The Villain Who Will Kill Me Is Too Handsome, It's Troublesome - Chapter 50

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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 50.
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Usiell knelt beneath the Sacred Tree as she did every day, and beside her place of prayer lay the Communication Magical Tool, resting quietly.
Her mother had crafted it with meticulous care for Artiella and Usiell alone—a device that channeled not mana but Holy Power, allowing it to function even across the distance to Edelion.
Perhaps it was the silence of the twins’ chatter, which had filled the air mere moments before, that made Usiell’s eyelashes tremble beneath closed eyes.
“Sigh… not again.”
She’d thought she’d escaped that shadow of death.
But lately, the vision she’d witnessed then had begun to return—Kirien strangling Artiella, his hands closing around her throat, intent on murder.
Of course, his eyes had burned with madness. Which meant he wasn’t the Kirien she knew at all.
“Sigh, you foolish Artiella.”
Usiell leaned her head against the Sacred Tree.
“If I really did devour your noble, would they excommunicate me?”
“Do as you please.”
“Wow, look at this holy priestess. Encouraging a holy knight to fall from grace.”
“That’s right—you’re a holy knight, not a priestess.”
While listening to her younger sister’s love affairs—which Artiella herself didn’t even realize were affairs—Usiell had been happy. But as she watched their feelings deepen into something mutual, unease began to creep in.
Had she misjudged something?
She’d been called the priestess with the strongest Holy Power, yet might she be the one with the worst judgment? She couldn’t see any path forward.
“God, what is Your will? What does the source of evil seek?”
Usiell knelt and prayed once more toward the Sacred Tree.
Blue Holy Power radiated from her body, flowing into the tree’s roots and traveling upward through its vessels.
And at the very end, where a single bud hung, the moment the blue light touched it, the wind stirred again.
“Ah…”
The bud had swollen slightly. And ironically, it was not she who had coaxed it to bloom.
“Is it Artiella? Or the noble?”
The bud bore the marks of both their hearts perfectly. Which meant if it bore fruit…
“What, seriously?”
The anxiety that had weighed on her lifted a little. The Sacred Tree was protecting them as a couple, then.
“The priests would be thrilled if they found out.”
Should she spread the word? Let everyone tease them about it?
Usiell shook off the wicked thought, closed her eyes again, and concentrated, hoping that God would watch over them both.
While Usiell’s eyes remained closed, blue light sparkled from the Sacred Tree’s bud—like a butterfly scattering pollen, drifting far, far away.
* * *
“Commander!”
Late that night, Artiella arrived at Kirien’s Hometown Village, where Frail and several holy knights were already waiting to receive her.
“Welcome, our youngest has come.”
What was with this saccharine tone?
“Please, call me by my name. You don’t need to be so formal.”
“Oh, how could I ever presume?”
“Stop fishing for compliments and quit that knight business before you embarrass yourself trying to land a position in House of Ruppel’s guard.”
“That’s not my intention at all, Commander!”
Despite Artiella’s reproach, Frail remained unshaken.
“So what did you find out?”
“Well, that’s the thing.”
While Artiella was dismounting from her horse, Frail had pressed close beside her and recited his findings.
“The orphanage where Kirien lived as a child burned to the ground, the house belonging to the woman who appears to be Bertia is in ruins, and the midwife who delivered Kirien is already deceased.”
“So there’s no one left who remembers her final days?”
“No. You did meet with the Orphanage Director, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did find some information about what happened to her belongings, but…”
It wasn’t enough.
In the vision Artiella had witnessed, Bertia hadn’t been alone. It made no sense, but…
Artiella studied Kirien carefully.
“You said Kirien resembles his mother more than his father, correct?”
“Yes, when we compared him to his mother’s portrait at the time, he seemed to favor her more than his father.”
Which meant he wasn’t of House of Ruppel’s blood…
“Frail, did you find out what happened to Bertia?”
Frail shook his head.
“Among the natives of this village, no one had close relations with Bertia, no one witnessed her death firsthand, and it seems no funeral was held for her.”
Could she possibly still be alive?
Just then, Kirien spoke up quietly from beside her.
“But there is a grave.”
“Really?”
“Yes, according to the Orphanage Director, your mother asked to be buried in that spot. And later, your father saw to its maintenance.”
So the only witness was the Orphanage Director?
There’s something off about the whole thing.
Unfortunately, his mind isn’t sound. Even if we press him again, it won’t help.
“Hmm, do you remember where?”
“Well, the village has changed quite a bit…….”
Kirien narrowed his eyes briefly and scanned the surroundings. When childhood memories resurfaced, did long-buried ones come rushing back with them?
Out of sympathy, I jabbed Frail in the ribs.
‘You should have looked into this already.’
“Actually, I do know something about it.”
Frail raised his hand urgently.
“Oh, you do?”
He pointed with his finger toward the edge of the village.
“There—do you see that small shrine? The previous Duke of House Ruppel built a shrine over her grave.”
Why didn’t you say so from the start?
“But the priest who tends it has gone to Edelion for the Priesthood’s general assembly.”
“Ah…….”
I suppose they did call in priests from even small shrines like this one for a full assembly. Haven’t they returned yet?
We’ll rest tonight and tell Usiell first thing in the morning.
“If we can’t get in, we’ll break through.”
“What? That would be sacrilege…….”
“It’s fine. Bardo will permit it.”
If the Sword of Justice permits it, that makes it acceptable, doesn’t it?
* * *
That night, the three of us headed to the lodging Frail had arranged. Despite it being called a small shrine, we had to find somewhere else to stay the night instead of inside it.
“What a waste.”
Artiella shot Frail a sidelong glance.
If we’d sent word ahead, we could have brought the priest in charge when we arrived.
“Well, once I mentioned House Ruppel’s name, they let us stay for free.”
“It is my family’s territory. After I joined the House, my father purchased the land.”
“I see…….”
Money truly does solve everything.
Did the previous Duke express his belated regret through coin?
“Yes, and the innkeeper said she knows you well, Lord Kirien.”
“Really?”
“Yes, and there she is now.”
Where Frail pointed, an old woman stood waiting. The moment she saw us approach, she traced the sign of the holy.
“Oh, blessed gods, we meet at last.”
The old woman leaned on her cane and walked toward us briskly. Despite her weathered hands, she moved with surprising vigor.
“You look just like Bertia.”
The moment she met Kirien, the old woman took his hand and tears welled in her eyes. Kirien gazed back at her with bewilderment.
What was strange was that Kirien seemed tense, but his aura was not. Just as it had been since he grew close to Artiella, it wagged like a puppy’s tail in joy.
“You knew my mother?”
“Of course—she was my benefactor.”
“Ah…….”
“When she served at the shrine, she saved my family’s lives.”
In the story the old woman told, Bertia was truly a remarkable person. Even knowing this already, it made me regard her anew with admiration.
“I was a servant in the Imperial Palace then, falsely accused and nearly executed. Even though it was difficult for Edelion to meddle in palace affairs at the time, when she saw my daughter’s wish written on a prayer tablet, she gathered evidence and cleared my name.”
She was truly just.
“After that, I told her I would repay her kindness. But she refused, no matter what.”
The old woman patted the back of Kirien’s hand as she spoke.
“Then one day, she came to find me and said—could I repay that favor now?”
The old woman reached into her garments and produced a letter.
“She told me that if she went missing and twenty years passed, I should wait for her son in this village.”
“You mean me?”
“Yes, she said you would have become the Duke of House Ruppel by then.”
The old woman handed me the letter she’d withdrawn.
“And she said when we met, I must give this to you.”
The old woman spoke through tears streaming down her face.
“Your misfortune came about through my own selfishness, so I beg you—do not blame yourself. You must survive, no matter what.”
Kirien held the letter he had been given, but could not bring himself to open it. He simply stared at it in silence.

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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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