The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 42

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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 42
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He had lost.
Even as a regent, Arma could not hope to defeat the man publicly called Khan of Kaluta through physical combat alone, without the Abyss at his command.
After all, Kaluta was a people said to be born with the Abyss dwelling within them.
After failing to last even five minutes against Hatan, Arma lay face-down on the pillow, unable to muster the courage to leave the tent.
Pounding his own head with his fists changed nothing—the shame of his defeat remained.
Only now, after losing, did he understand the pity in Roselin’s gaze.
‘I was arrogant.’
Arrogant, that was what he had been.
Hatan, the Khan’s regent, had never been an opponent Arma could beat while holding back his full strength.
He should have recognized that Hatan, despite his youthful appearance, was far older.
The man was seasoned, far more experienced in combat, while Arma was still young.
In truth, had Arma fought at full capacity, the match would have been closer.
But his hands had been tied from the start.
With Yuldian and Roselin watching, he could not reveal his true power, and by the rules of the contest, the Abyss was forbidden.
“Damn it…….”
He cursed quietly, his face twisted.
There was no confession more pathetic than this.
‘Why did I say that in the first place?’
When asked to speak of his ambitions, he had merely seized upon something suitable.
Because Hatan had made his vow to his beloved, Arma had followed suit.
By all that was sacred, he had never meant to say anything so strange.
He had only wanted to postpone the dissolution of the engagement a little longer.
That was all it had been.
Postpone it, delay it further, and then…….
‘And then what was I planning to do?’
Arma lay sprawled across the bed, lost in thought.
Roselin had told him it was all right, but she had not said she would reconsider the dissolution.
Her heart remained unchanged.
Perhaps Roselin had already foreseen his defeat.
“If Roselin dislikes my weakness, I will change.”
“If I win here, reconsider the dissolution, please.”
“Allow me to love Roselin.”
“I love you, Roselin.”
“I do love you.”
Arma sighed and struck his face against the pillow repeatedly.
It was the most foolish, most stupid thing he had ever done in his life.
‘What does loving even mean…….’
He just wanted to play dead.
After that, he wanted only to escape the Imperial City and live in peace.
“Roselin, Roselin…….”
Arma whispered softly to himself.
‘What could it be.’
For some time now, he had been dreaming repeatedly of a world where Roselin lay dead.
In that world, Arma went to her grave every day in silence, sitting until the sun began to set before leaving.
Even knowing it was a dream, it felt so vivid that he could not bear to let her go.
It felt as though he must not let her go.
Perhaps it was this anxiety that made his words rush ahead of his actions.
To make sense of what he had already spoken, he had even uttered that hollow phrase—that he loved her.
‘Me, in love with someone?’
Arma turned his own words over in his mind and burst out laughing.
He exhaled slowly.
‘How absurd.’
His blue eyes darkened, sinking deeper and deeper into shadow.
A perilous gleam rippled across those once-bright pupils.
Slowly, he swept his hair back from his face.
‘I’ll be emperor for no one’s sake.’
Instead of wearing a golden crown, he would don clothes black as night.
He would thwart the emperor at every turn and pray for the Empire’s ruin.
“…….”
He rose slowly to his feet.
Because of the Emperor’s greed, his entire life had been nothing but a descent into darkness.
Everyone had scorned him, and everyone had held him in contempt.
Raised beneath the label of Illegitimate Child and surrounded by mockery, all he had cultivated were the masks that hid his true self and the suffocating shadows within.
The stronger he became, the greater the threat he posed—and with each poison he’d consumed day after day, his body had built up tolerance.
And the Emperor had permitted it all.
Solely to prove something to one woman to whom he had given his heart.
To show the world that he harbored no interest in her, no fascination whatsoever.
That was why Arma despised his father above all others in this world.
A contemptible man who kept himself hidden away in some place only he knew, letting even his own son go unvisited.
“But love—there’s no way I’m capable of such a thing.”
Arma let out a bitter laugh at himself.
Yes, it was clear—stubborn pride had flared up because he hated losing to Roselin when she kept pushing him away.
‘Fine. She says she wants the Dissolution of Engagement to proceed, so I should just go through with it.’
Arma realized that this uncharacteristic behavior had sprung from Roselin, and he reached a firm resolution.
‘If I let myself be swayed by such trivial feelings, I’ll never achieve my purpose.’
Standing where he was, Arma organized his thoughts and stretched his body lightly.
He’d spent the past few days lying in bed, claiming illness, but he needed to get up and show he was well enough.
In a few days’ time, he was scheduled to depart for the Empire again anyway.
Once the situation was resolved, he could simply tell Roselin they should proceed with the Dissolution of Engagement.
‘Besides, I was planning to leave the Imperial City before long anyway…….’
There was no need to maintain the engagement with her.
That was when it happened.
Knock, knock.
A soft rapping sound came at the door.
“Your Highness, Third Prince—it’s Roselin.”
At the familiar voice, Arma’s shoulders jerked slightly.
“If you’re awake, may I come in?”
Arma’s eyes went wide.
He glanced quickly around the room, then suddenly threw himself back into bed.
He placed the already-dry cloth across his forehead and pulled the blanket up over himself.
“……Yes, come in. Roselin.”
His normally cold voice was nowhere to be found—instead, he spoke in a hoarse, muffled tone as if he’d been ill all night.
Arma squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them, exasperated with himself.
‘There’s no word for it besides foolish.’
Why had he decided to fake illness in the first place?
As he watched the door swing open, he thought he might bite his own tongue.
When Arma saw Roselin enter, he carefully attempted to sit up.
But Roselin raised her hand to stop him.
“No, there’s no need to get up. I heard you weren’t feeling well.”
“……That’s not true. How could I do that when my betrothed has come to visit?”
Arma spoke weakly even as he struggled to prop himself up.
“No, really. I only came to tell you something, so I won’t be staying long.”
Roselin looked him over once, then wrung out the dried cloth in water and laid it fresh upon his forehead.
“When you’re ill, it’s best to get plenty of rest. I know from experience—I’ve been sick many times.”
Speaking in a matter-of-fact tone, Roselin opened her mouth again.
“Your Highness, Third Prince.”
“Yes?”
“Do you like me?”
“…….”
Arma’s lips parted soundlessly.
Though it was he who had said such things, he had never expected her to ask so directly.
“……If I say yes, would that trouble you greatly?”
But what came out was his clumsy, unguarded truth.
At that, Roselin gave a brief nod.
“Yes.”
“…….”
It was a response without mercy or hesitation.
Arma stared at her with an expression of utter bewilderment.
“Why are you asking me that? If you mean to mock me…….”
“I like you too, Your Highness, but I wanted to tell you that we can never be together.”
“……What?”
Roselin’s bombshell statement left Arma so overwhelmed with things to say that he found himself speechless.
“So why don’t we try dating for just six months?”
At her follow-up words, Arma quietly lifted his hand and pinched his cheek hard.
‘……It hurts.’
And it hurt quite a bit.
With that sharp proof that this was no dream, Arma found himself speaking without thought.
“Six months……? No, wait—you like me…? Me…? But why…….”
He had so much to say he couldn’t get it straight, and there were far too many words that troubled him.
His heart throbbed.
‘What is happening to me?’
He lifted his hand and pressed it to his chest, numb with confusion.
“You don’t like six months?”
If he said he didn’t like it, he had the feeling she’d immediately say, “Then forget it,” so he hastily nodded.
Which meant that Arma was now swept along by a small emotion he had just moments ago treated as nothing worth considering.
“……No, I like it.”
It was a bold decision from the Third Prince—one for whom love was supposedly impossible.

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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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