I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 101

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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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“What is this?”

Rubel, who had been driving his shovel into the ground, paused.

The backyard that had been completely buried in dirt was now revealing its original outline to some extent.

It was thanks to two days of non-stop digging.

“Well, look at this guy. Are you trying to slack off when we’re almost finished?”

Not far away, Bastin shouted jokingly.

Rubel shook his head.

“No. There’s something in the dirt.”

Count Bastin straightened his back. He stuck his shovel firmly into the ground and strode over.

“What do you mean? Something in the dirt.”

Soon Bastin also discovered the unidentified object caught on Rubel’s shovel. And he stopped in his tracks.

“There’s something like a box buried here.”

Rubel said as he put down his shovel. When he brushed off the dirt that was caked all over the object, the rough surface of a wooden box was revealed.

“Shall we take it out?”

Count Bastin nodded with curious eyes. Rubel carefully pulled the box out.

The box was smaller than expected.

When he turned the clasp that secured the lid this way and that, the locking mechanism released and the box opened.

“…What.”

Count Bastin muttered in a disappointed tone.

“There’s nothing much.”

Rubel stared intently into the box. As Bastin said, all that was inside were several faded papers and envelopes.

“I thought His Grace might have hidden gold and silver treasures or something. What a letdown.”

Count Bastin grumbled as he moved away.

Rubel set the box down on the ground, lightly dusted off his hands, then picked up a piece of paper from the top.

A short phrase was scrawled along with a date.

“…A letter?”

A letter found in what was supposed to be Duke Tigris’s hideout.

Rubel narrowed his eyes and began reading it out of curiosity.

My beloved Sharlina.

I’ve made up my mind. I’ll come get you before it gets any colder.

Jes, who misses you.

Common endearments and common content. A faint smile appeared on Rubel’s lips.

“It’s a love letter.”

He picked up another letter.

My Sharlina.

Seven seasons have already changed.

I’m hoping this damn war ends as soon as possible.

I miss you so much.

Sharlina.

I want to see you. I can’t bear it any longer.

I’m thinking of secretly escaping from the garrison soon.

From Jes.

Rubel’s eyes lit up.

“He said he’d come get her. Was he dragged off to war?”

Since there was talk of war, it must be a letter written quite long ago. That’s why all the papers had become so worn like this.

After quickly checking the date at the bottom, he picked up another letter. This time the handwriting was different.

Jes. There’s a problem.

My body has been strange since you came and left last month.

I can’t keep down any food except wheat bread. Strangely, my weight keeps increasing.

Hemera and Kione are taking turns staying by my side.

They say the war is almost over, how’s the situation there? Always take care of yourself. Oh, if you’re thinking of escaping from the army again, don’t.

That’s not right toward the other people fighting alongside you.

– Sharlina.

Rubel frowned. More than the content of the letter, something bothered him.

‘Hemera and Kione?’

At the names that felt somehow familiar, Rubel gradually traced through hazy memories.

Surely when he was very young, these were names he had heard from his mother.

Suddenly some voice echoed in his head.

‘It’s only a one-year difference, but how is Rubel so mature? Our …is completely different.’

‘That’s what I’m saying. I wish our … was even half like Rubel.’

Rubel frowned. His head was complicated as if he could almost remember but not quite. Then he soon recalled something and let out a small sigh.

“Ah.”

Hemera must certainly be Selene’s mother and Duke Tigris’s dead wife.

Kione was also the name of the late Duchess Laurence…

It felt strange for the two names to appear together in the letter to be mere coincidence.

As did the incomprehensible fragments of memory that hazily filled his head.

With some premonition, Rubel calmly took a breath and began searching through the box again.

His movements were urgent. After taking out all the letters, Rubel found the paper with the most recent date written on it.

My so beloved, precious Sharlina.

The war is over.

It will be a new beginning for us.

I’m excited about the future we’ll build together. It will be breathtakingly brilliant and happy.

How about Rubel for our child’s name? If it’s a boy, that is.

Tatio, which you mentioned before, is also good.

If it’s a girl, you can give her a new name.

I’m scheduled to arrive in two days.

Let’s go to the capital together. I love you more than anything in the world.

Jesper Albertine Erbia.

Rubel couldn’t take his eyes off the last line of the letter.

Not an abbreviation or nickname, but ‘Albertine,’ the middle name of Erbia royalty, was clearly written.

Rubel’s hands began to tremble weakly. Count Bastin approached with a puzzled expression.

“What is it? Why are you suddenly so dazed?”

Instead of answering, Rubel abruptly stood up. He was clutching the wooden box containing the letters tightly with both arms.

Faced with his pale face, Bastin was startled and stepped back.

The next moment, Rubel passed by Bastin and opened the back door of the cottage connected to the backyard and went inside.

“Tatio!”

Count Bastin shouted, but Rubel couldn’t hear anything.

Inside the cottage full of spider webs.

As he staggered forward, he saw a table covered in a thick layer of dust.

His steps gradually slowed. On the table sat an old picture frame.

With trembling hands, Rubel picked up the frame and carefully wiped away the dust with his palm.

Inside the faded photograph were three women standing side by side, smiling brightly.

Rubel slowly bit his lip as he confirmed the face of the woman on the far right. A thin layer of moisture formed in his eyes.

The same black hair as his own.

The gentle smile he had always longed for, and even the dimples at the corners of her mouth.

Teardrops rolled down his cheeks and fell onto the frame with soft thuds.

‘Mother, why do people call you Charlotte? Your name isn’t Charlotte, it’s Sharlina.’

The face that had smiled so tenderly at that question was still vivid in his memory.

‘That’s because, you see, Sharlina is a very special name.’

‘A special name?’

‘Yes, it’s a name that mommy only tells to the people she loves most. No one else knows it. It’s a secret.’

Mother had laughed playfully while gently stroking his hair.

‘Shall I tell you another secret?’

‘Yes, please tell me.’

‘Among all the people who know that name, mommy loves you the most. Enough to trade my life for yours.’

Rubel exhaled a short breath and slowly wiped the tears from his cheeks.

Bastin burst through the cottage door. He looked at Rubel with wide, startled eyes.

“Tatio, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden…!”

Rubel put the photograph from the frame into his inner pocket and spoke calmly with bloodshot eyes.

“It seems I need to go.”

Bastin gaped for several seconds before muttering in disbelief.

“What on earth was in that box to make you suddenly lose your mind like this…”

“I must leave right now, without delay.”

At Rubel’s resolute voice, Bastin reluctantly closed his mouth. After hesitating with a frown, he finally nodded.

Rubel bowed deeply and quickly left the cottage.

Then he began running at full speed across the vast plains.

Inside the cave.

The fourth-generation heir of House of Haren, Luc Hallen, calmly looked around at the girls before him.

“…My mother was a cold person. She became even colder after father passed away. Sometimes excessively so.”

The girls’ eyes became infinitely serious at those words.

The girl named Rosette, who could freely manipulate flowering abilities, looked around at her friends and said.

“That was when you were about seven years old, wasn’t it? From a wife’s perspective, it’s understandable since her husband died leaving behind a young son.”

Seleneae Tigris nodded.

“That’s right. A seven-year-old son suddenly had to inherit the family business, so she must have had many worries.”

Duke Haren smiled bitterly.

The girls thought he was a security guard for the Academy Jurisdiction. Somehow he hadn’t been able to reveal his true identity.

“Then perhaps that family business went under…”

Just then, Estelin stopped mid-sentence and quickly shut her mouth with a gasp. Selene and Rosette gave her warning looks from beside her.

“Estelin, he’s working as a security guard now. Let’s just move past the painful memories.”

Luc Hallen couldn’t help but laugh heartily again. He stared at the burning campfire for a moment, then continued his story.

“The problem was that mother tried to cut away everything around me. With that heart as cold as ice.”

The girls looked at him silently. Silence fell over the cave. Duke Haren closed his eyes tightly and let out a deep sigh.

Even now, thinking about the past he had buried made a corner of his heart ache indescribably.

Especially when he thought of his first love who met a miserable death and his lost daughter.

His gray eyes slowly traced through distant memories.

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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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