The Puppet Villainess’s Splendid Rebellion - Chapter 6

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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 6

It had already been a week since I entered the Duke’s Mansion.

And right now, I was out for an afternoon walk, unable to resist Mia’s nagging.

Something about how staying cooped up in my room would only make me weaker.

Even the nanny who raised me for 13 years wasn’t this annoyingly persistent.

She was truly a strange woman in many ways.

“Loreia is much smaller than others her age. Moderate exercise is good for your health.”

“I’ll take care of my own health.”

“Of course, naturally.”

There she goes again.

Whenever I spoke coldly or even showed irritation, Mia would brush it off with such gentle words, and somehow watching that attitude made my rising fighting spirit deflate in a strange way.

‘She probably acts the same way with Carlos.’

It didn’t seem like my imagination that Mia strangely felt like the real power behind the Duke’s Mansion.

“This garden is quite lovely, isn’t it? A walk really is the best for lifting one’s spirits.”

Too tired to grumble anymore, I nodded halfheartedly.

‘The weather is annoyingly nice.’

I learned belatedly that the Duke’s Mansion wasn’t perpetually shrouded in dark clouds. The mansion seen in bright light, though old, had a surprisingly decent exterior.

It was quite a talent, if you could call it that, to make such a splendid and pretty mansion look like a haunted house.

“…What’s this flower bed?”

As I trudged along, I suddenly stopped and asked about a sight that caught my eye.

Unlike the other gardens, this flower bed was filled with white roses blooming abundantly. Light seemed to shimmer around it, and the thousands of flowers were particularly vibrant with life.

At first glance, it was such a fresh sight that you might mistake it for a field of pure white snow rather than flowers.

Mia, who had been following behind me with quick steps, smiled proudly.

“Does Loreia like this flower bed too?”

“I thought it wasn’t the season for roses to bloom yet.”

“You have a good eye. That’s right, this place is maintained by the master’s magic.”

“The Duke’s magic?”

When just staying still would cause life-draining pain, he was wastefully spending his magic on a flower bed like this?

‘That cold-blooded man?’

When I turned around, unable to hide my curiosity, Mia smiled bitterly.

“All of these flowers are for our young lady.”

…Young lady?

You mean the Duke’s daughter, surely?

Mia, who glanced at my expression, carefully continued.

“When the young lady was still in the womb, the madam had a dream. A dream of a field full of pure white roses blooming.”

Mia gazed at the flower bed with longing eyes.

“The madam said that in Berva, her hometown, there’s a story that children become happy when given white roses.”

“…”

“When the master heard that, he brought cartloads of roses. He insisted on planting each one himself without having the servants do it, causing such a commotion…”

Mia, who had been smiling softly, caught my eye and quickly closed her mouth with an “Oh my.”

“Goodness, I talked too much. We don’t get many guests, so I’ve become thoughtlessly talkative.”

And I couldn’t say anything.

That Duke had loaded carts full of roses for his daughter.

I couldn’t imagine it at all.

“…Though he doesn’t tend to other parts of the mansion since what happened to the madam, he often looks after this garden. The young master visits here frequently too.”

For some reason, Mia’s gentle voice made me feel a dull pressure below my solar plexus.

I reached out and touched the edge of a nearby flower petal.

I could feel the fresh moisture.

Somehow, the area around my throat felt damp.

When he could barely take care of his own body, what was all this flower bed for.

I swallowed and spoke in a deliberately firm voice.

“…I heard the Duke’s daughter died long ago.”

It was an accident that shook the capital.

The carriage heading to the Duke’s wife’s hometown fell off a cliff and was completely destroyed. The Duke’s wife died on the spot in a gruesome state, and the only Duke’s daughter disappeared. Though the Duke mobilized all his forces and searched for months, he never found the Duke’s daughter.

Realistically, it made no sense for a two-year-old infant to survive that accident alone and vanish without a trace. Unless she had become food for wild beasts and even her body couldn’t be found.

Yes, that’s surely what should have happened.

It was laughable that the Duke’s daughter had actually survived all this time and arrived here on her own feet.

And wearing the skin of a half-princess at that.

‘If it weren’t for the Emperor, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity either.’

The intense flower fragrance washed over me.

I couldn’t breathe.

I quickly turned my head and walked rapidly.

“…Never mind, it’s not a story I’m particularly curious about.”

After crossing the garden for some time like that.

Suddenly my path was blocked and a shadow fell over my head.

“You seem to be settling in quite comfortably.”

Carlos, dressed in a poet shirt with his disheveled hair uncombed, was looking down at me.

“…Duke?”

“Is it really that surprising to encounter me in my own house?”

Carlos rarely showed his face, to the point where staying under the same roof seemed meaningless.

More precisely, it was obvious that he found me irritating.

As if he wanted to cut off my head and hang it up right away, if not for the purification stones.

‘It’s quite admirable that he’s holding back.’

Perhaps it was because of the roses I had just seen.

Facing Carlos made my stomach churn.

I stared up at him quietly before answering.

“Thanks to you.”

“It’s fortunate that at least one person feels at ease.”

We faced each other in confrontation for only a moment.

Carlos turned his body and said.

“Follow me, I have something to give you.”

* * *

“Take it.”

The second floor study.

Carlos held out a necklace contained in a small box.

A thin platinum chain with a pendant the size of a pinky fingernail attached to it.

“What is this?”

“An artifact. It can temporarily change your eye and hair color.”

He said dryly.

“Until we officially establish a sponsorship relationship, there’s no need to let the outside world know that the princess is staying in the Dukedom. It would be troublesome for both of us.”

Saying this, Carlos rubbed his temples as if tired.

I picked up the necklace from the desk in bewilderment.

‘I thought he looked exhausted even after taking all those purification stones….’

When he should be busy recovering his body with the purification stones he had just acquired, he was wasting magic power on something like this.

“…Thank you.”

As soon as I put on the necklace, my eyes and hair instantly changed to ordinary brown.

Carlos, who had been looking me over, said.

“It would be best if you kept it on even inside the Mansion. Your original appearance is incredibly irritating.”

My hand that had been fiddling with the pendant stopped.

‘…Irritating.’

I couldn’t not understand the meaning of those words.

A princess with the exact same eye and hair color as his missing daughter.

Come to think of it, even before my regression, he had been uncomfortable looking at my face.

It couldn’t have been pleasant to encounter me inside the Mansion.

Only after a long while did I tuck the necklace inside my collar and say nonchalantly.

“I understand. I’ll keep wearing this. It’s not a difficult task, and if I’m an unwelcome guest, I should at least be considerate to that extent.”

Only then did I see Carlos’s expression soften slightly.

“I’ll finish the paperwork within this week. Once I send the guardian documents to the temple in writing, even the Imperial Court won’t be able to interfere, so until then, stay out of trouble and keep yourself safe.”

I pondered for a long time over words that I couldn’t tell were a warning or a request.

“Speaking of which, I have a favor to ask.”

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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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