The Male Lead Has Gone Mad Over the Troublesome Villainess - Chapter 66

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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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The Male Lead Has Gone Mad for the Villainess — Episode 66
The Priest, dragged here sleepless, knelt before the incense burner.
Kael watched his back. The Priest’s hands trembled as he carefully touched the burner’s lid, and for a long moment he said nothing. Thin wisps of smoke leaked from the holes in the lid.
“This is… a Dedication Incense Burner.”
The Priest finally spoke.
“What is it used for?”
“It is used in the Ritual to Summon the Divine. I suspect the flame has never been extinguished since it was first lit.”
Kael nodded.
“The High Priest will know more. I will dedicate this to the Temple as soon as we return to the Capital.”
Kael’s brow creased slightly as he spoke.
“Our return will be delayed somewhat. Until then, keep the burner safe.”
“Are we not departing immediately?”
“A problem has arisen here.”
Kael spoke quietly. The Priest shot to his feet, his face ashen, and spoke rapidly.
“We were commanded to find the sacred relic and return with haste! There must be no delay for any reason! It contradicts the Imperial Decree itself…….”
Kael raised his hand, cutting off the Priest’s words. Then he regarded the terrified man’s face calmly.
“Then return alone and inform the Emperor. Tell him we have succeeded in recovering the sacred relic, and that our return is delayed at the Crown Prince’s discretion — ask him to wait patiently until then.”
“Y-Your Highness!”
“I will not stop you. You are free to leave whenever you wish.”
The Priest’s face had turned a sickly blue. It was as good as a death sentence.
Kael smiled faintly.
How tedious they were — all that posturing about justice, yet utterly useless when it mattered. They invoked the Emperor’s name, but their true desire was simply to go home. Throughout this entire journey, Kael had encountered no one more incompetent than these priests.
While children took up slingshots and learned to fend for themselves with stones, the priests cowered behind them. Their shamelessness infuriated him.
Kael warned coldly.
“I judge what is practical, what is just, and what serves the Empire. Though the Emperor is distant, remember always that I am here.”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
The Priest bowed his head, his face the color of ash.
* * *
Millers, myself, and Seraphine as well.
Today I had been tasked with dragging Kalad to the black market to investigate human trafficking while simultaneously stripping him of his hidden wealth. His face had set like stone because of it.
“…Those people are difficult even for me to handle.”
Kalad appealed to me. Apparently I looked like the one he could reason with. The fact that he kept getting beaten and still hadn’t learned was, in its own way, quite impressive.
“If we’re not careful, you’ll be hurt badly. Why not give up now and simply leave with your wealth?”
“So what you’re really saying is there’s someone above you, isn’t it?”
Kalad’s expression wavered at those words.
“Lady. You could disappear without a trace, and no one would ever……”
“And you could be buried here without a soul knowing, couldn’t you?”
I smiled wickedly as I spoke, and Kalad’s head sagged. Whatever he was thinking internally, there was nothing for him to fear.
I quickened my pace. The entrance to the black market was beginning to come into view.
Kalad guided us deeper into the mine, behind a dilapidated wooden wall. Inside lay a small pit. Kalad glanced around nervously, then pointed to it.
“Here it is.”
Millers dug through the soil. From within emerged several sacks of gold coins, deeds of ownership, and another ledger.
“Well.”
I picked up a sack and shook it, listening to the coins jingle.
“That is all of it that is currently in circulation as liquid assets.”
Kalad spoke with a bitter laugh. Millers, his face hardening as he reviewed the ledger, passed it to me. It was filled with meticulous records of human trafficking transactions. It was evidence of people being sold beyond Greystone into the Frelang Kingdom.
Millers asked Kalad coldly.
“Is there someone in the Capital taking a cut of this money?”
Millers added to the hesitant Kalad.
“You’re going to die anyway — might as well not go alone.”
At that quiet threat, Kalad hesitated briefly before speaking.
“A fixed sum is sent each month. But I don’t know who’s above that. It’s not me sending the money — it’s the Black Hawk.”
“The Black Hawk? Who is that?”
“…I’ve never seen them in person. They’re far too elusive. I only handle the sourcing… of goods. People, rather.”
Kalad’s voice was self-deprecating. The world had gone mad — there was no shortage of trash flourishing in its wake.
“Is there anything else we should be looking for here?”
Before Kalad could open his mouth, Millers added.
“Better not think of anything clever.”
Kalad’s shoulders slumped. In that moment there seemed to be a resignation in him, though of course, he was never to be trusted.
* * *
That night, Millers reported to Kael the intelligence he had gathered. Kael nodded, his face settling into a cool, rigid mask. The crisp night air of Gloria seemed to seep into him.
The desolate cries of monsters drifting from outside mingled together, deepening the already heavy atmosphere.
“We can’t drag him directly to the Capital for a confrontation. This evidence alone is sufficient. What matters now is uncovering who else is involved.”
Kael spoke while examining the ledger once more.
“First, we root out the remnants here, then we return. Millers, divide the forces and investigate the trade routes running south beyond Greystone. Wringing Kalad should yield what we need—we must find the passage leading to the Frelang Kingdom.”
Kael tapped his fingers against the table in a steady rhythm.
“They’re peddling children and women, correct?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Select those with slight builds and delicate features, have them dressed as women. And have Seraphine join them as well. They’ll infiltrate from the inside, disguised as victims.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The shape of the plan crystallized. Kael continued slowly, lost in thought.
“Once we release Kalad, he’ll certainly attempt to flee. Use him as a guide, and at an opportune moment, feed him to the monsters. That’s the most fitting end for a man like him.”
Millers assented in silence. A man who had trafficked in human flesh to accumulate wealth—his crimes were beyond reckoning.
Kael’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Detach half the knights for this infiltration. If they can’t capture them alive, kill them all. Our priority must be apprehending whoever has come from the Frelang Kingdom.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“…It would be useful if the Frelang Kingdom covered the shortfall in our military funds as well.”
The world turned a blind eye to the reality of monsters overrunning the land. Instead, it merely waited for the Empire to collapse. All to seize even a fraction more of the Empire’s territory while the opportunity remained. They never considered that once the protective walls of the Empire fell, the monsters’ fangs would turn toward them as well.
They clung to a baseless hope that all these calamities would remain confined within the Empire’s borders.
Foolish, every last one of them.
Kael smiled coldly.
“Anyone with even a hint of involvement—bind them all together. Since the Empire refuses to cooperate, we’ll simply have to find collaborators from without.”
Whether by conscription or otherwise.

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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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