The Villain Who Will Kill Me Is Too Handsome, It's Troublesome - Chapter 75

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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 75.
“My goodness, is it truly the Goddess’s Tear?”
Lillian, who had been examining the jewel box alongside her, looked at her daughters with urgency in her eyes.
“Yes, I believe so.”
Usiell reached out and touched the teardrop-shaped diamond as she spoke.
“Excellent, Artiela! We must purify your hand at once. Usiell, do you know how to use the Holy Relic?”
Lillian exhaled as though a great weight had lifted, her hand sweeping across her chest. The fine lines that worry for her daughter had etched there seemed to smooth away as well.
“Yes, all one needs do is maintain contact with the person requiring Purification and channel Holy Power into them.”
“I see. Then let’s begin with Artiela’s hand at once——”
“Wait! We can’t.”
“Why not? This is exactly the situation where we need it. Why are you refusing?”
Artiela had stopped her mother.
Lillian’s expression flickered with confusion at her youngest daughter’s objection. But then she noticed the direction of Artiela’s gaze, and a smile crossed her face.
“Ah, I see. You’re worried about the Duke? Then should we purify him first? Didn’t they say the Goddess’s Tear can sever the connection between the Duke and the Source of Evil?”
That would be a disaster.
If they used it to purify Kirien now, the Source of Evil would be destroyed—but Kirien would die along with it.
“No! That’s not it!”
“Then what on earth is the matter?”
Usiell answered instead. She had just snatched a slip of paper from Artiela’s hand.
“It says ‘Single Use’?”
“Pardon?”
“The Goddess’s Tear was originally created with a fixed number of uses. It seems all of them have already been exhausted, leaving only one final opportunity.”
Usiell’s eyes narrowed.
Yes, now that she thought of it, she did recall hearing something like this long ago.
Certain relics left behind by the Divine were so overwhelmingly powerful that to prevent their misuse, the number of times they could be employed was predetermined. Such treasures demanded careful consideration before use.
Stingy, truly.
“I did notice that for such a potent Holy Relic, the aura it radiated was surprisingly faint.”
The Goddess’s Tear, with its power to Purify, must have been used far more frequently than other Holy Relics. It had already worn thin from that usage.
“What? But then——”
Even Lillian, whose resolve was ordinarily far steadier than her gentle-hearted husband’s, felt the shock of this revelation.
“It means you must choose between the Duke and Artiela.”
“I will defer to Artiela.”
Kirien decided without hesitation. Artiela felt the same way.
“I won’t allow it! We should use it on the Duke.”
Not now—they could save it for the critical moment.
“No, Artiela must be the one to use it. We cannot simply cut off your arm.”
“You’re right, Artiela. Perhaps you should be the one to use it?”
As a mother, Lillian could not help but hope her own daughter would be the one to benefit, rather than her friend’s son.
“I can’t accept that. What will the Duke do about the Source of Evil otherwise? Will he spend the rest of his life controlling his emotions? Never allowed to feel anger, never permitted to grieve—always carrying the terror of not knowing when the darkness might consume him?”
“That’s true. Suppressing emotion can cause it to erupt violently all at once, and that would be far more dangerous.”
Did Usiell mean to use it on Kirien?
“Which is why we must purify the Duke immediately——”
“No, that’s not what I meant by using it immediately.”
Artiela cut off Usiell urgently. Usiell’s eyes immediately narrowed.
“You’re hiding something. Tell me this instant.”
She’d already seen through it.
Usiell was simply impossible to deceive. Artiela bit her dry lips.
“The truth is, I found a letter left behind by Bertia in the Duke’s hometown——”
Artiela squeezed her eyes shut and spoke what was written there.
“She said we mustn’t use it yet. If we do, the Duke and the Source of Evil will die together——”
“Which means the Source of Evil would be completely eliminated?”
Usiell’s eyes held a peculiar gleam of meaning.
“Y-yes, that’s right?”
“And if the Source of Evil were eliminated now, wouldn’t your arm heal as well?”
“Huh?”
“So wouldn’t using it on the Duke now be the most efficient solution in practical terms?”
Artiela’s mouth fell open. Though the twin sisters occasionally disagreed, she had never expected to hear such words from Usiell.
But Usiell was a Saint, so surely the Divine would grant her solutions beyond mortal comprehension.
She had believed that.
“Exactly. Which is why——”
Artiela stomped hard on Kirien’s foot.
“We agreed you wouldn’t say things like that anymore, didn’t we?”
Kirien lowered his head.
He’d made a promise to Artiela, yet he knew it was still the path of least sacrifice to save the world. Beyond that, he’d also sworn an oath to Lillian.
That by any means necessary, he would protect Artiela.
Even without the vow he’d made to Lillian, it was a pledge he absolutely had to fulfill.
“Then—is there another way?”
Usiell asked, arms folded across her chest.
Her eyes were cold and sharp—a look she rarely turned on her younger sister.
Artiela spoke, her voice small.
“Commander Bertia might still be alive. He’s the one who left the curse on Kirien, after all…….”
“What? Bertia did that to his own son?”
Lillian received a second shock.
“He’s not the kind of person to do such a thing. How could…….”
“There seemed to be a reason for it.”
“Even so, this is…….”
“If we find him, we can lift the curse. Then the Source of Evil loses its power source, so we use the Bardo to wipe it out, and then I get my arm treated.”
Usiell, still with arms folded, tapped her fingers a few times before speaking.
“So you’re saying you have plenty of time to save your arm?”
She had a point.
“And you have a clue to find Commander Bertia?”
Stop it already.
At Usiell’s pressing question, Artiela pointed off into the distance—toward where the Sacred Tree stood.
“I told you before! The Sacred Tree showed me!”
“Right, you did mention that. But if you told us about the Sacred Tree, why did you hide Commander Bertia’s letter?”
Usiell’s anger flared.
She infused Holy Power into her hand and struck her sister’s back with considerable force.
“Ow! Kirien and Bailey are watching!”
“That’s exactly why you deserve a thrashing. How dare you hide things?”
Usiell raised her hand again.
But then Kirien shielded Artiela.
“It’s all my fault. She did it for me, so if you’re going to punish someone…….”
“Kirien…….”
Artiela, who had been writhing, went still in his embrace and leaned against him pitifully.
“Oh my, oh my.”
“Goodness, our duke.”
The two middle-aged women gasped in admiration, covering their mouths with their hands.
Usiell watched the pair and silently cursed them.
What an infuriating couple.
As if striking them with Holy Power would hurt. It was practically a tonic for good health.
No wonder priests scattered across the provinces were filing transfer requests just to witness the holy knights’ romance firsthand.
“Anyway! Let’s take this to the Sacred Tree.”
At Usiell’s suggestion, Artiela nodded from within Kirien’s embrace.
* * *
It happened to be prayer time for the saint, so the area beneath the Sacred Tree was empty.
Usiell placed her hand on the Sacred Tree and began to pray.
As blue light extended from her hand and wrapped around the tree, its leaves rustled gently, as if pleased.
The other four stood silently, witnessing the sacred sight.
Some time had passed.
Usiell opened her eyes. Her face was exhausted.
“What did it say? Did the tree tell you anything?”
Usiell drew a deep breath, then exhaled.
“The Goddess’s Tear has one use left—that’s correct.”
Well, we’re truly finished then.
Artiela glanced at her right arm. She could live as a knight without using her right hand, though it would be somewhat limiting.
She’d lose finesse, but that was something she could overcome with more training. The same went for the balance issues that would come from losing an arm.
So she should simply cut it off and…….
As if reading Artiela’s thoughts, Usiell glared at her.
“Well then? And?”
“But it’s not a Single Use item after all.”
“Really? So the Goddess recharges it, or something like that?”
“Yes. Every time the Sacred Tree blooms and bears fruit, I can use it once more.”
Artiela looked at the Sacred Tree with something like irreverence in her eyes.
That’s just another way of saying don’t use it at all, isn’t it? How many times has that tree actually borne fruit?
“And there’s something even more important.”
Usiell’s gaze shifted to Kirien.
“A chance to eliminate the Source of Evil without killing the Duke.”
Kirien’s entire body went rigid. He couldn’t believe such a thing was possible.
“The moment the Duke becomes the Source of Evil.”
It would be better to treat it as though it doesn’t exist.

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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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