The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 183

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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 53
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“Good day to you, Your Highness, Third Prince.”
“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Rozelin has told me so much about you, Miss Wilbred.”
The young Arma smiled faintly and returned my greeting with equal courtesy.
Today was the result of giving in when young me—that is, Rozelin—pestered me to come to the Imperial Capital with her.
She’d wanted to introduce me to my betrothed, so I thought I might as well see what Arma was like as a child, and came along.
It seemed Rozelin had arranged this beforehand with Arma, as he was waiting for us.
“You’ve been talking about me?”
I tilted my head, eyeing the young Rozelin seated beside the Third Prince, Arma Dianitas, with a puzzled expression.
Rozelin looked at me and broke into a brilliant smile.
……
I was taken somewhat aback.
I hadn’t known I was capable of making such an expression.
In my younger days, it seemed I’d rarely smiled with genuine feeling……
‘What’s this? Was I truly human after all?’
I’d long suspected I must have been a wooden block meant to be carved into something else, or perhaps a machine mistakenly born as a human.
‘But what praise was he talking about?’
As I stood there with a bewildered tilt to my head, Arma let out a small, innocent laugh.
“You’ve paralyzed everyone at the Duke’s Estate, Miss Wilbred.”
“Ah. That.”
Is that even praise?
I responded with a lukewarm expression, and he smiled faintly and nodded.
“Indeed, I’ve heard the atmosphere at the Duke’s Estate has improved considerably thanks to you. Wasn’t that the case……?”
Had it?
True enough, whenever anyone tried to speak harshly, I returned it in kind, so it seemed they all grew careful with their words when I was around.
My grandfather especially bore the brunt of it.
It was as if every time he opened his mouth, he could only belittle and curse others.
But I knew there was no malice in it—because if there were malice in his words, I’d inevitably feel it.
In short, though it wasn’t obvious, my grandfather was just as dishonest as my father, in his way.
Poke him and he’d startle into curses; prod him and he’d panic into profanity.
Later, I heard from the Butler that his environment from childhood through his early twenties had been extraordinarily harsh.
It was a lawless land where being disrespected could result in finding yourself a corpse the next day, and he’d worked tirelessly not to be looked down upon.
And the result was sharp, piercing eyes, fists that flew at the slightest provocation, and a habit of raising his voice and spewing curses first and thinking later.
He’d tried to correct it after returning to noble life, but since those habits had been carved into his bones from such an early age, it hadn’t taken well. The best progress so far was simply keeping his mouth shut and refraining from swearing carelessly in public.
I scratched my cheek, recalling the Butler’s trembling voice of emotion.
“But thanks to Miss Rose, his grace has finally developed something called hesitation.”
“Hesitation……?”
“Yes, there are many occasions when he stops at ‘You damn ba—’ before finishing, and recently he’s been stopping at just ‘damn’ more and more often.”
He spoke with his fists clenched tight, like a man recounting a heroic tale after witnessing a truly moving scene.
For a moment, I thought he was a revolutionary discussing some sort of revolution.
“……Is that meaningful?”
“Of course it is. After all, it means he’s considering your words, doesn’t it?”
“But he was groaning at me about taking stomach medicine……”
“That’s perfectly fine, Miss.”
“Perfectly……fine?”
I nearly asked whether he was truly a butler, but stopped short when I saw the Butler place a palm to his chest.
“Fortunately, I’ve since stopped taking the stomach medicine.”
Ah.
I let out a small exclamation.
“So that’s……”
“Would you care for more pudding?”
“Yes, that would be lovely.”
In any case, isn’t it a win if someone, anyone, is satisfied?
I accepted the bribe—or rather, not quite a bribe—that the Butler offered, and decided to simply pretend I knew nothing about it.
Pulling myself from my thoughts, I nodded a beat late.
“The Butler does seem to enjoy it.”
“Rozelin is also quite fond of you, Miss, and often speaks of you to me.”
“She does?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, I’m able to talk with Father more often……and Grandfather visits sometimes too, and Aunt spends time with me frequently.”
Rozelin spoke quietly, her cheeks flushed crimson.
She bounced on her toes without quite realizing it, seized by an excitement that struck me as oddly unfamiliar.
“And… two or three times a week, we all eat together as a family. Originally, Father and I didn’t attend, but… these days Father joins us.”
“The Duke?”
“Yes. It’s all because of you.”
The younger me grinned broadly, gazing at my own face, my eyes crinkling at the corners in genuine delight.
‘Ah, this is real laughter.’
The kind that couldn’t come from anywhere but the heart.
Since I was Rozelin, I could read her feelings from her face alone.
“It feels like having a family. That’s what makes it nice.”
“…It feels like having a family?”
I hadn’t expected such words from my own lips, and I found myself repeating them before I could help it.
“Yes! Really—it’s like becoming the protagonist in a fairy tale I’ve always dreamed of.”
At her words, I couldn’t find anything to say, only rolled my eyes and laughed softly.
“Before I met you—Rose—I actually thought I was fine on my own. But it seems that wasn’t true.”
My eyes widened at her confession.
“I was lonely, I think. Father would visit at night even just once every few days and ask what I’d done that day, and…”
The girl pressed her palm against her own chest.
“My heart would pound so hard. It felt so good.”
“…I’m glad, then.”
“Father speaks with Grandfather sometimes now, too. He’s still irritable when he comes back, but…”
Thinking it was better than when they wouldn’t even meet eyes, I nodded.
“And Grandfather sometimes seeks Father out, and when Father comes home, Grandfather comes out to peek at him briefly before leaving.”
“He’s still not being honest about it.”
“But they say that before, they didn’t even know the other was in the house, so…”
The younger me giggled softly, lowering my voice as though sharing a secret, and leaned forward slightly.
“Actually, I once heard Grandfather mutter, ‘So that willful girl does have her uses after all.'”
What a commotion.
Arma’s causing quite the stir too.
Watching Arma gently take Rozelin’s hand, I gazed at the two of them.
Rozelin’s eyes rolled once, then I saw her clasp his hand in return. Arma’s lips curved upward slightly.
‘…So this future existed too.’
They say certain choices reshape a life entirely.
In one world, Rozelin had learned only to hold herself in check, and became a withdrawn, stammering duchess.
In another life, she hated everything and reacted sharply to it all, turning away from even her dying family, until she died alone.
And in yet another life…
If only the button had been fastened, if only there had been someone to give me counsel, if only my Aunt had lived—perhaps this peace could have been. The thought settled strangely in my chest.
“Oh, speaking of which, Rose. Father seems to be seeing someone recently—a prospective stepmother, I think…”
“…What?”
“A woman he’s courting. A lady… Carmel, I think? Someone from a count’s household.”
At Rozelin’s words, I frowned.
I’d thought everything would be fine now that Marlux had fallen, but apparently not.
I was already brooding on how to drive her away next.
“EEEEK—!!”
“Didn’t I tell you to get out!!”
A fierce voice thundered from outside the reception room, sharp enough to cut through the air, and I froze.

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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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