The Circumstances of Being Chosen as the Villainess’s Favorite - Chapter 157

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 157

I stared at Lady Claudius with helpless eyes. I felt angry and wronged.

“But…!”

“That knight has absolutely no intention of backing down anyway. In that case, it would be better to quietly follow along rather than continue causing a commotion here.”

Lady Claudius whispered quickly in a lowered voice.

“If I resist here, the Imperial Curia will claim that I insulted them.”

“That’s…”

“Rather than causing a pointless commotion here, it would be better to show a cooperative attitude for when my brother negotiates later.”

Lady Claudius deliberately smiled more confidently.

“Honestly, how could they frame me?”

“Evangeline.”

“I’m Lady Claudius. One of the most noble ladies in the Empire.”

Lady Claudius spoke as if it were truly nothing.

But I knew.

Lady Claudius was now… deliberately acting this way to ease my worries.

“Go back to the estate and contact my brother. If you tell the butler, he’ll take care of making contact.”

With those words.

Lady Claudius stepped out of the carriage with unwavering steps.

That proud figure was exactly like the haughty lady who commanded high society.

“Let’s go, Lady Claudius.”

“…”

Lady Claudius obediently boarded the Imperial Curia’s carriage.

Just before the carriage departed.

Lady Claudius turned toward the window.

Spotting me, Lady Claudius nodded slightly and curved her eyes into a smile.

‘Don’t worry.’

…As if saying that.

I stared blankly at the retreating carriage, then urgently pressed the coachman.

“To the Claudius estate, right now!”

“Yes, understood!”

The coachman grabbed the reins.

I struggled to somehow organize my completely jumbled thoughts.

If it had truly been urgent to arrest Lady Claudius, they would have come to the estate’s townhouse from the beginning.

Yet they waited for us to go out…

‘They deliberately targeted when Lord Claudius wasn’t there.’

So that Lord Claudius couldn’t respond quickly.

‘…How despicable.’

I bit my lips until they bled. There was no time to be flustered here.

Shortly after.

The carriage stopped in front of the estate’s townhouse.

“Butler! Where’s the butler?!”

I jumped out of the carriage as if tumbling and immediately looked for the butler.

The butler stared at me with wide eyes.

“Lady Ansi? What is this…”

“Please contact Lord Claudius immediately.”

I shouted while gasping for breath.

“Lady Claudius has been taken away by knights!”

The butler’s face hardened.

* * *

The logic put forth by the Imperial Curia was as follows.

From the time Lady Claudius gifted the rose seedlings, there were testimonies from those around that Her Majesty the Empress’s health had deteriorated.

And those symptoms were exactly the same as the symptoms that the previous Lord and Lady Claudius had when they passed away.

Unless the lady was a witch, how could those strange symptoms that had completely disappeared before appear again?

“Moreover… didn’t the previous lord and lady lose their lives almost as soon as the lady was born.”

High Priest Evans put on a worried expression and spouted such nonsense.

I was simply dumbfounded.

‘Do they think just because they have a mouth to talk, everything they say is true?’

Strictly speaking, the previous lord and lady passed away 6 years after Lady Claudius was born!

‘What curse in the world takes 6 years?!’

It was purely unreasonable, but the Imperial Curia persistently repeated their claims.

The lady didn’t particularly enjoy mingling with people.

What would she have done during her time alone.

Wouldn’t she have been plotting against Her Majesty the Empress and devising methods of cursing…

Moreover, that ridiculous claim secretly planted seeds of suspicion in people’s hearts.

“Th-they say the previous Lord and Lady Claudius also suffered from high fever and delirium just like Her Majesty the Empress.”

“And the cause of their death still hasn’t been revealed…”

Events from almost 15 years ago circulated in concrete detail through rumors.

And at the center of it was Lord Evans.

“Her Majesty the Empress said she saw demons and monsters, didn’t she? My brother was the same.”

Lord Evans fanned the rumors while pretending to be heartbroken, moistening his eyes.

“Seeing my brother not even recognize me, you can’t imagine how heartbroken I was.”

“My goodness, he was like that…”

People couldn’t hide their uneasy expressions.

“Evangeline being a witch. That’s ridiculous nonsense.”

Lord Claudius tried his best to calm the rumors.

But the conspiracy theory mixing the deceased previous lord and lady with Her Majesty the Empress’s illness showed no signs of easily subsiding.

Amidst all these ominous rumors.

Lord Claudius and I sat in the bleak visiting room of St. Alfre Monastery.

“Lady Claudius is coming out.”

Lady Claudius, wearing shabby clothes, smiled at us with a haggard face.

“Did everyone come?”

“…”

“…”

Lord Claudius and I were both at a loss for words.

Lady Claudius, who had been like a single brilliant rose.

Lady Claudius, who had always been bright without a single wrinkle.

That Lady Claudius now looked like a rose withered from lack of sunlight and water.

“You must have had a hard time coming all the way here.”

Lady Claudius tried to act cheerful, chattering away.

“I’m fine. It’s a bit uncomfortable but bearable.”

“Yes, that’s fortunate.”

Lord Claudius also forced a smile.

“Still, if there’s anything you need or anything you’d like to eat, please let us know. We should send you some clothes first.”

I also comforted Lady Claudius.

Then Lady Claudius shook her head.

“No, please don’t do that.”

“Pardon?”

I blinked in confusion.

Lady Claudius hesitantly continued.

“I’m currently under suspicion of being a witch.”

“Evangeline Claudius.”

“Even if I wear decent clothes and eat good food… it would only give them fodder for gossip.”

“But…”

“Right now we have to watch the Imperial Curia’s mood. I’m fine.”

Her voice scattered like a sigh.

“The more tired and struggling I become, the more satisfied the Imperial Curia will be…”

“…”

“…”

Lord Claudius and I couldn’t hide our helpless expressions.

At the same time, Lady Claudius quietly gauged our reactions.

“More than that, you two, is it really okay for you to keep staying with me?”

“What?”

“Her Brother knows too.”

Lady Claudius replied, trying to act as if nothing was wrong.

“Being with me when I’m suspected of witchcraft will only damage the Claudius reputation.”

“…”

Lord Claudius’s eyes shook violently.

How should I put it, that expression was.

Knowing that something precious was rolling down into the depths of a distant cliff, yet unable to reach out a hand.

Desperately realizing one’s own powerlessness, such a…

“…Evangeline Claudius.”

Lord Claudius called Lady Claudius through gritted teeth.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll solve this somehow…”

“Her Brother.”

At that moment.

The forced smile completely vanished from Lady Claudius’s face.

With a face pale as death without a trace of color, Lady Claudius looked at us.

“…Am I.”

Lady Claudius’s voice trembled faintly.

A voice that could no longer even pretend to be composed.

“Am I… living arrogantly and selfishly, is that why this happened?”

“What are you saying?”

“If I had usually acted more kindly, if I had listened to Her Brother’s words well. If I had been warm to other people.”

Lady Claudius hung her head low.

“Could I have escaped from this absurd false accusation of being a witch?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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