifting from behind the plaster mask made me instinctively shrink back.
“A ‘dominion’ relationship? Don’t leave out the important words.”
“Whether I leave them in or out, it’s not a lie either way.”
True to a priest who pursued freedom and pleasure, his tongue was remarkably licentious.
“I have a constitution specialized in sacred power manipulation, so I’ve collected many sacred abilities. That’s also why May keeps me around. Of course, I rejected the Princess’s proposal.”
Given that the original Octavia had likely become that man’s servant instead of the Admiral’s, gaining power in the process, I feigned ignorance and asked.
“Why me specifically? I’m powerless.”
This question also connected to my justification for forming a dominion contract with Kelsedny Admiral despite being powerless.
“My ability core was damaged, which is why I was captured. The Allied Empire abandoned me too. Isn’t that pitiful? I heard the Admiral is broken just like me.”
The man wearing that pitiable expression already seemed to know the Admiral’s condition.
“Repairing a broken core falls under alchemy’s reconstruction domain. It literally means fixing what’s broken. The Admiral’s the same.”
He seemed to know much about the Admiral, offering a clear answer.
“But I’m just an ordinary person without abilities, you see? My father is the greatest magical engineer, and he’s—”
I realized I’d said something enormous and clamped my mouth shut.
I’d nearly committed the unfilial act of comparing my father to the Two-Headed Priest.
“No, and my older brothers too.”
“Being of alchemist bloodline doesn’t change that.”
Was a ‘powerless alchemist bloodline member’ the condition for Core restoration? Perhaps I was merely a component—a spare part meant only for repair purposes.
“But how did it break in the first place?”
“Simple. I wielded power beyond my limits. I’m bound by Order, and the Admiral is being corroded by Chaos.”
He seemed unwilling to explain which power he’d used.
He extended his hand through the bars and grasped my wrist.
“Will you do this with me? I want to.”
“Please avoid omitting objects. Can one become the retainer of multiple rulers?”
“No. Retainers are bound by loyalty. A ruler’s obsession and possessiveness toward their retainers only intensifies.”
A polygamous system—how unfair.
I stared at the round horns of the plaster statue as I asked.
“Would contact with me help as well?”
“Of course.”
His hand, which had been holding my wrist, slowly rose, then gently interlaced his fingers with mine.
“Didn’t the Void Lord tell you?”
“The Void Lord?”
“That’s what we call Kelsedny Admiral. It means turning everything to zero. The conclusion is, touching you feels good.”
At his languid, teasing voice, I quickly pulled my hand away.
Whether that meant improvement or something else entirely, I couldn’t say.
Just because the original Octavia held hands with this person—did that mean I shouldn’t?
“You’re the Two-Headed—no, the Priest, so you must understand the mechanism of the Shadow Encroachment Syndrome that Prince Jeriel suffers from? If you could help—”
I rubbed my hand, still warm from the contact, and continued slowly.
“I’ll help you too.”
He shook his head.
“Our connection comes with no conditions. I’m merely proposing a contract, and helping me is your choice.”
“You’ll just tell me, then?”
“Yes. Even good deeds ultimately serve my interests.”
It was logic I couldn’t comprehend, but at least I could reduce the risks of becoming entangled. That was fortunate.

***

“Did the little prince ever experience loss or trauma? When we researched it, we concluded that Shadow Encroachment Syndrome was a psychopathological symptom stemming from the trauma of an ability user.”

I emerged from the Underground Detention Facility lost in contemplation.
If the Two-Headed Priest spoke truth, then Prince Jeriel’s shadow corruption syndrome had manifested from the trauma of losing his father.
“Miss, it troubles me to see you associating with unsavory individuals.”
Lothear, who had been waiting, adjusted his glasses and launched into his familiar lecture.
“Lothear, my mother passed away from shadow corruption syndrome, didn’t she? I’ve heard she was only the third recorded case of it in the Kingdom.”
The symptoms began after I was born.
Because of that, society whispered that I was an illegitimate child. Lothear fell silent at this forbidden family matter, then opened the car door for me.
“It was not your fault, Miss.”
Hearing the programmed tone in his voice, I smiled faintly and shook my head.
“Turn off the emotional mode and speak plainly?”
“Understood. Lady Ludovisi visited the Poorhouse and Orphanage to aid those in need, and continued her charitable work until your birth. According to the investigation at that time, it is suspected she was exposed to a peculiar force during that period.”
Here, shadow corruption syndrome remained unexplained in origin. So they had attributed it to a curse of Chaos or an attack.

Returning to Uncle’s House, I watched Camilla rummaging through the mailbox.
Not a single invitation had arrived today either.
“What are you staring at?”
Caught, Camilla flared up defensively.
After Baroness Ravishi, a prominent member of the Count Family, had passed away, the ladies who once kept her company had gradually distanced themselves, and she feared isolation in her social circles.
The connections she had cultivated through her talent as a potion maker.
Now, completely severed because of me, she seemed to be descending into despair.

“Each person defines their own value of existence. The moment that is denied, chaos begins.”

Recalling the Two-Headed Priest’s words, I passed by her and entered the house.
Then I stopped, noticing a drawing scrawled across the white marble floor of the Living Room.
Above a large snowman sketch, Noel lay curled up asleep.
Looking closer, it wasn’t a snowman at all—it was a drawing of a woman.
‘He drew Baroness Ravishi.’
Moved by pity, I carefully sat down and rested the sleeping child’s head on my lap.
“Mom….”
I watched his small hand flail through the air before falling still.
Suddenly, I remembered the last time I had seen my parents in my previous life.

“Your mother and father will be fine.”

That was what my parents had said as they placed me in the refrigerator, before the nearby nuclear plant exploded.

“Even if I can no longer see, my love for you will never change. Now and always, just as it was at first—forever.”

In my childhood, my parents were my entire world—the very measure of my worth.
That is why it became one of the traumas that defined my past life as miserable, yet it was also the reason I could preserve familial affection even as I lived a life where my emotions wore thin.
‘It was Duke Hale Ortega—the father—who served as Prince Jeriel’s true parent, since the Crown Princess was consumed by matters of state.’
Of course. The young prince’s body and heart ache because of his father’s death.

***

Ludovisi Mansion.
The Ludovisi Representative faced Octavia, who had come seeking him out.
Her brothers Samuel and Vittore were present as well.
“Obsolete enhancement technology? You leaked information to the prince, and our family was sanctioned by law for it. Because of that, our house suffered astronomical losses. We were even forbidden from collaborating with foreign powers, all because of concerns about domestic technology leaking abroad.”
At Samuel’s reproach, Octavia nodded quietly, folding her hands before her.
“That’s why I’m going to make it right.”
“Do you think that’s something money can fix?”
“Money, connections, and legal loopholes.”
Octavia smiled faintly and gazed at her father.
“First, the legal loophole. The Order of Order Sacred Object Research Division, the central religious order of the Empire, operates beyond the reach of national law.”
She continued in a measured voice.
“Second, connections. Saint Uriana will ‘coincidentally’ discover our family’s technology and draw in an imperial saint deeply interested in research and business ventures. The demonstration will be at Prince Jeriel’s ceremony, and the demonstrator will be Saint Uriana.”
The expressions of the three men gradually hardened, becoming grave.
It meant they were taking her seriously.
“Finally, all the funds necessary for the smooth progression of the imperial venture.”
Octavia walked gracefully toward her father and stood close before him.
“Everything is prepared, isn’t it?”
The Ludovisi Representative, meeting his daughter’s gaze, remained expressionless.
Octavia’s lips curved elegantly.
“And beyond that, we can save Prince Jeriel’s life using enhancement alchemy technology, then even aim for the resumption of development that was temporarily halted in the Kingdom.”
Samuel and Vittore’s mouths fell slightly open.
The Ludovisi Representative, who had listened with a rigid expression throughout, let his lips relax.
“Approved.”

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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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