I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 83

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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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“Wh-what is all this?”

 

I asked with my eyes wide open in surprise.

 

Before I knew it, the courtroom was filled with people from Tigris.

 

I couldn’t take my eyes off the documents being stacked neatly on the judge’s bench.

 

Among them were the evidence documents I had spent sleepless nights analyzing and summarizing over the past few weeks.

 

“All those people are my legal representatives?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

At Father’s nonchalant answer, I asked in a flustered, low voice.

 

“Just how many people did you hire?”

 

My ‘legal team’ that entered the courtroom led by the bespectacled woman looked to be easily over twenty people at a glance.

 

Father cleared his throat and muttered.

 

“Tigris has a lot of money.”

 

“…”

 

“…Neither you nor I are particularly fond of luxury.”

 

Just as I was reluctantly nodding at his somehow convincing answer.

 

“Bring in the criminal!”

 

At the command of the man who appeared to be the Captain of the Imperial Guards, Nicolaus Zelbero was dragged forward, struggling.

 

He was soon forced to his knees by the rough hands pushing him.

 

It was a position where everyone attending this trial, including the Emperor, could see him clearly.

 

Nicolas still had a half-dazed expression as if he couldn’t believe this situation.

 

He shouted in a hollow voice.

 

“Y-you can’t do this to me without evidence! R-release me immediately!”

 

The knight who had been watching Nicolas impassively took something out of his pocket and handed it to the judge.

 

“I apologize for the disturbance, Chief Justice. I submit as evidence a magical device confiscated directly from Zelbero’s Mansion.”

 

“A communication magical device, I see.”

 

The judge said while examining the magical device closely.

 

“This magical device seems to have only one connection line.”

 

The knight nodded.

 

“It was connected to the assassin who attacked Lady Tigris this afternoon.”

 

Nicolas’s face turned deathly pale.

 

The judge also nodded with a serious expression as if understanding the situation.

 

After pondering for a moment, the judge turned to me and said.

 

“…We’ll need to move to a different matter for a moment. Miss Selene, I’d like you to give a brief statement about the attack that occurred this afternoon.”

 

Just as I nodded and stood up from my seat.

 

“Oh my! No, Miss!”

 

Suddenly someone rushed up to my seat and embraced me as if supporting my body. It was the maids from Tigris Estate, including Anna.

 

“Miss, someone in your condition shouldn’t just stand up like that…! Your complexion looks so poor, you might collapse at any moment!”

 

Anna looked at me and cried out as if feeling sorry for me, making me blink blankly.

 

My body does ache a little bit…

 

‘But I’m fine?’

 

As soon as I thought that, another maid who was wiping my clean forehead with a handkerchief chimed in to support Anna.

 

“That’s right, that’s right! In your current state, you absolutely cannot give a statement. Miss, you need to rest immediately!

 

“Of course! Right now at the estate, Miss has so many responsibilities, how can you use your one and only body as if you had ten?!”

 

Watching the maids who were perfectly in sync, the bespectacled woman who came as my legal representative looked up at me and said.

 

“Your Honor, as you can see, Lady is suffering considerable mental trauma and cannot give a statement. Therefore, our legal team would like to testify on her behalf.”

 

Having roughly grasped the situation, I nodded with my mouth agape.

 

Rather than me testifying when I knew nothing about this Empire’s laws, testimony from a legal team composed of experts would be more advantageous for our side.

 

When I turned my head, my eyes met with Father’s, who was also looking at me.

 

“So these are the people you brought for this. It’s good, but isn’t it too many…?”

 

At my cautious question, Father muttered quietly.

 

“…Actually.”

 

I looked at Father questioningly as he trailed off.

 

Father turned his head as if embarrassed and said.

 

“I asked Walter for advice.”

 

I tilted my head.

 

“What kind of advice?”

 

“How I could help you.”

 

At the unexpected answer, I froze in place.

 

Father looked down at me quietly and said.

 

“You’ve always tried to do everything alone. Of course, you never failed while doing so.”

 

Father smiled bitterly. His red eyes seemed somehow strangely subdued.

 

“Sometimes you do ask me for help, but mostly only for simple and easy things.”

 

“Father, that’s not what I…”

 

“Selene.”

 

Father, who had cut off my words, gazed at me quietly.

 

“…After Hemera left, I had absolutely no idea how to live. So I… left you to grow up alone. It was a completely terrible thing to do.”

 

The conversation had taken a serious turn. Flustered, I closed my mouth.

 

Behind us, the legal team was earnestly testifying something to the judge.

 

Father looked down at me and continued speaking.

 

“I thought that someday, I would definitely need to formally apologize to you. I was also scared that you might refuse to forgive me. While I kept postponing it like that, time flew by before I knew it.”

 

“…”

 

“In the end, I’m only saying this now. I’m sorry, Selene.”

 

Father smiled sadly.

 

Seeing that expression reminded me of the day a few months ago when Father had cried in front of me.

 

“You are a daughter too good for me.”

 

Father looked at me tenderly and tucked my fallen hair behind my ear.

 

“I want to help you with anything, but all I know how to do is swing a sword. You might say it’s violent and aggressive, but that’s just the nature of my work.”

 

“…”

 

“So from now on, I planned to protect you in my own way. Walter said that would be overprotective.”

 

Father gestured toward the legal team.

 

“I was worried you might dislike it, so I even asked Walter for advice. I wanted to do it thoroughly and properly if I was going to do it.”

 

“…Wait a minute. So you mean that doing it thoroughly and properly is what you call being overprotective?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

I looked up at Father, who answered with a proud expression, and soon burst into quiet laughter.

 

Barely suppressing my laughter, I asked.

 

“Wait, did Walter tell you to do that?”

 

Father frowned.

 

“…He advised me that you might tell me ‘don’t act like a bothersome burden.’ I thought that could certainly happen, but your safety is more important anyway.”

 

I was nodding but then glanced up at Father.

 

Father was speaking as if he had definitely heard similar words before.

 

“Who said that to you, Father?”

 

Father, who had hesitated, chuckled and nodded.

 

“Hemera said that.”

 

“…”

 

Indeed, Selene’s mother must have been an amazing person the more I learned about her.

 

To say ‘don’t act like a bothersome burden’ to Father, whom others wouldn’t even dare make eye contact with.

 

Laughter came out without me realizing it, so I covered my mouth with my hand and giggled.

 

Then I quickly answered.

 

“Alright. I’ve always wanted to experience being overprotected at least once.”

 

Father tilted his head.

 

I looked at Father with a faint smile on my face.

 

In my previous life, there was no one to protect me.

 

Even the people I had grown close to eventually only thought about stabbing me in the back.

 

After experiencing several betrayals and pain, I came to think this way.

 

‘Everyone hates someone like me.’

 

That’s how people are. They don’t want to see a life struggling desperately without any room to breathe.

 

They instinctively hate it.

 

So someone like me, a bundle of misfortune, shouldn’t hope for anyone to stay by my side.

 

But to think I would hear such words.

 

“…You really have to make sure to overprotect me properly, right?”

 

When I spoke in a deliberately bright voice, Father nodded with a puzzled expression.

 

Father’s words, ‘You are too good a daughter for me,’ echoed in my mind.

 

Actually, there was something too good for me as well. This new life I had gained.

 

After entering this body, the world that had always looked gray was filled with all kinds of colors.

 

It felt like someone had poured colorful paint all over what had been pitch-black paper.

 

Anna, Estelin, Rubel, and Father too.

 

Before I knew it, so many people were by my side.

 

The number of precious people kept growing.

 

What was even more unbelievably grateful was that they cherished me as much as I treasured them.

 

‘…Now I desperately want this life.’

 

So much that I could never give it up.

 

After being lost in sentiment for a moment, I soon raised my head with a face overflowing with motivation.

 

“Really… really.”

 

The Emperor trembled his two clenched fists before grabbing his forehead.

 

“I really can’t believe it.”

 

A low groan flowed from between his teeth.

 

Who was Nicolaus Zelbero?

 

Until recently, he was the person the Emperor trusted and cherished most in this Imperial Palace.

 

But to think he dared to build his own kingdom and play the role of leader where the Emperor’s eyes couldn’t reach.

 

And with the Empire’s budget at that!

 

As the Emperor sighed, Walter Levy happened to pull out something else from the mountain of documents piled up.

 

The Judge’s expression darkened even more as he received it.

 

Chief Justice Paul glanced at the Emperor and muttered.

 

“…These are the relief supplies ledgers managed within the Privy Council.”

 

“Read it immediately.”

 

Paul nodded at the Emperor’s command and began reading the contents written in the documents one by one.

 

“All data from the period when the Thanksgiving Festival was held is missing. Also…”

 

Following the explanation, short gasps and curses erupted from the gallery.

 

“Th-they embezzled two hundred fifty thousand Frums?”

 

“I can’t believe it. If it’s two hundred fifty thousand Frums in just six years, how much money have they stolen all this time…”

 

The Chief Justice, conscious of the noise, carefully asked the Emperor.

 

“Your Majesty. How should we proceed? Should we continue, or hold the trial privately later…”

 

The Emperor, who had been keeping his eyes tightly closed, shook his head.

 

“It’s fine. Please continue with the proceedings.”

 

Then Paul nodded and continued speaking.

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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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