The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 36

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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 36
The man who had been posing as “Khan” approached Rozerin with a towel in hand.
As he rubbed her hair with the cloth, the crimson dye that had been staining her locks faded away, revealing her true silver hair beneath.
She wore only a cloth draped across her chest and short trousers, with flowing silk garments layered over them.
Adorned with jewelry dangling from her forearms and wrists like an ornate dancer, she appeared at first glance to be a woman favored by kings.
Yet there was a high probability that all those ornaments were filled with Spirit Stones on the inside.
She needed such adornments to suppress her power.
“I’ve heard of it before.”
Rozerin answered.
“From whom?”
“From Sansar, the person I just mentioned.”
The woman who heard Rozerin’s words laughed silently and rubbed her chin.
She was beautiful.
Despite her middle years, an almost palpable allure seemed to radiate from her entire being.
‘Is this what it feels like to be bewitched by someone?’
The moment her guard slipped even slightly, she sensed she would fall under the woman’s spell and speak anything at all.
She was, by far, the most captivating woman Rozerin had ever encountered in her life.
The woman burst into laughter, tilting her head slightly.
“Did Sansar also explain why only women can become Khan?”
Rozerin gave a small nod in response to the question tinged with amusement.
“I heard that the power passed down to the Khan can only be fully wielded when the bearer is female… so the strongest woman in the tribe is chosen to become Khan.”
And to protect that Khan from external threats, the strongest man was placed as the tribe’s leader, acting as the public face of the “Khan.”
This was a secret known to no one outside the Kaluta Tribe.
In other words, the man who had been posing as “Khan” until moments ago was merely a public decoy meant to protect the true Khan.
A living shield that could die at any moment if fortune turned cruel.
The woman listening quietly to Rozerin’s words suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
She straightened her previously slouched posture, smirking as she raised her index finger.
“Correct. But there’s one more reason.”
“Another… reason?”
“The god we revere was born in a male form, yet yearned to be female. So they say he adorned himself outwardly like a woman.”
Rozerin’s expression grew subtly complicated.
The woman continued.
“You know that after Kaluta unified the tribes, we became a nation called ‘Kaluta,’ don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“But long, long before that, we whom others called ‘savages’ were all wanderers—the Ruta.”
Rozerin managed her expression and nodded as the woman spoke of this uncomfortable history without hesitation.
“And every Ruta has a god they revere. We have a Unique God.”
“A Unique God?”
“Yes. That god’s name has been passed down to us like this.”
Clear, vivid green eyes that had not faded despite her age gazed directly at Rozerin.
“Sansar.”
Rozerin froze.
The woman’s—the Khan’s—eyes widened, and Rozerin fell silent.
“… Wait. A god? How could such a thing even be possible…?”
“It’s natural you don’t believe it. I don’t trust it either. But among what you’ve told me, there are things no one from outside could possibly know.”
The Khan peered into Rozerin’s bewildered crimson eyes and continued.
“Did they leave you any other message?”
Rozerin’s brow furrowed.
“Just… that if a day ever came when I needed help, I should go to Kaluta…”
And…
Rozerin’s brow tightened as she concentrated.
“And…”
The hazy memory grew clearer the more she turned it over in her mind.
“If there ever comes a day when you need help, go to Kaluta. Learning this language and my name will be useful to you.”
“Thank you.”
“In return, though, Rozerin—if a miracle ever befalls you one day, help my Kaluta.”
“… What are you suddenly talking about?”
“I want those children to experience a wider world. I hope they survive, even if it’s only like that—not perishing.”
“… Lady Leon!”
“What in the world have you been saying this whole time…?”
“In exchange, I’ll share my strength with you. When your Abyss awakens someday, my power will bloom alongside it.”
“What exactly is…….”
“What you call the Abyss. Power that flows from the……of the Deep.”
“……Sansar?”
“Rozerin!!”
At the sound of someone calling her name, Rozerin’s eyes snapped open.
The first thing she saw was a vast expanse like an endless ocean—but it was a pair of blue eyes.
Startled, she blinked, keeping her lips pressed firmly together.
“……Your Highness?”
Rozerin drew a sharp breath at the face looming inches from hers, stumbling over her words.
“Thank heavens…….”
Arma released a long sigh and pulled her into his arms.
Rozerin flinched.
“Did I……do something wrong?”
“You suddenly went rigid, like you’d collapsed, and wouldn’t move…….”
Rozerin awkwardly lifted her hand and patted his back a couple of times before letting it fall away.
“I’m fine now.”
As she twisted her body slightly, Arma’s form stiffened belatedly.
Watching him hurry backward, she let out a low laugh and turned her head.
“Forgive me.”
“No, it’s all right. Are you unwell?”
“No, I suddenly……remembered a conversation with Sansar.”
Rozerin’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Sansar? It seems he left you with more than just instructions to go to Kaluta.”
“He said he hoped that someday I would help the Kaluta Tribe.”
Rozerin nodded lightly in response.
She had chosen to share only what could be told from among all that had been said.
‘……The Deep? And Abyss Awakening?’
It almost sounded as though Rozerin herself possessed an Abyss.
No—more than that, he seemed certain of it.
Yet by all that Rozerin knew, she was powerless. She had lived her entire life knowing herself to be powerless.
A sickly body born not knowing when it might fail, a weakling who possessed only authority.
“You would help us?”
The woman’s voice carried a note of mockery, yet her gaze was sharp as a blade.
“Surely Sansar told you we were destined to fall?”
At the Khan’s words, Rozerin paused.
Now that she thought of it, Kaluta had been fated to ruin.
Had Rozerin not brought back his son Batar.
Had she not caught the one who had kidnapped and sought to murder Batar.
War would have come, and they would have been destroyed.
“Perhaps that may have come to pass.”
Rozerin spoke with measured calm.
Then a sharper edge turned toward her.
“In any case, shall we come to the heart of the matter, Khan?”
Rozerin opened her mouth, careful not to betray the dull ache building behind her eyes.
“His Majesty wishes to forge an alliance with the Kaluta Tribe. He also desires to open trade routes.”
At her words, the Khan’s expression grew visibly indifferent.
Resting his chin on his hand, the Khan let the pleasantness fade from his face and regarded Rozerin with unmistakable disdain.
“Opening borders brings us no advantage. It only exposes our lands—lands that have remained a mystery to our enemies—to their gaze. We are self-sufficient and have wanted for nothing in our isolation.”
“…….”
“So no matter how many times you come and speak, all you bring us is a tedious tale from an invader.”
As Rozerin listened to the Khan’s arrogant words—words grounded in enough justification—she shifted her gaze toward Naryan, the princess of Kaluta.
The girl who had laughed so brightly now wore an enigmatic smile as she watched Rozerin.
‘……So she is the next Khan.’
And the boy publicly known as the minor chieftain was clearly the future leader of the tribe.
“Khan, as history proves, it takes far less time than you might think for an invader to become the vanquished.”
Rozerin’s smile was radiant, yet carried that familiar mockery—as though she were laughing at him.
The Khan’s brow twitched.
“Shall I speak plainly?”
“…….”
“At this rate, the Kaluta Tribe will collapse within a decade.”
Rozerin tapped the table lightly with her fingertip.
“And if I were the invader… I think I’d target the next leader first.”
Rozerin’s gaze settled on Naryan.
In that same instant——
Crash!
The table Khan struck with his fist split cleanly in two.
“…….”
Rozerin went rigid, careful not to show it.
Cold sweat traced down her spine in rivulets.
That day, the negotiation ended without resolution.

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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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