The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 13

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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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Episode 13
* * *
“Have you decided to become a righteous and kind person in this life, Geren?”
The moment they stepped out of the boutique, Geren asked with a smirk in his voice.
Fleur Boutique would close its doors a year from now, entangled in some drug scandal.
Of course, it wasn’t Fleur’s fault, but the quality of the case she got caught up in was so sordid that she came to be viewed as an accomplice, and the boutique had to shut down.
Because a merchant supplying fabric had smuggled drugs hidden inside her cloth without her knowledge.
“I was always kind.”
Roseline answered without conviction.
He escorted her to the carriage waiting just outside the shop, murmuring softly.
“A truly kind person cannot kill.”
“Perhaps. But it’s precisely the righteous and kind who bear watching. They’re the ones who can draw a sword at any moment if their sense of justice and kindness are shattered.”
There was nothing more dangerous than rigid justice and compulsive kindness.
Roseline thought this as she climbed into the carriage.
“So, what did dying feel like?”
As the carriage started moving, he asked her suddenly.
“It was a relief.”
She had thought she wouldn’t have to live anymore, but Geren, who had hurled her into this strange world, didn’t sit well with her.
Roseline opened her eyes narrowly.
“The version of you in this place was rather fragile, I must say.”
Geren let out a low laugh, as if amused.
“You got flustered at the name ‘stammering Roseline.’ I’ve never known anyone who speaks as eloquently as you do.”
Roseline said nothing in response to Geren’s words.
Geren’s Marquis Estate lay in a fairly quiet part of the Capital.
As Roseline felt the surroundings growing quieter by degrees and glimpsed the mansion beginning to appear through the slightly open window, she opened her mouth.
“The Marquess lives in this world, does she not?”
……
Geren faltered.
“Was that the relationship you wished to change?”
Geren fell silent at Roseline’s words.
It wasn’t as though Roseline had simply sat idle since arriving here.
This world and her world were different.
She had read newspaper after newspaper, gathered information, studied and memorized the differences, read and observed.
To make use of information from her world, she needed to understand something of this one.
Only then could she calculate probabilities, only then could she cross-reference her memories.
Fortunately, this world resembled the one she remembered in many respects.
Naturally, once she had learned about her situation, she gathered intelligence on the political climate, and afterward she made inquiries about the man called Geren Wilbrid.
And she learned something.
In her world, the Marquess would fall ill and die in the future; here, she was still alive now.
“The discord between the Marquess and Marquis has been quite the hot topic, or so I’ve heard.”
Roseline said this and lifted her gaze to meet Geren’s.
“Oh, have I struck a nerve? Why look so grave about it? Everyone regrets only after they’ve lost something, after all.”
Roseline watched the Marquis, whose trademark smile had vanished entirely, and let out a quiet laugh.
“You told me you couldn’t bear to have me die as a villainess, but truthfully, we were never really on such intimate terms, were we? Unless you mean the kind where we’d want to drive a blade through each other’s throat.”
Roseline’s voice carried dryness and faint resignation beneath the lethal words.
“So I thought about it. Why did you come all this way? And I arrived at a plausible answer.”
“I’ve never entertained such thoughts myself, though it seems you’ve been having them about me.”
He answered in a gentle voice, and watching his lips curve into an arc as if by habit, Roseline smiled.
“But I never imagined we’d actually slip into a Parallel World. What becomes of the original owner of this body while we’re here?”
“The criterion for transfer was that the body we inhabited was already deceased and otherwise whole in that world.”
“Deceased?”
Roseline murmured softly.
She had heard immediately upon waking, through Lady Carmel, that the Roseline of this world had tried to take her own life, so she felt no shock.
But Geren Wilbrid was another matter.
‘Is he the type to take his own life?’
In response to her own question, Roseline shook her head at once.
He was not the kind of man to end himself.
‘Then was this version of Geren Wilbrid fragile, as the other world seemed…?’
The thought made her want to retch.
Roseline furrowed her brow and shook her head once more.
“We’ve fallen into one of countless parallel worlds—one that simply happened to bear a striking resemblance to the world where you and I were from. The world where we died.”
Roseline tilted her head once, as if to say, ‘Is that so?’
“If I understand correctly, your Abyss was a tracking-related ability, wasn’t it……?”
Roseline shifted her gaze to Geren.
He’d composed himself by then, regarding her with an enigmatic smile and keen interest flickering across his features.
“How was it possible to move to a parallel world alongside someone who was dead?”
“Well, what do you think?”
At Geren’s words, Roseline lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
“You’ve constructed theories already, haven’t you? Come now, share one. It should serve as brief entertainment until we reach the estate.”
Amusement laced his voice, and Roseline rested her elbow against the window frame, cupping her chin in her hand.
“And if I refuse?”
“I’d be devastated. You did, after all, extract a full billion Orans from me.”
“That’s pittance as payment for restoring someone bent on death to life.”
“Others beg and plead for a second chance. You’re remarkably singular in your tastes.”
Roseline cast him a sidelong glance, then opened her mouth with deliberate nonchalance.
“Geren.”
“Hmm?”
“Did you strike a contract with a Demon?”
At Roseline’s words, Geren Wilbrid’s eyes widened.
He looked at her as if struck by something wholly unexpected—or as if she’d landed a direct blow to his weak point—before dragging his hand across his lips and opening his mouth.
“What made you think that?”
“Because I glimpsed green flames just before I died.”
Roseline spoke softly.
Geren’s violet irises met her crimson ones, suspended in the empty air between them.
“Green flame is the Demon’s symbol. And I’ve since learned that among Demons, there are those capable of traversing dimensions.”
……
“So I constructed a hypothesis, just as you suggested. Geren—you aren’t truly an Abyss-awakened wielder of an Ability, are you?”
At Roseline’s words, Geren Wilbrid hesitated for a moment.
His smile deepened with subtle complexity.
“You witnessed me exercise my power more than once.”
“True—I’m not saying you lack ability. I’m merely saying it isn’t the Abyss.”
“Hmm?”
Roseline smiled faintly and spoke.
“Are you a Demon’s contractor?”
Instead of answering, he released a low laugh.
“What do you think?”
With that enigmatic murmur, the carriage soon arrived at the Marquis Estate.
“Well then, step down.”
Rather than answer, Geren descended first and offered Roseline his hand.
* * *
“So the twelfth Bishop has been captured at the Duke Estate?”
From the unidentifiable figure cloaked entirely in black emerged a distorted voice, grating and shrill like metal being scraped.
“Yes, Master.”
“Useless.”
He clicked his tongue.
“The ability was marginally useful, which is a shame. Dispose of him.”
From beneath the elongated robe, a finger drummed against the table—its owner issuing the command with cold indifference.
“I shall endeavor, but Bellion’s Duke Estate currently maintains exceptionally tight security.”
……
“Additionally, all who pass through the prison carry Spirit Stones, suggesting they may have learned of the Ability as well.”
Tap.
The drumming stopped.
In the darkened room, those seated around the circular table in black robes held their breath, tension coiling tight.
“Learned? How, precisely, did they come to learn of it?”
“That is…… I apologize. Information is currently being rigidly suppressed, so I haven’t gathered much at this moment.”
It amounted to saying there was nothing to report at all.
The robed man made no effort to conceal his displeasure, opening his mouth again.
“What of the other locations?”
“The others remain manageable for now.”
The silent master clicked his tongue softly.
It was an unexpected turn of events.
Bellion’s Duke Estate held the largest role in the grand scheme they were about to set in motion.
That was why he had deliberately deployed someone brainwashed since childhood.
“Conduct a thorough investigation into how he was discovered.”
“Yes.”
“And the moment an opportunity presents itself, make contact with that useless thing and kill it. Before it says anything more.”
“Yes, Master.”
He spoke without bothering to conceal his displeasure.
This was the place he had invested the most effort into, the one he commanded personally despite its troublesome nature, issuing orders himself.
He had never imagined it would be compromised.
‘Foolish as it was, I didn’t think it incapable of handling a situation of this magnitude…….’
Its usefulness had evaporated entirely.
He clicked his tongue and opened his mouth.
“We drag the noble things from heaven down to the earth and trample them beneath our feet.”
At those words, four figures rose from their seats.
“Even if someone dies, the great cause will one day be realized, and I will see your desires fulfilled without fail.”
“Yes.”
“Of course, Master.”
A light answer tinged with laughter emerged.
Beneath the inverted robes, deep shadows fell.
And beneath those shadows, they were all smiling as one.
“When the time comes, do not hesitate—die. The realization of our great plan is not far away.”
The man rose from his seat and finished speaking.
“We adjourn.”
The man left first, departing into the dim chamber where only a single candle flickered.
Shortly after, someone blew out the candle with a soft breath. In the darkness that followed, a faint rustling sound was heard, and then silence claimed the room.

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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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