The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 28

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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 28
With a flick of the Red Mask’s fingers, the masks fell away from their faces.
What emerged was dark, mottled skin and green eyes. And silver hair.
The escort knight had navy hair.
“We’ll kill you. Do you know who we are……!”
“Who? No, that’s not it.”
The Red Mask laughed softly, a low chuckle.
“You aren’t people. You’re livestock.”
As he clenched his fist, their heads vanished entirely.
“My apologies for the unsightly display, my lady.”
“Not impressed.”
“Still, thanks to you I’ve acquired some fine merchandise to fetch a handsome price. Consider it a token of my gratitude—name your price.”
At the Red Mask’s words, Rozerin nodded at once.
“If you’re that apologetic, give me this one and the two you just caught for five hundred million.”
“……Pardon?”
The Red Mask paused at Rozerin’s brazen demand, repeating it as a question.
“……That’s quite the joke.”
“Does it look like a joke?”
Rozerin gave a light shrug.
“Of course, I’ll compensate you for the catch.”
She dangled a Blank Check lightly as she spoke.
It bore the seal of the Wilbrid Family.
The man’s eyes narrowed at the sight of it.
“For the catch, one hundred million should suffice, yes?”
The blue eyes behind the Red Mask fixed on Rozerin.
“Amusing. So you’re offering me a finder’s fee?”
“You think you’re the sort who’d accept a finder’s fee from me?”
“Why not? Am I not to your taste?”
“And if you’re not?”
He faltered at her words.
The man in the Red Mask stood in silence for a long while, arms folded across his chest.
“What is your taste, then?”
“My taste?”
At her counterquestion, the Red Mask nodded.
Somewhere in the exchange, everyone around them except the White Mask Guide had vanished.
“I suppose—a handsome man who’s kind and affectionate, with impeccable manners?”
The man’s brow furrowed behind the mask.
“……You’re rather inconsistent. Stick to one thing, at least.”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
He muttered under his breath, then waved his hand through the air before finally speaking again.
“One billion. All three for one billion.”
Rozerin’s brow furrowed.
‘Maybe I should just let them die.’
One billion was exactly the amount she’d planned to spend.
‘I was going to do some shopping with what was left over.’
Her father had given her dozens of Blank Checks as allowance, but she had no intention of using them.
Count Garen’s money, on the other hand, was quite enjoyable to spend.
“Fine. But throw in the jewelry set made from ‘Rose Diamond’ that’s going up for auction this time.”
It was a gem with an opening bid of five hundred million.
“……I never would have guessed the empire’s princess was a swindler.”
Rozerin went still.
‘Typical of the Information Guild—they know everything, even the emperor’s birthmarks.’
Did they manage to identify the attendees, then?
“How flattering—to be called a swindler by a swindler.”
Rozerin laughed brightly, concealing her alarm. The Red Mask folded his arms and tilted his head.
“Hmm. No—I’ll give it all to you for free.”
At the Red Mask’s sudden words, Rozerin’s expression shifted subtly.
He stepped closer and bowed his head, bringing his masked face right to her ear.
“If you’ll become my ‘Queen.'”
A low voice whispered in secret.
“Just make it 1.5 billion.”
Rozerin answered with a look of disgust, as though the matter bored her.
……
Silence settled over them.
* * *
“Hello there.”
She greeted him with a slight smile as she climbed into the carriage alongside her escort.
At Rozerin’s words, the child’s fierce eyes narrowed further.
The boy in shabby clothes had clearly not eaten properly—his cheeks were sunken—yet his gaze burned with something savage.
As if he would kill at the first opening.
It was enough that her escort had insisted on riding inside the carriage with them.
……
The boy from Kaluta stared at Rozerin with his lips pressed firmly shut.
“I’m Rozerin Bellion. You can just call me Rozerin if you’d like—or even sister, if you prefer.”
Her attempt at friendliness was met with cold silence.
The boy turned away sharply.
Despite wearing the Control Collar, his murderous, menacing aura showed no sign of diminishing.
He didn’t seem frightened in the slightest.
……
“I’m heading to Kaluta in a few days.”
At Rozerin’s words, the boy reacted for the first time.
His shoulders flinched. He slowly turned his head back toward her, regarding her intently.
“You think I’m fool enough to fall for that?”
Yet his lips twitched at the corners—hope flickering across his face despite his denial.
Rozerin laughed lightly at his transparent emotions.
“You don’t want to go?”
“Wh-who said I didn’t?”
The boy’s voice rose to a shout, but it soon softened, and he continued speaking.
“That is… truly? If you tell me the price you paid for me, I can arrange it with my fath—I mean, my father—and if you would simply take me there, I will repay you with gratitude and compensation, I swear it.”
The silver-haired boy spoke with tension in his neck, holding Rozerin’s gaze.
Few knew it, but silver hair was considered a symbol of rulership in Kaluta.
Among the distinctive traits that appeared in the strong Kalutans, silver hair was one.
“That won’t be necessary.”
Rozerin answered flatly.
What she truly sought was improved relations with Kaluta and the establishment of a trade route.
Kaluta and the Dianitas Empire shared a border and had engaged in constant skirmishes for a long time.
The battles were not large in scale, but they were relentless, and small casualties mounted.
Kaluta was a nation built by barbarian tribes.
Covered in forests and mountains, it was a fortress town set into cliffs—difficult to invade and even harder to wage war against.
“Not necessary…?”
“Right.”
At Rozerin’s words, the boy’s expression grew complicated.
“Why? You don’t understand, but I’m someone great—”
“I’m going to Kaluta in a few days as part of a diplomatic envoy, and I didn’t want any more problems arising in the empire, so I simply rescued you.”
“…You’re going to Kaluta as an envoy?”
At his suspicious gaze, Rozerin nodded.
“You? A frail woman who’s obviously weak?”
The boy, whose head barely reached her shoulders, spoke with contempt.
His expression twisted into a scowl as he pressed on in an aggressive tone.
“Does the empire lack talent so badly that it sends a weak woman like you as an envoy?”
The boy spoke with evident rage.
Rozerin paused for a moment.
‘…When was the last time I heard myself called weak?’
She found herself momentarily bewildered, having heard the word twice in such short succession.
‘Now that I think about it, Kaluta does have an abundance of those types.’
The Kalutans valued beauty.
Women admired handsome men, and men admired beautiful women.
And they considered all humans outside their own people to be delicate and fragile.
So strictly speaking, Kalutans weren’t so much lustful as they were overprotective of “fragile foreigners.”
What more could be said about overprotection toward a “frail foreign woman”?
Of course, goodwill would need to be the foundation beneath it all.
‘The King of Kaluta knows duty even without goodwill.’
If she brought him his son and the kidnapper as a gift, he would surely grant her his favor.
“There’s one thing I want from you. I’d like it if you’d respect me instead of speaking down to me.”
“……I don’t speak formally to those weaker than myself.”
“But you were saved by me, weren’t you?”
“That was…… because you and your lot used underhanded tricks……!”
Seeing the boy cry out with a choked expression, Rozerin burst into laughter.
At her laughter, the boy’s eyes widened slightly. In that instant, his cheeks flushed crimson.

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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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