The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 132

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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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Part 2, Episode 2
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“Are you all right, dear?”
“Oh, yes. I… yes.”
Rozelin, rarely showing panic so openly on her face, stood rigid as a statue, her mind churning in chaos—caught between flight and surrender.
And for good reason.
She’d come expecting to meet Garren Wilbred in his twenties.
Instead, a grandfather had appeared—his hair white as snow, appearing to be in his sixties, with a kind, heavy-set face that bore no resemblance to Garren whatsoever.
‘Has he not received his title yet?’
If his health was failing, why hadn’t they granted him the title already?
Garren Wilbred was certainly difficult and irritating.
He was the sort who, caught in a sudden downpour, would then have the misfortune of having wind-blown leaves stick all over him—but…
‘He wasn’t particularly lacking in ability.’
He had business acumen and a solid reputation in society.
There was no reason not to pass the title to him.
Unlike some baron named Gilbert or Robert whose standing had never matched the rank.
‘Perhaps they had a falling out in the past….’
As Rozelin stood in silence, he rose from his seat, went into the Tea Room, and returned with a cup of tea, setting it before her. He then produced some biscuits and arranged them on a plate.
“I’ve been remiss in my hospitality. Please, sit in the chair and speak at your ease.”
“…Yes.”
Who on earth is this man?
Why was Garren Wilbred’s father so… kind? So genuinely gracious?
Rozelin felt as though someone had struck the back of her head with a hammer at least ten times.
Between the throbbing and her scattered thoughts, she could barely speak coherently.
“You are the Wilbred Marquis, are you not?”
“Yes, I am the Wilbred Marquis.”
“And your son… where might he be?”
The Wilbred Marquis tilted his head slowly at her careful question.
He gazed at her in silence for a long moment, then let out a soft chuckle before speaking again.
“It seems you’re laboring under a misunderstanding. I have no children.”
“I… I beg your pardon?”
“My wife and I were unable to have children.”
Rozelin’s eyes widened sharply at his words.
“Do you happen to know anyone named Garren? Among the nobility, or anyone you know?”
“Hmm? No, I don’t recall hearing the name. Did he recently debut in society?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Rozelin studied him carefully, but the Wilbred Marquis genuinely seemed to have no knowledge of that name.
Rozelin’s mind went white, then slowly returned to itself, only to repeat the cycle.
The sensation of something about to click into place.
‘I’m missing something.’
She had gathered all the pieces, yet something nagged at her—a discord she couldn’t quite place.
Because Rozelin did remember.
She recalled hearing that he’d debuted in society in his teens and moved through it with unchecked freedom.
She remembered hearing that Garren Wilbred had married, that the Marquis’s wife had pursued him relentlessly, and that the previous Wilbred Marquis—the man before her—had passed away.
If she had truly returned to the past, there was no reason Garren Wilbred should not exist.
“Do you perhaps know of Lady Selena Hyde of Count Arenes’s house?”
“Hmm?”
He tilted his lukewarm teacup and nodded slowly.
Each time he moved his head or laughed, the soft flesh of his jowls rippled.
“I do know of her. I’ve heard that she and the second son of Count Arenes are on good terms.”
The Wilbred Marquis chuckled warmly as he spoke.
Rozelin fell silent for a moment.
The second son of Count Arenes existed. Lady Selena Hyde existed. Yet only Garren Wilbred did not.
‘Is this not my past?’
It was possible. She hadn’t examined it thoroughly enough to be certain.
“I see. The second son of Count Arenes was quite fond of Lady Hyde, was he not?”
She’d heard he was someone who had lingered in the orbit of Garren Wilbred.
As Rozelin blinked slowly, a conversation from long ago suddenly surfaced in her mind.
“Are you a demon contractor?”
Rozelin had asked Garren this once in the past—when she first met him after he’d saved her and sent her flying to another world.
“Finding traces of Bathin here—I never would’ve expected it.”
“Bathin…? What’s that?”
“A fallen demon.”
And with that, the conversation she’d had with the High Priest came flooding back.
The High Priest’s voice—speaking so strangely of this curious demon called Bathin—echoed suddenly clear and vivid in her mind.
“That’s odd phrasing. Demons are inherently fallen beings to begin with. So why speak of him as ‘fallen’?”
“Bathin is counted among the strongest of all demons, but he’s infamous for his eccentricity. According to the records, he’s known as a cruel and vicious demon, impossible to pin down—yet strangely, he sometimes grants human requests without asking anything in return, and he hunts his own kind regularly. But the most peculiar thing about him is his ability.”
She couldn’t say why that voice was suddenly so sharp and present in her mind, but Rozelin let herself dwell on the memory a moment longer.
“Bathin never exists as two people in any single worldline. He comes from no known birthplace—he’s a worldline traveler, you see. This demon can move between worldlines freely. And since two identical people cannot exist in the same world…his existence must always be singular.”
“That’s rather remarkable.”
“Indeed. But here’s the strange part: they say that the moment he appears in any worldline, he becomes what originally belonged there. That’s why no one ever notices.”
Rozelin’s eyes widened slowly.
‘What if Garren Wilbred never existed in this world to begin with?’
Yes.
What if he was never meant to exist in this world at all?
This, too, was a kind of worldline.
Even having returned to the past, it was a world where time flowed and life progressed.
“I sense traces of that Bathin emanating from you, Master.”
As the High Priest’s voice—tinged with bewilderment—echoed in her ears, Rozelin’s breath caught.
Her mind blazed suddenly clear.
She’d grasped the key she’d been missing, and everything breathed open.
‘What if Garren Wilbred wasn’t a demon contractor at all—what if the being called Garren Wilbred was the demon himself?’
Then everything fell into place.
Why he could traverse worldlines. Why his face always wore that lazy, unflappable calm.
Why he knew of the Seven-Day Stone Bracelet as though it were common knowledge.
‘Then what was all that about asking me to bear his child?’
He would have known. Known that she didn’t exist in this world.
‘To toy with someone like that…’
Rozelin let out a sigh, then moved to rub her face with her hand, only to catch sight of her grimy, soiled palm and grimace.
‘Bathin just happened to fall into my worldline and created a new existence called Garren Wilbred.’
According to the High Priest, the moment he appeared, he would become “what originally belonged.” That’s how it worked.
This created a problem.
‘I need to abandon my plan to use Garren.’
Rozelin rubbed her throbbing temple lightly, thinking.
She’d meant simply to lodge at the Wilbred estate, live comfortably, and gradually build connections with the Duke’s House.
‘What a mess.’

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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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