The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 93

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 93
“It seems Your Majesty wishes to lose nothing at all.”
Lucas spoke softly, yet an unmistakable weight of pressure underlay every word.
“If the Empress insists on being unreasonable, then I too have no choice but to match that unreasonableness.”
Lucas met the Empress’s gaze head-on, and she returned it without flinching—a look of contempt that asked: What could you possibly do to me?
“Your Majesty. Do you understand that your current actions constitute complicity in Treason?”
“Treason? What madness are you spouting?”
Instead of answering, Lucas dragged his chair roughly across the floor. The screech of wood against stone cut sharply through the vast chamber.
The Empress watched him in silence, her lips compressed thin as she weighed the gravity of that single word—Treason.
Lucas settled back into his seat and continued with measured calm.
“His Majesty entrusted Rachel Swan with a grave responsibility of the Magic Tower—the crucial duty of training the apprentices who will become the Empire’s future.”
……
“War with Analreo has begun. The Magic Tower’s apprentices will stand at the front lines, defending the Empire and His Majesty.”
Lucas’s gaze fixed on the anxiety flickering in the Empress’s eyes.
“From the moment war breaks out, the training of those apprentices becomes inseparable from His Majesty’s own safety. Yet knowing there exists a way to save Rachel Swan, who oversees their training, you abandoned her to personal feeling instead? Is that not sufficient grounds to interpret your actions as showing His Majesty’s safety means nothing to you whatsoever?”
“Such outrageous sophistry!”
“And who began with outrageous demands, if not Your Majesty?”
Lucas did not yield an inch. Rather, he pressed his advantage without hesitation, and the Empress trembled with rage, her hands shaking.
“Do you truly believe such twisted logic will persuade me to hand over the Protective Stone?”
“If you refuse, what then? Will you see Rachel Swan driven to her death, and accept the condemnation of the entire Empire?”
“Your Highness…!”
Just as the Empress’s fury crested toward explosion, Lucas sensed the moment had come to offer his prepared sweetener. His expression softened; he smiled gently and spoke in measured tones.
“If Your Majesty will surrender the Protective Stone, I shall grant you one wish of your choosing.”
……
“Tell me. What is it that you desire?”
* * *
My head is splitting.
Rachel let out a sound of pain. No matter how hard she tried to gather her wits, her body refused to obey her will.
She fought desperately to exhale and open her eyes.
Only moments ago, she had lacked the strength to move a single finger, yet somehow warmth was gradually returning to her limbs. Rachel slowly lifted her heavy eyelids.
“Rachel.”
The first sound to reach her ears was Lucas’s voice. At the same moment, warmth enveloped her ice-cold hand.
Rachel turned her head with effort.
Through the haze of her vision, Lucas’s strained expression came into focus. To reassure him, Rachel managed to lift the corners of her mouth.
“Lucas….”
Her voice hoarse, she spoke his name, and his steady hand swept across her cheek with the utmost gentleness—as though she were a fragile glass figurine.
“Rachel, you’re safe now. You don’t need to worry.”
At the soft murmur against her ear, Rachel gave a small nod.
The Imperial physician hurried forward with a bowl of medicine, explaining that after so long without consciousness, she would need to take strong remedies.
The dark red liquid tasted far worse than she’d imagined. Rachel swallowed it with a grimace.
“You must finish the entire cup.”
The moment she emptied one bowl, another herbal draught appeared. Rachel frowned again.
“I’ve never seen you make such a face before.”
Lucas let out a low laugh.
“Honestly, it’s terribly bitter.”
Rachel stuck out her tongue and pouted, and Lucas laughed again before pressing a candy gently to her lips with an affectionate hand.
“Try this.”
“It’s been such a long time since I’ve had candy.”
The only time she ever tasted it was when distributing it as rewards to the children at Swan Knights School. After choking down such brutally bitter medicine, here she was with candy from the Crown Prince himself.
The situation felt strange and somehow ticklish, so Rachel moved the candy to the inside of her cheek.
“Lucas.”
With her cheek slightly rounded from the candy, Rachel spoke.
“What is this necklace…?”
She touched the unfamiliar sensation around her neck, tilting her head down. A red gem glimmered softly at the center of a delicate gold chain.
“I should explain the situation first.”
Lucas settled on the edge of her bed and began to speak.
“Someone cast Dark Magic on you. It appears Katie Tayson is likely behind it.”
Dark Magic. Katie. Rachel’s expression hardened.
“Since we couldn’t find the fleeing sorceress, I used the most certain and rational method available.”
“The most rational method…?”
“The method of protecting you with the Protective Stone that the Empress possesses.”
“Then… are you saying this necklace is the Empress’s Protective Stone?”
Instead of answering, Lucas touched her cheek lightly with his finger—the one puffed out round from the candy.
The Empress’s Protective Stone. Rachel lost her words in shock.
It was a treasure passed down through generations to only the Empresses of Tirnes, a treasure that was nothing short of the Empress’s own symbol.
‘She gave that to me…?’
There was no way that Empress would willingly surrender such a treasure of hers. Rachel’s suspicion flared immediately, and she fixed Lucas with a direct, searching gaze.
“Lucas.”
Lucas smiled as if inviting her to continue, his eyes steady on hers.
“Your Majesty the Empress could not possibly have offered such a precious treasure without any price in return. Surely she demanded something immense.”
“Your instinct is correct.”
Lucas made no attempt at excuses. Instead, he admitted it frankly, as if relieved to be honest.
“Could it be that what Her Majesty demanded was….”
The cards held by the Crown Prince Lucas were abundant—vast wealth, military authority, and even renown within the Imperial Palace. But what had the Empress coveted among them?
Throughout her question, Rachel could not release the tension coiling through her.
“I was a little surprised myself that she asked for something far less extravagant.”
Lucas shrugged as if it were nothing at all. But Rachel gripped the blanket tightly. She dreaded even hearing what would come from his lips next.
“Only that the Empress’s family knights not participate in this war. That was her sole demand.”
“Exemption from participation for the Empress’s family?”
“Yes. Since her father and uncles—who command the greatest military force—are all knights, keeping their lives safe would have been her most desperate wish.”
Rachel did not know what to say. If a power-holder of the Empress’s family status simply withdrew from such a large-scale war, what would public opinion make of it?
It was obvious that rumors of favoritism would shatter the army’s morale.
“Lucas….”
In the end, Lucas had taken on a political risk for her sake. As Rachel lowered her head in guilt and softened her voice, Lucas tilted her chin up gently.
“It’s not a loss for me either. If the Empress’s family knights emerge in the war, they’ll trip me up at every turn and try to steal my achievements. For my position, it’s far more advantageous to remove such troublesome obstacles legally—makes my path lighter.”
So it all came down to a thoroughly calculated arrangement that benefited both sides.
Only then did Rachel’s heart grow a little lighter. As Rachel exhaled softly and fidgeted with her fingertips, Lucas offered her a tender smile.
“Rachel.”
“Yes, Lucas.”
“Don’t worry about anything. You need only trust me and follow me.”
…….
“No matter what happens, I will protect you.”
It was not mere comfort but a vow—a firm promise to shield her from any storm that might come.
“Lucas….”
Her heart swelled so that she had no words left to offer.
As Rachel’s words trailed off, Lucas, understanding exactly what lay in her heart, slid his fingers between hers and interlaced them.
The warmth where they touched so perfectly seemed to spread through her entire body.
“…I will trust only you and follow your lead.”
Rachel’s voice now carried a resolve quite different from before.
She gazed at their intertwined hands and allowed herself to imagine what lay ahead—the unknowable circumstances yet to unfold.

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