The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 104

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

Episode 104
* * *
“…….”
“…….”
They scattered.
In all directions.
Faced with an unforeseen disaster, Rozelin rubbed the back of her neck.
‘Together, it’s just…….’
Only Arma and Rozelin remained.
The rest—the moment they set foot in the Maze, thorned vines erupted and swallowed them whole in an instant.
Garren Wilbred wasn’t a concern.
‘There’s something subtly certain about that man—he’ll never die.’
The high priest might talk about caution, but he’d find a way to survive just fine.
‘Batar, though—that worries me.’
“Ro-ze-lin!! Where are you?! Answer!!”
From somewhere in the distance came a voice that was less speech than a howl, and Rozelin nodded slightly at the sound.
‘Still full of vigor.’
Using that strange formal address meant he had plenty of strength left.
On her end, Rozelin could handle things just fine, so there’d be no real problem.
The ordinary priests might be a bit of a concern, but they wouldn’t perish.
Rozelin’s assessment was swift and complete.
“Without our abilities, jumping over the brambles would be impossible.”
“Right.”
Rozelin pointed with her finger down a path that lay in a straight line.
“This way.”
“……Ah, yes. Would it be all right if I—held your hand? In case the vines suddenly tear us apart again……”
To Arma’s verbose explanation, Rozelin grasped his hand without a second thought.
His large hand closed over her small one, engulfing it. Rozelin flinched, her shoulders trembling once.
“……Holding hands is stranger than I expected.”
“Does it displease you……?”
“No, it’s just…… it feels odd.”
His hand was warm and her heart raced, yet something prickly crawled across her skin—she felt as though she wanted to rake her nails down her own body.
“It’s like insects are crawling all over me.”
“……What?”
Arma’s face filled with shock as he looked at her.
Though he kept walking in an awkward gait, dismay was written plainly across his gaping mouth.
“……In, insects…….”
Arma murmured the words softly, then brushed his face lightly with the palm of his hand.
Rozelin stopped walking. A fork in the path had appeared before them. Arma frowned, finally noticing it as well.
“A fork in the road.”
“Left.”
Rozelin spoke matter-of-factly and tugged the hand she was holding toward the left path.
“Ah, yes.”
“The next one is right. After that, straight ahead is the way.”
At the murmur in Rozelin’s voice, Arma’s eyes widened slightly. He opened his mouth, his expression darkening.
“……Have you been here before? In another world, with me?”
“No.”
She answered matter-of-factly while pressing forward through the passage.
“I came here after you died. After you left, pretending to be dead.”
“……I see.”
Arma fell silent, releasing a low sigh as words failed him.
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”
Rozelin traced the wall with her right hand as she spoke, finding her way forward.
“It was only each of our choices. And I wasn’t without fault either.”
“…….”
“I didn’t realize I loved the Crown Prince.”
At Rozelin’s words, Arma’s eyes widened slightly.
“I was too busy building walls, raising thorns, and keeping distance. I thought I could survive alone without anyone’s help, believed every solitary moment had been my own choice.”
“…….”
“But I don’t think that ever really happened. When I look back on it, every moment I’ve lived through has had someone’s help woven into it.”
Life itself was nothing but the trace of others’ hands upon each passing instant.
Even the rice I bought from a street vendor was ultimately touched by someone’s hand.
That I grew up safely, that I survived until now—it was all because of someone’s help.
And being able to trade with all that information was a privilege only I possessed.
Of course, privilege is a good thing.
But Rozelin believed back then that she had earned all of it on her own.
“Once, the Third Prince told me that a person can never live alone.”
Arma’s expression hardened at Rozelin’s words.
That philosophy—it was exactly like his own.
“I was never kind to the Third Prince, even as he came to me with kindness. Perhaps I thought it only natural.”
So even after learning the truth, she harbored no great resentment.
If effort yields no fruit, one can simply discard it.
Rozelin acknowledged that her past self had been rather terrible.
But she would have preferred honesty instead of deception and flight.
But now she could only trust him once.
But it was only a small disappointment,
But it was only that she’d been wounded by the way they parted.
“I don’t think Arma is the same kind of person as the Third Prince, but…”
“I’m not the same person.”
Arma spoke with quiet conviction.
“I will not abandon you.”
“Mm… yes.”
Rozelin answered lightly and pressed forward through the Maze with a shrug of her shoulders.
Monsters appeared now and then, but most fell after one or two strokes of Arma’s blade.
“You may not believe me now, Rozelin, but…”
Arma came to an abrupt halt.
Rozelin, holding his hand, had no choice but to stop as well.
“I will become Emperor. I’m soon to be invested as Crown Prince.”
Rozelin’s eyes widened.
At a revelation as startling as a bombshell, she spun around to face him directly.
Arma remained composed.
His eyes had grown heavier and more distant than usual, his gaze colder still, yet his voice and his gaze held unwavering resolve.
“Why?”
“Because I want to place you in the highest position.”
“You mean as Empress?”
“If you wished it, I’d give you the throne itself.”
At his resolute words, Rozelin fell silent.
“I don’t understand why you’re making this choice. It can’t be undone.”
“I want you to believe that I don’t want to undo it.”
……
“Let me be clear—I’ve always liked you. From the very first moment we met.”
Arma lifted his hand slightly, then quickly added a clarification as if to preempt misunderstanding.
“I was drawn to you because you showed no interest in me whatsoever. That was all it was at first.”
……
“But I had a dream of a different world, of another version of myself, and that made me see things clearly.”
If I had never dreamed that dream…
Perhaps Arma would never have understood Rozelin’s true worth.
From the moment he began to dream of that other world, he had fixed his gaze on her with certainty.
“My realization simply came late. Perhaps if I had stumbled just slightly, I would have ended up like that dream version of myself…”
Arma’s hand clenched into a fist.
“I love you.”
Rozelin looked at him in silence. Her heart was pounding so loudly it was almost deafening.
He had come to her with such genuine sincerity.
To skirt around it now would be disrespectful.
After a long moment of hesitation, Rozelin resumed her steps and opened her mouth.
“Arma, I can’t be here with you.”
“I understand. Then please, give me time.”
“Time?”
“I know you have no reason to choose me yet. Because it wasn’t I who made you fall in love.”
“…….”
“I’m not asking you to wait. Just let me follow you. Just grant me permission to stay by your side.”
Arma reached out and gently grasped Rozelin’s wrist.
“Whether it’s another world or some mad realm, as long as you exist, I’ll chase after you.”
“……Have things between us ever been this desperate?”
“No, perhaps not yet. But……I don’t think I can bear to lose you.”
If Rozelin vanished, he would become no different from the man in his dream—lost to drink, languishing before her tomb, pining for her.
That unfounded certainty settled over him.
He wasn’t in love with that desperate intensity yet. But he harbored no doubt that this feeling would grow into something like that soon enough.
“So please, just give me time to find information on how I might follow you.”
She couldn’t be the only one who’d crossed into another world. There had to be a way.
“No, there’s no need for that. I…….”
At Rozelin’s firm words, Arma’s eyes were just beginning to widen when—
Boom-bang-boom!
Boom-boom-boom-boom-bang-boom!
Fireworks erupted overhead amid a cacophony of fanfare. Both Rozelin and Arma turned toward the sound at once.
“Congratulations! Sister, brother.”
“Wow, we arrived first!”
“Let’s play house this time, play house!”
“Yes! Sister and brother are our mother and father!”
“Welcome to the Dream Mansion!”
As countless voices rang out from the air, a door creaked open with a shrill screech.
“We’ve arrived.”
Before them stood an enormous mansion, its grand entrance doors flung wide open.

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