The Villain Who Will Kill Me Is Too Handsome, It's Troublesome - Chapter 85

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 85.
Artiela checked the mirror one more time.
She ran through it twice, looking for anything Kirien might have missed, but found nothing amiss—only a small dog-hole in the wall behind the Research Institute.
“Could this have been the escape route?”
“Possibly.”
“There’s nothing particularly suspicious about it.”
“Hmm.”
Maybe it was for the best, all things considered.
At least Mother’s pride was preserved. Lillian had been recognized for expelling the Black Mage from the Magic Tower, elevated to lead the Mage Council, and become headmaster of this Academy on the strength of that achievement. But if it came out that she’d kept a black mage at her side? Her reputation would crumble in an instant.
How mortifying that would be for someone of her stature.
“I suppose I’ll just have to be the youngest daughter who came looking for her mother out of missing her.”
Kirien laughed softly behind her, shoulders shaking.
She dismounted first, then extended her hand to him.
“Take it.”
He took her hand with such natural ease and swung down from the horse. The sunlight filtering in from behind caught his face, making it gleam even without his Aura.
It was as though the world itself bent to make him shine, fashioning a halo just for him.
Even passing students let out low groans of admiration.
‘Well, his balance is improving too,’ she thought.
Soon enough, he wouldn’t need to ride with her anymore. A pity.
“Where do you think Mother is?”
“The headmaster’s office?”
Her uncertain question made Kirien raise an eyebrow slightly.
“She moves around so much. She could be instructing students somewhere, or Father could have called her out, and she might be off on a date with him somewhere else entirely.”
In fact, she’d learned the Academy’s layout inside and out precisely because of all those searches for her mother.
Even when she sent word ahead.
That’s simply how capable people live. So many others are looking for them.
“So we need to search for her starting now.”
“Exactly.”
Though they’d ridden, they now walked side by side at a leisurely pace, as though on a stroll.
Always following their usual search route.
“It’s nice, actually—walking through someone else’s garden instead of always through Edelion. Feels like a proper date.”
Artiela spoke while suppressing a laugh that threatened to escape.
The Academy’s scenery was simply beautiful.
The long bald cypress avenue, the shrubs dotted about displaying their lush green—and the roses, climbing in red, pink, and white profusion, so fragrant that walking among them was like wading through perfume.
Was this why Mother had urged her to visit the Academy?
Because it was a place where romance and passion bloomed?
“I’m happy.”
Perhaps such sentiments were out of place at a time like this.
But wasn’t it precisely because she was walking with someone she cared for that she could feel such small happiness? She quietly took Kirien’s hand.
“In Edelion, there were always so many onlookers.”
She’d learned the truth while organizing Usiель’s documents.
Everyone had been happily watching their courtship unfold. Apparently, some of the priests had even wagered on their progress, betting their evening meal duty.
Usiель had given her a thorough scolding for that.
“But here, there’s no one watching.”
Artiela crossed her legs slightly.
“Usiель even said it’s not good to hold back too much.”
So should we kiss then? There are plenty of trees around to hide us.
…
“Aah.”
Artiela’s eyes widened.
“That wasn’t me.”
“Oh, this is good…”
An embarrassing sound came from somewhere nearby—ragged breathing and indecipherable friction sounds.
With a knight’s keen senses, Artiela pinpointed where the noise was coming from.
Behind the privet hedges used as borders! But wait—only their lower halves are hidden?
The moment Kirien turned to look that way.
“Don’t look.”
Artiela covered his eyes with her hand. A healthy, well-raised person like herself could afford such sights, but Kirien—sensitive and deprived his whole life—could not.
“Hey, shouldn’t we… um?”
But several people were approaching from that direction. Were those knights in khaki cloaks?
“Imperial Guard?”
The knight order responsible for security in the Imperial Capital.
“Eek!”
“I apologize. We must ask your forgiveness.”
“By decree of His Majesty, Article One of the Forbidden Marriage Law—cohabitation between unmarried men and women is prohibited until the Imperial Consort Selection is complete. You have violated this statute and are under arrest.”
Surely they weren’t going to arrest them over that?
“But my partner is a commoner. There’s no possibility she could be selected as Imperial Consort. So this article doesn’t even apply to us—”
“Are you unaware that all unmarried women born and living within the Empire are eligible candidates for Imperial Consort?”
“No! Darling!”
“The Imperial Consort Selection has been indefinitely postponed! We’re engaged!”
The man shielded his partner’s body with his own clothes as they were dragged away together.
Artiela swallowed hard.
“This is insane.”
……
“No, just to torment me, why drag innocent people into this…….”
Perhaps she should have let him die back then.
She’d thought he was a good ruler, one who cared for the Empire and its people. Had she been wrong?
“What will happen to those two?”
The law was so brutally unjust that, believing it had nothing to do with her, Artiela hadn’t bothered to look into the details.
“It could be execution.”
“What?”
“But since they’re commoners and already betrothed, they’ll likely be held with consideration for mitigating circumstances, then released later, won’t they?”
Kirien answered, recalling the legal statute he’d learned from Bleo.
“Still, with the Emperor in that condition, there’s no telling when the Imperial Consort Selection will conclude and the Forbidden Marriage Law will be lifted.”
For the first time in her life, Artiela felt something like regret.
She’d saved him because Bardo hadn’t deemed Peter deserving of death—because he was a man whose only harm came from his obsession with her, who didn’t cause suffering to others.
At the time, she wished she hadn’t gone searching for a way to spare his life at all.
“God, what a wretch! Like the Fifth Emperor himself!”
It was the strongest curse Artiela could manage.
* * *
The two of them soon met Lillian.
She shared her daughter’s opinion and was as upright as they came, and was now lodging a protest with the Imperial Guard.
“You cannot take the students with you.”
“But Headmaster, we have no choice. These are orders from above.”
“From above? His Majesty is ill and cannot issue direct orders. Whose authority are you acting under?”
“That is…….”
The guards looked troubled.
They knew who Lillian Solti was—the mother of the Saint, the mother of the Holy Knight Order’s Commander. And they all knew of her prowess as a mage.
If she continued to refuse and unleashed magic against them, they had no confidence in escaping alive. When her youngest had fallen, she’d reduced an entire marquessate to ashes single-handedly—that was legendary.
“We are simply enforcing the law! The Root of Evil could plunge the world into chaos, so we must preemptively confine those who commit crimes that even slightly disturb the peace, to prevent disorder.”
Ah, so they were going to hide behind the Root of Evil as an excuse?
Artiela’s eyes narrowed. She’d noticed that the guard who’d roughly dragged away the female lover had eyes thick with avarice.
In a situation like this, what mattered most?
‘I’m counting on you, Bardo.’
Your master may need to take up abstinence again, so let’s work well together.
“Wait, please.”
“Artiela, what’s the matter?”
“I’ve come to see my mother.”
Upon hearing the name, the guards immediately swept their eyes across Artiela’s appearance, and the hilt of the sword visible at her side.
Any knight would have seen it before, and her identity became immediately clear.
“Commander of the Holy Knight Order?”
“That’s right. And this is—”
With a soft whisper of steel, Bardo slid free from its scabbard.
“The Sword of Justice, Bardo.”
Watching the guards swallow hard, Artiela’s lips curved upward. Right—if they were enforcing the law with a pure heart, they’d have nothing to fear.
“I’ve just been commissioned to perform a Divine Trial.”
“What? Just now? On whom?”
Artiela cast her gaze toward the students, still clinging to each other in tears.
“That would be them, wouldn’t it, Believers?”
“Pardon?”
“You asked them to prove their innocence, didn’t you?”
Artiela blinked, sending a signal to her allies.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————