The Puppet Villainess’s Splendid Rebellion - Chapter 37

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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 37

 

Inside the drawer was a small portrait of two people. One was a woman with snow-white hair and gentle green eyes. The other was a young child nestled in her arms. It was his daughter, frozen forever at the age of two.

 

Eleven years ago, the carriage carrying his wife and daughter had fallen off a cliff. They called it an accident. They called it misfortune. But Carlos knew better. He knew the coachman had been sent by the Imperial Palace, that there were traces of someone tampering with the carriage’s wheel axle. It was the Emperor’s doing. He had no proof, but he was certain.

 

His wife’s body could be recovered. But his daughter was never found. He searched for months. He combed through every inch of the valley below the cliff. Yet there was no trace of the two-year-old child anywhere. No body, no scraps of clothing, nothing.

 

“…Silvia.”

 

The name that slipped between his lips dissolved into the air.

 

If that child were alive, she would be thirteen now. The same age as Lorea.

 

Similar silver hair, similar eyes, the same age.

 

Perhaps that was why. Every time he saw that child, he was reminded of his lost daughter. His heart would sink one moment, then surge with disgust the next.

 

The way her eyes crinkled slightly when she smiled, or her habit of tilting her head—such things touched a corner of his heart. It was an unpleasant sensation.

 

To see the shadow of his dead daughter in a child who inherited the Emperor’s blood. It made him feel pathetic.

 

Carlos put the portrait back in the drawer and looked out the window. In the distance, he could see the training grounds. Demian was swinging his sword, and beside him sat a small shadow. It was a scene so natural, as if she had always belonged there.

 

Carlos closed his eyes.

 

That child was a tool.

 

A tool to bring him purification stones, nothing more and nothing less.

 

So he had to give her what she wanted and use her for as long as possible.

 

The child’s well-being or safety—that wasn’t Carlos’s concern.

 

So he would treat her exactly like that.

 

He repeated this to himself. Over and over again.

 

* * *

 

That night, something strange happened to me.

 

I was reading a book in my room when the ring on my finger suddenly grew warm. It was the ring Sion had given me. The one he’d handed over when I entrusted him with the purification stone, saying “It’s for communication.”

 

‘What’s this?’

 

The moment I tilted my head in confusion, something like a water droplet popped up from the ring’s surface.

 

The droplet floated up into the air and began to change shape. It gradually elongated, sprouted legs, and grew ears.

 

A moment later, a small rabbit the size of a finger was floating before my eyes. A translucent rabbit that sparkled with silver light.

 

Then it began flapping its ears and circling around me.

 

And then.

 

-Piyo.

 

With that cry, it began writing letters in the air. Silver light streamed from its tail, forming words.

 

[Going to give you an interim report on the purification stone analysis.]

 

[I’m sleepy today, so tomorrow.]

 

Having finished its message, the rabbit transformed back into a water droplet as if its job was done, then seeped back into the ring. As if it had never been there in the first place.

 

“…So that’s how communication works.”

 

Water droplets and rabbits—I suppose this is what you’d expect from an Archmage.

 

‘But is it really okay for him to come here?’

 

Sion coming to the Duke’s Mansion meant he might encounter Carlos.

 

I wasn’t sure what Carlos thought of Sion. He probably knew of the Archmage’s existence, but he didn’t seem particularly interested. There was no political entanglement, and the Mage Tower maintained neutrality.

 

The problem was Sion’s side.

 

‘How Sion would treat Carlos…’

 

I couldn’t predict it.

 

Basically, mages didn’t think highly of nobles. And if Carlos’s prickly attitude was added to that mix…

 

‘Hmm, I really hope they don’t run into each other.’

 

Somehow, I found myself sighing.

 

* * *

 

The next morning.

 

I was preparing to go to the training grounds as usual.

 

I arranged my hair in front of the mirror and put on a long-sleeved dress. It was to hide the scars on the inside of my arms. These days, I only wore long sleeves.

 

I turned toward the door to grab my snack basket.

 

Flash.

 

Suddenly, light burst in my room.

 

“Ugh!”

 

I covered my eyes with my hands because of the brightness.

 

When the light faded and I opened my eyes, there was a person standing in the middle of my previously empty room.

 

Platinum hair. Violet eyes. A face stifling a yawn.

 

But.

 

‘…Huh?’

 

Something was strange.

 

It was definitely Sion, but.

 

‘Did he get smaller?’

 

When I saw him last time, he was definitely a tall adult man. He was at least two heads taller than me, with broad shoulders. He was a languid handsome man with long flowing hair.

 

What stood before me now was a boy who looked to be around my age at most. His hair had gotten shorter too. It came down to just below his ears. His face was the same, but everything felt shrunken overall.

 

As I stared at him blankly, the boy tilted his head.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

“…Are you really Sion?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“…Why did you get smaller?”

 

“Ah.”

 

Sion looked down at his body and spread his arms.

 

“Isn’t a peer more comfortable than an adult? I put effort into this.”

 

The direction of his efforts is strange.

 

“Is it transformation magic?”

 

“Something like that. It’s annoying to maintain, but whatever.”

 

If it’s annoying, then why do it?

 

“…Just come in your original form.”

 

“This is more fun. I want to meet like this from now on.”

 

Sion spun around and grinned cheerfully.

 

When I thought of an adult man using magic to become younger, it felt somewhat strange, but thinking of him as a mage over 800 years old made me feel rather detached instead.

 

I sighed. I was foolish to expect common sense.

 

“Hello.”

 

Sion greeted me belatedly.

 

“…Hello.”

 

“Why are you looking at me like that? I said I’d come.”

 

Sion tilted his head. His face said ‘what’s the problem?’

 

“What if you suddenly appear in someone’s room like this?”

 

“Knocking on doors is bothersome.”

 

“…”

 

“And I didn’t know where your room was, so I just came to the ring’s location.”

 

Ah, so that’s why he gave me the ring.

 

It wasn’t for communication but for coordinates.

 

“What if I had been changing clothes?”

 

“Were you?”

 

“No.”

 

“That’s fortunate.”

 

His tone didn’t sound like he thought it was fortunate at all.

 

“…Please sit down for now.”

 

“No thanks, I get sleepy when I sit.”

 

Sion wandered around looking at my room.

 

“So this is your room. It’s bigger than I thought.”

 

“It’s the Duke’s Mansion.”

 

“I suppose so.”

 

His tone suggested he wasn’t particularly impressed.

 

“But where were you going?”

 

Sion asked, looking at the basket in my hand.

 

“To the training grounds. I was going to bring Demian some snacks.”

 

“Training grounds? That sounds interesting. I want to go too.”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

“I’m bored. We can talk about the purification stones later.”

 

With that, Sion walked toward the door.

 

“Come on, let’s go.”

 

I left the room following Sion, at a loss for words.

 

No wait, I didn’t follow him – it’s my room, so why did it end up looking like I was following him?

 

As we walked down the corridor, Sion kept looking around.

 

“It’s big.”

 

“It’s the Duke’s Mansion.”

 

“You said that earlier too.”

 

Sion grumbled that my responses were monotonous, then soon stopped abruptly at the end of the corridor and turned to look at me.

 

Perhaps because our eye levels matched now, I could see his blank expression even better than before.

 

“But do you know the way?”

 

…He was walking so confidently that I thought he knew where the training grounds were.

 

Turns out he didn’t.

 

I stared at him in bewilderment, then took the lead and started walking. This time Sion followed behind me.

 

The sight of the Archmage trailing behind a thirteen-year-old princess was amusing, but it was subtly strange how well it suited him now that Sion had made himself younger.

 

Down the stairs, around the corridor.

 

We had just arrived at the door leading to the garden.

 

“Princess.”

 

A low, heavy voice came from behind us.

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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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