The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 55

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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 55
Rozelin felt a spike of irritation rise in her throat, then forced it down when she saw who she was addressing.
She wanted to strike that grinning face, but doing so was simply not an option.
The Emperor might smile like that, but he harbored no such generous heart as to overlook rebellion against the throne.
She had to resolve this through conversation while he was still in a reasonable mood.
“……What do you mean by that?”
Rozelin asked, suppressing her irritation and keeping her emotions in check, her tone somewhat flat.
The Emperor drummed his index finger against the arm of the sofa, then smiled and spoke.
“Kaluta has pinpointed Rozelin of Bellion as playing a diplomatic role, quite precisely.”
He drew his brows together as though deeply troubled, then pulled the corners of his mouth downward. By expression alone, he looked the very picture of sympathy.
“…….”
“For me, your Broken Engagement has become something of an inconvenience.”
Of course, Rozelin did not believe him.
Rozelin regarded the Emperor in silence.
Her rigid expression showed no sign of softening, and the Emperor met her gaze with equal bewilderment, studying the undisguised displeasure in her eyes.
‘So she can make a face like that.’
The Emperor rubbed his chin.
‘Before, she only looked at the floor, wore no expression at all—like a doll. But now…….’
It seemed she was capable of anger.
The Emperor shrugged as he regarded her.
Truth be told, if she kept her promise, he had no objection to granting her a Broken Engagement.
His youngest son had no interest in the Imperial Throne, and the Emperor had no intention of placing it in the hands of a child indifferent to it.
‘The problem is that Kaluta trusts the Bellion Duke’s daughter quite considerably.’
The Emperor recalled the young leader of Kaluta whom he had met briefly.
The boy’s voice, as he delivered his opinion as Kaluta’s envoy, had been firm and unwavering.
‘The moment the Bellion Duke’s daughter breaks her engagement, all debts return to the Bellion Duke Household.’
That was most inconvenient.
From the Emperor’s perspective, it was far better that Rozelin retained the title of ‘Betrothed to the Third Prince.’ She remained more useful to him that way.
‘……And if the Duke’s daughter is near him, perhaps my youngest’s heart might change somewhat.’
Sebirus, the Emperor, was no fool.
He knew that Arma resented him. And he knew equally well that in resenting him, Arma resented the Empire he ruled.
Arma resented everything born of the Empire. And so his youngest son had long since abandoned loving the Empire.
He had turned his eyes from all that the Empire produced, relinquished every duty and obligation placed upon him, sheathed his claws, folded himself into a box that did not fit, and become a dull thing.
Because the Emperor bore great responsibility for the choice his youngest had made, he remained silent.
“I understand your position, Your Majesty.”
Rozelin nodded.
The Emperor lifted his head, drawing himself from his reverie, and looked at her.
“It seems only natural that you’d find it unfortunate.”
She stated it flatly, with brazen confidence, as though it were an immutable fact.
The Emperor barely suppressed a laugh that nearly burst from him at the sheer audacity of her declaration.
‘Why was such a jewel hidden away in the mud all this time?’
The Emperor wondered.
‘Did the Duke Household deliberately conceal her?’
As he had done.
Sebirus had taken pains to hide the one he had grown to love.
They say men wish to give everything to those they love, but not the Emperor. He was of a base and sinister nature—he wanted to keep her for himself alone.
So instead of occupying the most exalted position she should have held, he had hidden her away from the world.
He had told the young Arma that she was dead, so that news of her survival would not spread.
And so the boy had been forced to grow up in envy and solitude for a long time.
That was why he had given him Rozelin of Bellion as a betrothed—a girl who drew no notice in society, nearly an object of ridicule.
Sebirus cherished Arma most of his three sons, but because he cherished him, he had to feign indifference.
And yet the Emperor knew full well that Rozelin of Bellion was the precious gem of the Bellion Duke Household.
He knew the Duke’s love was awkward and clumsy.
Sebirus’s love, by contrast, was like this.
He was the Emperor, the supreme sovereign, the sole sun of the Empire.
If he revealed his favor, anyone would seek to exploit it. If he revealed his displeasure, they would seize upon it as a weakness.
So Sebirus revealed his preferences to no one.
This was how he had lived, and it applied to people without exception.
And so the one person whom he alone had come to love genuinely could not be openly acknowledged to the world.
He had never once allowed himself to hold the son born of her in true affection.
So Sebirus acknowledged that in his pursuit to protect what was his, he had created an environment where every step became a wound carried by Arma.
That is why the Emperor did not raise Arma as Crown Prince.
His vessel as Emperor was clear enough. The one who inherited his blood most richly happened to be the youngest—Arma—and the Emperor harbored his own designs upon him.
But he would not impose the throne upon a child who did not love his nation.
He did not educate him in Imperial Studies, nor did he intervene in how Arma lived. He taught the Imperial Studies only to the First and Second Princes, and pushed them forward.
Yet the reason he had not named a Crown Prince until now was singular.
It was to give Arma the chance and time to choose.
If he desired it, the Emperor was prepared to surrender the Imperial Throne to him.
But after waiting all this time, Arma Dianitas still showed no interest in the Imperial Throne.
‘……Or so I thought he didn’t.’
The Emperor watched Rozelin, whose frustration was written plainly across his face.
It was obvious that he wanted nothing more than to bolt from his seat, but because he was Emperor, he could not move.
The Emperor had loved. It was a terribly twisted love.
There was even a time when he denied that love for quite some time after it arrived.
Days born of the arrogance of believing he could never truly love anyone.
A free soul that he caged, placing within an enormous gilded prison he rarely deigned to look upon.
The wretched creature who accepted the love he offered.
Sebirus’s love was bondage.
And Arma resembled him far too closely.
To his eye, Arma’s heart already belonged to Rozelin.
Rozelin’s existence would keep Arma in this Empire.
The youngest, who resented the Empire, would become the reason the Empire was tended to.
So long as Rozelin belonged to this Empire, Arma would nurture that vast cage with all the care he could muster.
As he himself had done.
‘So forgive me, but I cannot simply let you go.’
The Emperor rubbed his jaw slowly.
“Is there nothing else you wish for besides the Broken Engagement?”
“No.”
Rozelin answered firmly.
“It’s awkward for me to say, but my youngest is quite accomplished. What you see isn’t everything.”
“I am aware.”
Rozelin replied flatly.
The sincerity in that hollow voice made the Emperor pause.
“But the Third Prince is not someone I can bear. Above all, Your Majesty does not wish to become Emperor.”
“His mind might change.”
“If the reason his mind changes is because of me, that would be a problem.”
Rozelin’s voice was firm.
The Emperor smiled at Rozelin and tilted his head.
“Why do you think that?”
Rozelin regarded the Emperor in silence.
“What I loved was the Mask worn by the Third Prince.”
“The Mask……?”
“The Third Prince resembles Your Majesty greatly.”
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed.
“Holding one’s breath for nearly a decade for a single moment, keeping one’s claws hidden. Refusing to hesitate at any deed, abandoning anyone—all for the sake of purpose.”
……
The smile at the corner of the Emperor’s mouth deepened.
Even seeing this, Rozelin continued.
“I understand that you covet me because you think I might be of use, but I have little desire to be useful.”
Rozelin paused before adding his next words.
“Above all, I dislike people who show a different face behind closed doors. I have experience being stabbed in the back.”
At Rozelin’s words, the Emperor burst into great laughter.
As his laughter grew nearly to a roar, a thin edge of irritation finally crept across Rozelin’s previously impassive face.
Then, abruptly, the Emperor’s laughter ceased.

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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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