The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 22

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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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Chapter 22
Arma had let her flee first to face the assassin alone, but she never appeared at the promised location.
So except for this man before her, Roselin had never seen anyone stand in her way.
It wasn’t because she was strong.
It was because no one had ever tried to block her path.
Not inside the Duke’s Residence, and not outside it either.
So she had learned to live without even expecting help.
She had learned to do things on her own.
Even if she cried, there was no one to comfort her; if she complained of hardship, she only burdened others more.
‘Then I simply have to endure it alone.’
That was how she had lived all these years.
The twenty-seven years Roselin had lived in her own world were years spent growing accustomed to loneliness.
As a result, it no longer mattered to her whether someone protected her or not.
That was why she could bear it even when people pointed at her as a ruthless villainess who cast aside family ties and knew no loyalty.
She survived just fine even when branded a criminal, wrongly accused of murdering the Third Prince—an act of regicide against the imperial bloodline.
The year of running had lasted only twelve months, yet in that single year Roselin learned more than in twenty-six years before it.
She gained enough medical knowledge to treat her own wounds.
She learned how to survive alone without leaning on anyone.
She discovered that theft was far more difficult than she’d imagined.
She felt that there were almost no people worth trusting.
She developed the patience to endure pain.
She learned that merely enduring, persisting, and saying nothing was not the answer.
She realized there were things that wouldn’t be conveyed unless she spoke them.
She carved into her being the way to live alone.
She came to know piercing loneliness.
She discovered love.
She learned what loss was.
……She had learned regret.
“Granddaughter, are you all right?”
So that was it…….
At those words, Roselin felt something catch in her throat.
She had abandoned such notions of kinship long ago…….
Why did those few words cut so deeply?
She couldn’t even remember the last time someone had asked if she was all right.
But Roselin found herself thinking.
She had thought that her returned life wasn’t good, but wasn’t bad either—yet now she realized that wasn’t quite true.
It was then.
Suddenly Roselin’s vision blurred.
Patter.
In an instant, tears spilled from her eyes.
The first to notice was Devon, who had been asking after her, and he went rigid.
Next was Certi, standing behind them.
And last…….
“……Miss Roselin?”
It was Arma, blocking her path.
He stared at her with the wide, shocked eyes of someone who had witnessed something utterly impossible.
“Are you—are you all right? Are you hurt somewhere? I can—wait, no. I mean—here, let me just…….”
Arma stumbled, then hurriedly fumbled for something and thrust it toward Roselin.
“Granddaughter!! Why are you crying!!”
Devon, who had stood gaping for a long moment, shoved Arma aside and rushed forward, his voice booming.
Crying?
‘Who?’
Roselin stared blankly.
“Was it that bastard? Did that son of a—did someone hurt you?! Damn it, that ×××× of a ××××, I’ll grind that ××× to dust and ××, I swear it. This disgusting ××××, wants to die so badly they’re losing their mind——!”
Around him, a strange wind began to swirl with deadly force.
Despite being indoors.
Roselin panicked and was about to reach out when——
“……Little one.”
A trembling hand grasped the hem of her clothes.
“You…….”
Certi’s fingertips trembled faintly.
Roselin noticed the water droplets falling — plink, plink — onto the floor before she realized she was crying.
“……Oh.”
She let out a soft exclamation at the tears streaming down her cheeks.
“……I haven’t the faintest idea what’s happening at such a joyful banquet that the Lady and I have attended after so long.”
Someone placed a hand on Roselin’s shoulder with a soft tap.
“Roselin, are you all right?”
Now Garen the Marquess had appeared as well.
Roselin found herself seriously wishing to faint.
But despite her frail body, Roselin’s mental fortitude was surprisingly steel-spined…….
Unfortunately, fainting refused to come.
“……Garen, Marquess……!”
So instead, Roselin pulled out a small Pill from the pocket sewn into her sleeve and shoved it down the throat of Certi, who stood gaping in shock, using her finger as a tool.
“Gack—!”
Certi, who had been staggering and about to run wild, lost consciousness.
That was it.
Since Roselin could not faint, she had decided to make someone else faint instead.
And it had succeeded brilliantly.
* * *
“Is this real?”
Roselin lay in bed with a cool Wet Towel draped across her forehead, murmuring softly to herself.
A room with a chandelier so ornate it was almost garish, and proportions so grand and sprawling — golden light glinting from every direction — that one could only wish to stare at the ceiling.
A bed so spacious it could comfortably fit five people, absurdly oversized.
An array of Gift Bundles placed at the head of the bed.
And elaborate flowers arranged in a Vase so excessive it could barely hold them all.
Indeed.
Roselin was now lying on an enormous bed in an enormous room of the palace, having been assigned quarters through the Emperor’s thoughtful arrangement.
The reason was simple enough.
‘Just because I cried a little yesterday, I had to develop a fever.’
Now that she thought about it, she seemed fragile around this time.
The banquet had ended so chaotically yesterday, and she’d noticed her body felt a bit warm, but she’d paid it no mind.
Back when she was living apart from the family, a Fever of this degree would have been laughable.
Was that why?
Thinking back, she seemed to have been healthiest then.
A Fever of this magnitude was actually proof that her cells were working hard, so she had been able to live energetically.
But now, thanks to her overly protective guardians, she was buried beneath thick, snow-white blankets with only her neck exposed.
‘Moving around would probably be better.’
Once you grew accustomed to a Fever like this, it became nothing at all.
If she were to become independent again, she’d have to live alone, and complaining every time something like this happened would be tedious.
From experience, a sickly constitution was simply a matter of getting used to it.
So after brief deliberation, Roselin sat up in bed.
Since she was already at the Imperial Palace, she thought she might as well visit the Library.
She wanted to understand the current situation better and narrow the gap between this world and her original one as much as possible.
Of course, becoming independent didn’t mean she intended to live as a beggar like before, so she needed to think of an appropriate business venture.
‘And……I’ll need to catch the culprit behind the Missing Persons Case soon.’
But the reason she wasn’t moving immediately was that this Missing Persons Case wasn’t expected to escalate for a while yet.
Even if it did occur, Garen the Marquess would handle it on his own.
The problem was the business.
‘I’ve already given the Nodaji Mine to the family…….’
It was a mine that Roselin alone could not have managed anyway.
Since she’d also prevented it from falling into others’ hands, that was a decent outcome.
‘Let me go to the Library first and think about what comes next.’
She thought briefly, draped a shawl over her shoulders, and left the room.
She had no idea that such an insignificant action would turn the Imperial Palace upside down.

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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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