I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 114

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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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Former Empress Charlotte Irina said that Sharlina was already dead.

It was something he knew but had been unable to bring himself to say aloud.

It wasn’t as if his departed daughter would return just because he said it.

Luke Hallen simply could not accept the fact that the child was no longer in this world.

If only he had been a slightly better person, if only he had been a little wiser, could he have handled things better?

No. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have allowed such a tragedy to happen in the first place.

If that were so, neither Riana’s miserable death nor Sharlina leaving in resentment would have occurred.

Luke Hallen suddenly recalled something from long ago. The moment when news of the Former Empress’s lonely death reached Duke Halen’s Domain.

He had mourned her tragic story at the time… but he never thought that she could be his lost daughter.

Not even once had he considered it.

Countless regrets spread uncontrollably through his mind.

If only he had searched a little more.

If only he had expanded the search radius to the entire Empire.

If only he hadn’t shut himself away in his estate because of that damned depression.

Self-deprecating thoughts stabbed at his heart repeatedly.

“It’s all, it’s all my fault. Because I never went to the Empire… because I never once went to see that child…”

“That’s not it.”

Luke Hallen raised his wet face. Selene was looking at him with slightly reddened eyes.

“You did that because of guilt… You isolated yourself and cut yourself off from the outside world.”

“…”

“That’s not something you can blame anyone for. The situation was just bad.”

Luke Hallen froze with a haggard expression. Selene’s blue eyes were so resolute they brought him back to his senses.

As he moved his lips, Selene, who had briefly caught her breath, spoke.

“But not now.”

“…”

“You can control the current situation sufficiently.”

Selene held out the handkerchief she had been holding.

Duke Hallen looked down at it with a hardened face, then took the handkerchief. Then she continued speaking.

“…Rubel is alive.”

Luke Hallen’s pupils dilated slightly. Selene spoke again as if driving a nail.

“Duke. Rubel is alive. You can see him clearly with your own eyes, within arm’s reach.”

Expression slowly returned to his face that had been soaked in despair.

Luke Hallen, who had clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, quietly repeated those words.

“…Alive.”

It was a simple, clear, single truth.

His daughter was dead, but the life she had left behind was alive.

The bloodline of that child he had longed for so much still remained in this world.

To Luke Hallen, that fact somehow felt very important.

“Do what?”

Sadina looked up, doubting her own ears.

It had been only an hour since she had left to give her husband some space, as he seemed to want to be alone.

But in that brief time, she had heard something strange.

“Appraise magical power?”

May nodded and carefully added.

“I don’t know the details either. The Dean suddenly called for me and asked me to bring you…”

“So, for magical power appraisal?”

“Yes. Together with that outsider.”

Sadina slightly opened her mouth, then frowned.

“Fine, I understand, so go.”

May bowed her head and left the Professor’s Office. Sadina muttered quietly to herself.

“Suddenly magical power appraisal?”

Anyway, the fact that the outsider youth was the Duke’s grandson had already been proven through the circumstances and evidence so far.

‘It was a bit surprising that the dead Former Empress’s identity was Sharlina…’

Fortunately, the administrators didn’t seem to know that much, and the problem was why her husband suddenly wanted to conduct magical verification.

When the assumption had already become fact, insisting on magical verification was like asking to make things awkward for everyone!

Magical verification was considered very old-fashioned and distasteful in today’s world.

It was even more so because it was mainly a ritual for confirming paternity.

Nobles often attributed shameful meanings to magical verification.

The fact that verification records had to be documented also made it good fodder for gossip.

‘Just conducting the ritual would be embarrassing enough, but if the subject is Duke Hallen…’

The Duke was unmarried. And suddenly a grandchild, not even a child, appears before such a man?

It was perfect news to become gossip material in the back alleys, never mind the Academy.

And that old man wasn’t the type to pull such a bold stunt.

‘When the blood relative he desperately searched for appears, instead of welcoming him with open arms, magical verification?’

Was he personally stepping forward to create unnecessary trouble?

Sadina swallowed a sigh and shook her head.

What could it be?

Moreover, wouldn’t that youth who was supposed to be his grandson feel offended by this? As she thought about it, she suddenly frowned.

“Don’t tell me.”

Was that indecisive man still denying reality?!

Thinking about it, that seemed quite possible. Her husband was facing a pitiful reality right now.

If he acknowledged that the youth was his grandson, he would have to accept the fact that Sharlina was already dead.

‘No wonder he looked half out of his mind!’

It wouldn’t be strange at all if that weak-hearted old man was denying the current situation and doing foolish things.

Sadina got up from her seat with mixed feelings. Then she put on her coat and left the room.

‘Anyway, I’ll have to do the magical appraisal.’

Though unreliable, Luke Hallen was her direct superior, and his feelings must be complicated right now.

She had originally planned to go along with whatever that man wanted to do, just this once.

But still…

‘…I feel sorry for that child.’

If he was the missing Prince, he must have suffered emotionally wherever he had been.

If the grandfather who just appeared demanded magical appraisal, he might feel like his existence was being rejected.

Sadina secretly sighed. The more she thought about it, the more troublesome the situation became.

‘But it’s not something I can refuse to do either.’

However, Sadina’s eyes, which had become gloomy with conflict, soon sparkled.

Amid various worries, curiosity about Selene, Hemera’s daughter, had arisen.

‘What was so special about that girl that the former Prince came all the way to the Academy to see her?’

Thanks to that, Luke Hallen did find his grandson though.

“She looks innocent but causes quite a stir.”

Of course, Hemera, who had been that child’s mother, had a similar atmosphere.

She would smile brightly while taking strangely bold actions, and if you looked closely, she was clever, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

‘Acting like she would live forever.’

Feeling strangely bitter, Sadina clicked her tongue.

Meanwhile, she had already reached the front of the Duke’s Office. Sadina knocked briefly, then opened the door and entered.

The first thing she saw was a sacred altar prepared in the center of the office.

Inside, special liquid used for magical power appraisal was already sloshing around.

“When did you prepare all this…”

But she stopped mid-sentence and froze.

She had discovered a familiar face inside the office when she turned her gaze.

“What.”

She muttered in a meaningful voice.

“Why are you here?”

Then an equally dry response came back.

“It’s been a while.”

Aleon Tigris was staring at her with a displeased expression.

“Well, this is uncomfortable.”

“I’m not exactly thrilled either.”

When Sadina grumbled, a blunt voice echoed from across the room.

She whipped her head around to glare at Aleon Tigris.

Just like when he was a student, she saw that emotionless face whose thoughts were impossible to read. Sadina let out a short sigh and said.

“What on earth does Hemera see in that thing, that smart girl…”

It was something she had said about a hundred times since entering the study. Aleon showed no reaction, as if he was used to it.

Annoyed by his attitude, Sadina quickly looked toward Duke Hallen.

All she wanted was to quickly finish the magical assessment and return to her study.

That was because she still had to finish preparing for the exam that would take place in a few hours.

But when she checked Duke Hallen’s face, she soon tilted her head in confusion.

‘For someone who wants a magical verification to deny reality…’

It was because the old man’s face was very calm.

“The verification can start right away, can’t it, Sadina.”

Duke Hallen asked in a voice that carried a strange sense of determination. Sadina nodded in bewilderment.

Then the Duke turned his gaze to Aleon Tigris.

“I imagine you’re surprised.”

“…I am surprised. If I couldn’t see Selene, I wouldn’t have come.”

It was an excessively honest and direct answer. But Luc Hallen wasn’t flustered in the least.

“Yes, I’m sorry. Actually, there’s something I need you to vouch for, so I had to call you urgently.”

A faint wrinkle appeared between Aleon’s previously expressionless brows.

“Vouch for?”

“A young man named Tatio who currently belongs to your knight order. I need you to vouch for that young man’s bloodline.”

Aleon froze for a moment.

Duke Hallen, who noticed that subtle change in expression, made an “ah” sound and continued.

“There’s no need to be flustered. I already know that young man’s identity.”

Aleon doubted his ears and slowly repeated what he had heard in his mind.

‘He already knows his identity?’

The fact that Rubel was the missing prince.

It was a tremendous incident that would turn the entire Empire upside down if revealed to the world.

But more than anything, wasn’t that the secret Selene had tried to protect?

His red eyes gradually darkened. Cold reason filled his face as emotion completely disappeared.

“Those words just now. I’m not sure how I should interpret them…”

“…”

“Is it blackmail, or something like that?”

Killing intent could be felt in his voice that had instantly turned cold. Duke Hallen waved his hand and said.

“Blackmail? I’m not trying to use that young man’s identity as leverage.”

“Is that so.”

Aleon answered as if he understood perfectly, then leaned his upper body forward deeply and clasped his hands together.

And he whispered just loud enough for Duke Hallen to barely hear.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can trust that either.”

At the same time, a strange energy rippled around him.

An enormous amount of unrefined magical power was emanating from him.

Duke Hallen quietly observed Aleon Tigris.

“You look like you’d kill me right now.”

Aleon Tigris raised one eyebrow slightly. Then he replied slowly.

“It wasn’t something I had in mind. But that would be one method as well.”

Duke Hallen let out a hollow laugh.

“What. There’s no need to waste your energy. Your reaction actually reassures me.”

Aleon froze for a moment. His red eyes stared directly at him. Duke Hallen said.

“Why would I reveal my grandson’s identity and put that child in danger?”

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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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