The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 142

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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 12
“Oh, by the way, what brings the Marquis to the Count’s territory?”
“It’s Garren. The title ‘Marquis’ isn’t something I’m accustomed to, so please call me Garren.”
Ha ha.
Rozelin let out a dry laugh to herself.
So the servants at the Marquis’s residence calling her “Marquis” all this time had apparently been unbearable for him.
The Count’s Daughter with innocent water-blue hair fell completely for it, her cheeks flushed slightly as she tilted her head and wetted her lips.
“Then… Garren, sir?”
“Yes. Garren is enough for me, but… if it’s awkward, there’s no harm in starting with that.”
He answered leisurely as he tilted his teacup.
“In any case, I stopped by because I had some business to attend to.”
“Ah, have you found a place to stay? I’ve heard lodgings are hard to come by these days with so many outsiders coming and going.”
“Oh… is that so? I haven’t managed to find one yet, so I’m in a bind.”
So that spacious room on the top floor of the Inn where they’d slept last night had apparently been a storage room.
Rozelin regarded Garren Wilbred with eyes gone cold and hard.
But he didn’t even glance back at her.
‘How delightful.’
She couldn’t fathom why she had to stand here watching someone else’s romance unfold.
Even when she’d heard the story about how he’d complained to the Countess about being afraid of fire and disliking heat after claiming to have suffered burns that left no marks—she’d been skeptical then.
‘I always thought he was good at putting on airs, but…’
The word “repulsive” sprang unbidden to her lips.
Look at him wagging his tail, telling lies with that easy, composed expression just to get a little attention.
And what irritated Rozelin most of all…
‘…if the Countess falls for this fool’s face, what will become of her?’
It was that the Countess’s expression seemed far from ordinary.
She’d heard before that the Countess had fallen for him first and pursued him, but now she was acutely aware it was true.
After about an hour, even her formidable patience began to wear thin.
“…Then, wouldn’t it be nice if you stayed at the Count’s Residence for a few days? Father would be delighted if Your Excellency the Marquis were to stay with us.”
Garren Wilbred widened his eyes slightly and smiled apologetically.
“Wouldn’t that be imposing?”
“No, we should help one another in life.”
The Countess seemed to see him more often than expected.
Garren Wilbred was reasonably handsome even in his older age.
But now that he’d grown young again, he was certainly beyond the reach of most people.
Besides, he had a fairly mild temperament and rather excellent manners.
She’d often heard he was quite popular during his Academy days, and now she understood why.
‘Even so…’
Rozelin’s gaze drifted downward slowly.
She’d been vaguely uneasy about it for a while now, but she kept feeling eyes on her from outside.
Without looking directly, she rolled just her eyes toward the window and caught a glimpse of a black ceremonial robe peeking through.
‘If I stay here much longer, it might get dangerous.’
Rozelin thought.
And a prickly urge to be mischievous suddenly welled up in her.
Besides, when she thought about rolling around living as a beggar, her eyes still stung enough to redden.
Sniff sniff. Though no tears actually came.
In any case, for these reasons, Rozelin decided with the sentiment of ‘protecting the Countess!’ to needle him a bit.
“Well… if you’ll excuse me, then I shall—”
“Dad!!!”
Rozelin called out to Garren Wilbred with her expression suddenly hardening.
All eyes in the vicinity snapped toward her, and Garren Wilbred looked at her with startled surprise.
“Why are you looking for a new mother?! Are you done playing with our real mother and just throwing her away…?”
“…Wait, wait. What on earth are you—”
For once, Garren Wilbred looked at her with unmistakable bewilderment on his face.
Regardless, Rozelin, confident she couldn’t actually cry, buried her face in her small palms and made sobbing sounds as her shoulders shook.
“You promised to be with our mother forever…”
“Roz… or rather, Rose. What are you possibly—”
“Why do you lose your mind every time you see a pretty person, Dad…?”
Garren Wilbred, caught entirely off guard by this situation, could only gape soundlessly.
“You said you’d only love Mom…!”
Rozelin let out a sharp wail, acting for all the world like an innocent, clueless child.
It wasn’t entirely wrong, either.
He’d left a countess back in that other world, after all—one could argue it was infidelity by any measure.
And since that world had its own Selena, he wondered why he should bother saving this world’s Selena when she was bound to leave anyway.
In any case, the child’s innocent voice had rippled outward with surprising force.
Soon enough, patrons scattered throughout the Tea House began casting sideways glances at their table, and whispered murmurs swelled into a low din.
“Good heavens… the man has a child and he’s carrying on with a woman…”
“Just because he’s got a decent face doesn’t mean he can toy with people like that…”
“That poor woman—look at the shock on her face…”
“How wretched she must be if even the child can’t hold his head up…”
The sound of disapproving clicks rippled through the room. Garren pressed his palm to his forehead and sighed, then glanced toward Selena.
She stood with her mouth agape, her expression one of pure shock.
Garren Wilbred noticed without difficulty how contempt had flickered across those eyes—eyes that had gleamed like water rippling in sunlight just moments before—and he went very still.
“It’s a misunderstanding, Miss Hyde.”
“…What have you been doing around this child that she would say such things…”
Hyde Count’s Daughter rose from her seat.
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to withdraw my earlier proposal. I had no idea what sort of person you were.”
She left coins on the table for her drink and spun on her heel, departing the shop with swift finality.
Garren Wilbred moved to follow, his chair scraping back reflexively, but then his eyes fell on Rozelin sitting to one side, and he exhaled heavily.
“Rozelin. Did you really have to do that?”
“If you were going to go on a date, why didn’t you leave me behind?”
“I was worried it would be dangerous to leave you alone. And this is how you repay my kindness?”
“There were people watching outside. They’ve been keeping an eye on us the whole time—if you stay with us, the Count’s Daughter could end up in danger too…”
“I already knew that.”
He answered curtly and settled the bill with the shopkeeper, then let out another weary sigh.
Outside, the Count’s Daughter was nowhere to be seen, and the surveillance that had lingered moments before had vanished.
“You need to make this right with her.”
Garren Wilbred looked down at Rozelin, his gaze darkened.
“I care for you, that much is true. But not more than I care for her.”
“I never asked you to care for me.”
At Rozelin’s words, Garren’s eyes narrowed and his face grew weary.
Garren Wilbred understood that Rozelin had acted this way to protect Selena in her own manner.
He grasped that it sprang from concern for the girl who would be left alone here when they departed, mingled with spite directed at himself.
“Rose, do you know why I slaughtered the entire Binac Cult?”
So he really had killed them all.
Even as the thought crossed Rozelin’s mind, she followed slowly in his wake.
Garren Wilbred suddenly turned into an alley.
“Because they employed rather filthy methods.”
“Stop this at once! How dare you lay hands on…”
“Please, I beg your pardon…”
As he ventured deeper into the alley, the voice of Hyde Count’s Daughter reached their ears, and Rozelin’s eyes widened sharply.
“The Binac Cult had many Ability Users with Psychic-Type Abyss Abilities, so I couldn’t leave any survivors behind.”
He drew the sword at his waist as he spoke in a measured tone, then his gaze fell on the men who had seized the Count’s Daughter.
In that instant, his irises burned red.

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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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