The Male Lead Has Gone Mad Over the Troublesome Villainess - Chapter 67

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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 67
Mirel had been holding her breath within Gloria for weeks.
Since the Expedition arrived in Gloria, she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen Kael’s face.
When she heard that Kael had returned from the Holy Sanctuary, anxiety seized her more than relief. Now the Expedition would leave Greystone and return to the Capital. Kael would have no trouble sending Mirel back to her father’s arms. She couldn’t return empty-handed like this.
Her father still viewed her with displeasure. Mirel believed her mother’s dying words were right. She had to catch a rich man of certain status. Those words her mother had left behind as she lay dying were Mirel’s only remaining compass.
Mirel waited for the night to deepen. She paced her room, steeling her resolve again and again. Even knowing it was madness, thinking of Rosana made her heart churn.
Rosana stood at the center of the Expedition. She couldn’t bear that gap between them.
In the end, Mirel headed toward the palace.
Naturally, she couldn’t simply walk to Kael’s chambers. Blocked by a knight guarding the corridor entrance, Mirel produced the words she’d prepared.
“Your Highness, I have urgent news to tell you. It concerns the Princess Rosana.”
The knight’s expression stiffened.
Shortly after, Millers emerged with word from within, and his gaze swept over Mirel from head to toe.
“At this hour?”
“Yes. I must tell you now. The Princess Rosana may be in danger.”
Though Millers’s expression soured, he questioned Kael’s will. In truth, he couldn’t ignore the possibility that Rosana might be in danger. Not long after, permission came from within for her to enter.
Mirel opened the door with trembling hands.
Kael sat perched on the edge of his bed, not yet asleep.
“What is it?”
“…Your Highness.”
Mirel didn’t answer. Instead, she closed the door behind her back.
And with shaking hands, she began to unfasten her collar.
Kael’s expression turned glacial.
“What are you doing?”
“Your Highness, please look at me. Let me serve you. Please, give me a chance too…!”
Mirel rushed toward Kael, trying to seize his arm. But before her hand could touch him, Kael struck her arm away harshly.
“Aaaah!!!”
“You’ve truly lost your mind, haven’t you?”
Kael murmured coldly.
“Millers!”
At Kael’s call, the door swung open and Millers, on watch that night, entered. His emotionless gaze fell on Mirel sprawled across the floor. The woman, her clothes barely in place, trembled violently.
Mirel, breathing heavily, snapped her head up like a venomous viper and screamed.
“Your Highness! Please look at me! Let me serve you. Please, give me a chance…!”
Kael drew his sword slowly.
Thunk!
The blade buried itself directly beside Mirel’s hand. Unable to even breathe, Mirel stared at the steel. A moment later, she let out a hiccup. Her face had already gone pale as ash.
“Should you commit such rudeness again, I will not spare you, even for your father’s honor.”
Kael spoke in a freezing tone. Mirel stared at him, her face like whitewash. Her heart felt as though it were turning to ice. This was sincere. Stumbling to her feet, Mirel was dragged from the room by Millers.
* * *
Back in her chamber, the moment Mirel closed the door, she kicked the wall. Only her delicate foot ached, but she couldn’t contain her fury.
“…Rosana.”
Resentment laced her voice as she spat the name. The way Kael had looked at her—as though she were an insect—made her feel like she was going mad.
It was unfair. The whole world revolved around Rosana. The thought only made her sense of injustice swell larger.
Mirel sat by the window and caught her breath. She had no intention of backing down quietly. By chance, over the past few days, she’d heard talk around the city. Rumors of a man named Calad and his Human Trafficking Organization.
Mirel knew something of human trafficking. People had gone missing in Saltbeil, and her father had investigated it before. No one had uncovered who was behind it, but they existed nonetheless.
Such men would dispose of Rosana for her.
If Rosana were gone, then Rosana’s place would be hers. She wanted to believe that.
For the first time, a clear purpose kindled in Mirel’s eyes. She cried out, summoning a maid.
“You—find a way to approach this man Calad and get information about those human traffickers. Whether it takes money or your life, do it. Now!”
The maids trembled at Mirel’s tyranny, bowing low.
“Yes, yes, Miss!”
And they succeeded in obtaining from Calad the “method of selling people.” Calad’s malice toward Rosana and Mirel’s malice had aligned perfectly.
* * *
Based on the information heard from Calad, they located the gang’s base. Tenedi, returning from reconnaissance, knelt.
“Half a day’s journey south, there is an abandoned mine. It appears derelict on the surface, but witnesses report light seeping out each night. There are signs of frequent human activity. We couldn’t approach further because the entrance is guarded, but at least six armed men were visible.”
Careless approach risked them moving their base. Kael’s eyes gleamed coldly. According to Calad, the people called it the Raven’s Den.
“A transaction is to take place at that mine in four days.”
The information obtained from Calad couldn’t be fully trusted, but neither could it be entirely dismissed.
“We set an ambush for that night. We confirm their movements and verify whether the transaction truly occurs before we act. When all the gang members are gathered in one place, we raid and eliminate their base. Making evidence collection the absolute priority.”
Fury seeped into Kael’s eyes.
“Capture anyone from the Frelang Kingdom and bring them in alive. Kill the rest. We will eradicate them and ensure such things never happen again.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Kael was a man of paradoxes—boundlessly merciful when mercy called, yet infinitely cruel when cruelty demanded. And now was not the time for clemency.
“Display their heads before the Underground Market as a warning. See that such a thing never happens again.”
This would be the end of the criminal network that had held Greystone in its grip.
Calad and his kind would meet a fate so dire it could not help but send a message.
“Revise our route of retreat. We’ll stop at Saltbeil and then—”
Kael’s jaw tightened as a curse escaped between his teeth.
“Leave that mad woman behind. Attempt contact with the Frelang Kingdom.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
From Saltbeil, skirting Greystone to the west, the path led to territory bordering the Frelang Kingdom. That route would allow him to establish contact. Kael intended to secure reinforcements from the Frelang Kingdom and march toward the Capital.
He would tolerate no more useless weight upon his shoulders.
The Emperor had already forfeited both authority and legitimacy. There was no hope for one who failed in duty. For the Empire’s future, the Emperor had become a social malignancy that must be excised. A blight to be purged.
And the mad nobility who clung to him as well.
Especially the cursed Duke Ardena, standing at their head.
* * *
That night, Mirel received the news she had been waiting for.
Using Calad’s sigil, she had reached out to the Black Hawk.
[Prey confirmed. Acquisition imminent.]
Mirel’s lips stretched wide. Not only Rosana, but all the wretched followers who trailed after her—they would all be snared. That was precisely what Mirel wanted.
From Saltbeil, those who had vanished, marked as targets, were children and women. Rosana, Vanessa, and the rest of the insignificant rabble would be swept away.
Mirel hummed to herself, oblivious to the weight of what she had set in motion.
For now, she was satisfied simply that someone had listened to her, that someone had finally heard her voice. For so long, no one had taken her side. Now, with a single word from her lips, others moved. A strange sense of accomplishment welled up inside her.
The moon, waning toward the new moon, grew thinner night by night.

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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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