The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 92

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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 92
“When do you think they’ll arrive?”
“Probably within four days, I’d say.”
“How severe is the monster damage?”
“There’s no direct damage, but from what I hear, the contaminated areas are spreading considerably.”
The Priest’s Healing Abyss acts as purification against monsters.
So handling monster contamination was meant to be the Temple’s work, yet the High Priest’s direct involvement surprised her a little.
‘In the original world, a senior priest came instead.’
There, even after visible contamination was treated and purged, the murk deepened with time.
The Bellion Dukedom possessed vast lands and abundant resources, but there was one thing it could not develop: agriculture.
Part of it was due to the barren terrain, but also because it bordered the monster forest.
That contaminated essence—the murky qi that had seeped into the earth over long years—made harvests in the Bellion Dukedom meager at best.
Of course, the cool climate didn’t help either.
The hard, parched soil made it difficult for crops to grow, and with mountains surrounding the region and proximity to Kaluta, mining had flourished far more than agriculture.
Yet even in far harsher conditions, Kaluta’s crops thrived.
Doubtless because of their independently developed seeds, but…
‘That’s why I brought the Kaluta people here.’
After all, manufacturing Abyss Weapons at the ducal residence in the capital was infeasible.
To conduct multiple experiments while keeping information contained, the dukedom was ideal.
‘Once I pass on the techniques, they shouldn’t struggle with agriculture.’
Rozelin brushed her hair back as the thought formed.
‘And…’
There was yet another reason Rozelin had come this far.
The Seven-Colored Stone Bracelet consisted of seven stones in different hues.
The seven colors represented the brilliant, prismatic light of the arc that appeared in the sky.
In other words: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
‘I’ve already used the red and orange stones.’
The yellow stone she’d used on the Reaper had diminished in size but remained usable, and the blue stone was the same.
She still had five usable stones.
Among them, the yellow stone symbolized purification and healing, while the green symbolized abundance.
Rozelin intended to make the dukedom more prosperous than any other fiefdom in the empire.
“Good work. High Priest.”
“You may call me Irbon, my lady.”
“I’ll accompany the subjugation myself.”
So that even with the domain sealed off, it could sustain itself.
* * *
“…A complete disaster.”
Crash—!
Everything that had been neatly arranged on the desk scattered across the floor under the rough sweep of a hand.
The Captain of the Guard’s face twisted in displeasure.
Every plan he’d devised, every route he’d secured—all of it was in ruins.
Nothing had gone as designed, and his identity had been exposed.
A single girl was single-handedly undoing his life’s ambition.
The Emperor’s mood of late had been unsettling too. He’d said he wouldn’t speak of it, but one couldn’t discount the possibility that he had.
‘I should have killed her instead of ignoring her.’
He’d never expected the Reaper he’d sent to be captured so pathetically.
The man’s jaw clenched, his face contorting savagely.
The composure and rectitude he’d always shown were nowhere to be found. His distorted face gave vent to pure rage.
Makluksa was now suffering acute financial strain.
Not only that, but those entrusted with crucial roles in his plan were disappearing one by one.
There was Ian Bellion, the second son of the Bellion ducal house. And the Reaper never returned.
The woman who wielded the Hypnotic Abyss—one of his few useful assets—was dead.
Aximuus, who’d summoned the Fire Demon, and the man he’d barely managed to turn from the Temple, were both dead or imprisoned and no longer operational.
His limbs had been severed, nearly all of them.
And he knew full well that it was Rozelin Bellion who’d severed each one.
Whenever he tried to put a hand to a profitable venture, bad luck struck—invariably in the form of Geren Wilbred, the Marquis.
Geren Wilbred monopolized every promising enterprise and left him no opening to move.
As a result, the plan was already half ruined. There was more than enough chance that information had leaked.
Rozelin Bellion had said she wouldn’t get caught up in tiresome business, that she wouldn’t speak—but he wasn’t fool enough to believe such honeyed words.
“…The absolute worst.”
This is the worst.
He rubbed his face hard with his palms, muttering softly to himself.
Then he seized his hair as if to tear it out and gritted his teeth.
“……Does the Emperor know?”
Lately, the Emperor had been watching him more often than usual.
Precisely since Rozelin Bellion had spoken to him with something like a threat.
As if lost in deep thought, the Emperor had grown quiet, and whenever his back was turned, those imperial eyes would find him again.
The Emperor was a man who ordinarily paid little mind to his presence or absence, but lately that was no longer true.
There were things one could see after decades together.
He tried to conduct himself as always, but it was not as always.
Above all, though the Emperor still kept him near, there was a subtle guardedness that had not been there before.
‘……She must have told him something.’
Even if she had not given him the full story, she must have said enough.
Otherwise, the Emperor would never have put this distance between them.
“……How could things come to this?”
The plan was not supposed to collapse over a single woman.
He had prepared carefully over many years.
By his reckoning, they should already have extracted the secrets of each great house.
He should have been swimming in wealth, and the most prestigious of the noble families should have reeled from the blow.
‘Especially the technology the Bellion heir was developing in secret.’
Had that succeeded, the Dukedom would have suffered the heaviest damage.
According to Carmel’s reports, the Dukedom had poured considerable sums into developing that product.
They had invested such time and effort over so many years.
If only he could have stolen that technology—if only Carmel had not died—if only he had not lost Ian Bellion so utterly—if only Aximuus had not been captured so pathetically—there were so many things that could have been resolved.
So many contingencies that might have succeeded.
And the fact that all of those failures traced back to a single person was nearly impossible to believe.
“……It’s all because of that woman.”
The middle-aged man finally arrived at his conclusion, speaking coldly to himself.
Yes, it was all because of that green noblewoman who had interfered with him at every turn.
“……And now she flees to the Dukedom.”
He rubbed his face again and again, then slowly raised his head.
Yes, she had fled to the Dukedom.
After destroying all his plans, she thought only to save her own miserable life.
“Ha-ha…….”
The captain of the imperial guard let out a dry laugh.
“Yes, that’s precisely the problem.”
The middle-aged man closed his eyes slowly, then opened them again.
“……This is not how it will end. This cannot be how it ends.”
He spoke quietly to himself.
“You foolish child, I shall teach you thoroughly that there are hells within life itself.”
That day, the Imperial Capital witnessed murders without precedent, and the captain of the imperial guard vanished from sight.
* * *
“Ahem. Ungrateful brother, you’ve hidden your face all this time—what brings you here now?”
“I have a favor to ask.”
Arma had truly come of his own volition for the first time in over a decade to seek out his older brother, the First Prince, and now they stood facing one another.
At Arma’s words, the First Prince, Silvran, blinked in surprise.
He had rarely—if ever—heard the word “favor” from Arma’s lips, neither in childhood nor now.
“……A favor?”
Silvran forgot all propriety, his expression one of confusion as he cleared his ears several times and frowned.
“Did you just say favor?”
“Yes.”
“……So you’re telling me, Arma, that you’re asking this of your brother?”
Arma watched Silvran’s cheeks twitch and curled his mouth into a smile, nodding.
“Yes.”
“……Hmm. So you ignore me ordinarily, and now you come only when you need something—you really have no shame.”
Silvran’s cheeks quivered as he laughed scornfully.
“Well, if you address me politely as ‘older brother’ and ask this favor, I suppose I could consider it favorably.”
“Older brother.”
“……!”
Silvran, who had been holding his teacup while crossing his legs, froze.

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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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