The Villain Who Will Kill Me Is Too Handsome, It's Troublesome - Chapter 111

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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 111.
“Are you all right, Kirien?”
At Artiela’s gentle concern, Kirien wiped his face. His ears burned crimson with embarrassment.
Yet the surge of emotion that had welled up refused to settle easily.
“I’m… not entirely sure.”
His chest rose and fell in great heaves. Though he was accustomed to mastering his feelings, this time they would not obey him.
Was this relief? If so, it ought to be welcome.
Artiela leaned closer, offering her face to him, but Kirien shrank back, more flustered still.
Then he cried out urgently.
“I’m lonely.”
Artiela was taken aback.
Lonely? With your beloved standing right in front of you? That makes me sound like a careless wife who abandons her faithful husband to run about town.
Kirien, lowering the hand that had covered his face, saw that his lover had gone cold.
“Have I… made you lonely?”
Yet we share every meal together, all three of them.
We walk together every single day.
And at night, we come to the Sacred Tree to pray like this. When no one is watching, I even kiss you deeply. Surely that counts for something.
What more could you possibly need?
“No, that’s not what I meant!”
Kirien waved both hands in denial.
“It’s not my loneliness. It feels like the loneliness of the Source of Evil.”
“The Source of… I’m sorry, what?”
Artiela’s frown deepened.
Hadn’t it been completely separated into a distinct personality? So how could he possibly sense its state?
It seemed Kirien noticed her confusion as well.
“I don’t understand it myself. For some reason, my chest feels tight and heavy. I’m certain these feelings aren’t mine, and yet…”
Artiela found herself looking toward the Sacred Tree.
Excuse me, God?
You said when the two became one, purification would solve everything? Then why are they still connected?
Artiela summoned Ushiel at once.
“Something’s gone wrong, hasn’t it?”
Artiela asked anxiously.
“Well… How are you feeling now, Kirien?”
“Better.”
After probing further and conferring with Bertia, Ushiel posed one final question to the Sacred Tree. Blue Holy Power enveloped the tree, and moments later, Ushiel turned his gaze upon Kirien.
“It appears to be the residual human emotions the Source of Evil left behind. When it merged with you and was purified, those feelings were severed along with it—which is why you’re sensing them now.”
“So the Source of Evil itself isn’t still present?”
“That’s right. You needn’t worry overmuch.”
Ushiel’s explanation finally drew a sigh of relief from Artiela. Yet at the same time, an odd feeling stirred within her.
The Source of Evil feels lonely.
She began to understand why Kirien had pitied it.
‘If it had retained some humanity, couldn’t it have been redeemed?’
Dark mages could be purified, after all.
‘No, that’s absurd.’
Artiela shook her head firmly. If such a thing were possible, the previous wielders of the Holy Sword would have attempted it long ago.
Bertia, too, would have tried anything to save her son.
Yet she couldn’t help wondering.
At their first meeting, despite wielding Dark Magic to dominate others, it had been overwhelmingly powerful. Had it killed her then, it would have achieved its desire. Why had it spared her?
What made it show mercy that day?
‘It was even deceived by Mother, in a way.’
When she split its soul, why did it accept it without resistance?
“Ugh, I’ll never understand.”
Artiela raked her fingers through her hair in frustration.
Turning a problem over in one’s mind until it aches won’t reveal the heart of a villain anyway.
For now, she needed to focus on what lay ahead tomorrow.
The matter of defeating the tyrant.
* * *
The next day, an assembly of nobility convened at the Imperial Palace.
This time, priests of Edelion, professors from the Academy, and mages of every order had been summoned—a grand council indeed.
“We commence the noble assembly for the subjugation of the Southern Kingdom.”
“Your Majesty, do you truly intend to wage war?”
Most of the nobles opposed it. Their faces were thick with discontent.
Understandable, really.
The Imperial Consort Selection had fallen through, yet the imperial treasury’s tax levies had suddenly spiked. There wasn’t a single blessing in it for them.
“The moment the Source of Evil appeared, wasn’t this already foreseen? Isn’t that right, Saint?”
Peter spoke with a sneer.
Such irreverence. The priests who had come from Edelion trembled, their hands shaking visibly.
Artiela felt the same way.
‘I could open a Divine Trial right now and have him punished.’
To insult a Saint was barely different from Blasphemy. Had he been anyone but the Emperor, she could have handled it long ago with a wave of her hand.
“If I were the Source of Evil, I would target someone more powerful—someone I’ve already dealt with—rather than the helpless king of the Southern Kingdom.”
So she interjected instead of letting Ushiel speak.
‘That’s enough.’
She’d nearly gotten scolded by her sister for it.
“I have no desire for continental chaos, and it seems the creature no longer targets me.”
Peter kept his gaze fixed on Kirien as he spoke.
She half-expected him to expose that Kirien was the Source of Evil’s prey. If he linked it to the calamities unfolding in the Lufel Dukedom, it would be the perfect leverage to pressure Kirien.
But he didn’t. His memories apparently hadn’t fully returned yet.
Had they, he would have exploited it immediately.
“If war comes from the Source of Evil, the Temple will naturally support the Holy Knight Order in fighting them.”
At Ushiel’s response, Peter nodded.
“Yes, and that’s why I requested the mobilization order.”
“You’re saying this truly isn’t an invasion war, Your Majesty?”
The nobles still looked unconvinced.
‘Even when the Source of Evil first appeared, they were sitting about without a care.’
Artiela felt the urge to take a Bardo and smack each of these thick-faced nobles once.
They’d been happy to dump everything on the Temple, but now that it seemed the consequences might reach their own doorsteps, they were finally growing anxious.
“Yes, I received a confidential report.”
Peter gestured to the Chief Steward. Not Percell, whom he usually wielded like an extension of himself.
‘Surely not…….’
Had she caught on? That Percell had turned away?
Artiela maintained her composure while observing the Chief Steward’s movements. In his hand was a rolled Parchment.
“They say a god worshipped in the Southern Kingdom has returned.”
Artiela’s eyes gleamed. She knew better than anyone who that was.
“He has issued a Declaration of War against the Empire.”
Following Peter’s words, the Chief Steward unrolled the Parchment. Artiela sharpened her vision with Aura and read its contents.
The word “Declaration of War” appeared nowhere on it.
But there was a word that stood out.
‘A Marriage Proposal?’
“He says if we don’t send the Holy Knight Order Commander as his bride, he’ll send Monsters to the border.”
That lunatic.
What the hell is this?
* * *
Artiela was thrown out of the Council Chamber.
On the grounds that she was the person in question.
The attendants even pushed her away from the chamber entrance, warning her not to eavesdrop.
“Ha, that absolute madman.”
What? You think he’s lonely? Stop spouting nonsense.
Artiela recalled her parents’ faces, which she’d seen just before leaving the Council Chamber. The shock on them was profound—something they clearly hadn’t anticipated.
“You seem to be quite popular, Lady Artiela.”
Just then, Serlnia arrived to see Artiela.
“Sigh, I can’t fathom what business could befall such an upright, virtuous member of the clergy, Your Highness.”
Serlnia approached with a smile, positioning herself beside Artiela.
“The Southern Kingdom did send a letter.”
She whispered in a low voice.
“Besides the Marriage Proposal, there was apparently something else, but since you prevented the calamity in the Lufel Dukedom, it seems His Majesty couldn’t achieve his aim.”
Which meant he’d been conspiring with them.
“So what sort of ending do you think will come of this?”
“Who knows? It seems he originally intended to have you subjugate the Southern Kingdom, then award you a new domain and form a double marriage alliance independent of me—but…….”
Serlnia smiled with a slight curve of her lips.
“The Lufel Duke is no longer letting the Source of Evil steal his negative emotions—that’s right, isn’t it?”
The moment she heard those words, Artiela drew upon her Aura with everything she had. Adding her Holy Power to it, she miraculously managed to catch sounds from the Council Chamber.
“Wow…….”
Looked like she’d have to go cause some trouble.

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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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