The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 184

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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 54
Arma’s brow furrowed.
“……I apologize, Young Lady. Would you mind waiting here for a moment? It seems the First Prince is in a foul mood again…….”
Rozelin waved her hand dismissively at his apologetic tone.
At the familiar voice, I blinked and opened my mouth.
“……Don’t tell me that was just now the First Prince?”
“Mm, yes……. That’s right.”
I was a little surprised.
From what I remembered, he wasn’t that sort of person. He wasn’t one to raise his voice like that.
“The word ‘again’—has this happened before?”
“……Well. Lately he seems touchy about something and keeps his edge sharp. It’s strange, isn’t it? He’s not usually like that at all.”
Arma’s eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke quietly.
“He’ll settle down soon enough, Arma. Everyone seems a bit on edge these days. I see fights breaking out on the streets quite often.”
At Rozelin’s follow-up remark, I knitted my brow slightly.
That day, Arma Dianitas sent a servant to explain the situation but never returned himself.
There was something nagging at me about it.
* * *
“So what do you want me to do about it, woman! If you’re so unhappy, why don’t you just drop dead!!”
“Oh please, like I couldn’t! It’s ridiculous, honestly. Go on and rot, you bastard!”
Rozelin winced at the irritable voices coming from all directions.
‘The atmosphere lately is truly strange.’
Everywhere she went, people were on edge, snapping over the smallest mistakes.
According to Garren Wilbred, the crime rate had risen sharply in recent days.
‘According to Garren, he said it was Amon’s doing.’
Creating discord this way—starting with small conflicts and escalating to great ones—was apparently what she enjoyed doing.
It always begins with petty quarrels. As those emotions spread little by little among the people, she sets her hand upon those with great influence in that world.
Then the small quarrel becomes a war, and it spreads and spreads until finally it becomes a war between nations, and the realm stands on the brink of ruin.
“It’s quite chaotic. Everyone’s negative emotions keep amplifying…….”
The High Priest—or rather, High Priest candidate Irbon murmured softly.
“That’s exactly why I didn’t want to get involved in this mess.”
“Exactly why……?”
We were on our way to the Temple, having spent several days at Garren Wilbred’s House with Irbon.
When the Temple received Rozelin’s letter saying she’d found a High Priest candidate, they’d promptly sent word that they’d be delighted to meet him.
“Do you like money?”
“I do.”
“Odd that someone who loves money as much as you managed to hide away there.”
At Rozelin’s words, Irbon smiled with a subtle expression.
“Of course, I love money very much, but not enough to stand against a monster born from the Abyss.”
“A monster born from the Abyss?”
At Irbon’s words, Rozelin tilted her head with a meaningful expression.
He nodded lightly in response.
Inside the carriage crossing the streets of the Imperial Capital, the noise from outside never ceased.
Pass through one alley and the next brings quarrels that start small with arguments but escalate to the sound of furniture breaking and screams.
Even the guards fought with each other, bickered, tried to break up the crowds only to end up fighting those very people.
“Whimper?”
The wolf resting its chin on Rozelin’s lap tilted its head.
“Anyway……did we really need to bring the wolf into such a cramped carriage?”
“Don’t twist words. The carriage isn’t cramped. My wolf is just large.”
Rozelin spoke with perfect confidence.
Animals grow quickly, and the wolf, expanding day by day, had reached a size where it could now flatten a grown man beneath its bulk.
“……Is that really what you should be saying while wedged in this narrow carriage with fur flying everywhere?”
Rozelin raised her head to look at Irbon and made a subtle expression.
“You’re the one wedged against the wolf’s rear. I’m hardly uncomfortable.”
“…….”
“Besides, she has separation anxiety, so there’s no helping it.”
Irbon lowered his gaze to see the wolf with only its front paws and chin placed politely on Rozelin, while its entire face was covered by its shaggy rear end.
Every time Rozelin stroked it, the tail wagged side to side, swatting Irbon’s cheeks repeatedly.
At this point, Irbon couldn’t help but reasonably suspect that the wolf was doing it on purpose.
“……A wolf with separation anxiety.”
Thwack, thwack, thwack.
Without even being petted, the wolf’s tail swayed and brushed across Irbon’s face as it passed.
“…….”
Irbon stared down at the wolf with a baffled expression, then let out an exasperated sigh.
“So what exactly is this monster born from the Abyss?”
“Ah…… It’s a name you’d only find in the Temple’s ancient doctrines…….”
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and opened his mouth.
The tail kept tickling his face, and he brushed it aside before managing to answer.
Whether the creature was simply too large or deliberately hiding itself, all he could hear was its voice.
Or was that a glimpse of hair above that massive frame?
Having given up on seeing Rozelin’s face, Irbon sighed in defeat.
“The Abyss.”
Once the tail finally stilled, Irbon released it and spoke softly.
“Some say it has existed since the very beginning of time, others claim it’s the origin of demons, and still others say it’s the genesis of the world itself.”
“Mm.”
Rozelin nodded her small head as she listened to the explanation.
“The certain thing is that despite it being something whose very existence cannot be confirmed, most ancient texts call it the ‘Origin of the World.'”
“I see.”
Rozelin nodded once more and laughed.
‘I have no idea what he’s talking about.’
Rozelin tilted her head with a subtle expression, completely lost in the conversation’s strange turns.
“You didn’t understand, did you?”
“No.”
“I suspected as much. If you had understood, you’d either be a genius or bound to devote yourself to the Temple—one or the other.”
He added an explanation that it was normal not to understand without reading theology texts, then continued.
“So to put it simply…….”
He rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression.
“It’s like an origin. Just as we call the being who first founded a family the founding Family Head, the being who first created the world—you might say ‘the Origin of the World’ would be more accurate. No one knows where it was born, what it looks like, why it appeared, or where it hides and lives, but there is an old oral tradition about it.”
So it’s like the first world, or perhaps the mother who gave birth to that first world.
She nodded lightly, having understood as much as her mind could grasp.
“Do you know what the word ‘Abyss’ means?”
“Oh, yes. In ancient tongue it’s definitely ‘deep……’…….”
The child suddenly paused mid-sentence.
Irbon smiled.
“Exactly. There’s also an old legend that says the Power of Abyss dwelling within us flows from the Abyss itself.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means the Abyss that should not have dwelt within us has nevertheless dwelt within us.”
Irbon grinned and suddenly pointed his finger toward the ceiling.
“It’s said to be a power for those above—for managing and controlling humans, in other words something like regulators or observers…… certain invisible things that maintain the world’s order.”
“……But why are you suddenly bringing this up?”
“Kyaung?”
The enormous wolf tilted its head in an annoyingly endearing way.
Irbon glanced at the wolf, then spoke again.
“So what I mean is, the monster born from the Abyss is the true master of this Abyss I’ve been describing.”
Rozelin’s head tilted slightly.
Something seemed about to surface in her mind, yet it did not.
‘What is it?’

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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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