The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 41

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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 41
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“The winner—Arma!”
“The winner—Hatan!”
With each successive victory, the crowd’s cheers swelled louder.
Rozelin sat motionless in her chair, blinking as she heard of Arma’s unexpected string of wins.
‘……He was that strong?’
She glanced once at the Kaluuta warriors sprawled across the arena floor, then lifted her gaze again to watch Arma stretching out his limbs.
The Kaluuta were warriors of the highest order—each said to be worth a hundred common soldiers.
They were beings who found unarmed combat easier than wielding a blade, monsters in their own right.
Even in a match where death was not the goal, it was simply impossible to believe that Arma was methodically cutting them down with his sword.
‘……But then, with strength like that, why did he die to assassins?’
Rozelin watched in silence as he continued his winning streak.
‘Were the assassins really that formidable?’
She sifted through her memories.
They had been strong, certainly, and numerous—but they lacked the monstrous power of these Kaluuta warriors.
“What the hell. When did that bastard overcome his trauma?”
The soft mutter from beside her made Rozelin turn her head.
Yuldian sat squinting at Arma across the sprawling Training Grounds, his brow furrowed.
“Trauma?”
At Rozelin’s question, Yuldian glanced at her—then froze.
His face flushed crimson.
“You—you! Don’t you know how to dress properly?! How dare you show yourself in such an indecent state before the empire’s prince!”
Rozelin gave Yuldian a flat, unimpressed look, letting her eyes slide from his head down to his feet.
“How amusing, coming from someone sitting on another man’s lap in an even more scandalous outfit.”
Rozelin smiled sweetly, and Yuldian’s whole body trembled.
His face burning with shame, he squirmed and writhed, trying to escape from Naryan’s arms, which were wrapped snugly around his waist.
Naryan, who had been watching the match with Yuldian perched on his lap, began patting the prince’s backside playfully.
“Ow! Ow! Stop! It hurts!”
“Sweetheart, hush. You can’t make a fuss during the match.”
“Who are you calling—”
Naryan pouted his lips, and Yuldian’s mouth snapped shut.
The prince, who had once sneered at serving girls and young mistresses for their fumbles, calling them mere “women” to mock them—he seemed to have finally met his match.
“How can you be so beautiful…….”
Naryan murmured, holding Yuldian’s waist tightly as he nuzzled his face against the prince’s back.
“The Empress said that if the alliance holds, a National Marriage might even be possible, so let’s do our best, sweetheart.”
“What?! What nonsense are you—”
“How is it that even when you’re this angry and fierce, you’re still so adorable? I think I’ve fallen for you at first sight, truly…….”
Yuldian was alarmed by Naryan’s unrestrained affections.
‘The Khan is actually considering a National Marriage.’
Still, a National Marriage was one of the most effective ways to bind two nations together.
The Emperor loved his children, and the Kaluuta placed great value on family bonds.
“Just—get off me!”
Yuldian shoved Naryan away, his voice sharp.
“……Get off? In all my life, you’re the first person to ever say that to me.”
“……Argh! I’m going mad, truly!”
Yuldian cried out as if in agony.
Rozelin watched him with mild distaste, noting that despite his protests, he was not being violent.
‘Then again, any violence he tried would only hurt himself.’
Rozelin observed Yuldian with an expression wholly devoid of sympathy, then turned her attention back to the arena.
“The winner—Hatan!”
The announcement of the semi-final’s end rang out.
‘The Second Prince has probably never met a woman stronger than himself before.’
For all his bluster, his swordsmanship was quite exceptional.
When the war with Kaluuta had truly erupted, Yuldian and the First Prince had taken the front lines, commanding the forces personally.
“Did the Third Prince have a trauma……?”
“Yes. When he was young, he nearly died to an assassin, and after that, he’d tremble at the sight of anything sharp.”
Yuldian let out a derisive laugh as he answered her question.
“Ridiculous—born a prince, he should’ve faced worse than that more than once. Yet after that incident, he couldn’t even hold a sword without shaking like a leaf…….”
Yuldian narrowed his eyes as he watched Arma.
‘But that skill… after nearly ten years away from the blade?’
If he’d truly set down his sword, such technique should have been impossible.
‘……Then has that bastard been deceiving us all this time?’
Yuldian shook his head at the absurdity of his own thought.
‘No. That can’t be it.’
Feeling Yuldian’s gaze, Arma slowly turned his head.
He looked at Yuldian in silence for a moment, then his eyes drifted to Rozelin, seated beside him.
“The final match begins! Our contenders are Hatan, representative of the Kaluuta, and—showing remarkable prowess—the Third Prince of our prospective allied nation, Arma!”
The Kaluuta announcer bounced on his feet, his booming voice carrying across the grounds, and he grinned wickedly.
“Now then, let us commence the final ma—wait just a moment!”
The two competitors, already in stance, froze. The spectators, wound tight with anticipation, erupted in jeers all at once.
Yet the announcer only beamed through it all, spinning in place.
Hatan, who had returned to Rozelin’s side, suddenly burst into laughter. He looked at Rozelin and grinned.
“Hatan is no weakling, Rozelin.”
“I can see that.”
Rozelin nodded readily, accepting his words without protest.
Hatan studied her eyes for a moment, then propped his chin on his hand and turned his gaze back to the stage without another word.
“Would our finalists care to share a word of resolve before we begin?”
The jeering crowd erupted into cheers in an instant.
Hatan gazed silently at the announcer, then shifted his eyes toward Hatan.
“My victory, as always, I dedicate to the one life that is mine alone. So, if I should win… might I visit you tonight?”
Silence fell over the entire grounds.
A heartbeat later, a roar went up—and two heartbeats after that, as Yuldian grasped the meaning, his face turned as red as a tomato.
Rozelin watched Hatan with a slightly stunned expression, though he was smiling warmly.
“Excellent. Should you bring me victory, I’ll shower you with affection all night long.”
Rozelin had been holding her composure, but at Hatan’s loud reply, it crumbled.
Her head drooped forward involuntarily. She simply could not grow accustomed to Kaluuta customs.
Her earlobes flushed crimson, and she rubbed her face lightly with her palm.
“Rozelin.”
His voice was soft, yet different from his usual tone—gravely subdued. She slowly lifted her head.
“If I win, might you reconsider your decision?”
Arma’s blunt words made Rozelin’s brow furrow.
“……Reconsider what?”
“The Breaking of Engagement.”
The Great Sword in Arma’s grip grew taut with tension.
Hatan, meanwhile, was silently swinging a Great Sword in one hand with effortless grace, testing its weight.
“……That’s—”
“I have thought on it carefully these past days.”
Rather than look at Hatan, Arma had turned his whole body toward Rozelin, his gaze fixed upon her.
“I hate my own weakness.”
“…….”
“If Rozelin despises my weakness, then I will change.”
“That’s not—”
“So if I win here, please reconsider the Breaking of Engagement.”
Rozelin, caught between shock and bewilderment, lost her words—her lips moved soundlessly before she fell silent.
“Please allow me to love Rozelin.”
“……What?”
Where had this come from?
Rozelin’s earlobes began to flush red with mortification.
“I love you, Rozelin.”
“…….”
“I do.”
Rozelin could not speak.
She felt a deep embarrassment.
‘……How am I supposed to bear this later.’
Rozelin looked at Arma with a pained gaze.
“Wow! Splendid!”
A sharp whistle cut the air, and the roar swelled.
“I’m backing the outsider! Win!”
“Hatan! Do show some restraint!”
“Ugh! I feel like I just drank a mouthful of sugar!”
“I want to marry an outsider too!!”
As voices rose from all directions, Rozelin buried her face in her palms.
‘I’m going to lose my mind.’
Rozelin exhaled slowly.
If she shook her head now, the mood would turn strange.
‘……I have no idea why they’re suddenly acting like this.’
After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded once.
Hatan let out a low laugh at that.
The odds of Arma defeating Hatan were nearly zero.
Because Hatan was…….
“Alright then, let the match be-gin!”
Boom—!
A powerhouse even among the Kaluuta, who could bore holes through cliff faces with their bare hands, he was called a “monster.”
Rozelin stood on the trembling earth as if struck by an earthquake, watching Arma with eyes wide open.
In the silence that followed, it was over.

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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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