Disqualified as a Villainess - Chapter 45

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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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#45.

Ethan leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, his posture deliberately casual as he checked his watch.
Though the accusation lacked substance, the Holy Temple Society would never pass up such an opportunity to extort donations from the wealthy by fabricating charges.
They understood all too well how the rich preferred to solve inconvenient matters with money rather than waste their time.
When Octavia emerged from the Investigation Room, Ethan quickly straightened himself.
“Are you alright, my lady?”
“Yes.”
He assumed that despite her composed exterior, she must be terrified by the ordeal.
Ethan feigned concern and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“I can only imagine how frightening this must have been for someone so sensitive. Allow me to prove your innocence.”
Her violet eyes, which had rested on her shoulder, turned back toward him.
“That’s your choice, but why are you so eager to prove it?”
“Though you’re often misunderstood due to your cold demeanor, I know you’re far more tender-hearted and virtuous than anyone else.”
“On what basis?”
Octavia showed visible discomfort at being called virtuous.
Ethan had no way of knowing that until recently, she’d been frequenting the Police Department and Inspection Bureau due to various incidents.
The Ludovisi Family’s risk management team had controlled the information, and as a fallen noble, Ethan hadn’t been invited to the aristocratic gatherings where such rumors circulated.
“Surely someone as beautiful as you could never commit such wickedness.”
“What kind of logic is that?”
Octavia lightly brushed his hand away from her shoulder and began walking.
Ethan followed her, attempting to persuade her further.
“As the brother of Saint Chloe and a Holy Knight myself, I can be of considerable help. The Holy Temple Society will certainly bother you less….”
Because many approached her this way, seeking to maintain connections with the Ludovisi Family, Octavia felt genuinely exhausted.
“You have thirty seconds. I’m busy.”
“The truth is, I’ve admired you for a long time. Now that I’ve become a Holy Knight, I can finally confess my feelings with confidence.”
Part of it was true.
Once, after drinking heavily, he’d seen her step out of a luxury vehicle he could never afford on his way home.
With her stunning beauty and wealth that extended to buying entire manufacturers when she fancied something, she was a woman of a different caliber entirely.
She was his ideal woman.
“You might misunderstand, but I’m not like those other men who covet your family’s status or your wealth.”
“I see.”
Ethan produced a small gift box from his pocket and offered it to her.
Octavia stared at the gift box with no apparent intention of accepting it.
“What evidence do you have to support your claim of being a selfless romantic?”
“Pardon?”
Taken aback by her question—which sounded like an interview—Ethan blinked in confusion.
No woman had ever asked him such a thing before.
Octavia scanned his appearance from head to toe and added, “Your clothes and watch alone suggest an income five times that of the middle class.”
“Just looking at the clothes he’s wearing and his watch, he must be making at least five times the median income.”
“A lieutenant? You mean an officer? Holy Knights earn better than officers, don’t they?”
“Hmm.”
In that instant, Octavia’s already frigid expression turned glacial.
‘I have no desire to converse with inferior creatures.’
Ethan faltered upon witnessing the contempt blazing in her eyes.
“Rejected. I seek someone capable of discussing quantum mechanics.”
Octavia possessed a wise principle: never engage with fools. She turned to leave without hesitation.
Yet Ethan, foolish by Octavia’s standards, refused to relent.
“Truthfully, the man you’re seeing now has no future with you, does he? The Royal Family marries into other continental or royal families.
The fact that he hasn’t stepped forward to help you proves it. If you married me, countless problems entangled with the Holy Temple Society would be resolved….”
“No future? Why not?”
At the sudden interjection of an unfamiliar man’s voice, Ethan—who had been following Octavia—stopped in his tracks, startled.

***

I turned my head toward the source of the voice.
Kelsedny Admiral stood there in full ceremonial dress uniform adorned with ornate insignia, a smile gracing his features.
“There are countless futures. One simply needs to find them.”
He’d heard everything, then.
I watched as Ethan scrambled desperately, his mind racing to fabricate an excuse.
My gaze, which had been fixed on the Admiral’s golden eyes, drifted toward the bouquet he held.
‘Sadistic personality confirmed.’
Having swiftly assessed the situation, I turned back to Ethan with a warning.
“Leave now. Unless you wish to die.”
“What do you mean—gack!”
Crack!
I swung the parasol in my hand, striking Ethan down, then seized the Admiral’s arm and hastily withdrew.
“Keldi, that’s right? What brings you here? I’ve already dealt with that inferior creature, so pay him no mind.”
Like a hidden blade, the murderous gleam in his eyes—which had been fixed on Ethan—transformed in an instant into tenderness.
The Admiral’s sadistic personality killing Ethan, who was Chloe’s shackle, would be problematic.
He nodded, his Keldi state unmistakable.
“You promised we’d meet again. I wanted to see you.”
Though it was more of a unilateral declaration, I readily accepted the bouquet of orange calendula flowers and the small cookie tin he offered.
‘Wasn’t the other personality supposed to appear only under specific conditions?’
To manifest of his own volition, using a promise as justification.
Perhaps, after the Admiral’s ability core was damaged, Keldi’s personality had been gradually consuming the original one. This could hardly be deemed anything other than a state of Chaos Space.
Then the being standing before me now is a kind of Chaos?
I stared intently at his face—handsome enough that one needn’t understand quantum mechanics, yet emanating an unsettling coldness.
“What flavor are the cookies?”
He was speaking in an odd manner, urging me to taste the cookies he’d gifted right away.
I opened the lid and popped a cookie into my mouth.
“It tastes delicious.”
“Is it because it’s not a cookie made with love?”
“Pardon?”
Startled by the Admiral’s words—which had nothing whatsoever to do with such an emotion as love—I broke into a fit of coughing.
With a subtle smile, he reached up and brushed away a fallen leaf from my hair.
“Darling, shall we go get something spicy for lunch?”
The normally impassive Admiral’s sudden coquetry felt so jarring that I shrank back slightly.
“How do you know my tastes so well…? Anyway, I appreciate it.”
It was deeply suspicious. Yet if I could leverage the prestige of having the strongest as my lover, my future would become far easier—so I didn’t refuse.
Passersby were already casting glances at the Admiral and me, flowers in hand.
“Lady Octavia.”
I turned at the youthful voice, and there stood Prince Jeriel with a smiling face.
“Mother said she wanted to give you an award, but you refused? We were even preparing a commendation ceremony and a gratitude banquet. Are you embarrassed?”
To me, such a public affair would be akin to a public execution, so I had already asked the Crown Princess to grant me a different favor instead.
Of course, I had also made sure through Lothear that no unseemly knights would emerge to praise me.
Prince Jeriel, who had belatedly noticed the Admiral, clasped his hands and bowed respectfully.
“Admiral, hello. I wish you eternal health and fortune.”
His tone was as if addressing an elder.
Keldi, who had been staring intently at the Prince whose cheeks were flushed crimson like autumn leaves, suddenly lifted the child into his arms.
“Small and adorable.”
I had seen the Admiral play with the Prince before, but witnessing him actively dote on the child like this created a strange cognitive dissonance.
Prince Jeriel, nestled naturally in his embrace, expressed his gratitude.
“I heard you helped me too, Admiral. Thank you.”
“You reminded me of a younger brother my own age.”
“Are you two going to get married? You promised to marry me first.”
At Prince Jeriel’s words, the Admiral shook his head with an expression of impossibility.
“I made my promise far earlier than you, so give up.”
“When will you? Can’t you make me choose between you and the Admiral in ten years?”
“That would put me at quite a disadvantage.”
After the two men exchanged a few pleasantries, Prince Jeriel heard his attendant calling and departed.
I watched the Prince bound away energetically, then turned to the Admiral. “You have such a young sibling?”
“I had many younger siblings. About seven of them weren’t even ten years old.”
His calm voice carried the warmth of an older brother who adored his siblings.
“I wonder how adorable they all are. I’d love to meet them.”
“They’re all dead. Illegitimate children.”
My eyes widened in shock.
I had heard that most of the Royal Family perished in the ‘Jewel’s End’ coup, but I never imagined even young children without claim to succession would be slaughtered.
The Admiral, who had uttered something so grave without the slightest hesitation, swept back his jet-black hair.
He casually uttered something outrageous, then swept his jet-black hair back.
“My father wanted a strong son. He believed a new Apostle or Sage would be born.”
Though they appeared to be two entirely different personalities, they were ultimately one human who had lived the same life.
He narrowed his eyes as he added to his words.
“It was revolting.”
Whether this came from his alternate personality or his true nature, I couldn’t discern.
So that’s why he became such a conservative man. To think I learned the circumstances through the Admiral’s other personality.
“Anyway.”
As if to change the subject, a smile returned to his previously blank face.
“I should marry you soon. There are far too many men after you.”
“You know nothing happened that day. The real you doesn’t even remember it.”
When I hid in his room, the drunken Admiral must have been Keldi’s personality.
“Nothing.”
His voice, which had been murmuring softly like a hum, deepened.
“Then I can do whatever I want?”
At the lazy rasp in his throat as he scratched his neck, I felt a slight vertigo.
My preferred man’s cunning never gets easier to endure, no matter how many times.
His gaze followed the warmth of his breath and met mine.
The hand gripping my jaw was gentler than before, and his lips against my cheek felt soft.
He rubbed his lips against my cheek like a bird preening its feathers, then whispered.
“Are you really planning to use me and throw me away?”
For some reason, my heart lurched the moment I heard those words.
As I stared at his composed face, I looked down at the calendula in my hand.
He drew a faint, knowing smile and added.
“But I won’t abandon you.”
At words that sounded like an unbreakable vow, I lifted my gaze once more.
Why he was being so tender, why he wore such a meaningful expression whenever he looked at me—none of it truly mattered to me.

Favorability Decrease [+3,000]

It was all deception anyway.
“Keldi, I have matters to attend to right now, so I should go… but would you like to go on a late-night date somewhere nice instead?”
At my suggestion, his eyes widened slightly.
Could he even act out the way his eyes grew flushed?
Even if everything was deception, a man who offered tender contempt had more than enough utility.

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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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