Disqualified as a Villainess - Chapter 4

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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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#4.

As I made my way out of the Annex and toward the main gates of the Royal Palace, I encountered Dominic in combat attire, preparing to depart on a mission with his subordinates.
He appeared to be heading out on some assignment with his unit.
“What are you doing here?”
Dominic’s cold gaze swept over my outfit—identical to yesterday’s—with the look of someone observing a stalker.
“Did you learn my schedule and hide all night just to appear before me? How tedious.”

Favorability Decreased [+20]
Hmph, merely twenty? Begone.
I was no longer the woman who fretted over every trivial fluctuation in disfavor.
With an expression of utter indifference, I offered a single remark.
“I was with a man.”
The original villainess had harbored an unrequited infatuation for this prince, but I held no such delusions.
Even if I were a deplorable collector of disdain, I had no intention of entangling myself with the protagonists.
“I would advise against approaching the Admiral with requests. He is a man of savage temperament and unparalleled cruelty.”
“How strange. He seemed quite warm to me.”
I ignored his contorted expression and proceeded with dignified composure down my path.
As I walked, I fingered the encrypted letter from Dominic in my pocket.
‘From the circumstances, it appears that both Octavia and Dominic made proposals to the Admiral simultaneously, and ultimately, Octavia’s was the one accepted.’
To one who knew the original’s tragic conclusion, it seemed almost ironically fitting, though in the early chapters of the source material, Kelsedny Admiral had served as an ally to Octavia before his betrayal.
He was also the barrier that prevented the protagonists from swiftly eliminating her.
This was precisely why I needed to know the contents of Octavia’s letter from the original work.
‘I, too, intend to use the Admiral as an ally, just as the original Octavia did. What on earth could that proud man have been seduced by?’
Octavia’s desires were transparent, but what the Admiral sought from her was never revealed in the source material.
Octavia trusted and relied upon him with absolute faith, for he had aided her.
Just as most villains carried deficiency and solitude within them, Octavia too was a pitiable creature with no one truly on her side.

“Once the campaign concludes, I shall return not to the Empire, but to the Kingdom.”

These were the Admiral’s words to Octavia before departing for the battlefield in Enemy Territory Waters.
Because he occasionally dropped such loaded remarks, I, as a reader, had harbored faint hopes for a doomed romance between the villainous pair.
That is, until the letter he sent became evidence exposing Octavia’s crimes.

“He betrayed me? I will not believe it until he returns and tells me himself.”

Octavia was dragged all the way to the Lucifer Empire, and even with her left arm severed, she believed the Admiral would come to her aid. Yet he never appeared.
After her execution, he didn’t even show his face.
It seemed she had trusted him right up until the moment of her death.
He was the only ally she believed she had left.
For some reason, my chest felt tight and suffocating.
I couldn’t fathom what this lingering emotion was—a scar from something long since worn away.
‘From Octavia’s perspective, it’s fortunate she never learned that the only person she trusted despised her.’
At least I know better.
But just because the Admiral is a dangerous element in the original story doesn’t mean I should refuse a comprehensive gift set of benefits that outweighs the risks.
As someone notorious for being a trash collector and a connoisseur of the unlikeable, I was even willing to enter a Mental Hospital with him.

***

Admiral Kelsedny Decart, dressed in his military uniform, sat at his office desk reading an investigation report on the Ludovisi Family.
Serkan, one of his aides, stood across from him in perfect posture.
“Your Excellency, are you perhaps considering commissioning magitech equipment?”
At the aide’s question, the Admiral shook his head silently.
The Royal Family didn’t need specialized weapons or auxiliary equipment like ability users did.
The ability users they commanded as retainers served as both their weapons and their armor.
However, since the Admiral kept no retainers, Serkan had asked just in case.
The Admiral’s gaze landed on the information about the Ludovisi household—specifically, on Octavia’s name.

「Octavia Ludovisi – No transmutation ability, ordinary non-ability user civilian.
Family relations: one father and two older brothers.」

Nothing particularly noteworthy.
Graduated from the Royal Academy with excellent grades, exposed fatal flaws that bankrupted nobles’ businesses one after another, monopolized the distribution of essential upper-class materials and incurred the resentment of numerous nobles, was banned from the Holy Temple for insulting a priest, had her free access to the Royal Palace restricted for insulting Prince Dominic, deliberately caused a five-car pileup against someone who picked a fight with me, and committed arson at a mansion.
‘Ordinary enough.’
Yet why was his body and mind moving independently because of that woman?
There was no way she possessed any special ability capable of influencing a member of the Royal Family’s mind and body.
Her reason for approaching him was crystal clear.

「There were discussions of an engagement with Prince Dominic, but it fell through due to the prince’s change of heart.」
‘She must be harboring lingering feelings for the prince and trying to use me to provoke some petty jealousy.’
Normally, it wouldn’t be worth his attention, but for some reason, it irritated him.

This investigation of the report was also due to a covert directive from Arseno, the Emperor of the Lucifer Empire.

“I’ve taken quite an interest in the Ludovisi Family, you see. While I’m recuperating in the Kingdom, I’d like you to keep a close eye on their daughter.”

I couldn’t fathom why my elder brother, Arseno, took such interest in Octavia, a woman devoid of any ability.
Given the madness he displayed—conducting live experiments and human hunts with enemy prisoners—it was certainly no ordinary reason.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, accompanied by the sound of knocking, someone arrived.
It was Count Hertan, who had been drenched in alcohol by the Admiral at the last banquet.
“Admiral, I wish to propose different terms this time.”
The Count had not abandoned his pursuit despite that day’s humiliation.
He was a flatterer willing to lick the Admiral’s boots for the imperial expansion and power that all kingdom nobility dreamed of.
Through a mere laundry maid he had purchased, he had obtained premium intelligence that a woman’s lipstick had been smeared on the Admiral’s pillow.
‘That’s right—I was approaching this too conservatively. The Admiral is a man in his prime; it makes no sense to claim he has no interest in women.’
They say the Royal Family, transcendent beings, are not enslaved by base desires.
Yet even looking at the Former Emperor with his numerous mistresses, there was certainly some interest in the opposite sex.
Moreover, would anyone have left such an incomparably handsome man untouched?
The Admiral was a principled man, orderly and precise.
The refined dignity possessed by those in power is self-satisfaction by nature.
There was no need to appear well to others, no need to display authority.
Yet the Admiral, who always maintained impeccable appearance, seemed disheveled today.
The Count, gazing upon the Admiral with his loosened tie and slightly tousled black hair, even his indifferent gaze seeming sensual, steadied his breathing.
The oppressive aura unique to the Royal Family made it difficult for ordinary people to even meet his eyes.
“Your Excellency, surely a conversation between men cannot lack spirits and entertainment? Allow me to host you properly tonight. There is a patronage gathering called the Night Monastery—many beautiful women, and absolute discretion guaranteed….”
Kelsedny Admiral rose from his seat and began unfastening his wristwatch.
The moment the Count approached, reading the Admiral’s gesture to come closer, his anticipation and fear mounting.
A fist flew at him without warning.
Crash!
With a tremendous impact, the Count’s body flew backward rapidly. The wall he collided with crumbled with a thunderous sound.
Because he was an ability user, he barely survived; had he been an ordinary person, he would have died instantly.
The Admiral tilted his head, observing the Count hanging limply from the hole in the wall.
‘Perfectly normal.’
Pouring alcohol, using force—both were possible without any restriction.
The Admiral exhaled a sigh, gazing up at the ceiling.
Of course, he hadn’t intended to use such force, but why was it that against a woman named Octavia, he couldn’t even brush her off lightly?
The Count, who had inadvertently become a test subject, lifted his head, blood dripping from his nose.
“Ah, or perhaps you prefer men? If you would tell me your exact preferences….”
The Admiral wiped his hand with a handkerchief and lifted his chin with noble dignity.
“Chastity before marriage.”
“Ah! Then I shall prepare chaste, handsome men.”
“No, I—”
Was he the one saying he was chaste before marriage?
The Count’s eyes merely blinked. It was difficult to immediately discern the intentions of a powerful man who spoke carelessly.
“Clean this up.”
At the Admiral’s terse command, his waiting subordinates whisked the Count away.
Serkan had witnessed his superior’s mad antics more than once or twice, so he maintained an impassive demeanor. He had no intention of questioning or understanding the reasons.
The Admiral settled back into his seat, resting his chin on his hand as he glared at the hole in the wall for a long moment.
Based on what had just transpired, I was certain my ability to express myself wasn’t the problem.
Of course, I could manage to convey my thoughts to Octavia through words.

“It was a mistake. Get out.”

Speaking in casual language was one of his ways of expressing anger and contempt—a man who rarely resorted to outright curses.
Though he had spat out what he considered the harshest words, believing himself to be lying, Octavia showed no reaction whatsoever.
While I had tempered my aura somewhat given that my opponent lacked ability, even the Royal Family’s oppressive presence had failed to affect her.
‘What on earth is this woman?’
My eyes narrowed slightly as I recalled her innocent-seeming violet eyes and her slightly parted, moist lips.
Soon, disillusionment settled into my black eyes tinged with gold.
A vulgar memory—utterly indescribable—flickered through my mind.
‘It feels like I did something that night.’
Unease began transforming into certainty.
The sensation of grasping an unusually slender wrist adorned with a violet bracelet was etched vividly into my memory.
‘Whether it’s a real memory or my consciousness was twisted by that woman’s words….’
Serkan observed the Admiral running his hand through his hair and asked.
“Your Excellency, have you decided to cut back on drinking?”
Since he who had been drinking heavily every day hadn’t touched even a light aperitif since the banquet, Serkan attributed his superior’s abnormal behavior to withdrawal symptoms.
“Serkan.”
Kelsedny, who had been lost in thought, lifted his head and called out to Serkan.
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
The Admiral approached with his hands clasped behind his back and handed him a document.
“Observe for several days and report back to me.”
Upon seeing the name Octavia Ludovisi in the document, Serkan asked respectfully.
“Which aspects should I focus on, sir?”
In truth, the information about Octavia was essentially all contained in the document; the only missing information was something like her ideal type.
“Everything. Discreetly.”
Serkan’s composed golden eyes fixed on Octavia’s photograph.
‘Has she committed something suspicious enough to warrant surveillance?’
Wasn’t she the woman called the Kingdom’s greatest evil, the standard of beauty, and the Ludovisi Family’s problem child?
The Admiral, who had been staring into empty space with his arms crossed, belatedly offered a reason.
“There’s something I need to confirm.”
If I had truly shared a bed with her, there was no way I wouldn’t know that fact.
That’s why I had been absolutely certain it never happened, but….
Like some protective instinct, the unconscious restraint that had kicked in felt wrong no matter how much I thought about it.
Since it was an endless series of incomprehensible events—from losing my memory while intoxicated in the Royal Family’s body—I had decided I needed to keep watch over her.
‘If it’s the truth, I bear the responsibility. If it’s a lie, then that woman does.’
For the Royal Family, primal desires and emotions were merely instruments for producing heirs and maintaining dominion—each member bound by their own principles and codes.
Kelsedny Decart held an unwavering conviction: he would share a bed only with the woman he married.
His father’s infidelity had left a profound mark on him.
Still, it was considerably more lenient than the rigid idealism of his boyhood, when he’d believed he must marry the first woman whose hand he ever held.
The Admiral’s gaze returned to the document assessing Octavia’s character.

「Having lost her mother in childhood and grown up in neglect, she developed a self-righteous and egocentric disposition.
Isolated not only in society but within her own family as well.
The Ludovisi Family stripped her of management rights and severed support, casting her out. She now resides under the care of her uncle, Baron Ravishi, in a state of self-imposed restraint.」

Even if the woman before him were guilty of the most heinous crimes imaginable, her character so thoroughly ruined that everyone shunned her—
his principles remained unshakeable.
The problem was that it left him with only two options: take responsibility through marriage, or eliminate the problem entirely.

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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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