The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 30

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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 30

Permission to leave came through faster than expected.
“I… I’m really allowed to go out?”
I’d thought I’d be stuck here for a whole month, yet here I was, getting clearance already.
I’d missed the day I was supposed to report in by a couple of days, but that should be fine.
Reportnya didn’t bother hiding her delight, breaking into a wide smile.
“Of course. I told you it wasn’t your fault, didn’t I?”
The Duke chuckled wryly and nodded, rising from his seat to approach us both.
He reached down and took Reportnya—still nestled against Pellens’s side—into his arms, settling her on the sofa beside him.
“Truth be told, I’m still uneasy about it. But that’s an emotion I need to bear myself.”
The Duke stroked Reportnya’s hair, then placed something around her neck.
It was a necklace with a pendant set with a jewel that matched the color of her hair.
“So accept this, will you? Reportnya.”
“What is this?”
Having studied gemstones under the Pope, I knew all the commonly known ones, but this was a jewel I’d never seen before.
Reportnya touched the pendant at her neck with curious fingers.
Perhaps because it resembled her hair color, her hand was drawn to it naturally.
“It’s called a Return Stone.”
“……?”
Reportnya’s hand withdrew instantly.
What did he just say?
“A Return… what?”
I must have heard wrong. Reportnya blinked. The Duke let out a soft laugh.
I’m anxious. So anxious. It doesn’t sound like I misheard, and that makes me even more anxious.
“A Return Stone that brings you instantly back to my study at the Kraitan Residence.”
“Oh no!”
I hadn’t heard wrong. It really was a Return Stone. Suddenly, my neck felt very heavy.
‘Even a Mana Stone would be astonishing, but a Return Stone…’
Reportnya’s eyes trembled as she looked down at the jeweled pendant.
“Huh. A Return Stone, really? I’ve never seen one in person before either—it just looks like a regular gem.”
Even Pellens, who had stolen a Mana Stone from the Academy, marveled at seeing it for the first time.
While the value of a Mana Stone was tremendous, a Return Stone’s value couldn’t be measured in currency at all.
First, fewer than ten had been discovered across the entire Continent.
Since they couldn’t be reused, only seven or so remained in existence now.
No matter where you were or what situation you found yourself in, breaking the jewel would transport you to predetermined coordinates.
Anyone in contact with the person who shattered the stone could be transported simultaneously, which was why it was called the Jewel of the Gods.
The leaders of every nation had fought fiercely to obtain a Return Stone. The Pope had once coveted one, so I knew full well how precious it was.
And that—
that very Return Stone—
“If you get lost on your outing, or suddenly become frightened, or if anything happens at all, don’t hesitate—just break it. Then you’ll return here immediately.”
He’d gone to all that trouble to acquire it for this reason?
Reportnya stood there with her mouth hanging open, unable to close it.
“It’ll shatter the moment you think you want it to, regardless of physical strength, so don’t worry about that.”
Who was worried about that? Reportnya swallowed the urge to call the Duke insane and looked back down at the Return Stone.
“You’re… you’re being… way… way… too… much.”
Her voice trembled, as if the weight of the Return Stone around her neck was pressing down on her words.
“Reportnya. How is preventing you from being in danger excessive?”
This madman. Calling that excessive. There had to be limits to overprotectiveness.
Reportnya didn’t dare snap at the Duke, instead casting a desperate look toward Pellens.
Pellens met her gaze and nodded knowingly.
Good. He understood.
Pellens opened his lips.
“Father is right.”
So much for getting through to him.
“Do you know how many frightening people there are out there?”
Apparently forgetting that Reportnya had lived outside before being adopted, Pellens moved to frighten her further.
“We don’t know what might happen. It’s better to carry a Return Stone, at least.”
That’s true. They’re father and son, after all. There’s no getting around shared blood.
Reportnya realized there was no one in this study who would agree with her, and she abandoned her persuasion immediately.
“You may only go out on one condition: you wear this Necklace. Reportnya.”
Looking at the Duke’s expression, he seemed prepared to refuse her outings for a month—no, three months—if she didn’t carry the Return Stone.
This time, even Pellens appeared to have switched sides, abandoning Reportnya’s cause for the Duke’s.
“What about you? Shouldn’t you be the one carrying it?”
Reportnya asked again, pouring her last ounce of conscience into the question. She was double-checking whether an adopted girl like herself should carry a Return Stone that even the Duke’s true second son—bearing the genuine blood of the Kraitan Family—did not possess.
The Duke lifted his head and looked at Pellens.
“Pellens. It seems your training is lacking. Reportnya apparently sees you as weaker than herself.”
“…You. Cotton doll.”
Pellens reached out his large hand and hoisted Reportnya effortlessly into the air.
“Ha. Seriously. You forgot everything I said last time? Huh? Even if every knight here attacked me at once, I’d still be stronger. And this five-year-old cotton doll is worried about whom?”
Yet Pellens seemed to be in good spirits, laughing throughout.
“Stop worrying about me. Worry about yourself. There are very few people in this Empire who could beat me. Understood?”
At this point, there was no help for it. It wasn’t a bad thing, and it was something meant to protect her. It would be strange to stubbornly refuse to accept it.
As far as Reportnya was concerned, having something to protect herself with would only be welcome.
‘I need to go report anyway.’
Reportnya glanced back and forth between the Duke and Pellens, then nodded.
“Fine.”
Her voice trembled.
“I’ll take it.”
There was so little strength in her voice as she claimed ownership that the Duke and Pellens both laughed.
Though Reportnya’s expression remained resolute.

* * *

Reportnya left the house with Pellens, Belick, Buddy, and Becky.
Pellens had insisted on bringing attendants and even Canwell, but Reportnya refused adamantly—truly, she would not hear of it—so he relented.
She had wanted to go out with the minimal number of people, but the Duke had also said that Belick, Buddy, and Becky could not be excluded, so they had to accompany her.
‘First, I’ll pretend to gather things at the Cottage, and when their guard loosens, I’ll make my report and leave only traces of my presence before returning.’
This was Reportnya’s first outing since arriving at the Residence.
She rode in a different carriage than the one she’d arrived in with the Duke—one that seemed to have been prepared expressly for her, with very thick cushions and even safety straps.
Moreover, the interior of the carriage was painted in pretty, colorful hues.
‘Was this actually a carriage prepared for a lady of the house?’
It seemed unlikely they had suddenly prepared a new carriage just for Reportnya’s outing.
“Reportnya. I’m curious about the house where you lived.”
“It’s just a shabby place. You might find it strange.”
“Strange? It’s a place where you were. It couldn’t be strange. How long did you stay there?”
“Well.”
Reportnya had mostly stayed in the quarters that the Pope had provided, and had only rarely spent time at that Cottage.
Only when she was overwhelmed and panicking, or when she needed to compose herself emotionally.
It had been a refuge she used occasionally at those times. But she couldn’t say that.
“I didn’t count the days, so I’m not sure. It felt like I stayed a long time.”
“Ha. That’s fine.”
She’d worried this might raise suspicion, but Pellens had actually laughed instead. He simply patted Reportnya as if he understood.
“…Huh?”
Why was he doing this?
“When I was five, I couldn’t count properly either.”
It seemed he had concluded that Reportnya hadn’t counted the days because she didn’t know numbers well.
Unfairly so.
‘And I learned arithmetic so quickly!’
The Pope had wielded a thorn-studded whip every time she got a problem wrong—she’d studied so hard because of that!
“I’m good at counting.”
“Sure, sure.”
But she couldn’t show him that.
Reportnya glared at Pellens with an aggrieved expression. As she did, the carriage came to a stop at her Cottage.
“Huh?”
As she stepped out of the carriage, Belick, Buddy, Becky, and Pellens all made sounds of bewilderment.
“What is… this?”
Reportnya’s eyes wavered with unease as she gazed at the Cottage.

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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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