The Puppet Villainess’s Splendid Rebellion - Chapter 61

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

Chapter 61

 

My heart sank with a thud.

 

After exchanging glances with Demian for just a moment, I hurriedly got down from the bed before anyone could say anything.

 

It was Demian who stopped me.

 

“Hold on.”

 

“What?”

 

“What are you planning to run with that body?”

 

Before I could answer, Demian lifted me up in his arms. Then he ran down the corridor.

 

“De, Demian! I’m getting dizzy!”

 

“Bear with it.”

 

This man!

 

Even though I wasn’t running myself, my heart was pounding like it would burst. I was breathless and my hands were trembling. I had to see with my own eyes. That he was alive. That he had really awakened.

 

“Father!”

 

“Grand Duke!”

 

When Demian roughly opened the door with his hand and we entered, Carlos was sitting up against the bed.

 

If I had been standing on my own two feet, I would have collapsed right there.

 

Carlos’s face was pale. His lips also lacked color. But his eyes were open. His red pupils were directed toward me. He was alive. He was breathing.

 

“How noisy.”

 

He muttered bluntly.

 

“Are you feeling alright?”

 

Instead of answering, I struggled out of Demian’s arms and rushed to the bed. My whole body was trembling. I didn’t know why I was shaking so much. Whether it was from the tension being released or from relief.

 

Carlos’s red pupils observed me. As if something was strange.

 

“…Why are you crying?”

 

“What? Oh.”

 

Only then did I notice.

 

Tears were flowing.

 

I didn’t know when I had started crying. My cheeks were damp and my vision was blurry.

 

I hurriedly wiped away the tears with the back of my hand.

 

“Because the Grand Duke can’t die because of me.”

 

I spoke deliberately calmly. Even so, I couldn’t help the trembling at the end of my voice.

 

Carlos’s gaze lingered on me for a long time. His eyes were unreadable, impossible to know what he was thinking.

 

“Wow, you’re awake?”

 

Around that time, a voice suddenly came from nearby.

 

Sion, who I didn’t know had been there, was leaning diagonally against the window. His platinum hair sparkled in the sunlight.

 

After looking over me, Demian, and Carlos in turn, he jumped down and approached the bed.

 

“Mm, you’re really alive. Your condition seems stable at this level too.”

 

After briefly checking his condition, he shrugged his shoulders lightly.

 

Only then did I feel my pounding heart slowly calming down.

 

“Then he’s okay? Really?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Sion answered calmly and wiped around my eyes with his sleeve. Then he spoke languidly toward Carlos.

 

“The initial treatment was good. Lorea’s purification stone prevented the collision between the demonic energy spreading throughout your body and your magical power.”

 

I felt Carlos’s gaze reach me.

 

“However, there’s damage to the core of your magical power. It’s not irreparable. It’ll just take some time.”

 

Sion reached out and placed his hand on Carlos’s forehead. A blue light spread faintly. It seemed like he was checking his condition with magic.

 

“The demonic energy poisoning symptoms aren’t as severe as expected either. You should be fine if you just rest for a while.”

 

Demian was quietly standing and watching the situation. His expression was calm, but even so, he couldn’t hide his strangely tense demeanor.

 

“For now, you’ve passed the critical point…”

 

Sion muttered. His brow was slightly furrowed. It seemed there was still something more he needed to examine in detail. His expression was serious.

 

“Still, I need to examine him a bit more, so children should go out.”

 

Then an order to leave was immediately issued.

 

“Huh, like this? Already?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

But I had just seen him wake up.

 

“Anyway, there’s plenty of time to talk now. I have a lot to do. Go out quickly.”

 

Sion’s attitude was firm.

 

I wanted to say something, but I bit my lips tightly and nodded, thinking I might get in the way if I stubbornly insisted.

 

“Can I wait outside?”

 

“It’ll take a long time. Go downstairs.”

 

Even though he had awakened, his condition wasn’t completely recovered yet, was it? When my expression darkened, Sion tilted his head slightly and bonked our foreheads together.

 

“Ow.”

 

“Don’t think strange thoughts. I’ll call you when it’s all over.”

 

Then he gestured toward Demian with his eyes.

 

“Take Lorea out of here. She’ll start crying again at this rate.”

 

“Let’s go for now.”

 

Demian, who had been standing quietly, gently pulled me along. I reluctantly started walking.

 

“Well then, Duke, see you later.”

 

Holding Demian’s hand, I hesitantly left the room.

 

* * *

 

Lorea and Demian quietly slipped out of the room. The door closed carefully.

 

Carlos looked at Sion.

 

“…So you’ve been staying at the Duke’s Mansion all this time to treat me?”

 

“I only provided first aid. It’s hard to even call it treatment.”

 

Sion shrugged his shoulders.

 

“Being outside the western continent, I can’t use magic freely either. I’m less affected by magical energy, but I’m still affected nonetheless.”

 

“…”

 

“As I said earlier, it was Lorea who saved your life.”

 

Carlos’s eyes narrowed.

 

“…What do you mean?”

 

“Exactly what I said.”

 

Sion said while looking out the window. Sunlight illuminated his platinum hair.

 

“When I arrived, she was holding onto you.”

 

“…”

 

“Clinging to your collapsed body. Covered in blood all over. Crying. Desperately. Supporting you with her small frame. She begged me to save you. Said this person couldn’t die. Please save him, she pleaded. A thirteen-year-old child, clinging to me with tears and snot streaming down her face.”

 

“…”

 

“If it weren’t for her, you would have died there. If she hadn’t given you emergency treatment with purification stones before I arrived, the magical energy would have reversed and that would have been the end. Your magical circuits would have been completely destroyed.”

 

Carlos remained silent.

 

He felt complicated emotions. That child. The Imperial Princess. Had gone to such lengths to save him. Why? For what reason? He couldn’t understand it.

 

Sion reached out and placed his hand on Carlos’s forehead. Blue light spread out. He seemed to be stabilizing his condition with magic.

 

Then he spoke quietly.

 

“Don’t hate that child. You’ll regret it.”

 

“…What do you mean?”

 

Carlos narrowed his eyes and asked back, but Sion only shrugged his shoulders.

 

As if he had no intention of answering at all.

 

Just as Carlos’s brow was about to furrow, Sion grinned broadly and rose from his seat.

 

“You’ll be stable for the time being.”

 

Leaving only those words, he smoothly left the room.

 

Without looking back.

 

The door closed.

 

Carlos was left alone.

 

Sunlight streamed in through the window. It was a quiet room. Bird songs could be heard in the distance. It was a peaceful afternoon.

 

“Don’t hate that child. You’ll regret it.”

 

Sion’s words circled in his head.

 

Princess Lorea Pryce had saved him. Crying, desperately, begging for him to be saved.

 

‘Why?’

 

He couldn’t understand it.

 

Was it because of his utility value? Because she would lose her status as a ward if he died? So she saved him for that reason?

 

But that child’s tears then, and just now, seemed too genuine to be an act.

 

Knock knock.

 

Just then, there was a knock and the door opened as Mia entered. She was carrying a steaming tray in her hands.

 

“Master, please have some food.”

 

Carlos looked at the tray. It was a familiar combination.

 

Ingredients good for magical energy resistance. Medicinal herbs that warmed the body. Easily digestible stew. A recipe Lorea had taught Mia. Food that had been brought to him many times before.

 

“…Just leave for now.”

 

“Yes, Master. You must chew thoroughly, okay?”

 

Mia set the tray down on the table and quietly left.

 

Carlos stared intently at the food.

 

Warm steam was rising from it. It smelled good. It clearly showed the care put into making it. Each ingredient had been carefully selected.

 

After hesitating for a moment, he reached out and picked up the spoon.

 

The food was warm.

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