I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 168

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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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“There’s no need for that, Selene.”

My eyes widened in surprise.

“Pardon?”

“I mean you don’t need to try to explain everything. And you certainly don’t need to feel burdened about it.”

I was blinking at his unexpected words when it happened.

“I know I was an inadequate father.”

Father suddenly spoke in a serious voice. I was so surprised that I closed my mouth.

For some reason, Father couldn’t meet my gaze directly.

“As you know, I’m not particularly affectionate or warm by nature.”

“….”

“I should have been a comfortable and reliable parent you could depend on, but I failed to do that.”

Father quietly looked at me. His red eyes held a complex light.

“I even promised at the last Thanksgiving that I would safely protect and guard you.”

Father was probably recalling the incident when I went missing in Rishion.

When I hesitated, unable to find words to respond, Father continued.

“Selene. To be honest, I was frustrated at first.”

“….”

“Since I didn’t know what you were doing, there were limits to how I could look after your safety.”

“….”

“And I was hurt that you wouldn’t confide anything in me. Selfishly so.”

“…Father, wait a moment. That’s,”

“But looking back, it was natural that you couldn’t rely on me. What kind of respectable parent have I been to you all this time?”

Father’s calm red eyes turned toward me.

“When you were young, I was too busy with battlefields and conflict regions to be a close father. After Hemera died… I have no excuse. I should have taken better care of you.”

I opened and closed my lips with a flustered expression, then shook my head.

“Uh, Father? That’s not it. What I was trying to say was….”

“No. There were plenty of better ways, better methods. My failure to do so was certainly my fault.”

Father gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Selene. The situation isn’t favorable right now, so we’ll have to have a detailed conversation when we return home….”

“….”

“But from now on, continue doing what you want to do, just as you have been.”

Father’s gaze somehow became serious.

“Protecting you is my job as your parent. But if ever.”

“….”

“If a moment comes when you need to do something quite dangerous.”

“….”

“I’d appreciate it if you could tell me beforehand. Even just words would be fine, so please let me know.”

I blinked as I looked at Father.

Then I eventually nodded in a daze.

Father smiled gently and patted my back.

“…Good. Now hurry back home. There’s nothing good about staying at the Imperial Palace too long.”

At those words, Kopel, who had been waiting at a distance, approached to escort me.

I looked back and forth between him and Father before hesitantly climbing into the carriage.

Through the window, I could see Kopel and Father exchanging brief words.

Soon Kopel climbed into the seat across from me, and the coachman started the carriage.

“We’ll arrive shortly.”

Kopel said with a reassuring smile.

When he drew the curtains with his thick hands, I lowered my gaze toward my knees.

My head was in confusion.

‘I was the one who was going to apologize…?’

Although the situation had become complicated due to the Emperor collapsing, I had been looking forward to this outing for a long time.

No, to be precise, I wasn’t looking forward to the outing but to the conversation with Father.

After experiencing the Diamant Incident, I realized I had been seriously wronging Father.

‘At first I thought he was a very scary and uncomfortable person….’

Now I knew. How precious Father considered me, Selene.

‘…But I’ve been hiding everything from him, so how hurt he must have been.’

Even so, Father had never pressed me about it.

Not even once.

And I knew the reason why.

‘He was waiting.’

Father was waiting. For me to open up to him first.

Just like Rosette and Estelin had done.

Ever since I realized that, I had felt uncomfortable.

Of course, I had a goal all this time.

To find a way to live here for a long time, stably.

If there were those targeting me and my family, to identify and stop them.

That was my goal, and I was desperate.

In that process, it was true that I couldn’t open up to those around me.

I didn’t have the mental or emotional capacity to do so in the first place,

and I was originally clumsy at confiding my inner thoughts to others.

But after revealing the secret of the relic to Rosette and Estelin, I realized.

‘Handling everything alone isn’t always the best solution.’

Because then not only I, but also the people around me who care about me, would suffer.

‘So even if not everything, I was going to tell him at least about protecting the relic and Prince Hanod.’

In the end, I couldn’t even properly explain today’s events.

‘…I should ask Oscar to relay the message for now.’

Just as I was pondering with a serious expression, the carriage slowly came to a stop.

“Selene! Did everything go well?”

I quickly approached Rosette, who was running toward me from across the way.

“Yes. How is Estelin doing?”

“She says she’s dizzy. She must have used too much holy power again. Her complexion only just returned a little while ago.”

“I thought so. I told her to use just a little.”

Rosette took my arm and led me inside.

“Don’t worry about her. She was so happy that there was something she could help with.”

“Even so….”

“More importantly, how did it go?”

We passed through the main gate and climbed the stairs leading to Estelin’s bedroom.

I looked back at the knights standing guard outside the door before speaking.

“I couldn’t completely purify it. Cardinal Michael was right. Even with all that holy power I brought, it wasn’t enough.”

“What kind of curse is it? With that much, they really must have sacrificed several people as offerings.”

“It’s possible.”

When I carefully opened the door that had drawn near, I could see Estelin just sitting up in bed.

“Selene…!”

Estelin’s complexion was slightly haggard.

“How did it go? Was everything resolved properly?”

I showed her a small smile.

“It went well. Don’t worry.”

Estelin’s face instantly brightened.

“Thank goodness! So His Majesty the Emperor really was cursed?”

“Yes, when I went and looked properly…”

“It really was a terrible curse! I got chills the entire time I was purifying it.”

Just then, light flashed in the room and Adam revealed his manifested form.

“When our child’s hand touched that person, I was so worried that evil energy might transfer over!”

Adam, who had shown a tearful expression, suddenly asked with a proud face.

“Still, child, I was helpful this time, wasn’t I? Hm?”

I smiled at Adam, whose eyes were sparkling brightly.

“Yes, you were helpful. Really, very much so.”

Today’s events had been planned suddenly two days ago.

The day Cardinal Michael had visited the Laurent Estate.

We had many conversations that day.

I exchanged the information I had about Phluma with the information from the ancient documents Michael brought,

and heard about what schemes the Temple had devised to hide Phluma’s existence.

‘Most notably, they had declared Diermant, who were Sacred Sprites, to be demons…’

After that, there was also the incident where the Temple tried to make humans exterminate the Diermant race.

Besides that, there were endlessly many things the Temple had done, such as sending priests who noticed Phluma’s existence to distant frontiers,

or disguising Phluma’s relics as Fratrer’s relics.

Perhaps that was why.

Michael also suspected the Order and Cardinal Paul regarding the Emperor’s condition.

“Right after His Majesty collapsed, I had a chance to see his condition, albeit very briefly. But it seemed strange. Rather than a simple poison… it looked closer to a curse.”

He presented the opinion that the Emperor seemed to have been afflicted not by poison but by a ‘curse.’ He also added these words.

“However, Cardinal Paul made no mention of curses at all. Rather, he seemed anxious that I might notice the existence of the curse.”

“…Then is it possible that the Temple was also behind targeting the Emperor this time?”

“I have no definitive proof… but based on circumstantial evidence alone, yes.”

Curse.

In short, it meant the soul being eroded by dark and filthy energy, the opposite of divine power.

Curses usually required the lives of people or animals to be offered as sacrifices,

‘which is precisely why they’re called forbidden arts.’

When afflicted by such a curse, it was common for not only the body but also the soul to be destroyed and annihilated.

To escape it, one absolutely had to receive purification through divine power.

However, this ‘purification’ also had clear limitations.

“Why don’t the Empress and palace servants know that the Emperor was afflicted by a curse in the first place? Your Eminence noticed it immediately upon seeing him.”

“I noticed it because it’s me. Originally, the stronger a curse is, the more secretive it becomes. Also, His Majesty being exposed to poison is also correct.”

“…Wait a moment. Then the Emperor was afflicted by both poison and curse?”

“Correct. Those two can easily be combined, so it probably had an even more vicious effect.”

“Then…”

“Yes. To ordinary people’s eyes, only the poison would be visible instead of the curse. So it would have been difficult to notice.”

The stronger the curse, the harder it is to notice. And poison on top of that.

Since there was something manifesting on the surface, everyone was bound to miss it.

“Then couldn’t we perform purification now? Since Your Eminence can freely enter and exit the palace, if you directly purify him…”

“That’s impossible.”

Michael explained the situation with a complicated expression.

“To properly purify a curse, first a perfect understanding of that curse is necessary.”

“Perfect understanding?”

“Yes. What form the curse takes. What it destroys in the target and where it contaminates. You need to know exactly what resentment was used in the curse for purification to be possible.”

“That means…”

“At least to my eyes, the curse’s technique wasn’t visible. That’s why I couldn’t purify it immediately on the spot. Actually, at first I even doubted whether it really was a curse. The energy was felt so faintly.”

“…”

“Since even I couldn’t easily notice it, it’s probably a curse unknown to the world. Then it’s no different from saying there’s no purification method available at present.”

“Then how…”

Though we had discovered the cause of the Emperor’s collapse with Michael’s help, there was no way to resolve it.

It was then that Adam revealed himself from the relic.

[Child, I think I can help with that!]

He wore an extremely enthusiastic expression for the first time in a long while.

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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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