The Puppet Villainess’s Splendid Rebellion - Chapter 43
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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 43
“Damn it!”
Emperor Heliod Milton Pryce could not contain his rage.
Veins bulged in the hand that gripped the armrest.
‘Lorea Pryce, that troublesome wench!’
How dare she.
How dare she refuse to return?
The Emperor looked down at the report placed on his desk. With blazing golden eyes glaring at it, the Emperor roughly grabbed the bundle of papers and threw it.
The purification stones were gradually running out.
Purification stones could not be made without Lorea’s blood. How tirelessly he had worked to keep that wench with the filthy bloodline trapped in her comfortable cage.
‘And yet she stabs me in the back!’
The Emperor gritted his teeth.
Purification stones were not mere gems. They were the foundation of imperial power.
The capital where mana concentration was growing thicker. The worsening mana collision symptoms with each passing year. Only purification stones could control that.
Without purification stones, the loyalty of the people and nobles would waver.
Above all, his own body would surely not endure.
“Urgh…”
The Emperor pressed his temples.
Headaches had been frequent lately. He could feel his mana subtly fluctuating. He needed to increase his purification stone dosage, but with reserves dwindling, even that wasn’t easy.
“Summon Rendall.”
When the Emperor commanded his attendant, a man entered shortly after. He was the retainer in charge of purification stone research.
“Your, Your Majesty. You summoned me?”
“How is the substitute for purification stones coming along?”
“That, that is…”
Rendall hesitated.
“It’s still under research. We’re searching for substances with components similar to Princess Lorea’s blood, but it’s not easy…”
Bang.
The Emperor grabbed the inkwell from his desk and threw it. The inkwell shattered against the wall. Black ink splattered everywhere.
“Do you think I summoned you to hear excuses!”
The Emperor shot up from his seat.
“How many years have you been researching! What have you been doing all this time!”
“I’m, I’m sorry Your Majesty! But the Princess’s blood has special components…”
“Enough!”
Rendall prostrated himself flat on the floor with a face pale as a sheet.
“Please, please spare my life!”
The Emperor’s golden eyes gleamed ominously.
“Find it by any means necessary. I give you three months. If there are no results within that time…”
The Emperor’s eyes glinted coldly.
“Know that your head will be the first to roll.”
“…I will keep that in mind, Your Majesty.”
Rendall answered with a trembling voice and withdrew.
The door closed.
The Emperor looked out the window.
‘Of all places, it had to be House of Carter.’
Among all those places, why did it have to be there?
When Vincent first reported that fact, he wondered if it might be a mistake. In truth, he wanted to believe that.
The time spent raising Lorea as a princess to make her antagonistic toward House of Carter had been a full eleven years.
However, when he sent an envoy to confirm, Lorea Pryce was indeed taking refuge with that House of Carter.
‘…Surely she doesn’t know, does she?’
No.
That couldn’t be.
The carriage accident from eleven years ago had been perfectly concealed by killing all related parties and witnesses. There was no way for Lorea to know the truth. It had to be that way.
‘That wench couldn’t possibly know.’
The Emperor convinced himself.
But the unease did not fade.
“I absolutely cannot let the guardianship registration be completed.”
If Lorea was registered as Duke Carter’s ward, the Imperial Family’s reach wouldn’t extend to her. If that happened, obtaining that blood, the raw material for purification stones, would become even more difficult than now.
He had used every means to prevent the written registration at the temple, but at this rate, Lorea and Duke Carter would surely head to the temple eventually.
He had to prevent them from going to the temple by any means necessary.
The Emperor tapped the armrest with his finger. Cold, sharp eyes stared into empty space.
“I absolutely cannot let that happen.”
Lorea Pryce belonged solely to the Emperor.
* * *
“Haaaaah.”
In the middle of the library, I slumped over the desk with my feet dangling, not touching the floor.
A sigh escaped me naturally.
Though I had successfully sent the Envoy back, unfortunately, not all problems were solved. The biggest obstacle of the Temple still remained.
Demian, sitting next to me, rested his chin on his hand and muttered.
“Even after searching this much, there’s no other opening, so it seems we really have no choice but to go to the Temple.”
“…Is that really the case?”
I couldn’t hide my complexity.
“Are you that afraid of leaving the Dukedom?”
“Rather than that…”
I was about to say something to Demian but bit my lips shut.
“Why do you stop mid-sentence?”
“It’s not like I’m going alone.”
“What does that even… Ah.”
Demian let out a low exclamation as if he finally realized.
“Are you worried about my father, Your Highness?”
Then he asked back as if it was absurd.
What exactly does he take me for?
Well, of course.
Such a reaction is entirely my fault.
But Carlos, who had to take risks for my sake, kept weighing on my mind.
‘I came here to protect that person, but at this rate, I’m nothing but a burden.’
I wanted to keep him comfortable and pain-free.
That’s when it happened.
Suddenly, the ring on my finger grew warm.
“Huh?”
Before I could notice the strange feeling, a small rabbit popped out from inside the gem.
“Piyo.”
The rabbit wrote letters in the air.
[I’m coming soon.]
What kind of notification is this now?
While I couldn’t hide my bewilderment, Demian narrowed his eyes at the suspicious rabbit that suddenly appeared before his eyes.
“What is this?”
“Oh, it’s a message from the Archmage. But why suddenly…”
Before I could finish speaking.
Flash, my vision turned white with light.
When the light disappeared and I opened my eyes…
“Hello.”
Sion was standing there. Right in front of the desk.
Demian reflexively placed his hand on his sword hilt, then made a subtle expression upon seeing Sion’s face.
“He looks like the Archmage… What is this appearance?”
He pointed at Sion with a confused face.
Come to think of it, the last time Demian saw Sion, he was an adult man. What stood before us now was clearly a boy who looked about thirteen years old.
I sighed.
“…That’s how it turned out. It’s a long story to explain.”
Despite Demian’s confused reaction, Sion didn’t care at all. He calmly looked around and smiled with a blank expression, saying “Wow.”
“It’s a library. Lots of books.”
“Excuse me, what exactly is this situation all of a sudden?”
“Didn’t you see my message? I said I was coming beforehand.”
Sion tilted his head.
“I did see it, about 10 seconds ago.”
“Then why act surprised when you saw it?”
I wasn’t acting surprised, I was surprised. I wanted to say who appears out of nowhere less than 3 seconds after contacting someone, but I swallowed my words since he probably wouldn’t listen anyway.
“I missed you, so I came.”
“…Pardon?”
“The Mage Tower is boring. No fun either.”
Sion perched on the desk.
Demian frowned.
“…Isn’t it basic courtesy to give proper notice before barging in?”
“You’re so young yet more uptight than you look… Are all nobles like that?”
At Sion’s reaction, which was not just shameless but even innocent, Demian was left speechless. I wasn’t any different.
To think this person is the Archmage.
Do the people at the Mage Tower deal with this kind of thing every day?
“But Lorea, you don’t look good. Is something wrong?”
Sion, who had leaned toward me, suddenly asked.
His purple eyes stared intently at my face.
I rolled my eyes around. It had nothing to do with the Archmage, but it didn’t seem like something I could brush off either.
“…It’s because of the Temple.”
“The Temple?”
“I need to go to the Eastern Temple to register as a guardian.”
Only then did Sion’s eyes turn toward the desk. The stacked books. Scripture, Temple law commentaries, related documents.
Sion, who had been tilting his head for a moment, picked up one of the books. He skimmed through it roughly and put it down with a thud.
“How long does it take to get to the Eastern Region?”
“Three days by carriage.”
“Ah.”
Sion let out an exclamation and swung his legs.
“I happen to have business in that area too.”
“…What?”
“Hella asked me to bring something from near the Eastern Region. Some kind of magical sample or something.”
Sion waved his hand as if annoyed. Then he looked at me and grinned broadly.
“Since we both have to go anyway, it wouldn’t be boring if we went together.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“The Eastern Region has dense magical energy. It would be hard for the Grand Duke to endure in his current condition, but I could probably help. Hmm, probably a lot?”
I blinked my eyes in bewilderment.
…He would accompany me to the Temple? So suddenly like this?
The Archmage possessed vast magical power incomparable to other mages, but at the same time, he knew how to freely manipulate that power. If there was a mage most free from magical energy, it was none other than the Archmage.
“I’d get tired if I stayed in a place with dense magical energy for too long, but well. I can handle that much.”
Sion’s violet eyes curved into crescents. My reflection was clearly captured in those ever-changing cosmic eyes.
“Shall I go with you?”
He whispered softly.
As if he had come here intending to do so from the beginning.
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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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