I Just Wanted Revenge, But Everyone Loves Me - Chapter 50

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

Episode 50
“Damn it. How much longer do I have to keep doing this?”
It had been several days now since Jerban had ordered them to scour the Back Alley, leaving no stone unturned.
But there was nothing to see, and not a single strand of the woman’s hair they were supposed to find.
When a corpse that might be the target finally appeared, he’d thought they’d finally be withdrawing.
Instead, word came down to keep investigating—nothing was certain yet.
“But you said she was already dead. You said you saw the corpse. If the fire was that massive, she had to be dead, right? What else is there to investigate?”
And they wouldn’t even tell him why they were looking.
Just: find her and bring her in, or if that fails, kill her and bring her in. That was all.
The knights, growing impatient with this open-ended mission, began to complain among themselves.
If only some clue would surface.
But wandering around with no information, no evidence—it was all a waste of time.
And since they’d divided the territory into sectors, they saw the same scenery over and over. That was its own misery.
Sighing heavily all the while.
One of the knights who’d been scanning the surroundings suddenly widened his eyes.
“H-hey. Over there—.”
“What is it? A ghost?”
“A g-ghost, maybe? Or—”
The knight pointing at the far alley swallowed hard.
“There. There’s a woman over there.”
“A woman?”
The knight who heard this furrowed his brow. A woman, in this abandoned street where you wouldn’t see an ant crawl by?
Thinking something was wrong, the knight stared hard at that spot.
Under the pale moonlight.
A woman was staggering toward somewhere.
For a moment he thought he’d seen wrong and rubbed his eyes urgently, but the shadow on the ground was unmistakably that of a person.
“How is that a ghost?”
No matter how he looked at it—
“It’s clearly a person!”
* * *
If there is a fate worse than death, surely it was this.
‘Just a little more. Just a little more.’
Charlotte, the maid who once served the Crown Prince, desperately forced strength into her trembling legs.
If she collapsed here, she could be killed at any moment.
The moment she became the Imperial Palace’s target, she ceased to belong anywhere—less than a stranger, a beast.
A beast hunted by hunters.
What would happen if they caught her?
The maid lowered her head with great effort.
If they killed her outright, she’d be fortunate. But they would certainly torture her, trying to extract any final words or evidence the Crown Prince may have left behind.
‘Not yet. Not yet.’
She hadn’t even met Bangkardium yet.
She couldn’t let herself be caught now, not when the Crown Prince’s injustice remained unavenged.
‘He has to notice.’
Leaving a mark at the Grave was the first and last gamble she could make.
If Bangkardium was desperate enough to investigate the truth of the incident to clear their own names, she’d left it with that fervent hope.
Then, noticing her involvement in that truth wouldn’t be difficult for him.
If he was pursuing her, he would certainly find that note.
But even this was merely an assumption born of hope.
If the Imperial Palace discovered it first and deciphered the code and came chasing after her—
‘It’s truly over.’
Some might call it reckless.
Insane. If she was unlucky, she’d really die.
But she had reached her limit.
Days without proper sleep, surviving on scraps of garbage.
Starve alone?
Or die caught?
Either way, if death awaited her—then she’d make one last desperate struggle.
‘I can’t break down now.’
Of course, she had no intention of moving recklessly.
She would arrive early, hide, assess her opponent, then act.
And in the worst case, anticipating that the evidence might be taken, she’d already hidden backup in a nearby trash heap.
‘I will absolutely clear your name for you. Your Highness.’
Charlotte clasped her hands anxiously.
The face of her master, who had died without even closing his eyes properly, flickered before her mind.
Tick.
Just then, the clock’s second hand moved once more.
“!”
It was 1 a.m.
* * *
Huh?!
‘How long have I been asleep?’
Not just a nap—I’d slept deeply, and I woke feeling strangely refreshed.
Usually when I sleep this heavily, I feel anxious somehow.
True to that expectation, when I glanced at the wall clock, I doubted my eyes.
‘1:30?!’
I rubbed my bleary eyes and stared at the clock.
But looking again, the time was still 1:30 a.m.
The appointment time had long passed!
And I’d fallen asleep in the Duke’s bedroom, no less.
‘Oh no, what do I do?’
Surely it’s not all over already?
The moment I scrambled out of the covers.
“Stay in bed.”
“Eek!”
I spun around, startled.
The Duke was sitting in a chair by the bedside.
Under the soft glow of the lamp, he’d been looking at documents when he glanced sideways at me.
“D-Duke, why are you here…?”
“It’s my bedroom. Should I leave?”
“??”
Bedroom? This is?
Not understanding what he said, I tilted my head. In that moment, the earlier scene unfolded before my eyes.
‘Mmm.’
‘Just until the Duke arrives.’
‘Maybe I’ll close my eyes for a moment?’
A child’s body grows tired and weary easily. It wasn’t a matter of willpower.
That was just how I was built.
Thinking, ‘If I just sleep a bit, I’ll be fine!’—I’d closed my eyes for just a moment, and when I opened them, it was now.
“B-but I could have sworn I was on the sofa…”
“I moved you.”
“You did, Duke?”
“Would I let a child sleep alone on a sofa like that?”
The Duke, his gaze fixed on the documents, narrowed his brow.
“If Veronica saw, she’d raise hell, so I moved you.”
“…”
“It’d be trouble if you caught a cold.”
The words were indifferent, but the warmth behind them was immense.
‘Despite what you say…’
When I woke, he’d tucked the blanket around me snugly. Making absolutely sure I wouldn’t catch cold.
“Thank you!”
“I did it because it’d be a hassle to deal with, that’s all.”
“Even so.”
I fiddled with the soft, silken pajamas I was wearing.
“You let me stay here, and you tucked me in like this!”
“…”
“Because of you, I slept so warmly tonight.”
People said Bangkardium was cruel, temperamental, unreasonable—
‘That’s not true at all.’
It was a kindness and warmth my own family had never given.
For the first time in my life, I was being treated like a real person. It was precious. I was grateful.
“You thank me for everything.”
The Duke, after a moment of silence, murmured it quietly.
But then, his eyes suddenly narrowed, and he abruptly set down the documents and rose from the chair.
At that moment.
Bang!
Veronica burst through the open door.
“I’m here!”
She thrust the letter she was holding toward us.
“Word’s come!”
“!”
At that, I asked hurriedly.
“What happened?!”

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