The Puppet Villainess’s Splendid Rebellion - Chapter 36

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

Chapter 36

 

Demian, who had been dazed for a while, spoke.

 

“…Did it really react?”

 

“Yes. It glowed. Definitely.”

 

His green eyes looked down at the sword again.

 

The light from earlier had already disappeared. But as if the lingering impression of that momentary reaction remained, Demian couldn’t hide his excitement.

 

“…That’s strange.”

 

“What is?”

 

“It was just for a moment.”

 

He lifted the sword and examined it carefully.

 

“The sword… seemed to be speaking to me.”

 

The holy sword was a divine artifact with a soul dwelling within it. It was said to speak only to those it acknowledged as its master.

 

Though it wasn’t complete communion yet, it had begun.

 

“That’s a good sign.”

 

Demian set the sword down and looked toward me.

 

His lips twitched as if he wanted to say something.

 

But it seemed the words wouldn’t come out.

 

“…”

 

An awkward silence flowed.

 

Demian cleared his throat.

 

“…That.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“…I think it’s thanks to you.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“What Your Highness said.”

 

Demian’s gaze drifted to the side.

 

He couldn’t look at me directly.

 

“What you said about not trying to be chosen, but choosing instead…”

 

His ears were slightly red.

 

“It was helpful.”

 

After barely adding that one sentence, he turned his head away again.

 

‘…What, he actually has a cute side.’

 

Is saying “thank you” really that difficult? How much must he have agonized before opening that stiff mouth of his?

 

I held back the laugh that was about to escape. If I laughed here, he’d obviously get sulky again right away.

 

Instead, I picked up the water bottle that was beside me.

 

“Would you like some water?”

 

“…Pardon?”

 

“You’re thirsty, aren’t you? You sweated a lot.”

 

Demian hesitated. He had an expression like this was unexpected.

 

His face seemed to say, “Water? That’s your response to my thanks?”

 

Or maybe he was expecting a more touching reply.

 

Sorry, but there’s nothing like that.

 

I grinned and pushed the water bottle further forward.

 

“Come on. If you don’t drink water, you’ll get dehydrated.”

 

Demian looked down at me quietly.

 

It was a strange gaze.

 

After looking at me like that for a while, Demian let out a small sigh.

 

“…Thank you.”

 

He took the water bottle from me and began gulping it down.

 

Watching him, I felt pleased inside.

 

‘It’s going well.’

 

The holy sword had begun to react.

 

Though it wasn’t complete communion yet, it was only a matter of time.

 

Before my regression, this had taken a year, but now it was different. Unlike before my regression, he wouldn’t lose his eyes.

 

‘Not much left until achieving the first goal.’

 

I bit into an apple with a good mood.

 

Crunch.

 

It was sweet.

 

“…Your Highness.”

 

“Mm?”

 

“Will you continue to come in the future?”

 

Demian asked as he set down the water bottle.

 

Though his tone was blunt, he seemed to be expecting something.

 

“Of course. I don’t have anything else to do anyway.”

 

“…I see.”

 

Demian turned his head away.

 

It seemed like the corners of his mouth went up slightly, or maybe not.

 

What, is he feeling good?

 

I tilted my head and shrugged my shoulders.

 

I don’t know.

 

He’ll come today and tomorrow anyway.

 

* * *

 

A few days later.

 

The day to bring the purification stone had come around again.

 

I woke up at dawn and rolled up my sleeves.

 

The inside of my arm was exposed. Wounds overlapped upon wounds.

 

The traces of self-treatment remained raggedly.

 

The half-healed skin was bumpy, and old wounds had turned into white scars.

 

I took out my dagger and looked for a place to make a new wound.

 

There weren’t many intact spots left.

 

In the end, I made a small cut next to a wound that hadn’t fully healed yet.

 

Blood began to flow.

 

“Ugh.”

 

Familiar pain washed over me.

 

Enduring the pain, I collected the blood, gathered it in my palm, and sent my energy into it. In an instant, a red light flashed and a purification stone was formed.

 

I roughly treated the wound and wrapped it with bandages.

 

I covered it with long sleeves.

 

So no one would know.

 

I took the small box and headed to Carlos’s study.

 

Knock knock.

 

“Come in.”

 

When I opened the door and entered, Carlos was sitting at his desk.

 

Sunlight pouring through the window illuminated his profile.

 

He looked up from the documents he was reading.

 

“You’re here.”

 

“Yes. I brought the purification stone.”

 

I placed the box on the desk.

 

Carlos opened the box and checked inside.

 

After confirming the purification stone that softly emanated a red light, he closed the box without saying anything.

 

Ever since I first kept silent about the source of the purification stones, he hadn’t asked anything.

 

An awkward silence flowed through the study.

 

To be precise, only I felt awkward. Carlos didn’t seem to care at all whether I left immediately or lingered around.

 

“The young duke’s holy sword has started to react. It’s still weak, but.”

 

“Is that so.”

 

Carlos’s answer was short. His tone suggested he wasn’t interested.

 

But I knew. I knew how much this person worried about his son.

 

Even though he pretended to be indifferent on the outside, after losing his wife and daughter, he was pouring all his attention into his one remaining son.

 

Before my regression, even while dying, he thought about Demian’s safety until the very end.

 

‘Back then, I mocked them for putting on a ridiculous farce between father and son.’

 

Thinking about that made my chest ache again, tightening painfully.

 

“It would be nice if you came out sometimes too, Your Grace.”

 

“…What?”

 

“The weather is nice. Instead of staying only in the study, you should get some fresh air too.”

 

Carlos looked at me with strange eyes.

 

His expression asked why I would say such a thing.

 

“It’s good for your health. Getting some sunlight and walking around.”

 

“…”

 

“Your complexion has improved a lot. Much better than when I first came.”

 

It was true.

 

When I first came to the Duke’s Mansion, Carlos had such a pale face that blue veins were visible through his skin.

 

But now he looked much better. Nothing was more reassuring than clearly seeing the effects of the purification stone.

 

‘Thank goodness.’

 

It meant that cutting my arm wasn’t in vain.

 

“I hope you become even healthier, Your Grace.”

 

I spoke with sincerity.

 

In fact, even if I couldn’t achieve all my other goals, if Carlos survived, that alone would be enough.

 

Anyway, I would flee beyond the borders when I came of age, and the Emperor would no longer be able to use me as a tool. If Demian became a Sword Master and Carlos’s health recovered by then, the House of the Duke could avoid collapse.

 

A subtle crack appeared in Carlos’s eyes, which had been consistently indifferent.

 

He seemed about to say something to me, moving his lips slightly, but then pressed them firmly shut.

 

“…Go now.”

 

Eventually, a cold voice flowed out.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“I said leave if you’re done talking. How long are you planning to occupy my study, Loreia?”

 

It was a coldly cutting tone.

 

As if he wasn’t the same person I’d been talking with just moments before.

 

Honestly, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t flustered by such attitude changes at first.

 

But by now I had grown accustomed to him occasionally showing his hatred toward me with his whole body.

 

‘It’s natural for him to hate me.’

 

It seemed I had been lingering in my spot for too long today.

 

“…Yes, then please rest.”

 

I bowed my head and left the study.

 

Thud, the study door closed heavily.

 

As if it would never open again.

 

* * *

 

The study, left alone, was quiet.

 

Carlos looked out the window. The back of the child who had just left flickered in his mind. The small back walking down the corridor, the eyes that had glanced back just before the door closed, strangely wouldn’t disappear from his head.

 

“I hope the Duke becomes healthier.”

 

It had been an innocent voice. As if it were sincere.

 

But Carlos had no intention of taking those words at face value.

 

She was none other than Loreia. A child with the Emperor’s blood mixed in. That alone was reason enough to be wary, and more than enough reason to hate.

 

A tray placed on one side of the desk caught his eye. The cookies that Lorea had sent through Mia in the morning were still sitting there untouched. Yesterday, the day before, and the day before that had been the same. Everything Loreia brought was thrown away. He hadn’t taken a single bite. He planned to continue doing so.

 

But it was strange. No matter how much he pushed her away, no matter how coldly he treated her, Loreia was oddly persistent with Carlos.

 

Every time she came bringing purification stones, every time she asked about his well-being, every time she worried about his health.

 

It was hard to believe this was the same foolish girl who had tried to crush the House of the Duke using every means possible with the Emperor backing her.

 

‘Has she been possessed by something?’

 

Even though she was taking refuge in the House of the Duke to avoid the Emperor, there were far too many parts that couldn’t be explained by that alone.

 

Today was the same. Telling him to get some fresh air because the weather was nice, saying his complexion had improved – what on earth was her ulterior motive for saying such things?

 

It wasn’t as if she didn’t know she was being used as a tool. He couldn’t understand why she acted this way even knowing that.

 

“…Annoying.”

 

Carlos, who had been rubbing around his eyes as if tired for a moment, slowly opened a drawer.

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