Don’t Look for the Resurrected Villainess - Chapter 203

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 203

The Emperor breathed roughly. Today, the imperial throne felt more uncomfortable than ever.

No, perhaps what was uncomfortable wasn’t the throne he sat upon, but the person standing before him. Unlike himself, who was gradually withering away with time, his son who sought to display increasingly outstanding abilities day by day.

“Your Majesty, do you still trust the Crown Prince?”

At Heinrih’s calm question, the Emperor’s face twisted savagely.

“Do you think I don’t know your schemes!”

Veins bulged on his wrinkled hand that gripped the armrest. It was an action of forcibly suppressing the urge to swing his hand immediately.

Heinrih, who had been quietly watching that sight, slowly blinked his eyes.

The Emperor began shouting to summon Count Hason immediately. The attendants waiting in the distance looked anxiously at Heinrih, unable to settle down.

Naturally, their behavior only further fueled the Emperor’s rage.

“How dare you ignore my command! Drag those insolent ones out immediately!”

This time the Emperor pointed accusingly at the attendants. The attendants finally tried to move, but the guards acted faster than them.

“Your, Your Majesty!”

“Please forgive us!”

The attendants’ noisy cries gradually grew distant. Even in such a situation, Heinrih’s expression remained calm.

The Emperor, who had hoped Heinrih would feel even a slight fear, became even more displeased. He glared menacingly at his son and raised his voice.

“Arrogant fool! Do you think acting like this will make me appoint you as Crown Prince!”

“I am merely concerned for the safety of this Empire, I have no other intentions.”

“How dare you try to deceive me!”

While there were various reasons for the Emperor’s fury, the biggest cause that made him turn away from Heinrih was the Empress’s presence.

From when the Empress, who had lived quietly all her life only supporting from behind, suddenly began attending central meetings and stepping forward as the palace’s highest elder and decision-maker.

From when rumors secretly began spreading that the Emperor’s condition was so poor that the Empress had to step forward.

“Your Majesty, if you raise your voice, you’ll collapse again.”

“Oh ho, so you were the one targeting my life after all!”

“The one targeting Your Majesty’s life was not me, but Count Hason.”

Heinrih let out a shallow sigh.

“I was going to report slowly, fearing Your Majesty would be shocked, but Count Hason has been imprisoned in the palace dungeon for the crime of ordering Your Majesty’s assassination.”

“What?”

“I’ve secured evidence. He tampered with Your Majesty’s cup every time during tea time.”

A faint shock crossed the Emperor’s face. While he had inwardly felt that his health had deteriorated recently, he hadn’t thought that someone had actually harmed his body.

Count Hason, of all people? Count Hason was the subordinate he had kept closest and favored most recently.

“Though I haven’t announced it publicly yet, Count Hason has someone behind him. I am currently pursuing this ominous movement that threatens the palace.”

Whether he knew of the Emperor’s gaze filled with distrust or not, Heinrih obediently lowered his eyes and continued speaking.

“According to my investigation, that mastermind is Lilia Roam’s lover.”

“Lilia Roam?”

When an unexpected name emerged, he momentarily forgot his anger. The Emperor raised his eyebrows and mulled over the name he had heard.

Lilia Roam? The Crown Prince’s fiancée?

“Yes, didn’t I report to you before? That Lilia Roam has been secretly meeting with men.”

That was from when the Emperor wielded power without worry. Even when Heinrih made that report, Maxel had been present as well.

“I wonder if you remember. How the Crown Prince desperately defended her.”

Perhaps because it was a memory from not too long ago, the Emperor easily recalled that day.

“As I mentioned then, Lilia Roam was hiding assets unreported to the Imperial Palace. She was also the one who originally advised the Crown Prince to form the troops.”

“…”

The Emperor remained silent. He knew that Lilia Roam had encouraged Maxel’s will.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t disappointed seeing Maxel rely on her more than expected, but still, he thought it fortunate that someone who had been denounced with nonsensical words like being wicked had regained his spirit.

He even felt she was much better than Heinrih, who brought in foreign influence.

However, listening to Heinrih’s words like this, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy in one corner of his heart.

After receiving Heinrih’s report at the time, the Emperor had immediately confirmed that Lilia Roam owned a mine unreported to the Imperial Palace.

He had also already investigated and confirmed the truth that she indeed had friendships with several men.

Heinrih’s words were facts, and though they were matters he had already confirmed long ago, he simply hadn’t immediately issued punishment out of consideration for Maxel.

“She is someone who will become a member of the Imperial Palace in the future. There’s no reason for her to hide assets and secretly command people. Unless she has some other ulterior motive.”

“Other ulterior motive?”

“Didn’t you see the crystal sphere containing footage of Roam kidnapping the Reviver?”

Strength entered the Emperor’s tightly pressed lips.

“While Lilia Roam alone wouldn’t be capable, if Roam is also entangled behind that ambition, the story is different. I heard the Duchess of Roam wanted to become a woman of the Imperial Palace. Though it’s said to be from the very distant past, can resentment also be past?”

It was none other than the Emperor who had not brought the Duchess of Roam into the Imperial Palace. Because she wasn’t from the humble family he desired, and her temperament itself wasn’t gentle either.

The Emperor dug through the dimly felt traces of the past.

A woman who yearned for the Imperial Palace. She had desired the Empress’s crown and didn’t even hide that wish.

“Unable to obtain the crown she coveted, perhaps she’s trying to seduce the Crown Prince and overthrow the throne. I hear the Duke of Roam can’t do anything against the Duchess.”

The Duchess of Roam married the Duke of Roam, who extremely cherished and loved her. He thought everything was settled with that.

Thinking differently, wasn’t the Duchess of Roam holding as a weapon a man who would give her everything according to her will?

“If that’s true, I also understand why they’re hostile toward the Reviver. The Reviver not only protected the Imperial Palace from the Dura’han, but also noticed and warned about Roam’s evil ambitions. Come to think of it, I suspect the Duke of Roam informing me about Lilia Roam’s hidden assets was also a scheme.”

The Emperor still remained silent. What else could he say?

“And this is… something I just obtained. Actually, I came to show you this.”

What Heinrih held out was a crystal sphere. Even before seeing it, the Emperor felt he knew what was contained within.

The Emperor’s gaze stared piercingly at the crystal sphere. The glowing crystal sphere displayed a certain scene. No sound could be heard.

However, it was impossible not to understand what situation it was.

Before the vicious Dura’han’s sword, the troops knelt. Innocent nobles of the Empire cried out in terror.

“I ask you once more, Your Majesty.”

Heinrih’s low voice could be heard.

“Do you still trust the Crown Prince?”

The Emperor did not answer.

* * *

Just because the Agent of Death granted freedom to the creations didn’t mean their path was always peaceful.

It was work that started from a harsh situation to begin with. There were many who targeted them, and the twelve knights had always fought against enemies.

Those they met on the road sometimes welcomed death’s mercy, but sometimes refused it.

Until Diearis, the second knight, established a nation and settled down, they were days of meeting opponents whose intentions were unknown.

Well, how could all of this be called only merciful? Could granting unwanted freedom truly be merciful?

Soana had refused to be the Creator’s plaything. She had no regrets about that choice. However, she didn’t think this was absolute justice.

Of course, separate from all those thoughts, this victory was fortunate.

“They retreated?”

Soana raised her gaze. A little distance away, she could see Anelli and Tristan. Tristan, in the form of a bumblebee, had finished comprehensive reconnaissance using surrounding insects.

[Yes! I confirmed they completely withdrew!]

Maxel, who had been desperately trying to capture even one Dura’han, finally gave up.

While he couldn’t overcome the Dura’han’s overwhelming strength, it wasn’t only because of that. The humans who faced the Dura’han were constantly overwhelmed by fear.

The soldiers at least charged at lizardmen as if they would try something, but they couldn’t even do that against the Dura’han.

「Creator! Please have mercy!」

They just trembled while crying out to some unknown god and then ran away.

Soana felt strange every time she recalled that scene.

Weren’t the Dura’han known to the soldiers as cursed creations that must be defeated?

No matter how frightening their appearance, what was there to be so terrified of?

“Now we can travel comfortably.”

Anelli readily sent off Palides, who said he would go fetch the hidden carriage, and went around checking each Dura’han one by one.

And finally, that gaze reached Soana.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

It was a rather dry voice, somewhat different from when she cared for the other Dura’han. Yet her eyes carefully examined Soana’s body in detail.

[…They couldn’t even properly attack us.]

“Ah, that’s true.”

Seeing Anelli nod as if it were natural, her doubts only amplified.

[Some couldn’t even look at us.]

“Really? I was in the rear, so I didn’t know that much.”

[I do not understand.]

Anelli, who hadn’t been looking at Soana’s face, raised her eyes at those words.

“What?”

[Why they showed such… behavior.]

Anelli, who had been wearing a puzzled expression, let out a quiet exclamation at those words. Then she replied in a nonchalant tone.

“Obviously because they were scared. You can tell just by how they retreated like that, can’t you?”

Not everyone runs away just because they’re afraid.

Even right now, Soana thought that those who had retreated might return at any moment leading an even larger army.

They had been defeated by the dura’han, and since dura’han were creatures abandoned by the Creator who should rightfully be exterminated!

However, Anelli seemed completely unconcerned with such thoughts, appearing calm and even leisurely.

[But doesn’t the world call dura’han a rampant evil?]

“Yes. That’s right. You are a kind of disaster to them.”

[Then shouldn’t they rightfully stand against us?]

At Soana’s question, Anelli let out a sly smile.

“Soana, standing against rampant evil isn’t their job.”

Anelli shrugged her shoulders and spoke in a peaceful tone as if explaining an obvious principle.

“Ne said it herself. That I have a high reputation as a Reviver of the Creator. You are my jurisdiction. Anytime, anywhere.”

At those words, Soana felt as if she had been struck in the back of the head.

The enemy’s fear, which she hadn’t understood, became clear in an instant.

“They will now desperately search for me and plead. Please deal with those wicked and terrifying dura’han. Because that’s how they interpreted the divine oracle.”

Anelli smiled brightly.

“So if anyone antagonizes a Reviver, whoever they are, they’ll face the world’s condemnation.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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