The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 2

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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 2
‘It’s been a while.’
It was quite a novel sensation to see a phantom long dead standing before her with her head held high and straight.
‘The past?’
Rozerin slowly scanned her surroundings, then recalled from memory the woman who had died so shamefully, begging for salvation.
“Because you’re like this, your father is ashamed of you too, and Father also…….”
She let the rambling voice wash past her in one ear while turning her gaze toward the window.
A faint, bitter laugh leaked from between her lips.
“……Did you just laugh?”
At the shocked voice, Rozerin only then realized her stepmother was still chattering away beside her.
“You’ve brought such disgrace to the family name all this time……. And I’ve always been on your side! How could you treat me with such disrespect? How could you……sob, am I really that hateful to you?”
The moment Rozerin regained her senses, she caught herself, turning over in her mind what she’d just heard.
‘I attempted suicide?’
That was strange.
‘The me of the past would have gritted my teeth, endured, drawn a sword and thrown myself at her—but I was never the type to take my own life.’
Her stepmother had tormented her, all those years ago, knowing nothing of the girl she was tormenting.
But then came a day.
At a certain banquet, Rozerin realized that standing idle was not her only option, so she overturned a table and drew a decorative sword hanging in the dining hall, launching into a ferocious attack. After that, the stepmother stopped tormenting her openly.
‘What came after that were assassination and poisoning attempts instead.’
So she was certain: Rozerin had no such past as this.
She had never simply endured giving up on life, nor had she ever remained silent while hearing words that belittled herself.
‘……This isn’t the past.’
It didn’t feel like she’d returned to the past.
Once she’d thought that far, there naturally surfaced what Gerun had said at the end.
‘A Parallel World…….’
Could that actually be true?
“Don’t dismiss me like that! I just want you to do a little better…….”
I frowned.
The voice interrupting my thoughts was getting on my nerves considerably.
“You’re being loud.”
“……What?”
She opened her eyes wide.
“Ah, forgive me. You keep droning on beside me like a mosquito, so it’s rather loud. If you don’t mind, would you be kind enough to continue that somewhere else? As you can see, I’ve only just risen from my sickbed.”
“Good—good heavens, the way you’re talking. How could you……. I’m your mother! How—how could you say such things……. Who on earth are you! Why have you suddenly become so disrespectful…….”
“No, to be precise, you’re my prospective stepmother. The wedding hasn’t been held yet, after all.”
Judging from her unadorned dress with minimal jewelry, she was clearly still in the midst of playing coy quite earnestly.
Rozerin opened her mouth, watching her prospective stepmother gape wordlessly.
“Lady Carmel, whether you enter this household or not is of no concern to me…… just don’t cross my temper. If you do, then you…….”
Rozerin smiled softly.
At that, Lady Carmel unconsciously froze. The figure before her suddenly seemed like an entirely different person.
“Whether you sell off the Duchy’s business secrets, slowly poison Father to death, or plant your people throughout the residence…… I won’t interfere.”
“Rozerin-!”
At Rozerin’s words, Lady Carmel’s mouth fell open.
The beautiful face uttering such ominous words without the slightest shift in expression was chilling in itself.
“Let’s keep things easy between us. As long as you don’t trouble me, I won’t get in your way, no matter what you do.”
Rozerin offered the advice kindly, almost as counsel.
She looked down at the girl who would become her stepdaughter, speaking each word clearly while meeting her eyes directly.
‘……Who exactly is this child?’
She felt displeased at the realization that she herself felt chilled, yet found herself swallowing unconsciously.
It was as if she’d thrust her head before a beast.
This sickly, timid girl of the Bellion Duchy, the most insignificant of noble daughters—one who would have her spirits crushed by a single sharp word from her and couldn’t manage even a proper reply.
Even the maidservants had ignored her, and she would only glare savagely in return while keeping her mouth shut, a woman with no honor whatsoever.
That she had once grown out her bangs to hide her ugly face, concealing those bloodshot, grotesque eyes of her own accord, and now swept back her hair to meet others’ gazes—this itself was startling.
But what was even more startling than that…….
‘How did she know?’
The way she recited it, as though she knew of all her plans.
“Ha…… beasts won’t understand gentle words, which is why it’s so irritating.”
At the low, muttered words of Rozerin, a maid who usually served Lady Carmel obediently opened her mouth.
“Miss, isn’t that a bit too harsh a thing to say? The Lady—Kyaaagh!”
Lady Carmel’s eyes snapped wide open.
Something flashed past her eyes in an instant, and it was her loyal maid who had stepped forward in her place who now screamed.
“Not the young lady, but Lady Carmel. And I’m the Duke’s daughter.”
“Aaah, it hurts, it hurts!”
“Rozerin! What on earth are you doing——!”
Lady Carmel let out a cry of protest.
“If you wish to become the lady of this household, Lady Carmel, perhaps you ought to educate your servants better first.”
Rozerin turned her head with a smile.
Her lips curved upward in a pleasant laugh, but her eyes remained cold.
Her unkempt hair, with its ragged edges, made her appear all the more unsettling, and through those disheveled strands, the crimson gleam of her eyes kept Lady Carmel from speaking further.
With nothing but her lips opening and closing soundlessly, she stood frozen, pointing at Rozerin, who continued laughing while gripping the maid’s hair.
“Do I need to tell you to leave my room a second time before you’ll actually go?”
“……You, you really…….”
“Get out.”
“……Don’t think this ends here. I’m, I’m truly devastated…….”
Lady Carmel, who had been glaring at Rozerin’s pleasant expression, turned away with tears streaming down her face.
“You really can’t be helped with any advice, can you.”
Rozerin clicked her tongue, anticipating the troublesome matters that would soon come her way.
So long as they didn’t bother her, she genuinely didn’t care what anyone did within the Bellion Duchy Residence.
But conversely, that also meant——
if they did bother her, she was quite prepared to drag them down into the abyss.
And exactly three days later, she received an invitation to a formal dinner at the Duke’s household.
* * *
Over the past three days, Rozerin had gathered information and pieced together several deductions about her situation.
1. This place is a Parallel World roughly ten years before the day I died, and I am currently seventeen years old.
2. Though it is a Parallel World, the people I know exist here as well, and the major and minor incidents I recall occur in much the same fashion.
3. Unlike my past, my circumstances here are poor. The servants regard me with subtle mockery or indifference, and I have no personal maid assigned to me.
4. The people I remember are not identical, but nearly so.
Recalling how a maid who had once shown her kindness was now merely an extension of Lady Carmel’s will, Rozerin finished tucking away her fallen hair.
There was only one thing Rozerin had decided upon while gathering this information.
In this world, she would simply live quietly, demurely, comfortably, and ordinarily.
‘I’m tired of being hunted, tired of being pointed at.’
Rozerin opened her wardrobe and frowned at the sight of worn, drab dresses.
“My stepmother hasn’t changed a bit.”
Still foolish, still one-dimensional.
But then again, that was why, even after she had managed to bring down the Bellion ducal house in that other life, she had never escaped the Bishop.
Here too, she received orders periodically and did only as instructed.
‘Which is why she was so easy to kill.’
Rozerin parted her long, harsh bangs down the middle and tucked them behind her ears as she thought.
With her vision suddenly clear, she looked into the mirror and pulled on a black dress from the wardrobe.
“There’s much to be done.”
She draped on a Pearl Necklace that looked patently false, and to conceal her pallid appearance, she applied a garish crimson lipstick—almost cheap-looking in its brightness—before examining herself in the mirror.
Her brilliant scarlet eyes and equally scarlet lips contrasted sharply against her pure white skin, making her stand out unmistakably.
A smile curved her lips.
‘How long has it been.’

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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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