The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 23

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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 23
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Arma of the Dianitas Empire.
He was the third prince of the Dianitas Empire.
He was also an illegitimate child of the Emperor.
The only son born to the one woman to whom the Emperor—who decided everything with calculation—had given his sincere heart.
Born after a difficult labor, the Emperor could not bring himself to want another child from Arma’s mother.
The Emperor loved Arma’s mother with genuine devotion.
She alone could defy the Emperor’s will, and she alone knew everything about him.
Yet remarkably, she was not the Empress.
She did not even reside in the Imperial Palace.
The reason Arma was treated as an illegitimate child was that the Emperor granted her no power whatsoever.
Moreover, he kept her in a manor with stringent security measures.
But following a major arson incident that had occurred before, the world believed she had died.
Because the Emperor had decreed it so, she became a dead woman.
Arma had grown up his entire life under the stigma of illegitimacy.
The dead cannot be killed.
One cannot compete with the dead.
Therefore, Arma’s mother was the safest of all the Emperor’s possessions.
It was absurd, really—that the Emperor, who lacked nothing under heaven, cherished above all else a commoner he had met during a secret incognito journey.
Or so Arma thought, standing alone before the Emperor in private audience.
“So…you wish me to release Jill Robert?”
The Emperor, sprawled across a sofa in disheveled attire, tilted his wine glass and chuckled softly as he asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Arma bowed his head slightly and gave a brief response.
A large gauze patch was conspicuously affixed to his fair, bashfully smiling face.
The state banquet had been postponed two days as a result of yesterday’s incident, and dissolved.
The matter had been complicated precisely because the Bellion Duke House was involved, and Arma—unexpectedly—had stepped in.
Had Arma not intervened, it would have ended as a mere dispute between nobles.
But the moment Arma became involved, it became a Lese-Majesty Crime.
Of course, the Emperor, Sebirus of the Dianitas Empire, harbored no doubt that his whimsical youngest son had calculated everything.
“You will not prosecute him for Lese-Majesty?”
“No…. I imagine Baron Robert wouldn’t wish to lose his head over such a trivial matter either.”
It would be more accurate to say he was trying not to suspect.
“I did make a mistake, after all…….”
As he scratched his cheek with his index finger, a hint of awkwardness showed through.
“……A mistake?”
“Yes. Haha…….”
The Emperor knew that this foolish manner and expression, as though he might weep at any moment, was not sincere.
A peculiar one who could easily stand above his lacking elder brothers, yet stubbornly insisted on this bumbling act out of sheer laziness.
Yet the Emperor knew that the word ‘mistake’ just now was genuine.
‘A man as calculating as myself—making a mistake?’
The Emperor narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin.
He was gauging the sincerity.
“Well, if you who are the interested party don’t mind, I’ll have him released.”
The Emperor recalled the dozens of lengthy letters and petitions he had received from Baron Robert, and answered.
“I do feel for Baron Robert.”
He spoke with a tone that suggested no sympathy whatsoever.
“A man of his standing, yet his only son is such a fool.”
Over sixty in years, he would never see a new heir, and the next baron would inevitably be that thoughtless wretch.
“He was meticulous enough in disposition, and handled his duties reasonably well, yet how spectacularly he failed at raising his son.”
The Emperor intoned softly, habit-worn laughter playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Hahaha, Your Majesty, you are indeed…….”
At that knowing glance—the kind that says ‘don’t speak ill of in-laws’—he shrugged his shoulders.
“I have not particularly failed. I have something quite excellent right before my eyes.”
He flicked his fingers and spoke lightly, smiling.
It was then.
Knock, knock.
There was a presence beyond the door, followed by a neat tapping sound.
The Emperor tilted his wine glass in his reclined posture and gestured to Arma with a nod of his head.
“Come in.”
Arma opened his mouth with a gentle smile.
Even as he watched his youngest son steadfastly maintain respectful speech despite being a prince, the Emperor gave a light shrug.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had a proper conversation with my son. What brings this interruption?”
At the Emperor’s unexpectedly casual tone, the soldier who had entered bowed hurriedly.
“My apologies. It seemed urgent enough to report immediately.”
“Oh…… Has something happened?”
Arma asked in a guileless manner.
“The Lady Bellion has disappeared! A maid who came to check on her condition discovered it and came to inform us in a panic…….”
Thud.
Arma started to rise from his seat, then caught himself as he glanced at the Emperor.
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed fractionally, catching that minute movement.
‘Ah.’
The Emperor brought his wine glass to his lips, a silent laugh escaping him.
‘Now there’s something Silia would enjoy hearing.’
He recalled the hidden jewel he would soon visit, and spoke slowly.
“Father, I should be taking my leave…….”
“My youngest, humor your father. He finds himself rather bored.”
Catching the hint of amusement in the Emperor’s voice, Arma smiled awkwardly at him.
* * *
“……There’s far less information than I expected.”
Rozerin murmured softly, her eyes straining from hours spent poring over books in the Imperial Library.
She had no way of knowing what changes, if any, existed between the world she originally knew and this one.
So her plan to study Kalutha’s latest affairs and culture a bit more before going there felt somewhat lacking.
Since she had only heard stories of Kalutha, she knew almost nothing about its particular customs and traditions.
‘This is practically gambling.’
After cross-referencing what was available, it did seem largely similar to what she remembered.
‘But still, time has already gotten away from me.’
Rozerin turned her head to look out the window.
Outside the glass, dusk had already settled in.
Realizing she had come here before noon and skipped her lunch meal, Rozerin stretched and rose from her seat.
She was about to return the book she’d been reading to the shelf.
Bang.
The library door, which had been closed, suddenly swung shut with a sound, and someone abruptly grabbed her shoulder.
Rozerin’s eyes widened slightly.
In the split second she realized she’d been grabbed from behind, she was raising the thick book she held to swing it.
“My lady……! So you were here.”
“……Third Prince?”
Rozerin froze at the sight of the young man with thick gauze affixed to his cheek.
“What brings you here…….”
“You suddenly disappeared, and everyone has been searching for you. I happened to discover this place while looking for you…….”
Arma spoke with a smile despite his reddened cheek.
“Everyone is in quite an uproar. Especially the Young Duke and the Duke—they’re talking about kidnapping, mysterious disappearances, turning the Imperial Palace upside down…….”
His voice trailed off, and Rozerin hesitated.
At his unexpected words, Rozerin’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Surely they haven’t already……?”
“No, not to that extent yet.”
Rozerin caught a subtle nuance in Arma’s answer.
Not to that extent yet, but the implication was that they were close to doing so.
“……I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble—I was simply reading and lost track of time.”
“Yes, that seems to be the case. I’m relieved you’re safe. I’ll send word immediately that you’ve been found.”
A faint smell of alcohol wafted from him as he spoke reassuringly.
“By the way, have you been drinking?”
“Ah, yes. The Emperor asked me to keep him company……. Does it show?”
At Rozerin’s words, Arma’s face fell, and he buried his nose in his own sleeve, sniffing and asking earnestly.
He stepped back a few paces, as though worried the smell might cling to her.
Rozerin, watching him, slowly shook her head.
“No, it’s not like that.”
“Well, my lady.”
In the library where darkness had settled and candles now provided the only light, Arma stood quite close to her.
“Yes.”
Arma’s lips parted, but he said nothing. Rozerin shrugged and spoke first.
“Thank you for coming to find me. I should go before I cause any more trouble.”
Rozerin recalled her father, who visited her chambers at least once a day without fail, and her brow creased.
Somehow, she doubted that mentally fragile father of hers would be holding up well.
‘…Mental fragility.’
It struck her as oddly amusing now.
Rozerin conjured the image of her father as she had always known him—towering, imposing, terrifying.
He was a man one could not easily approach, a man who inspired dread.
‘Father might be spiraling again.’
…was not a thought he would normally inspire in her.
“I heard you’ve been admitted to the Kalutha Diplomatic Expedition. Would it… be all right if I came along?”
Rozerin froze at the voice that caught her just as she was stepping out of the library.
She turned to look at him, her expression first confused, then uncertain, before she shook her head.
“No.”
There was no possibility of that.
Rozerin answered curtly, then opened the door and stepped outside.

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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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