The Abandoned Villainess Takes Everything This Time - Chapter 23

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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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23.

Count Joseph obtained information from the attendant he had assigned to the Princess.

‘She met that Lillian Tillard again? Is it true that she told you to dismiss me?’

‘Yes, Count. I heard it clearly with my own ears.’

And he found out the appearance and attire of the group that Lillian Tillard was with.

Marguerite Rubelli.

She was the type of person who looked arrogant but was easier to deceive.

“This is truly troubling…”

The Count wore an extremely bitter expression.

“My ward seems to have completely fallen for Lillian Tillard. True to her nickname Butterfly, she must have exceptional talent for enchanting people.”

“That’s… right.”

“Iris Tillard could have made mistakes with the artifact. For a lifelong incompetent person to fix it?”

“Ah…”

“I was so worried that I’ve been looking for the artifact. Please, won’t you help me?”

Marguerite gripped her skirt tightly.

“…Follow me.”

The Count smirked inwardly.

At a glance, it was obvious she harbored subtle feelings of inferiority toward Lillian Tillard.

That’s why she was obediently guiding him to this workspace.

He grinned as he examined the workshop’s workbench.

“Foolish woman. How could she be so obvious.”

The necklace embedded with malachite was sparkling brilliantly.

In such a short time, it had been repaired with truly remarkable precision.

At this rate, the Princess would be able to control her supernatural affliction…

“…As if I’d let that happen.”

The man’s face contorted as he ground his teeth quietly.

These kinds of artifacts were extremely sensitive – just slightly tampering with a few wire settings would cause problems.

And when the Princess wore it unknowingly?

‘Ha. Those disgusting snake scales would burst out!’

It was the Princess who chose to trust someone like Lillian Tillard, a notoriously incompetent person.

This mistake would make her trust the Count even more.

‘Even if I get caught.’

It would be enough to pin it on that woman Marguerite who guided him to the room.

‘How easy this is.’

He shook his head back and forth, pretending to look worried.

* * *

The day the necklace repair was completed.

Lillian, several Shadows, and the Princess’s entourage met in the Inner Sanctum of the Temple.

That day, the Count had also followed behind the Princess.

Count Joseph Bespin looked at Lillian and sneered.

“Ha. What an end of times, truly the end of times.”

“…”

“A person who has incurred the Creator God’s wrath is running around causing trouble like this!”

Killing intent quietly flashed in the eyes of the Shadows, including Jeanne.

However, Lillian replied indifferently.

“Should I call a priest for you? You seem to be ill.”

“What?”

“The disease of talking to yourself and sighing to yourself. It’s an early symptom of delusion.”

“…!”

“It’s dangerous, so you should get counseling first.”

“How rude!”

The Count’s face reddened with anger.

However, Lillian didn’t give him any more attention.

Instead, she approached the Princess with the necklace transferred to a velvet case.

“Please try wearing it.”

“Very well.”

Princess Meliora waited warily as her maid fastened the necklace.

‘I wonder if her artifact-making skills are truly better than Iris’s?’

Artifacts designed and touched by a Controller exert tremendous effects.

However, they varied drastically by grade and skill level.

If something went wrong, there could be terrible adverse effects…

It was a situation where many held their breath.

But the moment the necklace’s cold metal touched her skin.

“…!”

The Princess’s expression changed immediately.

“Ah.”

The snake-like blood vessels that had been so prominent they showed through her skin calmed down.

“Ahh!”

The grotesque bulging movements also stopped.

The snake scale-like marks that had been faintly visible depending on the light all disappeared.

This wasn’t simply a matter of whether she could or couldn’t engage in external activities in high society.

It was a serious blemish that had threatened even her succession rights with questions of ‘Can’t she control her supernatural abilities?’

“How wonderful…!”

Meliora staggered as she rose from her seat.

“It’s gone, really, all of it…!”

The Royal Entourage, who had been watching anxiously from the side, rushed over.

“Your Highness!”

“Congratulations!”

“Oh, how much you must have worried…!”

Only the necklace made by Iris Tillard had been effective in suppressing these symptoms.

But even that had been losing effectiveness recently!

However, Lillian had no intention of ending things in this touching atmosphere.

It would be disappointing if they thought she had only repaired that necklace.

Lillian pulled out the weapon she had prepared.

At first glance, it would look like a small onyx brooch.

“Your Highness Princess. Would you like to see this?”

“Hmm? What is that?”

“This is called a ‘vision stone.'”

Originally, it was a monster’s core she had obtained from a villain.

Monsters store visual information in their cores, not their brains.

‘Using the principle of making them recall what they’ve seen!’

Because monster cores were dangerous materials, vision stones were much harder to obtain than recording stones.

Lillian pressed firmly on the core that had been cut into a convex cabochon shape.

Bzzing…

After a faint vibration, an oval image the size of a face appeared above the brooch.

People from both the Empire and Kingdom sides held their breath in surprise.

“What in the world is that-“

“Is it a mirror?”

“No, Count Bespin is appearing there!”

“Where on earth is that?”

To answer, it was the temporary workshop in the temple.

‘I kept this core running the whole time I was working.’

Security is essential when handling expensive items, isn’t it?

Just then, the count in the video sneered at someone and opened the case.

-Stupid bitch. So obvious.

His face, full of greed and disgust, was captured clearly in the video.

-I knew you’d leave it like that.

And he touched the artifact’s components with his fingers.

The Princess turned pale, and the attendants around her were also shocked.

“Co, Count, how could you do such a thing.”

Lillian smiled sweetly.

“Oh my, what excellent judgment. You touched only the circuits that cause runaway reactions.”

“Th, this is…!”

“Thanks to that, I was able to inspect it very, very thoroughly at the end.”

“…!”

The count’s mouth gaped open.

The Princess slowly approached the count.

“Count.”

“Your Highness! This is a false accusation, this is some wicked sorcery…!”

“I suspected your schemes long ago.”

“Your Highness! How can you say such things-!”

“The assassination attempts and the riding accidents too, I deliberately didn’t prevent them until the end. Because I had to keep being grateful to you, Count.”

“…!”

“I wanted to trust you…”

The Princess took a deep breath and said firmly.

“Count Joseph Bespin. As of today, I revoke your qualification as my guardian.”

“That’s impossible! I was appointed by your mother-!”

“I may not be an adult, but when there’s such clear evidence, I have the authority to dismiss you.”

“…!”

“You will be escorted to the Kingdom. Seize him!”

The Princess’s knights quickly stepped forward.

But Lillian saw it.

The count’s black eyes gleaming.

That’s how humans usually look when they think they have one last trump card.

The count quickly rubbed the mark on the back of his hand.

‘As expected, he prepared a runaway spell too…!’

The same pattern was on the back of the Princess’s hand.

It was a switch to make the Princess go berserk.

But the moment he pressed the back of his hand.

“Urgh!? Cough, aaagh!”

The count clutched his chest and retched.

‘He fell right into his own trap.’

It was a reverse runaway.

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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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