Don’t Look for the Resurrected Villainess - Chapter 83

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

Chapter 83

“Young Duke, His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived.”

At the report from outside the door, Prisian groaned and sat up. The door opened, revealing Maxel with a rigidly hardened expression.

“Young Duke of Roam.”

“I thought you would be returning home with Lilia.”

“You still haven’t found Anelli.”

Prisian’s brow furrowed slightly. Maxel glared at her coldly and poured out frigid criticism.

“You should have cooperated with us from the beginning. Is this the result of stubbornly shaking off my knights?”

“It was unavoidable to move secretly.”

“That excuse would have been convincing only if you had caught Anelli.”

His attitude was as if he had entrusted Anelli to her. Prisian quietly took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, and spoke calmly.

“I apologize, Your Highness. The Roam search party moves separately from the Imperial House’s search. I will find and bring back Anelli myself, so would Your Highness please pay attention to my younger sister? That child seems unable to settle her heart properly these days.”

Maxel had ranted about going to catch his former fiancée during a trip with his current fiancée. Prisian had already heard that Lilia had tearfully pleaded to barely stop him.

How absurd she had felt when she first heard that story.

Did this man even know how that behavior looked to others?

‘What a spectacle day by day.’

Lilia was Roam’s adopted daughter. The adopted daughter chosen even while abandoning Anelli. For that reason alone, Prisian could not overlook Lilia being neglected.

‘If rumors of discord spread, it would be troublesome for us.’

Prisian struggled to suppress her frowning.

Honestly speaking, the relationship between Maxel and Lilia was quite ridiculous. When Anelli was around, the two had found every excuse to meet, but after their engagement, their private meetings had actually decreased.

Of course, in the capital they were still known to have a good relationship. However, Prisian, who had accompanied them on the Immon schedule, couldn’t help but notice their relationship had become more distant than before.

At Prisian’s pointed remark, Maxel’s face flushed slightly. Maxel, showing signs of anger, retorted accusingly.

“Since you brought up Lilia, I want to ask – just how does Roam conduct Crown Princess education?”

“Pardon?”

“Lilia keeps repeating that she’s not ready. How long must the Imperial House wait for her!”

With Maxel’s raised voice, silence fell between the two.

Prisian, who had been staring at Maxel with incredulous eyes, slowly lifted her lips. With a cold smile, she answered icily and stiffly.

“Wasn’t it Your Highness the Crown Prince who originally proposed to dismiss the prepared Crown Princess candidate?”

“What?”

“Don’t you remember? What proposal you made to me.”

If Anelli died before becoming Crown Princess, the engagement obligation might pass to Prisian. So how about bringing in an adopted daughter to fulfill that obligation instead.

In that sense, how suitable a candidate Lilia was. It was Maxel who had recommended this.

“That was because Anelli received a terminal diagnosis, so I was thinking of alternatives.”

“Are you saying there was no personal interest in that alternative?”

Maxel clenched his teeth tightly. At his appearance, Prisian scolded him with a rather leisurely voice.

“To keep a young lady from a fallen noble family by your side, you dismissed my sister who had studied her whole life to enter the Imperial House. Show a little more patience.”

“Young Duke!”

“Ah! But Your Highness, it will be difficult to expect the same qualities from Lilia as from Anelli. They are different people. That’s probably why Your Highness had an affair with that child…”

At Prisian’s deliberately trailing words, Maxel threatened with an angry tone.

“An affair? How dare you use such vulgar expressions? Watch your tongue.”

“Then how should I express it?”

Prisian tilted her head as if genuinely curious. Maxel, whose lips were trembling, insisted in a suppressed voice.

“During my engagement period with Anelli, Lilia and I exchanged as true friends. It was an honorable relationship without any shameful contact.”

True friends. That was a phrase he had often used before. He would officially partner with her, saying he valued Lilia’s kind and gentle nature and wanted to form a true friendship that transcended social status.

The more this happened, the more Anelli, who should have been his original partner, spent days in seclusion due to illness.

‘People thought that child was too foolish to control her emotional illness…’

The more poorly Anelli behaved, the more Lilia stood out.

After that, it didn’t take long for everyone to learn about the ‘true friendship’ shared between the Crown Prince and the young lady from a fallen family.

Everyone didn’t say it, but they would have easily guessed that their ‘true friendship’ would transform into ‘true love.’

Or they accepted it as word games at the level of covering one’s eyes and playing innocent while everything had already progressed.

“Yes, it was a spectacle worse than a third-rate melodrama.”

“What?”

“Third-rate melodramas are at least entertaining, but sadly, Your Highness and Lilia’s melodrama was too predictable to be boring.”

Even Anelli’s reaction to watching Lilia and Maxel was utterly clichéd.

The sister she thought was smart often got emotionally angry when swept up in rage. It got worse after receiving the terminal diagnosis.

In Prisian’s eyes, Anelli was pathetic to the end. Then after hearing she would destroy the Roam family…

She thought that if Anelli continued being so unable to take care of herself and foolish, that prophecy would really come true.

“Wasn’t the Young Duke also someone who benefited from her? You too were prepared to use any means necessary to avoid marrying into the Imperial House!”

Prisian, who had been lost in thought, glanced up at Maxel’s shouting.

“Yes, I was.”

Not expecting her to admit it so readily, Maxel hesitated. Toward him, Prisian spoke in a voice without laughter.

“Your Highness, at least I am aware that I did such things.”

“Do you know it was Lilia who bribed the doctor to make me terminal when I was perfectly fine?”

At that moment, Anelli’s cynical question floated in Prisian’s mind.

Lilia bribed them? That couldn’t be. Even before the doctor gave the terminal diagnosis, Anelli had been gradually falling ill. She was truly sick. The doctor was someone whose identity could be vouched for, and they additionally called the family’s attending physician to confirm the same opinion.

But…

“Perhaps it’s not prophecy, but manipulation to make her words become prophecy.”

But if, as Anelli said, all of that was Lilia’s manipulation?

If Lilia had fed Anelli some strange medicine to induce misdiagnosis?

That was a chilling and horrific assumption.

“We ‘subordinates’ will handle examining the scene, so don’t worry. Rather, since Lilia desperately craves Your Highness’s love, I would be grateful if you could pay attention to that child.”

Prisian indirectly requested Maxel to leave. He, who would have fully understood that fact, grumbled and stormed out, slamming the door.

The aide, startled by Maxel’s menacing departure, came in to check on Prisian.

“Young Duke.”

Even at the aide’s careful call, Prisian stared blankly out the window. A faint trace of blood showed on her lips, which she had bitten several times.

“If my sister had said she would destroy the Roam family, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

Why had Anelli so easily asserted that she ‘wouldn’t have believed it’?

And why did other people so easily trust Lilia’s words?

‘As if they were bewitched by something.’

Prisian, who had crossed her arms with clenched fists, looked back at her aide.

“Pack up and give the withdrawal order. We’re returning.”

* * *

Even after arriving at the monastery, we ended up camping. Neither Jeon nor Samuel had figured out the secret of the statue.

We all agreed that taking rest defenseless in a monastery where an unidentified power lingered was dangerous.

In the end, we set up camp in the clearing less than ten steps in front of the monastery and had our meals.

The Dura’han who had patrolled around our temporary campsite and returned came crowding toward me in a cluster.

[Captain, may we explore the monastery a bit more?]

[It’s right in front, so if you call, we’ll hear you. We’ll come running right away.]

[I… I’ll also go quickly while the young Lizardman is sleeping.]

“I’ll carry this slow turtle and go. Captain!”

The Dura’han wanted to keep going inside the monastery. It was probably because of the ‘memories with their former captain’ they said they had remembered.

“Alright, go ahead. If you remember anything else, tell me.”

I was watching the Dura’han give resounding answers and head toward the monastery, but for some reason Jigol wasn’t moving.

“Jigol? Aren’t you going?”

When I reached out my hand, Jigol landed on the back of my hand. Jigol, who had folded his wings obediently, looked up at me.

[I’ll just stay next to Captain.]

“Why? Don’t you remember your former captain when you go in there?”

[That’s true, but…]

Jigol, who had been hesitating, bravely puffed up his feathers.

[Captain said you saw a ghost. The brave knight Jigol will protect Captain! I can transform into my true form now!]

It seems that seeing me converse with a ghost earlier was quite shocking to him.

I found his determined resolve rather endearing, so I encouraged him, and he flew up with great enthusiasm.

“I’ve finished organizing the sleeping area. Please take a look.”

Just then, Samuel called me over, saying he had finished arranging the tent. Thinking he must have done well without needing to check, I nodded halfheartedly, and he soon continued speaking.

“I’ve also found a place to wash up. I’ll show you where it is.”

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