The Puppet Villainess’s Splendid Rebellion - Chapter 95

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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 95

Adoption, he said.

“Are you saying I should be completely adopted into the Duke’s household?”

I asked in bewilderment.

A guardian relationship and adoption are completely different. Right now I’m ‘Lorea Pryce’ temporarily staying with the Duke’s household, but if I were adopted, I would become ‘Lorea Carter’.

My status as a princess would remain unless the Emperor personally took it away, but I would essentially become a complete member of House Carter. It would be close to cutting ties with the Imperial Family entirely.

“Why all of a sudden?”

I looked at Demian with a face that said I had no idea what he was talking about. Demian had an even more serious expression.

“Are you perhaps interested in the throne?”

“The throne? Why would I be?”

I jumped up. The throne? That was ridiculous. I had never even dreamed of such a thing, not even before my regression. I just wanted to be recognized by the Emperor and become a useful daughter.

“I wouldn’t want it even if someone forced it on me.”

I shook my head firmly.

Demian nodded.

“Exactly.”

“…Pardon?”

“Just from briefly building connections at the hunting festival, aren’t there already this many people trying to curry favor with Your Highness?”

Demian pointed to the gift boxes piled up in one corner of the room.

“If the fact that you possess Jeongjesa stones is added to that, there will definitely be more serious support factions forming than there are now.”

Demian looked straight at me.

“Your Highness is smart, so you understand what this means.”

I closed my mouth.

Support factions. Jeongjesa stones. Princess.

The words connected in my mind. I slowly began to see the picture of what Demian was trying to say.

A princess’s faction that would directly oppose the Emperor’s authority.

Only then did I grasp the situation.

Before my regression, I had acted like a tongue in the Emperor’s mouth, receiving his favor, and even now I was merely someone to be reclaimed. That’s because the Emperor feels possessiveness toward me, not a sense of crisis. It’s just anger over losing his tool, not seeing me as a threat.

But if the Emperor felt that I was threatening his position.

‘Then it wouldn’t be about trying to get me back like now…’

He would try to kill me.

I was certain. Just like he did with House Carter, he would try to cut off my breath by any means necessary.

‘I have weapons prepared, so I won’t go down without a fight, but…’

My concern was something else.

‘I can’t let Carlos and Demian get hurt.’

I couldn’t bring an even greater threat to the Duke’s household, which was already bearing the Emperor’s pressure with their whole bodies. Absolutely not.

The adoption Demian mentioned was the simplest way to become a member of the Duke’s household, give up succession rights to the throne, and guarantee safety. It would be like declaring that I posed no threat to the Emperor.

It wasn’t a bad proposal. At least, that’s how it seemed if I thought about it rationally.

But at the same time, part of my heart felt heavy.

‘Do I have the right to do that?’

This house already had a lost daughter. The family that Carlos and Demian had searched for so long, and still hadn’t given up on. Of course, that was me, but to these people, Lorea and the Duke’s daughter were separate individuals.

And I would never reveal the truth to them.

Even though I had returned in time, my past misdeeds didn’t disappear, and I didn’t want to cause confusion by revealing that I was this house’s daughter now.

They would surely suffer in some way.

Whether from the fact that they had lost their daughter, or from guilt over not recognizing me, in some way or another.

‘That’s why I decided to leave when I come of age.’

But I had this thought.

Was it right to squeeze into that space without even revealing the truth to them?

That somehow felt like… stealing an empty place.

“But Demian, this house already has a daughter.”

I carefully brought up the topic.

At my words, Demian’s expression hardened for a moment.

He didn’t seem angry at me. He just looked shaken by the mere mention of his sister.

After a brief silence, he spoke.

“…Silvia will continue to be my sister as she always has been. She never stopped being that.”

‘Silvia.’

At the name that flowed out naturally, my heart somehow sank with a thud.

So that was my lost name. I was learning it for the first time.

It was a strange feeling. It was clearly my name, but it felt like someone else’s. I had lived as ‘Lorea’ for too long. The name Silvia seemed like something left behind somewhere far away. In a place I couldn’t return to even if I wanted to.

I couldn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to say, and Demian moved his lips slightly before opening his mouth again.

“Adopting Your Highness doesn’t mean that child stops being my sister. It just means the Duke’s household gains one more member.”

“…”

“It’s not about taking or stealing that child’s place.”

His tone suggested he knew what I was thinking. Hearing those words made me feel strangely reassured, but at the same time, part of my chest ached.

The ‘Silvia’ they had lost and ‘Lorea’ could never be the same person. I had no intention of shamelessly stepping forward now to claim I was their daughter and demand the love I hadn’t received.

Because of what I had done.

I felt grateful yet lonely. It was complicated.

Feeling like the atmosphere might become strange, I changed the subject for no reason.

“But does the Grand Duke know about this? Is it okay for Demian, who isn’t even the head of the family, to make such a proposal to me?”

“I haven’t gotten permission yet, but Father would agree, right?”

Look at how shamelessly he’s talking. Making a proposal first without even getting permission.

“Can you act so recklessly just because you’re the heir?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“What does it matter? Father doesn’t show it, but he quite likes Your Highness.”

“Ah, forget it. Let’s talk about it later. You don’t even have decision-making authority…”

“Decision-making authority can be obtained through persuasion. I’m telling you to seriously think about it!”

Ugh, why is he so persistent.

“Ah, this is annoying. Go away!”

“Wow, now you’re kicking me out like this?”

Even though I was poking his butt with my foot, Demian didn’t budge at all.

Instead, he started grinning annoyingly and began teasing me.

“Oh, by the way, if you’re adopted, you know I’d be your ‘big brother,’ right?”

This guy, really.

“Get out!”

I threw a pillow at him. Demian dodged it lightly while giggling.

* * *

The days grew colder and colder, and finally the first snow fell.

When I opened my eyes in the morning, the view outside the window had turned white. Snow had piled up on the trees and rooftops.

“Your Highness, you need to dress warmly!”

And right now, I was being forcibly armed by Mia’s hands.

She suddenly came in all excited and put earmuffs on me, pressed a hat down on my head, wrapped a scarf around and around, put gloves on me…

She made me wear several layers of clothes, making my body fat like a ball. If I spread my arms, I felt like I’d roll away.

What is this, I look like a pig.

“Do I really have to go out? I could just stay in my room…”

I have so much to do right now. I need to contact Hella’s Trading Company, keep track of the nobles’ movements, make Jeongjesa stones, and train with Sion…

“Not a chance!”

Mia clapped her hands together.

“On days like this, you need to build snowmen and run around to build up your stamina!”

It seems the Carter father and son weren’t the only ones shocked when I collapsed last time.

No wonder they’ve been putting more meat in every meal lately.

In the end, I had no choice but to be dragged outside by Mia’s hands. Cold air brushed against my nose tip. A garden covered in white snow spread out before me.

“Wow…!”

I certainly wasn’t eager to come out until now, but seeing the fairy-tale-like scene made me gasp in admiration without realizing it. A sparkling snow field. Snow had piled up on the trees too, and the path was covered in white. Every step I took made a crunching sound. A pure white world spread out before me.

I looked around the garden, turning my head this way and that. Everything was pure white. It was beautiful.

“How is it? It’s nice now that you came out, right?”

Mia smiled contentedly and winked at me.

“Well, uh… It’s not bad.”

“It’ll be even more fun if you do this. Look, Your Highness.”

Mia gestured to me and packed some snow, not too tightly. Then she threw it at me, and it hit the thick coat I was bundled up in and crumbled apart.

“Your Highness, try it too! It’s fun!”

“…Right now?”

At the Imperial Palace, I had never even built a snowman, let alone had a snowball fight. I only thought about maintaining my dignity as a princess. Moreover, I never imagined running around in a snow field bundled up like a ball.

I looked at Mia awkwardly, then hesitantly packed some snow. Since it was my first time, the shape was strange. I stared at it for a moment, then felt bad about throwing it at Mia, so I threw it in the opposite direction.

Thud.

“…Ah.”

…Huh?

I had definitely thrown it without looking, but I heard a familiar voice from the direction the snowball had flown.

When I hurriedly turned around…

“Huh.”

Carlos in robes was looking at his leg where the snowball had hit and crumbled.

Why did Carlos have to come out from there of all places.

I froze while still holding a snowball.

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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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