The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 77

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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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Episode 77
His voice, heavy with guilt, sounded raw with pain.
He dampened a fresh cloth and pressed it to Rozelin’s forehead, then stayed at her bedside, holding her hand as the dawn broke.
Over and over, he wrung out the dry cloth, soaked it again, and laid it gently on her brow.
It was only when Cherti’s breathing had settled into an even rhythm that he finally released her hand and rose from the chair.
* * *
“I’m sorry, little one.”
At the muffled voice, Rozelin’s shoulders tensed and her eyes flew open.
‘Again….’
She’d seen a scene that felt like a dream.
“…Rozelin? You’re really not feeling well, are you?”
At the sound of his voice, Rozelin blinked back to reality and slowly shook her head.
“No, forgive me. I was just tired—my mind wandered for a moment.”
“…Get some rest.”
Rozelin began to close her eyes, then hesitated and spoke.
“Father, may I ask why you suddenly wanted to hold my hand?”
Until now, he’d never tried to do such a thing.
At her words, Cherti went still, then glanced down at his fully grown daughter.
“…I only heard that sleep comes easier when someone does this. It seems I’ve never held your hand before.”
“…”
“I know it’s late…”
He worked his lips, but when Rozelin said nothing, he fell silent.
“If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll go.”
Rozelin watched her father, that burrowing Old Snake, and let out a small sigh.
“I never said it was uncomfortable. …Dad.”
Cherti’s eyes widened. He turned sharply, startled, to look at Rozelin.
‘If what I saw in Arma before was a dream he had, then this just now…’
She wondered if it was a dream her father was having.
“You, what did you just…”
“Oh, I’m sorry. You don’t like it, do you, Father?”
“D-Don’t like it? Who said I don’t like it? Listen, if we keep using long words, it’ll just tire us both out. How about you keep calling me that from now on? Any more talking and you might hurt yourself worse…”
“Pardon? Your words are rather long, Father—I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying.”
Rozelin knit her brow and spoke with perfect innocence.
“…”
“I’m tired, so I’ll sleep now. You should go rest too, Father.”
“…”
As Rozelin closed her eyes, Cherti opened his mouth slightly.
“Daughter, isn’t Father a bit stiff?”
“I’ve been calling you that my whole life—why change now?”
Rozelin let out a snort of laughter.
“…That’s true, but it does sound a bit distant somehow. Even if I’ve never been much of a father…”
“You call your father ‘Father,’ don’t you?”
“…Still, there’s something a daughter ought to expect, isn’t there? Though I’ll admit I was never much of a father to you.”
“That’s sexist, I think. Would you hate it if a son called you ‘Dad’?”
“…I prefer ‘Dad.'”
“Yes, Dad.”
The moment Cherti signaled his surrender, Rozelin called him by that name without a hint of warmth.
“…You’re teasing me.”
“It’s your fault for not being honest, Father.”
Watching his daughter yield not an inch, Cherti let out a soft laugh.
Rozelin’s eyes widened.
“You can smile, Father.”
“…What? I’m human too.”
“You never smiled, so when I was little, I thought you were a ceramic doll.”
At her blunt words, he froze, then ran his fingertips along the corners of his mouth a few times.
“I see.”
“Yes.”
Rozelin gazed at the ceiling for a moment, then spoke.
“Dad, if I die, would you be sad?”
“…What? Don’t say such things. If you die, I die too.”
“……There’s something I desperately want to resolve, but what if the only way to reach it is through death?”
His breathing grew ragged at her words.
Rozelin glanced at Cherti, then fell silent.
Anger and betrayal radiated from his wide-open eyes.
“I was just imagining. Don’t look so frightened. How will I go to the bathroom at night if you scare me like that?”
“……Don’t even imagine such things. You’re all I have left now, Rozelin. Without you, I have no reason to live. Don’t leave me too.”
Rozelin found herself thinking of her father from the original world—the one who had died at Lady Carmel’s hand.
‘……He wasn’t meant to die that way.’
Rozelin slowly furrowed her brow.
“I’ll try my best.”
She glanced down at the Seven-Day Stone fastened around her wrist.
‘The one he was given seems to have already exhausted its power.’
When they met again, he hadn’t been trembling from cold—proof enough of that.
Though his entire body bore the marks of burns, stone was still stone.
One day its effects would fade completely, that much was certain.
“……Best? What do you mean by that? You just said it was imagination.”
“I meant I’d imagine and consider such a method.”
“You’re talking strangely. Did something happen in the Imperial Capital today?”
Rozelin slowly squeezed the hand gripping hers and shook her head gently.
“Just…….”
“Just?”
“I saw an old snake.”
Rozelin slowly closed her eyes.
“……An old snake I cannot forgive.”
She spoke softly and stifled a yawn.
“……I’m curious, but you can hear about it later. Go to sleep now.”
“Yes, and please don’t stay up too late. Go rest once I’ve fallen asleep.”
As his soft voice reached her ears, Rozelin found her consciousness growing hazy, and she recalled what had happened during the day.
* * *
“Why did you make that offer to make me Queen?”
At Rozelin’s question, the Captain of the Guard hesitated, then narrowed his eyes with a puzzled expression.
“I’m not sure what you mean, suddenly.”
“I was just curious. Why you offered me the Queen’s position.”
Then as now.
Now she could accept it—she was actively interfering with Maluksa’s every move, after all.
But in her previous life, she couldn’t fathom why he’d offered her that seat at all.
Especially when he’d gone to such lengths to keep his face hidden until then.
“Thank you for the escort. I’ll go inside now.”
Since she hadn’t really expected any real answer, Rozelin moved to board the carriage.
“Lady of Bellion.”
If only he hadn’t called her that.
“Do you think light and shadow can exist in a person’s life?”
“I’m not sure what you mean by that. If you’re asking whether life contains turns and valleys……then yes, of course it does.”
“Rather, I speak of the worth of life itself.”
Rozelin stopped climbing the steps and turned back down.
As she carefully stepped backward, releasing a short sigh, he let out a low laugh.
“Was that too difficult a question for an old man to ask?”
“I’ve never gotten used to how nobles circle around a subject with all those roundabout words, whether then or now.”
At Rozelin’s dry and blunt tone, the Captain of the Guard unexpectedly said nothing and merely shrugged.
“Perhaps if you’d answered a bit sooner, you wouldn’t have wasted your strength climbing those stairs.”
“……That was rude of me.”
“Yes, that’s all that matters.”
At the Captain of the Guard’s apology, Rozelin shrugged and nodded promptly.
While he furrowed his brow, she slowly extended her hand forward.
At that, the Captain of the Guard gave a rueful smile and wordlessly offered her his arm.
“How do you find the Garden?”
“It’s lovely.”
As Rozelin nodded, the man courteously escorted her.
“You said that light and shadow can exist in a person’s life.”
The Captain of the Guard broke the uncomfortable silence and asked gently.

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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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