The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 5

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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 5
“You, you! I swear I’ll kill you! How dare you speak to me that way!”
“Well… why did you have to provoke Lady Carmel like that?”
“I’ll kill you…!”
At the goading tone, Carmel’s face flushed crimson, then purpled—before her eyes suddenly rolled back.
The butler, unable to bear her rising voice, brought the edge of his hand down hard against the nape of her neck.
She crumpled to the floor.
“Master.”
At the butler’s call, the Duke of Belion Duchy gave a curt nod.
‘Finally disposed of that nuisance.’
She rubbed the corner of her eye with a slightly weary expression.
These past few days, she’d been short on sleep from running about on her own feet and turning matters over in her mind.
Roserin noticed the people around her watching with sudden, weighted intent.
“I apologize for the disruption.”
“Kha-ha-ha! No, no, don’t mention it. Disruption, you say? You’ve done a fine thing. I had an odd feeling about that woman from the moment we met.”
Eightis laughed heartily, waving his hand dismissively.
At his words of thanks, Roserin offered a faint smile and nodded.
“Yes, I’m glad I could be of help.”
Roserin replied with appropriate courtesy.
Eightis had never held any particular prejudice against Roserin and was, in that regard, a comfortable person to be around.
‘One of the two reasons I attended this dinner is now settled… which leaves me one remaining matter.’
She spoke without hesitation.
“And I’d like to leave this Estate soon. When I looked into it, it seems I have no personal wealth at all.”
How astonishing it had been to learn that a noblewoman possessed no personal wealth.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a case of embezzlement—she truly had none to begin with.
“If it’s acceptable, might I take a few pieces of jewelry with me when I leave the Estate? I’m thinking roughly a month from now… though if I can determine and secure a suitable residence sooner, it could be sooner.”
With each word Roserin spoke, she felt the atmosphere around her grow colder, and she lifted her downcast gaze slightly.
“…Was I speaking too quickly?”
She fell silent, as if inviting him to raise any other concerns.
“Why… would you leave home?”
From the stillness came a voice tinged with the faintest bewilderment.
Roserin had little attachment to her family.
In her childhood, illness had kept her bedridden; she seldom left her chamber. Her father visited her almost never.
Her only companions were books and a maidservant; she had learned the world through written words.
The one person who had occasionally come and gone, greeting her in passing, was Eightis.
He was not a man swayed by law, by the standards others had set, or by prejudice.
In any case, Roserin found herself in the rare position of being somewhat taken aback.
She had not expected this question from anyone other than him—from her father, someone with whom she had exchanged words so few times she could count them on both hands.
Rarely at a loss, she opened her mouth slightly, searching for words.
After turning the question over in her mind for some time, Roserin finally grasped its true meaning and swiftly gathered her thoughts.
“I’m not saying I mean to tarnish the family honor. I simply intend to leave the Empire and settle in another country with adequate security.”
She looked at her father—Certi, whom she was truly seeing in a long while—and continued.
He, as always, wore his long, wavy hair loosely bound in a single tie.
A beautiful face from which one could trace the origin of Roserin’s own striking beauty.
A cold countenance paired with eyes as sharp and emotionless as a cat’s gaze.
His lips, pressed firmly shut, were shadowed subtly by the long fall of his hair.
With black hair and eyes of crimson, he carried an inherent gloom about him.
Roserin gazed at him slowly, then continued speaking.
“Of course, once I leave the Estate, I have no intention of using the Belion name.”
“…That’s precisely what I’m asking. Why have you come to such a decision?”
At her father’s somewhat persistent question—something he would normally have answered with silent assent to—Roserin hesitated.
“You must know your health is not good. Haven’t I said it repeatedly? You are…—”
“A burden when I move about? I know.”
Roserin answered casually, and Certi faltered.
His bewilderment was unfamiliar to her; his coldness was what she had always known.
From childhood, Roserin had grown accustomed to this indifference from him. In fact, she found his coldness far easier to bear.
“So I intend to sever all ties with the Belion Duchy and go. Besides, my name isn’t registered in the family records or under your name anyway, as far as I understand.”
“….”
At Roserin’s words, Certi opened his mouth, then closed it firmly.
His wavering gaze betrayed his bewilderment plainly, and Roserin wanted to convey that she meant no burden by this.
Even if there had been no affection or attachment, she couldn’t deny the guilt of having failed to help during his darkest hours.
The funeral she hadn’t attended left a long shadow across Roserin’s heart.
As she grew into adulthood, Roserin came to understand how profoundly grateful she should have been—that he had raised her despite her frailty, rather than casting her aside.
No amount of wealth could make caring for another person an easy thing.
Even if his concern had bordered on indifference, it had been enough to ensure she received steady treatment right up until the day she left the house.
“Don’t you ever regret certain choices? Wish you’d decided differently? Wonder if things might have developed some other way with someone?”
…….
“I’ve grown fond of you, Roserin. It seems a waste to let you die as a villainess. Don’t you wish to live?”
Garen’s thoughts remained unknowable.
Roserin, though, had been worn down by years of flight and the relentless weight of accusation.
Joy had become rare, and even sorrow had long since ceased to touch her.
And yet she held no desire to build something new with anyone.
“Still, I’ve caused the young lord and the Belion Duchy trouble for far too long. I’d like to at least fulfill my duties before I go.”
Garen had been right—certain relationships did come bearing regrets.
Perhaps if all these miracles had arrived just years earlier, she might still have harbored some fragile hope.
“I intend to break the engagement with the 3rd Imperial Prince. I’ll handle the arrangements carefully so there’s no blowback on your end.”
Why would Roserin have been without feeling?
Once she had yearned for affection, had wanted it, had even loved.
Before coming to this world, Roserin had lived those twenty-seven years with all her might.
So now she wanted to rest.
After leaving for somewhere no one knew her name.
‘I do need to see Garen one more time, though.’
Roserin gathered her thoughts, her eyes closing slowly, then opening.
“I’ll arrange things as quickly as possible, and once it’s done…….”
“No.”
Certi cut off her words and shot up from his seat.
“I won’t allow it. Do you think an engagement with the Imperial Household is something to be trifled with?”
“That part is something I can——”
“Stop talking nonsense and go inside to take your medicine and get some sleep. You’ve already made enough of a ridiculous spectacle to embarrass everyone, and now you’re——”
Certi’s eyes flashed cold before he trailed off, rising from his chair and leaving the dining room altogether.
……?
Roserin stared after him in bewilderment as the door swung shut with a bang, her brow furrowing.
Her tired face rubbed at her temples, and she exhaled a long sigh.
He had always disapproved of whatever she did, so this was nothing new.
It was only fresh because it had been so terribly long since she’d experienced it.
‘How many years has it been?’
Since childhood there had been almost no contact between them—over a decade, surely.
‘Still, he did care quite deeply for the Belion Duchy.’
A strange feeling washed over Roserin, and she turned her head again.
“In any case, I’ll need to discuss this with the 3rd Imperial Prince and coordinate with him before I report back to you.”
“Hmm, you really are leaving then?”
“Yes. I imagine Father’s concerned I might cause the Belion Duchy trouble wherever I go.”
Roserin rose from her seat, framing her words carefully.
“I’m tired, so I’ll retire for the evening.”
“Hey, Cousin.”
“Yes, Eightis.”
At the formality of Roserin’s response, Eightis visibly shuddered.
“……Ugh, drop that ‘Eightis’ business. You were just fine calling me uncle and older brother—why the sudden chill?”
“Well…….”
Watching his tired expression, Roserin laughed brightly and tossed out her words.
“I was just irritated with my future mother-in-law, so I wanted to scratch your nerves a bit.”

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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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