I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 138

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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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Just before Selene’s body hit the ground, someone quickly approached and caught her in their arms. It was Aleon.

He looked directly at Duke Haren with sunken eyes.

“…You must have matters that need to be resolved.”

He turned his gaze to glare at Anita, who was still sitting slumped on the ground.

Sadina shook her head from side to side. Then she approached the gathered soldiers and administrators.

“Hey, what’s there to gawk at?! Everyone disperse! Gather the injured in the dormitory building, and those who are done with work, go inside and rest!”

Aleon, who held Selene even closer to his chest, spoke to Duke Haren.

“Let us go.”

Duke Haren’s Office.

Two people sat facing each other across a table.

Duke Haren and Anita.

“Th-this belonged to Lady Selene? I had no idea at all. I just picked it up when it was lying in the forest!”

Anita cried out with a tearful expression. Then she continued as if aggrieved.

“Your Grace! You’ve known me since I was very young! Do I look like someone who would carelessly touch other people’s belongings?”

Duke Haren was at a loss for words seeing Anita shedding tears.

“I’m really wronged! I’ve never told a single lie… Why is everyone cornering me like this…?”

Duke Haren took his time choosing his words.

“Anita. Do you know why I sent Duke Tigris away and arranged for us to have a private conversation?”

“…”

“Because you need to tell everything exactly as it happened. Anyone can make mistakes. However, if lies keep getting mixed into those mistakes, they cease to be mistakes.”

Anita flinched in surprise and bit her lips. She shook her head frantically with a pale face.

“I-I never mixed in any lies. I really only told the truth.”

Anita looked up at Duke Haren with desperate eyes.

“Your Grace, please, think about it. The strange one isn’t me, it’s Lady Selene! You saw the young lady with those magical beasts yourself…!”

The wrinkles on Duke Haren’s brow deepened.

“Lady Rosette and Lady Estelin too. I often saw them hanging around with Lady Selene even before enrollment. It’s only natural that they would protect Lady Selene…”

“…Anita.”

“What, what exactly did I do wrong for everyone to treat me like this… *sob*…”

Finally, Duke Haren let out a deep sigh.

Anita’s grandfather, Marquis Bin Solb, was a close friend of his.

Also, Anita’s second brother was currently working at the Academy.

‘It’s true that Anita is suspicious.’

But even so, he couldn’t push forward without clear evidence.

Especially since Selene was unconscious.

‘If only Selene would regain consciousness, I could ask her about the situation.’

Duke Haren pondered with a serious expression before reluctantly nodding.

“I’ve heard your opinion sufficiently. Let’s continue this conversation later and calm down for now.”

Anita, who had been crying, glanced up. Then she wiped her eyes and muttered quietly.

“Thank you for understanding my feelings. And I’m sorry for causing you worry…”

Duke Haren shook his head. Then he pointed to the door with cold eyes.

“Go ahead and leave. The prospective students will wait in their quarters until further notice, so you should do the same.”

Anita nodded. She stood up from her seat and turned to leave but hesitated.

She glanced at Selene’s pendant on the side table and asked.

“Th-then what will you do with this sacred relic…?”

Duke Haren looked up. Anita flinched but quickly added.

“Oh, no, I just remembered how desperately the temple was searching for the sacred relic… Of course, I only just learned that necklace was a sacred relic.”

Duke Haren looked down at the pendant quietly and said.

“For now, it should be entrusted to Duke Tigris.”

“To-to Duke Tigris?”

“Yes. Selene is currently unconscious.”

“Then you mean to return the sacred relic to Lady Selene?”

Duke Haren frowned as if asking what the problem was.

“This pendant belongs to Selene, doesn’t it. I can’t decide its fate on my own.”

Anita stammered.

“Th-that’s true.”

But she couldn’t help her heart pounding.

‘If that girl gets the sacred relic back, she’ll be able to use her abilities again, won’t she?’

Then she would surely be suspected for claiming Selene’s abilities were fake.

‘What should I do?’

But she couldn’t say that the necklace was the source of Seleneae Tigris’s abilities either.

That would only strengthen the argument that she knew the sacred relic’s effects and deliberately stole it.

‘…I can’t do this, and I can’t do that either.’

In trying to escape the situation by adding various explanations, the incident had grown beyond control.

Anita unconsciously clenched her fists.

‘I can’t let that girl get the sacred relic back in her hands.’

Her mouth went dry with anxiety. Just then, there was a knock from outside.

“Come in.”

The one who opened the door and entered was Ray, Duke Haren’s adjutant.

“Your Excellency. I’ve just finished communicating with the Imperial Palace.”

“What did His Majesty say?”

“He said he would help proceed with the verification. He will send people from the Imperial Palace who can verify the magical power of the magical beasts—no, the Dearmant—as soon as possible…”

Anita’s eyes sparkled as she heard that conversation.

‘That’s right, there was the verification.’

If the verification revealed that the Dearmant were magical beasts, Selene was supposed to return all her assets to the temple.

‘How foolish. Didn’t she know that those assets would naturally include the sacred relic too?’

An unmistakably bright expression appeared on Anita’s face.

Anyway, there was no way the Dearmant were sacred sprites. Hadn’t she experienced their terrifying nature firsthand?

They had chased her as if to kill her, spewing poison with every step.

‘Of course, if that girl wakes up and blurts out that I left her in the forest, that would be troublesome…’

But they were both in the same situation of having no evidence.

As for the sacred relic, she could just keep pretending she found it in the forest.

‘The situation is better than I thought…’

Anita suppressed the corners of her mouth that wanted to rise, then quickly bowed deeply to Duke Haren.

“Please have your conversation in peace. I’ll take my leave now.”

And she hurriedly left the office.

In a dark, empty room.

Rubel looked down at Selene sleeping peacefully on the bed.

Rubel Erbia Albertine.

Whenever he looked at Selene’s face, that name always came to mind.

It was his own name, but at some point it had ceased to be his.

A name that seemed to place a heavy weight on his chest each time he recalled it, so he had simply erased it from his thoughts and buried it for a while.

The events of last night clearly surfaced in one corner of his mind.

‘I’ll go. There’s no one who can handle magical beasts better than me. I’ll go right now and…!’

‘Rubel, calm down first.’

Duke Haren’s voice as he grasped his shoulder was full of tension.

‘There are magical mirrors that Sadina has set up throughout the forest. At the Emperor’s request, those mirrors will broadcast to the entire Empire.’

‘….’

‘That’s not all. The Imperial Guard has arrived in the forest. Among them… there are quite a few who have served the Imperial House since the Previous Emperor’s time.’

And he added one last thing.

‘It’s dangerous.’

The meaning of those words was clear.

It meant that among the soldiers the Emperor had sent, there might be someone who would recognize him.

And at the same time, it meant that regardless of anyone else, he absolutely must not go to search for Selene.

Rather, that could put Selene in danger.

“…Ha.”

A low groan escaped through his teeth.

Countless people were moving to find her, yet there was nothing he could do.

Rubel clenched his fists so tightly they might bleed.

When she had been carried unconscious to Duke Haren’s mansion, it felt like his heart had shattered into pieces and scattered like ash.

He couldn’t even tell her he was relieved she wasn’t hurt.

He couldn’t even say he had worried so much about her.

Because Selene had remained unconscious the entire time.

Rubel let out a shallow groan as he ran his hand over his face once.

‘This time was just lucky.’

For some reason, they said Dearmant hadn’t attacked Selene. That’s why she had been safe.

But what if something like this happened again next time?

He quietly looked down at Selene’s pale face.

The golden thread-like hair that had fallen across her forehead reflected the faint light coming through the curtains.

Rubel bit his lip.

“…Powerless.”

Yes, he was too powerless.

The more his feelings for Selene grew, the more clearly he could see that he had nothing at all.

He understood all too well the meaning of Duke Haren’s words that it was ‘dangerous.’

And in truth, he too was afraid of that ‘danger.’

That’s why even after learning that Selene had been attacked, he had obediently remained in the tower, only staring at the dark forest.

Pure white moonlight rippled across Selene’s clear face.

Her slightly upturned eyes looked cold when she wasn’t making any expression.

But even that would curve prettily when she smiled, making his heart flutter.

Selene always had that kind of expression in front of him. And she would say.

That she would protect him.

At first, that had seemed like salvation.

But after he developed feelings for her, and those feelings grew beyond control.

Once he realized he could no longer do anything about it, his thoughts changed.

Selene’s words that she would protect him had, at some point, become both salvation and shackles.

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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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