I Just Wanted Revenge, But Everyone Loves Me - Chapter 66

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 66
“Thank you for joining me like this.”
Hoengje greeted them warmly, as if he had been waiting for this very moment, and began to speak.
“There have been many troubles of late, but I hope today, at least, we might set them aside and enjoy a peaceful time together. The Crown Prince, too—I’m sure he celebrates this day from heaven.”
“!”
The moment the Crown Prince was mentioned, the atmosphere around the table collapsed entirely. There were countless suspicions and rumors, yet nothing had been proven.
No one had words to offer before parents who had lost their child.
“I, too, will set aside all my worries for today and enjoy myself, and I hope you will all do the same—don’t sit there so rigidly.”
The conversation about the Crown Prince ended there. The Emperor, smiling sadly as if even mentioning it further would be unbearable, continued speaking.
The rest was little more than formal pleasantries—support and encouragement for the year past.
In such an atmosphere, no one dared to raise questions about the current suspicions or chatter among themselves.
After finishing the long yet brief toast, the Emperor lifted high the cup brought by an attendant and smiled gently.
“Then, let us begin the party.”
It was Prime Minister Jerban who responded first. He began clapping, prompting the other nobles nearby to cautiously follow suit.
Clap, clap—
Soon layered applause rang throughout the Banquet Hall.
The orchestra stationed nearby received the signal and began to play.
The Emperor, submerged in the congratulations and music of the crowd, descended slowly from the dais.
The Emperor-faction nobles standing nearest the platform approached him one by one, each hoping to exchange at least a word of greeting.
But the Emperor silenced them all with a gentle smile and wave of his hand.
As he left the Banquet Hall, he clenched his fist tightly. His carefully manicured nails dug into his skin.
The Knight Commander, hurrying after him, glanced back at the Banquet Hall they had just exited.
“Your Majesty. Prime Minister Jerban will immediately suppress the nobles’ talk—”
“No.”
The Emperor, still looking ahead as he walked, spoke.
“There’s no need. Go at once to the Prime Minister and report what the nobles are saying now, how far the rumors have spread.”
“I shall deliver the message immediately.”
The Knight Commander bowed his head sharply. He turned at once and redirected his steps back toward the Banquet Hall.
Left alone, the Emperor continued walking without pause.
Before entering the Banquet Hall.
On the way here, he had overheard something by chance—words spoken by the attendants.
‘Is that rumor about Bangkadium being wronged actually true?’
‘Well, only the people involved truly know, but… there’s a chance it could be true, isn’t there? They say there’s evidence.’
‘Evidence? What evidence? Evidence that he assassinated the Crown Prince?’
‘No. Evidence that he was wronged. I only picked this up by chance, but apparently Bangkadium has evidence that he didn’t kill the Crown Prince. That’s all anyone in the Banquet Hall is talking about now.’
‘Is that really—Ahhh! Y-Your Majesty!’
He should have simply stayed silent.
Should he have lingered to hear how much further they would speak? But he simply could not endure it.
Bangkadium had evidence.
There was something that could prove his innocence—how could such a thing exist?
The Emperor, who had been worried about this very point from the beginning, felt his insides completely upended before even entering the hall.
His mention of the Crown Prince during the toast had itself been born of anxiety lodged in his heart.
‘I should have known.’
When he first heard the rumors spreading, he should have corrected them at once.
Had he done so, the talk would never have spread this far.
The Emperor, resenting his own failure to act decisively from the start, twisted his face in anguish.
His normally kind and composed expression vanished; his face, consumed by anxiety over an unforeseen situation, had grown dangerously tense.
As if the slightest touch might cause him to shatter.
‘Evidence exists?’
No. There could be none.
There simply could not be.
To leave no room for doubt, he had killed everyone within the Crown Prince’s Palace.
Not a single soul spared.
There was nothing left for him to fear.
Thus there was no need to be afraid.
The Emperor repeated this fact to himself again and again.
It was then.
“!”
The Emperor suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned his head.
Standing before an enormous arched window, he gazed out at the brightness seeping through.
But beyond the soft light, there was nothing to be seen.
Only the neatly trimmed grass.
“…….”
Had he become so tense that he was seeing things? Had he seen it wrong?
The Emperor remained still for a moment, and only after confirming there was nothing around him did he move again.
A moment later.
From the Grass Thicket beyond the building came a sinister whisper—shhhhh.
Crackle—
Something burst from the grass thicket and looked back at a certain spot.
A small Ruby was embedded in its forehead.
Screech—!
Rage.
* * *
“……!”
My body trembled without my realizing it.
“What’s wrong?”
Hyacinth, sitting beside me, asked. I rubbed my arm, which had broken out in goosebumps, and lowered my gaze.
“It’s nothing, really.”
What was that just now?
It had been a terribly unpleasant feeling……
I glanced out the window, furrowing my brow.
It had lasted only a moment, but it was a discomfort I could not forget.
But it seemed only I had felt it; Hyacinth appeared not to have noticed anything.
In the end, I swallowed my unease alone and turned to face Hyacinth.
Then—
“Ooh—”
Poke.
A long finger poked at my cheek repeatedly.
“Eek!”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Hyacinth hastily withdrew her hand and anxiously gauged my reaction. Yet the finger that had just poked my cheek still hung suspended in the air.
“I can’t poke your cheek when your master is around.”
Well, if it’s my sister, she certainly would……
“The Duke is harsh enough.”
“Pardon?”
The Duke?
“Why the Duke?”
“Huh?”
At my words, Hyacinth instead wore a bewildered expression.
“Why? Whenever you’d try to visit me, he’d look ready to beat me to death.”
“B-beat you?”
“You’d say you were going to see me, and his expression would change instantly—he’d ask why he should let you go, who did you think you were, and that it was harmful so you shouldn’t go. That’s why I’ve been waiting for today. To poke your cheek……”
Should I be surprised that she wants to poke my cheek? Or should I be surprised by the Duke’s behavior?
I felt somewhat flustered.
Hyacinth shrugged and spoke.
“Of course Veronika is always trying to tear me apart, but the Duke is no joke either. Last time, when I said I’d bring cake, he outright imprisoned me.”
“……?”
“What, what is it? You really didn’t know anything?”
Of course not.
I thought my sister capable of such things, but I never imagined the Duke would do the same.
‘Why did he stop you?’
Unable to contain my curiosity, my eyes widened.
“Why did the Duke stop you?”
“He said my social skills are already poor, and if I went to see you, I’d have a bad influence, and given that I’m already out of my mind, if I went to you and corrupted you, he wouldn’t let it slide. He threatened me this way and that—said he couldn’t possibly leave a madwoman obsessed with capital and filth in the same space……”
“I-I understand.”
“……Shouldn’t you not understand that?”
Ah.

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