The Puppet Villainess’s Splendid Rebellion - Chapter 17

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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 17

“…What do you mean? You can’t find the Princess?”

“My apologies, Your Majesty.”

The Inner Chamber of the Imperial Palace.

The knight kneeling before the Emperor bowed his head with a dark expression.

“We confirmed she left the capital, but whether she deliberately switched carriages multiple times, her trail went cold midway. Therefore, we cannot clearly determine her current whereabouts.”

“How does that make sense!”

Bang!

The Emperor struck the armrest of the sofa with his fist. The knights all held their breath at his furious shout.

“Are you saying the Princess deliberately shook off pursuit?”

“….”

“I asked if that’s even remotely plausible!”

“Please kill me.”

“Ha.”

The Emperor roughly ran his hands through his hair as if dumbfounded.

Her trail had disappeared.

Whenever Lorea was in a bad mood, she would invariably leave the palace as if staging a protest, yet she had never once erased her own tracks.

That was only natural.

She enjoyed watching the Imperial Palace knights frantically search for her, setting aside all other duties.

‘What kind of bizarre behavior is this?’

It had already been ten days.

At any other time, she would have pretended to give up and returned by now. Not only was there still no news, but she had even shaken off pursuit?

It was far too strange.

“However, Your Majesty.”

“What is it?”

“That is….”

The knights exchanged troubled glances.

“Speak up already!”

At the repeated harsh command, the Knight Captain hesitantly opened his mouth.

“I humbly report, though it pains me to say, that there was a report the Princess disappeared on a route heading northeast.”

“…What?”

The Emperor’s gaze sank low.

“Northeast of the capital would only be Duke Carter’s Domain, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

His brow furrowed instantly.

“Duke Carter’s Domain.”

“…It’s merely speculation.”

The Emperor closed his mouth in confusion.

‘Why would that wench go there?’

What kind of person was Lorea Pryce?

A foolish and arrogant scoundrel who became the Imperial Family’s puppet, drunk on wealth and power, without even realizing she carried the wicked blood of House Carter.

Just how much evil had she committed over the past 12 years, never doubting that the Emperor was her father?

‘But she suddenly headed to Duke Carter’s Domain? While even hiding her tracks?’

It was impossible.

Unless Lorea Pryce had suddenly become a sage overnight, there was no way she could have discovered she was their blood.

He had burned the Duke’s carriage that fell off the cliff that day, erasing all traces.

Except for Edgar, the Emperor’s faithful limb, no one knew of Lorea’s origins.

It was that thorough a secret.

“No, there’s no way that wench headed to the Duke’s Mansion….”

The Emperor reflexively shook his head.

“That can’t be.”

Lorea Pryce must never learn about her origins.

At least not until House Carter was completely destroyed.

“…Your Majesty, for whatever reason, currently the highest possibility is that Her Imperial Highness headed to the Duke’s Mansion.”

“Quiet! Shut your mouth!”

At the Emperor’s sharp shout, the Knight Captain clamped his mouth shut.

Doubt appeared on his face.

‘Why is he so anxious over that half-blood Princess?’

The Imperial Family’s troublemaker.

A half-blood disgrace.

Lorea Pryce had been called such names for over ten years. Yet the Emperor alone was strangely obsessed with the Princess to an abnormal degree. She was a strange bastard who received the Emperor’s attention over all the Empress’s legitimate children in this palace.

It was the same now.

The Emperor’s appearance, biting his lips with bloodshot eyes, was close to panic.

‘Is there something I don’t know?’

Doubt bloomed in his eyes, but that was all. He bowed his head at the Emperor’s murderous glare that flew his way.

“I can’t leave this alone. I can’t just rely on incompetent knights….”

The Emperor, who had been muttering obsessively, widened his eyes.

“Summon the First Prince immediately.”

He twisted the corners of his mouth sinisterly.

“If he won’t come on his own, then drag him here.”

* * *

Finally, it was the tenth day of training.

“Take your stance.”

At Demian’s words, I spread my feet shoulder-width apart, bent my knees slightly, and positioned my clenched fists forward.

At first, I couldn’t even maintain this one stance and trembled violently.

But now it was different.

I wasn’t shaking. My balance was stable too. It was hard to believe this was the same body that had been gasping after running half a lap ten days ago.

Demian circled around me. After examining me from various angles, he nodded.

“At this level, you won’t be a burden.”

It was a comment he threw out casually.

…Wait.

Was that a compliment?

It was a compliment, right?

I struggled to suppress the corners of my mouth that were trying to rise. I shouldn’t show it. I’d look too pleased with myself.

‘But it was a compliment.’

Inside, I was so proud I could barely contain myself.

“Good work. We depart tomorrow morning. Be prepared.”

“Yes!”

A small cheer escaped me without realizing it.

Then Demian’s gaze turned strangely cold.

“…Are you going on a pleasure trip?”

I’d become able to let this level of provocation slide. I’d heard it every day for ten days, after all.

“I told you. I have business to attend to.”

Demian looked at me strangely. His gaze seemed like he wanted to say something, but also like he didn’t. Lately, he’d been looking at me like this more often.

“Come to the front gate at 5 AM tomorrow.”

In the end, that’s what came out of his mouth.

“If you’re even a minute late, I’ll leave without you. Don’t be late.”

He really had a way with words.

But whatever, I had no intention of being late anyway, so it didn’t matter.

“Then let’s call it a day.”

After saying that, Demian began cleaning up the training ground.

Ending when the sun was still climbing toward its zenith. It was the first time in ten days.

I glanced at Demian for a moment, then quickly left the training ground for the Main Building before he could tell me to help clean up.

‘Today I’m leaving first, hah.’

Finally getting my petty revenge, I thought as I walked down the corridor, but my steps stopped.

I encountered someone at the end of the corridor.

It was Carlos in his robes.

Pale face. Dry gaze. The bloodless complexion characteristic of someone suffering from dark magic corruption, as always.

We’d met by chance, but for some reason my feet wouldn’t move.

Carlos stopped too.

An awkward silence flowed between us.

“Is training over?”

He was the first to speak.

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“He said at this level you wouldn’t be a burden.”

“So you’re acting like a proper person now.”

A brief response.

That was all.

We both stood there looking at each other without saying anything. It seemed like we were confronting each other, but also like we were just standing there blankly.

Then suddenly his pale face caught my attention.

A body corrupted by dark magic.

A body that couldn’t last a day without purification stones.

A person who suffered daily pain but never showed it.

Clearly, it was the Emperor who hated this man. For the reason that he would be a threat to his imperial power. Sending poison, seizing assets, slowly tightening the noose.

But the one who actually empowered that Emperor was none other than me.

In the name of being a princess. Under the title of being the Emperor’s daughter.

The one who committed atrocities against House of Carter and took the lead in tormenting them.

That was me.

The me from before my regression.

The stupid, arrogant me.

The foolish me who thought the Emperor was my father and believed everything he said was right.

‘…Without even knowing this person was my father.’

I had regarded him as an enemy.

I had used him for the Emperor.

In the end, I had pushed him toward ruin.

If I hadn’t regressed, I would never have known until the very end. That this person was my real father, and that he was being used by the Emperor.

After swallowing dry breaths through my throat for a while, my mouth opened without my knowing.

“Please take care of your meals properly.”

“What?”

Carlos frowned slightly.

“I’ve taught Mia most of the recipes. Things that are good for magi detoxification. You just need to not skip them.”

“That doesn’t seem like something Your Imperial Highness needs to worry about.”

“I won’t be able to take care of lunch for a while.”

“That’s something I’ll handle myself.”

I narrowed my eyes.

‘Isn’t it because you can’t handle it yourself that things have gotten to this point?’

I thought it to myself but couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.

Because I wasn’t qualified to say such things.

Carlos looked at me for a moment, then turned around.

It seemed like he was going to leave just like that.

“Um.”

Without knowing why, I called out to stop him.

I didn’t know why I did it. It just came out of my mouth on its own.

Carlos turned back slightly and looked down at me. His face was still expressionless, and his red eyes that resembled mine were only dry.

I hesitated for a moment.

I didn’t know what to say.

“…I’ll be going now.”

But in the end, those words came out.

It was a brief farewell.

To this person, I was an unwelcome guest. The Emperor’s daughter and his enemy. It might be an unwelcome farewell. But still, I wanted to say it. That I was going and would return.

“….”

Carlos didn’t answer.

He just looked at me for a long time.

Eventually his gaze left me, and he turned around and walked toward the end of the corridor. Even until he disappeared, he said nothing.

I stared blankly at his retreating figure.

‘He doesn’t answer. Though that’s only natural.’

That’s the kind of relationship we have. There’s no reason for him to say such things to me.

But strangely, a corner of my heart felt cold.

‘…I’m sorry.’

I only murmured it to myself.

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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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