I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 56

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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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‘You beat your brothers and sisters to take first place in this year’s end evaluation?’

The King, who had never once given Dean a proper look since his birth, spoke while scanning him with an interested gaze.

‘Tell me what you desire.’

Dean was overjoyed. Not because the King, his father, had acknowledged him or anything like that.

He was ecstatic simply because he could finally voice the wish he had longed for deep in his heart.

‘Please send Mother back to her hometown.’

At the boy’s trembling voice filled with tension, the King frowned with displeasure.

‘Just for a moment. A month, no, even just a week, I beg you.’

Eventually, the King granted young Dean’s desperate plea.

‘Very well. I’ll send Meichel to her hometown.’

Thus, Dean’s mother was able to set foot on her homeland after being forced to leave 14 years ago.

But….

‘Father! You won’t save Mother! Are you saying you’ll abandon Mother like this—!!’

Dean prostrated himself and begged in front of the King, his brothers, and all the ministers. The dignity of being a prince didn’t matter.

He simply wept and sobbed as if the world was ending.

‘Pirates are troublesome! They’ve already taken your mother and crossed the strait, so what do you expect me to do.’

‘But you can’t just—!!’

‘Don’t you understand yet. Your mother has already lost her qualifications as a concubine. Those greedy pig-like bastards wouldn’t have left Meichel alone!’

At that moment, Dean felt the last glimmer of light he had carried in his heart completely fade away.

It must have been around then. That he began secretly nurturing the murderous intent that had taken root in his heart.

Perhaps it was fortunate.

Born from an insignificant mother and living like a dead person confined in the Royal Palace, none of his brothers bothered to keep him in check.

All the schemes and dark struggles that occurred in the royal family always passed him by.

And Dean used that as an opportunity.

An opportunity to secretly grow his power in the darkness.

It was just as he reached that thought.

“…Your Highness?”

I stopped when I discovered Dean leaning against the wall at the end of the Military Barracks corridor, lost in thought.

Focus slowly returned to his eyes. Dean lowered his gaze to look at me.

Unable to hide my bewildered expression, I asked.

“Why would the Prince of Carton be here? Your Highness’s Military Barracks should be on the opposite side.”

However, Dean, who had been staring at me expressionlessly, suddenly raised the corners of his mouth as if drawing a line.

Surprised by his skillful expression management, he leaned his upper body toward me and greeted me gracefully.

“It’s my first time meeting you. Lady of Tigris from Erbia.”

I stepped back hesitantly after meeting his clearly shining eyes right in front of me.

But soon I grasped the hem of my skirt with both hands to greet him. Then, I hesitated.

‘I don’t want to bow my head between opponents who are about to compete.’

After hesitating, I extended my hand to him.

“I meet His Highness Dein Jed, Prince of Carton.”

His gaze slowly moved to my hand extended before him. He raised one eyebrow with an interested look.

“Is this how young ladies of Erbia greet?”

I smiled brightly at him.

“No. Right now I’m greeting you not as a young lady of a noble house, but as the commander of the enemy army.”

Dean’s eyes widened. After staring at me quietly for a moment, he burst into soft laughter.

“Indeed, you’re as interesting as I expected.”

What’s so funny about a handshake?

As I tilted my head in confusion, Dean grasped my hand. The touching body temperature was surprisingly cold.

I hid my expression and looked at him, then asked directly.

“But, as I asked before, what brings you here? This is the Tigris soldiers’ waiting room.”

Dean, who had been looking down at me with eyes still filled with amusement, opened his mouth.

“I came to meet the Lady.”

“Me?”

“That’s right. Since you wouldn’t meet me no matter how many letters I sent.”

“Ah….”

I recalled the letter with the Carton royal seal that had arrived at the manor a few days ago and opened my mouth.

“That’s because I….”

That’s when it happened.

I quickly turned my head at the sudden presence I felt behind me.

I don’t know when he arrived, but Rubel was looking at me from a few steps behind. My face brightened when I spotted him.

“Tatio!”

Rubel slowly approached me. His gaze went straight to Dean’s and my clasped hands.

“…I thought you had already returned to the spectator stands.”

“Ah, I was just about to go up. I was just doing some last-minute… checking.”

I answered while glancing at Dean. Then one of Rubel’s eyebrows slowly raised.

His expression was also strangely stiff.

“But why are you still here.”

At his somewhat cold voice, I looked at him with deliberately surprised eyes.

Rubel’s gaze was still directed at Dean’s and my clasped hands.

I glanced at Dean sideways, then quietly withdrew my hand. Then I tilted my head and muttered.

“Don’t tell me you….”

Both men’s gazes focused on me as I trailed off.

I let out a short sigh and said.

“Are you suspecting that I took bribes from His Highness?”

Rubel’s mouth, which had been stiff, opened. I clicked my tongue and patted his shoulder.

“Hey, I’m not that kind of person! Match-fixing, backdoor deals, I absolutely hate that stuff.”

Rubel looked somewhat dumbfounded.

As I was about to protest more, I heard Dean chuckling from behind.

“You seem to get along quite casually with your family’s knight.”

I turned my head with a flustered expression. Dean looked directly at me and asked gently.

“Isn’t he Tigris’ 17th who was wearing the robe.”

My eyes widened at his smiling appearance.

‘He was keeping an eye on Rubel?’

Certainly. He was worthy of someone who had defeated numerous brothers to claim the throne.

Surprised by his perceptiveness, I forced an awkward smile and opened my mouth.

“…He’s a knight of Tigris, but he’s also a distant relative. So we’re casual with each other in unofficial settings.”

Dean took a step closer to me.

“Is that so. But for relatives…”

His gaze slowly turned toward Rubel, who was standing behind me.

“The way he looks at the Lady is rather strange.”

It was the moment I tilted my head in confusion.

“Let’s go.”

Rubel strode over and grabbed my arm, pulling me along. I looked up at him with wide eyes.

“But His Highness the Prince…”

Dean smiled and shook his head.

“You seem busy, so it’s fine. We can have our conversation after the match ends. Of course…”

“…”

“If the Lady would arrange a separate meeting, that would be even better.”

He was asking me to invite him. It seemed he had a lot to say regarding the Tears of God.

I stared blankly at the Prince’s face as he smiled brightly. His face was like a well-crafted sculpture.

His eyes looked somewhat sharp, but the way they curved when he smiled was attractive enough to keep drawing my gaze.

I reluctantly nodded my head.

“…Fine. Then I’ll arrange another meeting later.”

As soon as I said that, Rubel turned around sharply while still holding my hand. I followed behind him with a puzzled expression, tilting my head.

When we had put some distance between us and Dean, I whispered quietly to Rubel.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Then Rubel turned his head. He sighed as if frustrated.

“Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know?”

“Know what?”

“Haven’t you heard what people are saying about that guy?”

My eyes narrowed.

Suddenly, I remembered the words the noble ladies had whispered at the opening ceremony ball.

‘The Prince of Carton, you know. I heard he’s quite the womanizer.’

‘I heard rumors that he has over twenty lovers in his home country.’

‘There’s also talk that he’s the prince furthest from the throne. Why would the King of Carton send such a prince to the Festival of Gratitude?’

‘It’s better than not sending anyone at all. This is a secret, but I heard rumors that they’re finally starting to acknowledge Erbia’s current imperial authority.’

Recalling those words, I quietly answered.

“Those are all false rumors.”

Rubel’s gaze slowly turned toward me. I looked straight into his eyes and spoke again.

“Really.”

Dein Jed was simply acting stupid and simple in his home country.

To avoid suspicion, he would have had to pretend to be uninterested in the throne, harmless, and weak.

That way he could avoid his brothers’ attention while secretly sharpening his blade behind the scenes.

‘Such a person being a womanizer? That’s ridiculous.’

Even in the original story, after he ascended to the throne and declared himself emperor, he didn’t take an empress for quite some time.

He didn’t take lovers or select imperial consorts either.

He was simply focused on eliminating pirates from the Erbia Strait. Of course, he gradually began pressuring Erbia later on.

Having organized my thoughts, I spoke again with a confident voice.

“The Prince isn’t interested in me. He didn’t approach me with strange intentions either.”

“…”

“He was probably just trying to extract information. He’d want to defeat House of Tigris and win this Festival of Gratitude. He’s incredibly ambitious.”

That way he could use this opportunity to gain the King’s recognition and demonstrate his presence.

But Rubel’s face still showed clear signs of discomfort. His lips slowly parted.

“That’s not… what I’m worried about.”

“Then what?”

Rubel closed his mouth blankly. Wrinkles slowly formed between his brows.

An awkward silence followed.

As he frowned with a bewildered expression, he suddenly let out a low groan and ran his hands through his hair.

“…Damn it. I’m the problem.”

He let go of my hand and strode forward.

I stared at his retreating figure with an incredulous expression.

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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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