The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 97

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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 97
“Rozelin is particularly weak among outsiders, so we need to look after her! Yes!”
“Yes.”
Rozelin answered obediently.
She watched Batar walking alongside her, chattering away and matching his pace, and opened her mouth.
“Batar.”
“Hm? What! Yes!”
Should I tell him to drop that clumsy formal speech?
“You don’t need to use formal language.”
“I couldn’t do that! Father always said that toward those you wish to impress, one must always act with respect and admiration.”
“Ah, I see.”
Unable to insist further, Rozelin simply shrugged her shoulders.
“Does Kaluta have any grain shortages?”
“Grain shortage? What is a grain shortage?”
“I mean, have you ever experienced difficulties from lacking enough food, or anything like that?”
“We’ve never had such a thing!”
Batar tilted his head, then straightened his chin as he spoke.
Judging by the way he squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest, he seemed brimming with confidence in himself.
“Is that so?”
“Yes! We have surplus grain every year, so we’ve never experienced what you call a grain shortage. Do you outsiders have such problems?”
“Our territory is particularly bad with it. So here’s what I’m thinking—if the Bellion Family were to propose trading grain with Kaluta, what would you think?”
At Rozelin’s words, Batar tilted his head sharply.
“Is that what you wish for?”
“Well, I do want to include grain in our trade goods. Right now, grain is holding us back with the other territories.”
Rozelin answered Batar’s question.
As she walked beside him with her arms crossed, still nodding, Batar had already turned to look at her.
“So if we can just solve this grain problem, I think we might be able to speed up the weapons trade with Kaluta a bit more.”
“Weapons!”
Batar’s eyes gleamed with light.
“Does that include the new products we’re making now?!”
“Of course. Right now, funds are bleeding away in far too many places.”
Rozelin’s goal was to make it so that even if the entire Empire turned its back on the Duchy, everything could still be resolved within the Duchy itself.
To achieve this, she needed to maintain bonds with Kaluta that ran deeper than even the Empire’s own royal court.
And she needed to solve the grain shortage.
As for the weapons industry and minerals, the Bellion Family had always been unrivaled from the start.
‘And if this Monster Forest subjugation goes well…’
The Bellion Family might even monopolize all the forest’s resources.
She hadn’t known until now, but the First Emperor had granted the Bellion Family not only the current Duchy but also the Monster Forest.
Whether it had originally been the Monster Forest or the monsters began inhabiting it at some point, she couldn’t say…
‘Until now, the Duchy has had to bear the full burden entirely, on the grounds that the Monster Forest was clearly the Family’s private property and a territory that must be governed.’
Every time they requested aid, those who dragged their feet were invariably of that sort.
But if this were resolved well, the Monster Forest would cease to be a headache and become a honey pot instead.
Since the Bellion Duchy had existed for centuries, no one would dare raise a word of objection.
This time, she needed to shut the Duchy’s doors.
‘For that…should I send a letter to Arma first?’
Arma had often shared various information with Rozelin in the past, so he would be helpful.
The merchant company the Family ran had grown quite large, and they’d struck it rich after investing in several of the businesses Rozelin had introduced them to.
‘Given that this banquet opens after obtaining such wealth, hyenas will surely gather.’
Especially since the value of the Nolrang Mine had already skyrocketed beyond measure.
“We could even give you grain for free! Yes!”
“…Free? We’re fine with trading.”
“It’s nothing to worry about. And faced with a friend’s difficulty, Father would have made the same choice.”
At Rozelin’s words, Batar laughed heartily and spoke. Rozelin’s eyes widened slightly.
“…You really mean it? Free for about three or four years? That’s how long we’d need steady trade.”
“Three or four years? That’s plenty. This will become something I handle in my capacity as a diplomat. Rozelin, we are, and I am personally grateful to your house for this.”
He added remarks about being grateful for the plague matter as well and for establishing diplomatic relations this way, and Rozelin fell silent without realizing it.
“Then I won’t refuse.”
As Rozelin quickly nodded, searching for words, Batar smiled knowingly.
* * *
The Blue Moon Banquet.
Once a year, on the night when the moon turned blue, the duchy held a spectacle.
On that night when azure moonlight cascaded down, all the residents of the duchy prepared a feast of sights and delicacies, celebrating in joy and wonder.
A few days before that festival, the northern lords gathered to discuss matters of grave importance.
Typically the first day was devoted to banquets, and from the second day onward, all the northern lords convened for formal deliberations.
Though the Bellion Duke presided over the gathering, the pledged grain stores meant he could not simply hold dominion over the proceedings.
Only those families bearing invitation cards, along with their direct descendants or immediate kin, were permitted to attend the banquet.
Outsiders rarely had occasion to visit the duchy. The land itself lay in treacherous terrain, and the Duke, Devon, harbored an inhospitable stance toward strangers.
Because visits were ordinarily difficult, this time of year saw a notable uptick in visitors.
“Speaking of which, have you heard? They say the young duke and the duke’s daughter will both attend the banquet this year?”
“Oh my, that gloomy one…….”
“I’ve always wondered how such a brooding child could have been born to someone like the Bellion Duke…….”
“Hush, you’re speaking too loudly.”
At the rebuke, the women hurriedly glanced about.
Mercifully, no one from the ducal household was in sight.
“One can only pity the Duke. With a reckless second son and a battle-mad eldest obsessed with warfare, the succession has fallen to the youngest, hasn’t it?”
“A successor who kills people, no less…….”
“They say the daughter is gloomy and timid. Supposedly she scowls fiercely if anyone so much as speaks to her, and keeps her mouth firmly sealed.”
“Ah, I heard that too—she can barely hold a conversation. Like parent, like child, but the gossip was that she wears shabby, drab clothing, has white hair, and eyes so red she looks like some pale laboratory mouse.”
“Really? Well, I certainly wouldn’t dream of approaching the young duke. Who knows when he might strike you down.”
“Everyone says the same—cursed blood runs through that line.”
“Then again, I hear they eat monster flesh in the duchy. Hardly civilized…….”
Laughter mingled with the women’s whispered gossip.
In truth, this was simply how society functioned.
Rozelin had not attended many such gatherings, though she had witnessed this exact atmosphere at a few afternoon teas in years past.
They would begin with pleasant pleasantries until someone ventured, “My, have you heard the latest?” At that moment, the others’ eyes would light up.
Such remarks typically concerned the hottest scandal circulating through society.
And naturally, such talk was rarely flattering.
She understood the truth of it: when people met, the awkwardness dissolved through shared sport—finding someone to ridicule, dissect, and enjoy at the expense of kinship.
It was simply how people lived, after all.
Creating a common enemy was a far more effective way to bind people together than appointing a single leader.
Rozelin bore no interest in such diversions, though she understood them well enough.
“My, what are you all discussing so animatedly?”
Of course, understanding was one thing; permitting them to ensnare her in their three-tongued gossip was quite another.
“Ah, we were just mentioning how the Bellion Duke’s daughter…….”
The noblewoman turned reflexively to answer, but her words caught in her throat.
Hair as white as snow.
Eyes the color of blood.
Not shabby in the slightest—rather, her appearance was so strikingly beautiful and refined, adorned in a deep crimson gown that seemed to glow, that one’s eyes could scarcely bear to look away.
“The—the Bellion Duke’s daughter……?”
“Yes.”
At Rozelin’s quiet confirmation, the women’s eyes squeezed shut.
‘This is dreadful.’
Of all people, how could she have overheard them now?
The luminous skin, the sharp, elegant upward tilt of her eyes, the impeccably straight posture, and that radiant smile—there was nothing remotely gloomy or timid about her.
“Is that perhaps a Pluehr creation?”
“That delicate shimmer rippling through the silk, the flowing water pattern—could that actually be Rocasan Silk……?”
A fabric that cost tens of millions of orlang per bolt—precious beyond measure, even for those with means.
A gown crafted from the rare silk Pluehr had reserved and gifted to Rozelin.
“Goodness, we hadn’t realized you’d become so, so absolutely stunning.”
“Yes, I’m aware.”
At Rozelin’s response, the noblewoman from a neighboring territory opened her eyes wide.
The elaborate diamond jewelry she wore was itself extraordinarily precious.
Few artisans possessed the skill to craft such intricate work on such delicate pieces.
“Ah, well……. We nearly failed to recognize you.”
“Oh yes, I’m glad you did. Because now, I imagine, you have something you ought to say.”
“I……?”
“If you’ve been speaking filth with base tongues in another’s home, you owe an apology.”
Rozelin smiled sweetly as she spoke.

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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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