Don’t Look for the Resurrected Villainess - Chapter 47

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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 47

“He even gave me a communication magic device.”

When I pulled out the necklace I had kept inside my clothes to show him, Jeon furrowed his brow.

“You still haven’t thrown that away?”

“Why would I throw this away?”

“Then are you going to sell it?”

“You never know what the future holds, and it might be useful, so I’ll keep it.”

Somehow Jeon’s fork movements were unusually rough. He was pressing and mashing one side of a perfectly good cake slice, then asked in a listless tone.

“Lady Anelli. If that prince and I fight, you’ll take my side, right?”

He seemed to be asking in a casual, passing tone, but the glances he kept stealing at me revealed his determination to get an answer no matter what.

It reminded me of when he asked about taking sides before, so I had casually probed him, but I didn’t expect such an immediate reaction.

It was somewhat amusing. In this whole world, Jeon was probably the only commoner who would put a prince and himself on equal footing and demand I choose between them.

“What reason would you and Prince Heinley have to fight?”

“You never know what the future holds.”

“Even if the future is uncertain, I can tell there’s no reason for you two to fight. Stop this nonsense talk, and so when exactly will that magic device be completed?”

I naturally changed the subject.

By now the cake slice had completely lost its original shape. He’ll get punished later for playing with food.

“…Jeon?”

Even while destroying the innocent dessert, Jeon dutifully answered.

“Just four more days.”

“Four whole days? Are we staying here during that time?”

“Yes. It’s fortunate that this manor is safe at least. Even if search parties come, they won’t be able to pass through the main gate.”

That might be true for Imperial Palace search parties or Roam’s search parties. But right now there was one person I was most wary of.

“What about the Knight?”

Samuel’s persistent tracking ability would still be in full effect.

“I can’t guarantee it, but… The entire manor has magic that erases traces of magical power. Like those ribbons I tied on the Dura’han. It’s a higher-level magic with the same function as that magic device, so perhaps it might hide Lady Anelli’s aura too?”

“You can’t confirm it for certain?”

“Because I don’t know the true nature of the traces that remain on Lady Anelli.”

So ultimately, safety couldn’t be guaranteed. I crossed my arms and pondered for a moment, then quickly shook off my thoughts.

Having come this far, I couldn’t just leave like this, and if someone comes, I can just run away again. Unlike before, I now have as many as four Dura’han protecting me.

Besides, Samuel at least doesn’t try to drag me back barely alive like Roam, or put on disgusting acts about missing me like Maxel.

“Anyway, I’ll have to stay in this city for four days.”

Since I’ve been running around frantically, I should take this opportunity to reorganize my belongings and review my future plans.

“Four days…”

I rubbed my chin and tilted my head. Organizing my tasks mentally was quick.

Since I was planning to make several more fake identification papers anyway, I might as well go out while I’m at it.

* * *

“You were discovered?”

“I apologize. That Knight’s abilities were superior to what was known.”

The man who bowed his head made excuses to the Duke. Frigian, who had been standing a bit away in the corner of the study, frowned and scolded.

“You should have moved with that in mind.”

“…I apologize.”

Duke of Roam, who had been looking at his subordinate with annoyed eyes, gestured with his hand. When the subordinate who had been reading the mood left, Frigian spoke in a cold voice.

“Since the Arin Bent incident, the Temple has clearly decided to completely cut ties with us. We can’t keep following Samuel Bent’s trail forever. We’re not even certain if he really has the ability to find Anelli.”

Samuel was the one who had found her when Anelli left the Grand Temple. And he had the track record of finding Anelli again when she was kidnapped by the wyvern.

However, since reporting Arin Bent, he hadn’t shared any information whatsoever.

“You said there were no special signs.”

At the Duke’s quiet murmur, Frigian nodded and answered.

“Yes. It would have been easier if they had found her first and were hiding her…”

Frigian swallowed a rising sigh and added irritably.

“It’s certain that Anelli isn’t at the Temple.”

The Duke didn’t give any particular response. He just stared down at the report his subordinate had left behind.

“The monster that last took Anelli was a Dura’han. Recently, news has been spreading about Dura’han appearing in various places.”

Frigian, who glanced at the documents the Duke was looking at, continued in a serious voice.

“There were rumors that a Dura’han appeared in Freya, which the Crown Prince visited. The investigation showed it wasn’t a Dura’han, but we need to search areas where Dura’han have appeared. At this rate, the Imperial House will make the first move.”

Maxel’s sudden external schedule was only made known to the capital’s nobles after he had left for Freya. Even Lilia didn’t know that Maxel was leaving for Freya.

Officially, Maxel’s actions were to stabilize the anxious public sentiment, but both Duke of Roam and Frigian knew that wasn’t the truth.

Maxel must have moved because he connected the Dura’han with Anelli.

“Did the Crown Prince refuse all audiences today as well?”

“Yes.”

“Even meetings with Lilia?”

“…Yes.”

Fortunately, he had returned without results. He had insisted on sleeping at a closed farm in the middle of the night and ended up disturbing a beehive and getting stung all over. His face was so grotesquely swollen that he had no choice but to return straight to the Imperial Palace.

Some people let out subtle laughs, saying how bad it must have been for him to hand over his schedule to Prince Heinley.

“I hear he’s been saying strange things since returning from Freya.”

“Strange things?”

Duke of Roam, who had pushed the report to one side, spoke calmly.

“That Anelli’s neck was severed.”

“…Does that mean Anelli is dead?”

“I don’t know. He can’t properly distinguish whether he met Anelli or a ghost.”

The Emperor, worried that strange rumors might spread before the harvest festival, dramatically opened the national treasury.

His plan was to expand the scale of harvest festivals in each region and prepare grand festivals in the capital to divert people’s attention as much as possible. The search parties and guard units that had been actively moving through the cities were also said to be restraining themselves for the time being to maintain the atmosphere.

Nobles who weren’t well-informed about Imperial Palace affairs understood the Crown Prince’s recent incident as merely an amusing farce.

But Duke of Roam, who frequently visited important places in the Imperial Palace, knew how sharp the Emperor was right now.

The Emperor highly valued the Crown Prince’s perfect and excellent abilities. He would definitely not be pleased with him returning after being stung by bees and talking about ghosts. What if he was going around saying a Reviver had no neck?

If the story leaked out wrong, it would cause discord with the Temple, so it was understandable to confine him to the Prince’s Palace.

“What do you think? Do you think Anelli really died as he said?”

If Anelli’s neck was severed as the Crown Prince claimed to have seen, it would mean she was dead.

If she wasn’t dead but only had her neck severed, that would be an even bigger problem. Such an appearance would look more like a monster than a human.

“…To be honest, no. If she was going to die so futilely, she wouldn’t have been revived in the first place.”

“Yes, I think so too.”

The Duke, with his hands behind his back, approached the window.

The capital was busy with everyone preparing for the harvest festival. The Roam Ducal Palace was the same.

The garden and mansion were cleanly arranged and decorated to create the perfect atmosphere. A private banquet was also scheduled to be held soon.

Since old times, the mansion’s banquets had always been handled by the Duchess and Anelli. Around this time, Anelli would be busy going back and forth between the Imperial Palace and the mansion until late.

But now all of that had become Lilia’s responsibility.

He had thought that since Lilia had a good eye for selecting subordinates, she would handle her work well, but somehow she seemed strangely sluggish.

“Are there no particular news from the search parties?”

“No.”

“And Lilia hasn’t said anything separately about prophecies?”

“Nothing.”

Lilia’s prophecies were like an inexhaustible spring. Had he relied on them too much?

“Father, since the topic came up, there’s something I’d like to tell you.”

Frigian, who had been biting his lips and staying silent, lowered his voice.

“Lilia secretly owned several mines.”

“Mines?”

“Yes. I confirmed that she owned them even before coming up to the capital. The profits seemed substantial, but even when I subtly asked, she doesn’t seem inclined to confess honestly.”

Mines. Lilia’s original family had fallen into ruin and couldn’t even leave behind a single mansion, let alone mines.

Duke of Roam’s gaze sank coldly.

“Not long after Lilia became the owner, ore veins were discovered. She must have known in advance through prophecy.”

Prisian twisted her lips.

“…I don’t know why she hid that and endured being treated as the daughter of a fallen noble house in the capital.”

Lilia’s sunshine-like smile and warm heart had captivated the capital’s nobles. Everyone said they were moved by how she smiled resolutely even in harsh circumstances.

They even spouted embarrassing sentimental comments about how a new wind was blowing through the bleak central social circles.

She knew that Crown Prince Maxel’s heart had been captured by such qualities as well.

Why not take poor Lilia in as an adopted daughter and grant her Roam’s castle?

Then the engagement issue between Roam and the Imperial House would be resolved, and the Young Duke of Roam could inherit his title safely.

It was Maxel who had proposed such an opinion.

‘…If he had known there was a mine under Lilia’s name, he wouldn’t have used the word “poor.”‘

Recalling Maxel who had puffed out his chest as if proposing a wise solution, Prisian twisted her lips.

“…Perhaps the prophecy was wrong from the beginning.”

“Do you think so?”

“Anelli is…The prophecy that our house would be destroyed because of Anelli didn’t come true.”

A heavy atmosphere settled between the Duke and Prisian. The Duke with his dark gaze turned toward his daughter with his back to the window.

“Because we put that child on the execution platform.”

The Duke of Roam’s lips trembled.

What if everyone had been deceived by a false prophecy? The mere thought was horrifying.

“We killed that child first, before she could destroy Roam. There’s no way to verify the truth of the prophecy now.”

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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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