The Puppet Villainess’s Splendid Rebellion - Chapter 88

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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 88

Carlos ran across the forest.

His heart was beating like crazy.

As he rushed through the dry grassland, his mind was filled with nothing but ominous premonitions. His chest tightened suffocatingly.

‘Where does she think she’s going, alone.’

Even a princess without magic power couldn’t survive unharmed in such dense demonic energy.

It wasn’t a place where a mere thirteen-year-old princess could run to alone.

Carlos gritted his teeth and put more strength into his legs. The footsteps of the knights following behind grew more distant, but he had no time to care.

He had to go faster. Even a moment sooner.

Then, a familiar scent brushed past on the wind.

It was the smell of blood.

A scent he had smelled countless times on the battlefield.

But at this moment, it pierced his heart harder than ever before.

Carlos’s feet moved even faster. He crossed the grassland almost as if flying.

Soon something came into view.

A small form collapsed on the dry grassland.

A disheveled overcoat and a white dress fluttering carelessly, silver hair scattered on the ground.

The moment the tiny figure came into sight, the world seemed to stop.

It was Lorea.

Dark red bloodstains were spread across the grassland.

Blood from an unknown source was soaking the dry grass blades, and the white dress sleeves were already stained red.

A face pale beyond description. Tightly closed eyelids. A small body collapsed without even the slightest movement.

“….”

Carlos, who had been frozen for a moment, rushed over urgently.

Strangely, the surrounding air was clear.

When he received the report, they had definitely said demonic energy was leaking out, but now he couldn’t feel any demonic energy in this place. The air was cleaner than anywhere else in the duchy. It felt excessively clear and purified.

But he had no leisure to worry about such things.

Carlos slowly knelt down. He could hear the rustling sound of dry grass blades, but even that felt faint. All his attention was focused on the girl before his eyes.

“…Princess.”

His voice came out cracked.

“Princess?”

There was no answer.

He could only hear the sound of wind, dry grass blades rustling, and his own rough breathing.

He reached out and brought his fingertips to her pale cheek. It was cold. Too cold to be the temperature of a living person. His fingertips trembled involuntarily.

“…Open your eyes.”

Strength entered the hand that grasped her shoulder. He wanted to shake her awake immediately, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Her body was so slender it seemed like it would break with just a little force.

Carlos carefully lifted her upper body and held her in his arms. Her limp body collapsed into his embrace. Silver hair scattered over his arm, and her head tilted back. There was no response at all.

His heart felt like it was sinking.

He brought his ear close to check for breathing. It was faint. She was breathing very faintly. She was still alive. For now.

“Sir!”

Then the knights who had followed arrived, panting. Their faces turned white when they saw the situation.

“Pr-Princess!”

“We need to call a doctor immediately!”

Carlos didn’t listen to those words.

He stood up and lifted Lorea in both arms. She was light as a feather. Had she always been this light? Had she always been this small? He hadn’t known despite facing her every day. That this child was such a small and light existence.

He hadn’t realized when she was acting arrogantly, but holding her like this, he finally understood. How small a child she was.

And he started running again.

So the child in his arms wouldn’t be shaken, so her breathing wouldn’t stop, holding her tightly to his chest.

Not on the battlefield, not when chasing magical beasts, had he ever run this frantically. The ground beneath his feet flashed by, the trees blurred, and his vision narrowed. He could only see ahead. He could only feel the child in his arms.

The knights shouted something from behind, but it didn’t reach his ears. He thought of only one thing.

He had to save her. Without fail.

* * *

I was floating in the darkness.

It was a space that was neither cold nor hot. An endless abyss. Infinite darkness with no up or down. I couldn’t feel any sensations as if I had no body, and it felt like only my consciousness was floating around.

Where is this place.

Strangely, I wasn’t scared. It was just quiet.

Am I dead? Did I die from losing too much blood while blocking the demonic energy?

…That would be a bit unfair.

I still had many things to do. I had to make Demian a Sword Master, and I had to restore Carlos’s health too. I also had to get revenge on the Emperor.

I was just beginning to understand what family meant, so it couldn’t end so futilely like this.

Then, something glowed.

A faint red light leaked from where my fingertips should have been. At first it was a small light about the size of a firefly, but it gradually grew larger and spread from my wrist to my arm to my whole body. As if spreading through my blood vessels.

It was warm.

When that light enveloped my whole body, the cold darkness retreated. My heart began to beat again. I could feel a slow but definite pulse.

‘What is this.’

I couldn’t identify it, but at the same time, I felt like I somehow knew what it was.

Something that had been inside me from long ago. Something I had been carrying without knowing it.

‘What on earth….’

In the midst of confusion, the light grew stronger and stronger. The light pulsed centered on my heart, then became bright enough to be blinding.

Suddenly I saw something within that light. It was an existence whose form I couldn’t make out. Something that seemed human but also not, just a dazzling mass of light. An existence whose outline couldn’t even be grasped was looking down at me.

I wasn’t afraid. Rather, I felt comfortable. It felt like facing an existence I had known from long ago. It seemed like it wasn’t trying to harm me, but protect me.

And I heard a voice from somewhere. Very far away, very faintly.

“…You must live.”

Whose voice was it? Was it my voice? Or was it the voice of that light?

I couldn’t tell. But the red light seeped toward my heart, and warm warmth penetrated deep into my chest. Like adding firewood to a dying ember, life began to burn again.

My consciousness faintly surfaced.

My eyelids were heavy as a thousand pounds, and I couldn’t move a single finger. My whole body felt like it had become lead.

Beyond my faint consciousness, I could hear voices.

Intermittent and broken, familiar voices.

“…The anemia is severe. I can’t find any wounds, but judging by the circumstances, she lost a lot of blood….”

“What on earth could she have done to bleed so much at that scene?”

“There’s not much we can determine from the current situation.”

“Your Grace, please calm down for now….”

Among the murmuring sounds, I heard a particularly familiar voice.

‘Carlos?’

The person who usually never came close to my side was now right beside me.

I had to tell him. That I was okay. Not to worry. That I wasn’t dead. That I was here.

I tried to move my lips, but they wouldn’t open. My tongue wouldn’t move, and no sound came from my throat. I didn’t even have the strength to move a single finger.

‘No. I have to speak.’

Because that person was worried. Because those anxious breaths were because of me. I had to reassure him.

But my consciousness drifted away again. Soft, deep darkness washed over me. The light I had seen in my dream earlier was still pulsing faintly in the center of my chest. That warmth seemed to be protecting me.

‘I’m really okay.’

Holding onto the words I couldn’t say in the end, I fell back into sleep.

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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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