The Villain Who Will Kill Me Is Too Handsome, It's Troublesome - Chapter 102

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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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Episode 102.
With their lips still touching, the two of them tumbled to the earthen ground.
Even in that position, Artiela squeezed out what remained of her Aura to pin him down, pressing one hand against his shoulder while her other hand gripped his throat, urgently driving her upper body upright.
Straddling his chest.
“Stay still.”
……
“No matter what you are—Source of Malice or whatever else—you can’t withstand the Holy Sword’s Judgment.”
Artiela bit her lip.
Tears threatened to spill.
This was different from what happened with the Emperor. The Source of Malice had entered Kirien’s body. So she couldn’t save him by simply removing some twisted curse.
No, wait. Hold on a moment.
“But you…….”
How are you moving?
Kirien’s body was bound such that he couldn’t harm Artiela. So if he’d accepted the Source of Malice, his flesh should have already met death.
Which means this…….
“You’re Undead?”
Source of Malice, you mad bastard! Now you’re even desecrating the body of the dead?
Artiela went numb from the shock. But she quickly moved the hand pressing down on his shoulder to his chest instead.
Was her hand trembling? Or was his clothing too thick? She couldn’t quite tell if he was truly alive.
Artiela urgently slipped her hand between the folds of his shirt. The moment her bare skin made contact with his, he flinched.
At that, his muscles tensed.
“That…….”
“It’s beating!”
It wasn’t a mistake, was it? It felt faint, almost…….
Artiela moved her palm back and forth until she felt certain, searching for the spot where she could best sense the heartbeat. Then, in an instant, she felt something unmistakably clear.
Thump-thump-thump, or was it pound-pound-pound?
“You’re not a corpse, at least. Phew, thank goodness.”
“Arti? That, there, your hand, please…….”
Just then, a desperate voice came from Kirien’s lips.
Artiela quickly looked down at his face. Warmth had returned to his eyes. And though faint, a pale white Aura was there too.
“Kirien?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“Are you really, truly Kirien?”
“Y-yes, I am.”
“Since when…….”
“The moment our lips touched…….”
Kirien’s face flushed crimson. His embarrassment only confirmed that it was truly him.
Artiela finally released her hand and let out a long breath.
“Ha…… truly, truly…….”
She thought she’d lost him. She thought the Source of Malice had stolen him away. She’d struggled so hard to protect him.
How could it be? Why…….
Tears gathered in Artiela’s eyes. They spilled helplessly, falling onto his shirt.
“Arti…… I’m sorry.”
“What do we do now?”
Artiela’s voice cracked with a sob.
“The Source of Malice can come and go through your body as it pleases…….”
The oath had proven useless. Kirien’s will meant nothing either. Recalling similar experiences, even inside Edelion, he received no protection whatsoever.
What good was golden Holy Power, then?
When she couldn’t even protect him.
Then Kirien spoke carefully.
“But I think there may be a way to drive it out.”
“What way?” Artiela asked through her tears.
“It’s…….”
Kirien hesitated.
“When my Holy Power overflows…….”
“Ah…….”
She understood.
“It seems the entity finds it easier to enter my body when my Holy Power drops below a certain level. And because my stamina has always been so weak…….”
He did lack both physical and mental endurance compared to Artiela.
“Just now, while I was trying to maintain the Barrier, I exhausted myself and…….”
“That’s when Holy Power went wild the moment we kissed, right?”
“Well…….”
They’d already kissed before, after all.
The fact that a mere peck could trigger such a reaction was rather delightful.
As Artiela smiled quietly, Kirien laughed with embarrassment.
“It’s not just the kiss that’s the problem right now…….”
Kirien lifted his head slightly to check Artiela’s condition, then flopped back down, even shielding his eyes a little.
“Arti’s straddling me, and you were just touching my chest, and touching, and touching…….”
Artiela hastily covered Kirien’s mouth as she felt an approaching gaze.
“Are you quite well?”
The Priest had drawn near with curious eyes.
“Ah, yes.”
“The lady’s wounds appear quite severe.”
Oh, that’s right! Mother!
Artiela hurried away from Kirien and checked on Bailey. Here she was indulging in affectionate displays while her mother lay grievously wounded.
Kirien, now belatedly roused, got to his feet as well.
“Nurse.”
Artiela checked Bailey’s pulse.
“She’s still alive.”
Though she hasn’t regained consciousness.
The blood loss had been severe.
“Would it not be better to move her inside the Temple?”
“Yes, please.”
Bailey was carried inside. With the Priest’s help, they arranged everything—the Purification Barrier and various protective measures.
Yet Artiela’s unease did not fade easily.
There was no telling when that creature might appear again.
For now, Bertia’s Aura still lingered faintly in Kirien, enough to tell them apart, but the moment that power was fully spent, there would be no way to distinguish them.
The last time they’d checked, even the Mirror of Truth couldn’t tell the two apart…….
“When she wakes, there will be much to ask her.”
Kirien murmured softly as he watched the Priest tend to Bailey.
“I do hope she wakes.”
Could she hear her son’s voice? Or was she merely dreaming?
Bailey’s sleeping eyes trembled visibly.
* * *
A full day passed, yet Bailey did not wake.
With no choice left, Artiela and Kirien moved her to Edelion with Ushiel’s assistance.
“Mother!”
Lillian happened to be there to greet them.
“Bailey was… Bertia?”
“Yes, she was hiding to avoid the eyes of the Source of Malice and seems to have disguised herself to watch over the Duke.”
“But the Aura and the Holy Power…….”
“Her Holy Power was stolen while tainted, and as for the Aura, she must have divided her strength beforehand, arranging it so the Duke could draw on it when needed.”
Ushiel explained from beside them for Lillian’s benefit.
“But the time she can remain in Bailey’s body won’t be long.”
She’s already a spirit with all her power stripped away.
Ushiel watched over Bailey’s sleeping form, then turned his gaze to Artiela and Kirien.
“It’s possible she left herself behind to help Artiela truly awaken her Holy Power.”
At Ushiel’s words, Artiela looked down at her own hands. The golden Holy Power still circled vigorously around her heart.
“Well done, Arti.”
At the sudden praise, Artiela tilted her head in confusion, and Ushiel smiled at her with gentler eyes than ever before.
“You’ve changed the future twice now.”
“Ah…….”
“And you’ve finally completed the Miracle as well.”
When they returned to Edelion, Frael came running to tell them.
The flower had withered, and in its place, a young fruit had formed.
“Take out the Tears of Goddess and look.”
At Ushiel’s request, Artiela produced what she always carried in her pocket. Ushiel then examined the teardrop-shaped diamond for a long while, turning it this way and that.
“It looks like the power of the sacred relic is already being replenished.”
“What? Really?”
As Artiela received the Tears of Goddess back, she startled and carefully placed it in her pocket.
At a safe distance from Kirien.
If his body touched hers, it would be catastrophic. Especially here in Edelion, where Holy Power ran rampant. If that power suddenly activated and purified him, Kirien would die, wouldn’t he?
“The problem is…….”
Ushiel looked at Kirien.
He had just explained what had happened in the meantime—the state of his condition, how the Source of Malice could now come and go as it pleased.
“You’ve reached a point where you can no longer control yourself, my lord.”
That was the problem.
No matter how hard he tried, the Source of Malice could now prey upon him.
“I honestly don’t know what to do about it.”
Kirien answered with a gloomy expression.
“Couldn’t we bind me with multiple Restraint Devices, the way you did when we dealt with that Dark Magic user you captured before?”
“It’s not a bad idea.”
Ushiel nodded in agreement.
“No, I’m against it!”
And Artiela’s opinion was overruled.

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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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