The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 57

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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 57
* * *
“Hey! You there—a mere lady-in-waiting ordering me around, a prince, as if—!!”
“Yuldian…….”
“……I suppose it’s fine. Of course. Yes.”
At Naryan’s single word, Yuldian quickly swallowed what he’d been about to say. His true complaint had likely been something else entirely.
The Emperor seemed quite satisfied with the National Marriage that Rozelin had arranged for Yuldian.
Yuldian stood beside Naryan wearing the same resigned, sorrowful expression as any noble daughter sold off to a foreign land.
Had the Emperor simply offered him words of encouragement, Yuldian’s resignation would have made sense.
‘Despite appearances, he is a prince who loves his country.’
The Emperor would have spoken of duty to the realm. Yuldian could not have pretended otherwise.
So in Rozelin’s world, when war erupted with Kalutha, he chose to draw his sword and march to the battlefield rather than flee.
The First Prince suffered grave wounds in that war, and Yuldian, the Second Prince, was taken prisoner after losing his left arm. It was then, she’d heard, that Kalutha’s princess had taken a liking to him.
That was why Rozelin had brought Yuldian to these negotiations with Kalutha.
‘If this goes well, war won’t break out.’
Without war, no one would die needlessly. The Bellion Duke Estate would be spared.
‘What remains…….’
The culprit of the Arson Incident.
The Disappearance Case.
And the Plague.
All of it was connected to Makluk.
In any case, it seemed Kalutha had meant what they said about not speaking with anyone but Rozelin—they hadn’t breathed a word about the Plague.
‘Once this is finished…….’
Rozelin rubbed her eyes lightly.
“Are you tired, Rozelin?”
At the voice from behind, she had begun to nod when she paused.
A thick shawl draped across her shoulders made her blink once before she turned.
“……Arma?”
“Yes. Father gave me leave when your brother said he was going, so I came along as well.”
Rozelin regarded Arma’s bright smile with quiet consideration.
He naturally clasped her hand.
“After all, we’re betrothed.”
At his softly added words, Rozelin gave a slight nod.
“All right, you two lovebirds—and you as well—shall we set aside the romance and finally get to why I’ve summoned you all? I’m beginning to miss my own wife.”
Geren, unable to bear the sight of Naryan and Yuldian paired off whispering to each other, as well as Rozelin and Arma doing much the same, asked with amusement in his expression.
“I didn’t call for you.”
“But I agreed to help. You’re being awfully cold to me.”
At his glib complaint, Rozelin gave an indifferent shrug.
“Why don’t you pursue your own romantic endeavors with that priest standing beside you?”
At Rozelin’s words, Geren Wilbred looked at the priest who stood uncertainly at his side.
This was the man Rozelin had specially requested the Emperor allow to participate in this affair.
If he had any connection to it, he would surely step forward to catch such a prize.
And Rozelin dearly hoped he would.
Fortunately, Geren seemed to remember him.
An intermediate priest of the Asidore Organization.
Though his outward appearance had changed entirely, his voice’s timbre and bone structure would remain unchanged—such a clever man could not possibly forget.
‘Where on earth did she dig this one up?’
Geren Wilbred’s smile deepened.
“Unfortunately, I have no taste for that sort of interest.”
“How unfortunate. I’d have wagered you of all people harbored such inclinations.”
“I have a beloved wife.”
Rozelin turned her head with an indifferent expression, observing Yuldian nestled in Naryan’s embrace.
“Second Prince.”
“What is it?”
“Would you use the Abyss to track something for me?”
“……What? You’re asking me right now—!?”
“Wow! Yuldian, you have an Abyss! What is it? Is it strong? It doesn’t look like my type, but having an ability too—!!”
“No!! It’s absolutely not strong! It’s not a combat Abyss!”
At Naryan’s interest, Yuldian cried out in alarm.
His pale face shook as he quickly denied it, as though Naryan were about to suggest they test it in battle. He was noticeably taller than Naryan by a head, which made his current position cradled in the prince’s arms all the more striking.
“Who! Who should I be looking for?”
Yuldian squirmed in Naryan’s arms, trying to break free—
Or rather, attempting to wriggle out while crying out.
Of course, he didn’t manage it. Naryan was far too strong.
“Well, he’s a rather notorious ruffian who frequents gambling houses.”
As Rozelin added her explanation, Yuldian’s expression grew strange.
After hearing Rozelin’s thorough account, Yuldian nodded slowly.
* * *
“Hahahaha! I won, didn’t I? All this money is mine, right? Got it?”
A young man with dark green hair and an eye patch over one eye burst into raucous laughter.
Sweeping up the chips with both arms, he flicked his white coat about and grinned widely, his triple-lidded eyes slightly glazed as if intoxicated, the wide-brimmed hat perched crookedly on his head.
“It’s cheating! Cheating! How could you keep winning like that! You bastard, you marked the deck, didn’t you? Trying to con people like this—don’t you know how long we’ve been in this business!”
“Aw, come on, I won fair and square. You gotta accept the outcome gracefully, gentlemen.”
“Either way, we’re not paying out, so—”
A man stepped forward and seized the youth by the collar, bellowing.
Crash!
In the same instant, the man’s body slammed into the floor.
Thud, thud, thud!
The youth hurled everyone who rushed at him to the ground, then lashed out with his feet in wild, indiscriminate kicks.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why do you have to mess with someone’s mood like this, you bastards!”
His eyes were already half-lidded as he stamped on the men and kicked them viciously.
“Hell! I came here to clean up a bad mood, and you won’t leave a fair win alone—you had to drag it through the dirt!”
Under the relentless barrage of kicks, the larger bodies merely trembled helplessly and whimpered.
“Hey! Hey! Say something! Talk to me! Are you dead? No you’re not! Speak!”
After beating them for a long time without getting a response, the youth let out a long sigh.
“Ugh, I’ve lost my mood again.”
He grabbed one man’s head and slammed it into the table, then smiled and got to his feet.
“Yeah, convert all this to cash for me, would you? No problem, right? It’s money won fair and square.”
The attendant before the youth, whose hands were streaked red with blood, trembled violently as he hastily exchanged the chips for money.
“Oh, thanks~.”
The youth pocketed a fat stack of bills and grinned, heading straight out of the gambling house and into the alley.
“Man, I’m really sick of this lately.”
He yawned widely.
“What kind of company makes you earn your own experimental funds?”
The youth clicked his tongue, staring down at the heavy purse of money and yawning again.
“Test subjects are running low…”
He let out an irritable laugh.
“Finding anomalies isn’t easy. Wish I could get a decent one.”
His tongue flicked out to lick his lower lip as he spoke.
“Well, anyway… if I can just pull off this job, I won’t have to do this boring garbage anymore.”
Once the gold starts pouring in like water.
He smiled like a snake, delighted by the very thought.
The black piercing embedded in his lip glinted as it caught the light. The youth, who had been walking with his hand in his pocket at a leisurely pace, suddenly stopped.
He let out a long breath.
“Damn, today’s really not my day.”
He tilted his head, staring at empty air, then spoke loudly and dramatically, rubbing his nose with a finger before spinning around to look behind him.
“…Which bastard’s been tailing me this whole time?”
“Well, well, it seems even a ruffian has decent instincts—must be in the blood.”
“What…?”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to come along with me. Of course, you have no choice in the matter.”
Geren stepped out from the shadows of the alley with a smile, drawing a thin blade from his cane as he spoke.
“Ha, some old geezer with nothing but a mouth. Don’t die cursing me!”
The youth clashed his fists together with a crack and bared his teeth savagely as he lunged at Geren.

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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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