She is the Daughter of the Villainess in a Ridiculous Novel - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Am the Villainess’s Daughter in a Melodramatic Novel
Chapter 10
Instead of answering, Bilead shrugged and poured a black liquid into a wide crystal bowl.
It was the liquid he’d ladled out a moment ago from the cauldron he had shoved carelessly to one side of the shelf.
After adding a few more potions to the bowl, he slid it toward Idel.
“Which hand do you use most?”
“The right.”
“Then soak your left hand in it. And think hard about it. Wish with everything you’ve got that this curse would disappear.”
Idel didn’t hesitate. She dipped her left hand into the bowl just as Bilead instructed.
Then she wished, as fervently as she could, for this damned curse to vanish.
The change was immediate.
Perhaps the curse was violently pushing back against her wish, because thorny vines sprouted from the hand submerged in the black liquid and wrapped their way up her arm.
“Ugh!”
The vines climbed up, cinching painfully tight, and soon bound her neck, shoulders, and chest.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead from the agony, as if the thorns were burrowing into her flesh, but Bilead only watched with an indifferent gaze and did not move a muscle.
The vines that had tormented Idel and constricted her body finally stopped only when they reached the area near her heart.
Where the vines halted, what bloomed was a dazzling red flower.
A flower in exactly the same shade as Idel’s hair.
“There. It’s done.”
“Haah…! Whew, hah!”
Only then did Idel release the breath she had been holding, and she quickly inspected her body.
She was certain thorns had pierced her all over, yet when she looked with her own eyes, her body was smooth and unmarked, not a single drop of blood to be seen.
“That was the energy the curse exhaled. It reacted to your wish and the solution. So it won’t lose sight of its target. Oh, right. You’re young, so… this ‘wish’ business means…”
“…I know what it means, so you can skip the explanation. So, what do you think?”
Bilead’s green eyes quietly swept over Idel’s body. The languid, sluggish air of exhaustion that had clung to him was long gone.
With a sharp, dry gaze he diagnosed her condition, then tapped the table lightly with his finger.
“Looks difficult.”
“…”
“For now, that is.”
The life that had dimmed in Idel’s eyes flickered back to them.
“It’s a remarkably strong curse. The way it’s woven and the knots are dreadfully malicious. Who put this on you?”
“My birth mother.”
The word “mother” came out of the child’s mouth so flatly that Bilead fell silent for a moment.
The curse placed on Idel was the kind that, though brief in duration, could exert absolute control over its target.
A curse that demanded perfect obedience above all else.
“…I see.”
It nagged at him somewhat that the method resembled a curse he knew, but Bilead set all of that aside and offered a dry reply.
Part of the reason was his judgment that it was better not to dig out the truth and get tangled up in it, but part of it was Idel’s eyes.
‘Those aren’t eyes that want sympathy or comfort.’
The child’s eyes, burning a piercing blue, were not fixed on the obstacle but on what lay beyond it.
The moment he saw that, Bilead decided not to pretend he hadn’t seen her, and instead to do the one thing he was most confident in.
Of course, for a certain price.
“It’s going to cost you, client.”
“Can I pay with stolen goods? Not that it matters here in the Crow’s Den.”
He shrugged as if it were a matter of course and handed over a single sheet of paper.
It was a Contract with magic woven into it.
Idel read through the contents from start to finish, then signed without a second’s hesitation.
“Good. Then shall we start by making the suppressant first? The malice at the root of a curse is so dense that even the suppressant is going to take quite some time…”
“It takes time to make? How long?”
“A solid month.”
A month? Idel’s brow furrowed slightly, and she shook her head firmly.
“That’s too long.”
“Yeah, I figured you’d say that. So I’m thinking of trying an alternative instead. Hmm… Right. Sigmund, you’ll have to help out a bit.”
“What? Me?”
“Yes. Come over and hold the client’s hand.”
At Bilead’s request, both Sigmund’s and Idel’s faces crumpled at once.
“What? Master, did you get hit on the head or something?”
“Why would I hold her hand?”
As the little brats’ protests burst out immediately, Bilead let out a snicker without meaning to.
I don’t know what kind of personality the client normally has, but it was not a sight one could easily see from Sigmund.
“Not that dealing with kids is easy, though.”
Feeling his stamina drain away in real time, Bilead raised a hand quickly before either of them could open their mouth.
He cast Dark Mage’s Prophecy Magic, and a hunch told him that if they left things as they were, a second round was going to break out.
Putting real force behind his green eyes, he fixed his gaze on Idel first.
“Client, do you want the curse lifted or not?”
“…I do.”
“Sigmund, you’re my apprentice, aren’t you?”
“…I am.”
“So should you follow what I tell you to do, or not?”
Sigmund still wore a face full of discontent and avoided Bilead’s eyes, but he didn’t push back hard against his words. Not that he agreed, either.
Raising his brows, he roughly tousled the back of his own head and spoke.
“Fine, then at least explain it. If holding hands blocked every curse in the world, I’d be out peddling my own hand around town instead of sitting here as your apprentice, wouldn’t I?”
“Exactly. At least explain it.”
Ah, you two get along well when it suits you.
Watching the two of them repeat the same words, as if they’d never snarled at each other, Bilead raised both hands.
“Alright, alright, I’ll explain. Since using this method means you have a few things to watch out for too, Client, listen up while you’re at it.”
“I’ll listen closely.”
“Hmm…”
Bilead let out a groan and sighed deeply, as if he couldn’t decide where to begin.
Waving the hand he held in the air, he slowly began.
“Take a good look at my hand. This hand right in front of you is an excellent medium for passing energy back and forth. Uh, so what I mean by medium is…”
“I know what a medium means.”
“Oh, really? You’re smart for your age, Client. Well then, as you’ve already seen, you’re completely bound by the curse right now. You could say the energy the curse gives off has fully covered your body. Ah, what’s it called… A curse plants magic into actions or words, so you could consider it a type of magic. And magic has, what, density? Hmm, ah, should I call it grade? Something like that exists.”
“Ah…”
As Idel listened to Bilead’s explanation, which bordered on scattered, she rolled her eyes around.
Seeing her expression, he realized the explanation hadn’t landed, and with a grunt of frustration, he blurted out a conclusion.
“Just understand it this way: Sigmund has an enormous amount of energy, and he’s trying to suppress your curse with it. And holding hands is the most effective way to do that.”
“Oh, I see.”
“What’s with the ‘oh, I see’? You actually buy an explanation like that?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Flustered, Sigmund picked a fight with Idel again, but it didn’t work on her this time either.
Idel’s blue eyes looked straight into Sigmund’s.
“You’re a powerful user, so if we hold hands, your strength can press down on the curse, right?”
Could there be a neater explanation than that?
For the first time in his life, Sigmund found himself at a loss for words.
It was because Idel’s eyes, looking back at him, were clear and free of a single shred of doubt.
Not satisfied with that, Idel held out her hand to Sigmund and clearly demanded what she wanted.
“Hold my hand.”
“…You…!”
Staring silently at the hand thrust out in front of him, Sigmund clenched his jaw.
His eyes stayed wide open, as if he had plenty to say.
“Ugh, damn it!”
Finally spitting out a short curse, Sigmund roughly snatched Idel’s hand.
Pressing his lips together as if everything had gone to hell, he propped his chin on his other hand and turned his head away from her.
“Happy now?”
“Well… maybe? He’s asking if it’s done?”
Idel passed the question along to Bilead, as if to ask how she was supposed to know that.
Right after she asked, she noticed that if she focused on the hand she was holding, the feeling was oddly floaty.
‘Our joined hands feel kind of hot?’
But she couldn’t tell whether this was the effect Bilead had described or simply Sigmund’s high body temperature. Had it been like this earlier, when they fought in the alley?
Just as she was retracing the violent memory of that moment, Bilead, who had been calmly watching Idel’s condition, gave a slight nod.
“Judging by your complexion, Client, it seems to be working.”
“Really?”
“Sigmund can’t be the answer, but he’ll help. Just don’t forget he’s only a stopgap. He won’t free you from the control, and it won’t be freedom either. It just gives you a bit of room to breathe. Ah, and just to be safe, don’t let on about any of this until the curse is lifted.”
Well, that goes without saying.
Melissa Lopez was a sensitive person. If she noticed something had gone wrong with the curse she’d placed, she would surely find another way right away.
Under such uncertain circumstances, I had no intention whatsoever of riding the flow of the original work.
Confirming that Idel was nodding obediently, Bilead continued speaking.
“Well, since the curse needs to be interpreted, and every so often you’ll have to hold hands to press down its energy, don’t forget that you’ll need to do it regularly, if not often.”
“We have to hold hands regularly?”
Idel’s shrill voice cut in out of nowhere, and Bilead scratched his cheek lazily.
“Yeah, of course. There’s no way his power lasts a whole month, right? What, is there a problem?”
Quite a lot, actually.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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