Don’t Look for the Resurrected Villainess - Chapter 33

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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 33

I giggled and shifted my gaze to the map. After stretching out my thumb and ring finger to gauge the distance, I tapped the map and said.

“If we go around following this mountain, we should be able to meet the timeline roughly.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to cross through the Freya region instead? We need to keep tabs on the search party news so we can avoid them according to the situation. Besides, since you’ve been kidnapped by monsters twice, they’re probably searching through all the mountain ranges and forests. Would they think you’d slip into a city this quickly?”

Jeon’s words certainly made sense.

Samuel was an exception since he had tracking abilities, but the search parties from Roam and the Imperial Palace were different. It would be important to periodically check on the search party news.

Moreover, at this time of year, there would be many people on the streets everywhere, so we could actually hide among the crowds.

‘The harvest festivals should be starting here and there soon…’

Unless they were insane, they wouldn’t release soldiers into cities during festivals and create an ominous atmosphere.

The Imperial House and Roam would be busy with harvest festival events in the capital, and the Grand Temple would likely have similar events, so they might temporarily halt their search operations.

“Good.”

I checked the area Jeon’s finger was pointing to. The plains marked as Freya were indicated with simple symbols.

It was a fertile region and also the Empire’s financial lifeline, responsible for the largest tribute every year. The splendid harvest festival held there would be perfect for hiding.

Most importantly, the search parties had no idea about my purpose.

So they wouldn’t be able to find any consistency in my movements either.

* * *

Maxel, who had just finished a long meeting and entered his study, stopped abruptly. There was an uninvited guest in his study.

“I felt like we haven’t seen each other in too long…”

Lilia, dressed in a bright dress, stood up cheerfully as she began to speak.

“Lilia.”

“I know you’re busy. I came to the Imperial Palace to see Her Majesty the Empress and just stopped by briefly to see your face.”

A light blush appeared on Lilia’s cheeks as she fidgeted with both hands and quickly made her excuses.

Maxel, who had been looking at Lilia with bewildered eyes, pushed away his fatigue and answered warmly.

“Sorry. I’m busy with just the harvest festival events, but I’m also handling the search party myself, so I’m swamped. Meetings keep getting scheduled too.”

At Maxel’s response, Lilia’s lips, which had been wearing a shy smile, stiffened.

“The search party… you mean the Imperial Palace search party looking for the revenant?”

“Yes.”

Lilia, who had been looking at Maxel with surprised eyes, muttered with an awkward expression.

“I thought that was left to the knights.”

“Even if the knights do the searching, I have to oversee it.”

“You already have so much work, someone else should handle that.”

“It’s an important matter.”

Maxel replied calmly and headed to his desk. There wasn’t anything particularly important on the desk.

Even so, letting a guest into the Crown Prince’s study without notice like this. He’d definitely need to re-educate his servants from the beginning.

Maxel naturally scanned his desk and put the few papers he was holding into a drawer. Meanwhile, Lilia approached and expressed her opinion in a cheerful tone.

“The Roam Family has also formed a search party. If I speak to Father, he’ll definitely cooperate actively.”

Roam’s search party? Maxel’s brow furrowed slightly, but he soon composed himself with a calm expression and turned his head.

“A noble of the Empire was revived after receiving an oracle. The Imperial House is the master of the Empire, so naturally we formed an official search party. This is separate from Roam’s search.”

“If royalty must step forward, then such matters should just… Ah. Couldn’t you leave it to the First Prince? I heard he recently returned to the Imperial Palace. He doesn’t have anything to do anyway.”

When Heinrih’s story came up, Maxel’s nerves sharpened. He had already been feeling uneasy ever since his conversation with him in the corridor recently.

Maxel clenched his molars and completely changed the subject.

“Lilia.”

At his firm call, Lilia, who had been chattering, opened her eyes wide and closed her mouth.

“There will be an event commemorating the harvest festival soon. Are you preparing for it?”

“Huh?”

“As the Crown Prince’s fiancée, you need to check the event details in advance. You’ll be participating too.”

Bewilderment settled in her large eyes. She blinked and hesitated before opening her mouth reluctantly.

“I said such official events are burdensome…”

“We can’t postpone it forever. After we marry, I won’t be able to help you, so you need to learn the major schedules by attending with me now.”

“That’s why I’m looking for excellent advisors.”

“It’s not about advisors, you need to be prepared.”

Roam had said they were providing separate guidance.

Since it was originally a family meant to produce an empress, he thought they would naturally provide guidance and left it to them. But looking at Lilia’s expression, she was clearly completely unprepared.

Seeing Maxel’s hardened expression, Lilia’s lips trembled. She drooped her eyebrows and protested with a sorrowful face.

“I’ve only just escaped from my older sister’s shadow! Your Highness knows how difficult it was for me at Roam all this time! You know everything about how sister treated me!”

Moisture welled up in her green eyes that always shone warmly.

“Do you know how shocked and fearful I’ve been since hearing the news that sister came back to life? Sister hated me until the day she died. When sister returns, the past will repeat itself…”

Lilia covered her mouth and shrank back. As if recalling the past, her face was filled with terror.

Only then did Maxel remember the atrocities Anelli had once committed against Lilia.

Wasn’t the incident that led to Anelli being dragged to the execution platform precisely when she had torn Lilia’s back with a whip?

Even without that incident, there were many reasons for Lilia to fear Anelli.

“I’m so scared. Sister must be harboring resentment against me.”

“Anelli won’t lay a hand on you. I won’t let that happen.”

When Maxel embraced Lilia and comforted her, Lilia buried her head in his chest. The trembling of her shoulders was transmitted directly to Maxel.

“If I had known you were this anxious, I would have paid more attention. I’m sorry.”

Maxel sighed sincerely. Ever since hearing the news that Anelli had been revived, he had been living as if his mind was elsewhere. It was because of emotions he couldn’t understand that were swirling within him.

To think he didn’t even know his own fiancée was this frightened while he was immersed in emotions he couldn’t even identify.

“Please leave the search party to someone else, okay? Thinking about how my older sister was obsessed with Your Highness, I’m still scared.”

Lilia, clutching Maxel’s chest, looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

Her earnest voice had always broken down Maxel’s heart. When she asked, he had always nodded to anything.

But this current request was beyond his authority.

“That was directly ordered by His Majesty, so I can’t decide on my own.”

“But you have many subordinates to command, so why do you need to do uncomfortable work? His Majesty would understand the situation too.”

Lilia spoke as if she couldn’t understand. The moment he heard those words, Maxel spoke before he could even think.

“It’s not uncomfortable.”

“…Not uncomfortable?”

The moment he heard Lilia’s suspicious voice, his senses snapped back. Maxel grasped her shoulders with both arms and separated her.

“Lilia. That’s not what’s important right now. I want to be with you, but as I said, I’m busy with the harvest festival. It’s work that can’t be postponed.”

Lilia, who had awkwardly stepped back a couple of steps from Maxel, pressed her lips tightly together. However, she soon reluctantly nodded.

“I understand.”

“Your escort?”

Lilia silently shook her head.

“I’ll assign Sir Stern to you. You’ll receive his escort.”

Sir Stern was Maxel’s closest aide and a skilled knight in charge of Maxel’s protection. Assigning him meant he was showing that much care, so Lilia left the study with a somewhat relieved expression.

Stern, who had been waiting outside the door, received Maxel’s signal and silently followed Lilia.

Left alone in his study, Maxel loosened the tie that had been choking his neck. A sigh escaped automatically due to the stuffiness that wouldn’t improve at all.

Everything seemed to have become a mess. Everything.

「Couldn’t you leave it to the First Prince? He doesn’t have anything to do anyway.」

Recalling Lilia’s innocent suggestion made this frustration even worse.

His brother Heinrih was barely breathing, but was essentially in a state no different from having his limbs severed. All the close associates he had used were either dead, imprisoned, or exiled far away.

He himself knew this, which was why he was living so quietly. Even when they met in the corridor, if Maxel hadn’t deliberately called out to him, he would have returned to his palace like a little mouse.

To ask such a Heinrih to find Anelli’s whereabouts?

「Imagine it. Her swearing eternal love with me before God. The sight of her in my arms, happy because of me. Anelli Roam kissing me, looking only at me, moving for me, allowing only me to call her name.」

The smiling expression of Heinrih came to mind. Along with the calm and shameless words that flowed from his mouth.

All of Heinrih’s words were absurd delusions. The words Maxel had originally said to Heinrih were mockery given knowing it was an impossible assumption.

Heinrih had understood that too, yet responded as if it could really happen.

So he just needed to ignore it all.

「All the things that you might have enjoyed once, but are no longer permitted to you.」

All the things he had once enjoyed but were no longer permitted to him.

That couldn’t be. That wouldn’t happen. If Anelli were someone who would give even a speck of her heart to Heinrih, signs would have shown long ago.

Anelli’s gaze always fell on Maxel, and that wasn’t a feeling that would simply change overnight.

Perhaps because she couldn’t have him, it became an even greater obsession. Wouldn’t someone like Anelli Roam be likely to cling to Maxel out of sheer stubbornness?

So the things Heinrih spoke of weren’t even worth imagining.

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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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