The Villain Who Will Kill Me Is Too Handsome, It's Troublesome - Chapter 35

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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 35.
Artiella had Kirien stand beside the portrait. It was the moment she understood her mother’s longing.
Apart from hair color, he resembled her in countless ways. The ruby-red eyes, the refined and beautiful features—all of it.
The only difference was that the portrait seemed more vigorous.
“I’ve heard the previous Duke was handsome too. It seems you’ve inherited all your parents’ best qualities.”
“So this is what my mother looked like.”
Kirien had no memory of his mother’s face.
He’d only been told that she was a commoner and couldn’t be with his father, a high-ranking noble, so even the surname Byden that followed his name felt strange to him.
But he couldn’t deny they were mother and son.
The resemblance was too striking.
“Did your mother leave behind any keepsakes?”
The lost Sacred Object had to be found. For Kirien’s sake, it was absolutely necessary.
According to Yusiel’s analysis yesterday, done with her mother’s help, the Black Shadow was meant to regress according to a Curse inscribed before Kirien was even born.
So it had to be erased through complete Purification.
Unfortunately, that couldn’t be done with just the Holy Power of a Saintess and sacred wood alone. The binding was far too powerful.
“I don’t remember clearly, but the orphanage director who raised me sold everything of value, I’m told. There were so many accidents because of me that she probably needed the compensation.”
Sacred Objects always had expensive jewels attached to them. The Goddess’s Tear was no exception.
And it was impossible to separate just the jewel from a Sacred Object, so somewhere, a wealthy household might be preserving it in its original form. Sacred Object replicas were sometimes used as talismans in noble families, after all.
“I’ll need to send the Holy Knights.”
“Why didn’t my mother return to the Temple even though she was alive?”
Kirien touched his mother’s portrait.
His Aura began circling near the portrait. As if the Aura too was longing for his mother, it rubbed against the painting tenderly.
“I don’t know the answer to that, but I can see that Bertia loved you very much.”
“What?”
Artiella smiled as she gazed at the portrait.
“Your white Aura is the proof. It seems your mother left it behind to protect her son.”
“Is that… possible?”
“There are legends about it. Stories of Holy Knights who, even in death, protected Sacred Objects or sacred grounds. Bertia probably left behind her will and consciousness along with her Aura beside you. It manifested when you were tense or in danger, but without a master to control it precisely, accidents occurred.”
Once she made that assumption, all of the Aura’s behavior finally made sense.
How it acted like a puppy in front of her, how it made Kirien’s face shine even brighter.
Kirien’s miraculously fast learning ability might be explained by it too.
‘Why did it hide from Mother?’
Was it because it felt sorry for leaving without a word?
“So it wasn’t an innate talent. That’s a bit disappointing.”
“But you’re controlling it now. It’s no different from your own power.”
It wasn’t even power that would disappear.
With more effort, he’d probably develop his own Aura. Given Kirien’s learning ability.
“It’s both frustrating and touching somehow.”
What she’d thought was misfortune that followed her whole life turned out to be her parents’ clumsy affection.
Kirien stared at the woman in the portrait for a long while.
The knight in the portrait was smiling. Looking down at her beloved son from afar.
Artiella gave Kirien a moment alone and stepped outside the Memorial Hall. At her signal, Frail appeared with the other members.
“Yes, Commander.”
“This.”
Artiella handed a copy of the portrait to Frail, which she’d asked the priest to prepare.
“If you trace Bertia’s whereabouts from twenty-one years ago, when the Demon Beasts were subjugated, you should be able to find the Goddess’s Tear. The faster, the better.”
Artiella had passed along all the information she’d obtained from Kirien.
“Understood. But if we’re away, will you be going to the Emperor’s Hunting Ground alone today, Commander?”
These people gathered here were elite members, after all.
“I suppose I’ll have to, won’t I?”
“What about Kirien?”
It was already being treated as if he’d formally joined—they were already calling him a colleague.
“Well, he can control his Aura well enough on his own now, so there shouldn’t be any accidents.”
“He still can’t go outside? That’s unfortunate.”
There wouldn’t be accidents from the Aura anymore, so no mishaps would happen if he went out. But the Black Shadow might cling to him affectionately if he left.
“He said a regular life in Edelion suits him better anyway.”
“What? That doesn’t make sense.”
“Who likes that sort of thing, really? Uu.”
“Stop spouting nonsense and find out where the Sacred Object is if you want the Duke to go outside.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Frail turned to leave, then glanced back at Artiella once more.
“But Commander, doesn’t a Holy Knight need to have at least some Holy Power, no matter how little?”
That was true. And it was regulation.
“Does the Duke possess any Holy Power?”
“Well… I’m not sure?”
Now that he mentioned it, that was strange too. Knight Bertia hadn’t been called a genius merely for her Aura. She’d possessed a considerable amount of Holy Power as well.
Holy Power would have suited a mother’s protective strength better than Aura, wouldn’t it? So why had she left only the Aura behind?
‘Was it a miracle created by pouring out all her Holy Power?’
If so, it seemed possible.
“If there’s no Holy Power, shouldn’t it be cultivated?”
At Frail’s point, Artiella found herself speechless. It wasn’t a challenge. He was speaking for Kirien’s sake.
Though it had been only days, they seemed to have already accepted Kirien as one of their own.
“You’re right about that.”
“If meditation alone doesn’t work, I suppose we’ll need to go out on public service missions. That’s how the sacred wood grants its blessing.”
They’d fallen into an awkward dilemma.
* * *
For this reason, four people rode together in the carriage heading toward the Imperial Hunting Ground.
“You don’t need to keep checking.”
Yusiel offered the advice to Kirien from across the carriage.
“But… I apologize.”
Kirien kept checking the state of the Pearl hanging from his shoulder. It still glowed with a pretty pink light.
“But does good deeds or overcoming hardship really generate Holy Power?”
Artiella provided the explanation.
She’d gained deep insight into the matter of acquiring Holy Power.
“In my case, the desire to protect others was an important element in gaining Holy Power. And the Duke’s mother also built her Holy Power through helping others.”
The wish notes. Among them were the minor hopes of ordinary people, but they also contained the desperate cries of the unfortunate seeking salvation.
Bertia was generous and treasured others, so she never turned away from their difficulties. It was the previous Duke Lupel who had provided material support back then.
Perhaps that was when the two of them fell in love?
In any case, there was no doubt that showing kindness, beyond prayer and faith, was an important condition for acquiring Holy Power.
“And we can’t prepare for what’s to come if we don’t experience it firsthand. Besides, we need to go out at least once to clear up the suspicions that you might be the assassin of the Archduke Upaler and the mastermind behind the illegal slave auctions.”
This was why Yusiel had insisted on taking Kirien out, against Artiella’s objections.
They couldn’t keep Kirien confined to Edelion forever under protection. It would be better to directly observe and handle the various variables that arise when he moves about outside.
There was also confidence that the source of evil wouldn’t touch Kirien now.
He had become a completely different person from days ago.
“Yes, I’ll do my best.”
The timid, cowed person was no longer here.
There was only a man who knew how to recall genuine hope, and who saw everything with greater optimism.
It was almost miraculous.
Who could have known he’d change so quickly?
“Sister, isn’t that His Majesty coming to greet us?”
Yet it seemed Kirien still regarded Peter with wariness.
His Aura was the same way. The moment it detected Peter’s presence, his Aura stood ready like a knight prepared for battle in every fiber of his being.
The carriage door opened shortly after.
“Yusiel, Artiella, you’ve arrived?”
At the same time a warm voice rang out, Kirien’s face changed instantly. It wasn’t of his own will.
“Ugh.”
Kirien clutched his head.
A splitting headache. He felt he’d heard that meaning before?

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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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