The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 40

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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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40

Reponya found herself nodding absently, as though in a daze.
Whether the weight of theft — stealing a princess’s hairpin — equaled the weight of treating Billemen, the Family Head of a great noble house, with casual familiarity, she couldn’t be sure.
“Reponya.”
“Hm? Not—you?”
“Just be at ease. There’s no need for such formality.”
“But how could I possibly presume to—”
“You have plenty of questions for me.”
Rüdeum passed by Reponya and settled onto the sofa in the Waiting Room.
“I’m reserved by nature—I find it difficult to open up to people I’m not close with.”
……
“When someone asks me something, I’m ill at ease and struggle to answer.”
Though he seemed to be talking quite freely at the moment.
“So what will you do, Reponya?”
Something felt wrong about this.
She was the one with many questions; she was the one asking them. Moreover, she was the one who ought to be requesting ease of speech, and she was the one who ought to be pleading for closeness.
So why was Rüdeum doing it all?
And if Rüdeum was the one initiating all this, why did he seem to hold the advantage?
‘Well. It’s not disadvantageous for me.’
Reponya seated herself on the sofa opposite Rüdeum.
“Fine. I’m agreeable. Let’s be at ease.”
“Good. Ponya.”
“…You’ve become far too familiar all at once.”
“I’ve always learned quickly and picked things up fast. That’s why I mastered Swordsmanship rapidly and graduated early from the Military Academy… ah, that’s irrelevant to this.”
Military Academy? At an age when he should scarcely have finished the Academy yet, he was talking of early graduation from the Military Academy.
“Did you perhaps dream it?”
“No. I didn’t.”
“Is early graduation from the Military Academy perhaps your goal?”
“It’s nothing like that, so ignore it.”
Well, at his tender age, it’s easy enough to confuse dreams from the night with waking reality.
Five-year-old Reponya nodded as though she understood perfectly.
“Right. Never mind that. I have many questions I want to ask you.”
Rüdeum nodded.
“About you.”
“Ponya. Last time you asked me my name.”
Rüdeum cut in before Reponya could finish speaking.
“What?”
“Don’t ask trivial questions like you did last time. Think carefully, then ask.”
Apparently Rüdeum himself thought the previous question had been rather dull.
“Right. About you.”
“Yes.”
“How do you know about me?”
She posed a broad question first, since she still wasn’t certain.
Before becoming a five-year-old child, she had been called the eldest daughter of Pope Pretes.
Or.
Now, regressed and adopted at five, she was the Princess of Craitan, Reponya.
Whichever she was, she was asking how he knew.
No matter how clever Rüdeum was, he was still a child.
If she pressed him with a question that caught him off guard, his composure would shatter and he’d grow flustered.
“You did well with that question this time.”
But Rüdeum showed no signs of fluster or disorder.
In fact, he wasn’t even surprised—he replied with leisured praise.
Why did it always feel like she was being led along?
“You asked how I knew. I saw you moving about that house.”
“Huh?”
“I happened to see you moving about that house. That’s how I know.”
A comprehensive answer came back to match the comprehensive question.
“So you were the first to report it after all.”
She didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding it from the start.
But the problem was that this answer didn’t tell her which Reponya he had seen.
‘Did he see me wandering around after I’d aged, or did he see me before I aged?’
But if she asked about this, she’d end up revealing to him that she had aged.
“The knight from House Craitan who came to bring me based on your report didn’t even know who you were, the first reporter.”
“I was covering my face. I don’t engage in social activities, and my face isn’t seen much anyway—people often don’t recognize me if I just cover it.”
Ah. Because of Billemen, she hadn’t been allowed to leave the Mansion freely before inheriting the dukedom.
‘Then was it Rüdeum who switched my Potion?’
Wariness flickered across Reponya’s face. Noticing, Rüdeum smiled crookedly.
“You don’t need to be on guard with me like that.”
“You could’ve told me you reported it before I even asked. Why didn’t you?”
“I was worried you’d dislike it. Now that you’ve become a Princess, I thought it wouldn’t be right to bring up your life as a commoner before your adoption without permission.”
It was a fair point.
For Reponya, now a Princess of the great House Craitan, to be told about her life as a commoner before adoption would indeed be improper.
“You knew I was going to be adopted?”
“If I’d known that, I’d be a god. I had no idea.”
Rüdeum answered with sincerity, trying to dispel Reponya’s suspicion.
“I’m not your enemy. I have no desire to become one either.”
Rüdeum stated his innocence calmly.
‘I should ask slowly about whether he switched the Potion at that Cottage. If Rüdeum didn’t do it, I’d only be giving away my information.’
Reponya nodded, keeping her true thoughts hidden.
“I understand. But I can’t agree that you’re not my enemy.”
“Why?”
“You may not be my enemy today, but you could be tomorrow. There’s no such thing as being on the same side forever—so there’s no guarantee of never being enemies either.”
“Reponya, you’re sharp.”
“…The Family Head of House Billemen doesn’t even know that?”
Could the Family Head of the household really be this naive?
Reponya looked at Rüdeum, who was smiling wryly, with concern and opened her mouth.
“Rüdeum. Why did you come to my bedroom and ask if I was alive—”
Before the question could finish.
Click.
The sound of a window opening quietly reached them. Reponya, who noticed first, turned her head sharply. At the same moment, Rüdeum rose quickly from the sofa, grabbed Reponya’s wrist, and pulled her back.
Whoosh—!
A Throwing Dagger embedded itself in the sofa where Rüdeum had been sitting.
‘An Assassin!’
The one who had quietly opened the Waiting Room window and slipped inside was a masked Assassin.
‘Are they after me?’
Had the Pope finally discovered that Reponya had turned five years old? It was as Reponya’s lip was bleeding from her own bite that—
“Reponya.”
Rüdeum, standing in front to shield her, called her name.
“Ask one question at a time.”
“What?”
“One question each time we meet. How does that sound?”
Was that really what he should be saying in a situation like this? Besides—
“Why do you get to decide that?”
“Is this really the time to argue about that? Reponya.”
Rüdeum drew his sword with ease as he spoke. His voice was so calm, without even a tremor in his breathing, that one might think he was simply sitting and drinking tea.
“Besides, I’m the one answering anyway. If I choose not to answer, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Three Assassins in total had entered the Waiting Room through the window.
They exchanged glances and approached slowly, closing in on Reponya and Rüdeum with deliberate pressure.
“Reponya. You’re curious about many things, and I need you.”
He needed her?
Reponya’s eyes twitched slightly.
“If you want to resolve your curiosity quickly, think of a way to keep me at your side.”
Was there a way to get Rüdeum to safety in this situation?
Reponya scanned the interior of the Waiting Room and continued speaking calmly so the child Rüdeum wouldn’t be startled.
“…How would such a method even exist?”
“I don’t know either. But you’re smart. So hurry up and take me with you.”
The Waiting Room was not far from the Party Hall, so if she screamed, the knights and guests waiting there would surely come running.
But then.
‘What if my identity as an assassin is revealed?’
If the Duke of Craitan discovered the truth.
Reponya’s face drained of color as she clenched her fists. For Rüdeum’s sake, she should cry out—but this selfish mouth simply wouldn’t obey.
“Or take my side instead. Reponya. Then I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
Rüdeum reached out his hand. He murmured something softly, and a gentle wind stirred.
Three silver Wolf Spirits materialized at Rüdeum’s side, their fangs bared with savage ferocity.
‘Is he actually going to fight?’
These assassins had been sent by the Pope to eliminate Reponya—that much was certain. She couldn’t drag innocent Rüdeum into this.
Reponya grabbed Rüdeum’s sleeve urgently.
“Why? Have you changed your mind about joining me, Reponya?”
Even as three assassins closed in with drawn swords pressing their assault, Rüdeum turned to look at her.
“Rüdeum. Get behind me.”
“Huh?”
If she still had her original body, she could have handled three of them easily.
‘Even in this five-year-old form, I can manage at least one without much trouble.’
The fairness of human anatomy was this: vital points existed clearly, whether the body was large or small.
And striking those points brought the same collapse.
Reponya’s eyes scanned for anything sharp enough to pierce a vital point.
“I will.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll protect you.”
At Reponya’s solemn words, Rüdeum’s eyes widened. Then, as if he’d just heard something amusing, he laughed—a genuine, delighted laugh.
“If that’s the case, you’ll have to stay on my side forever. Reponya.”
“They’re trying to kill me—”
“But there’s no need for that. You got dragged into my business.”
As Rüdeum gestured, the three Wolf Spirits lunged fiercely at the assassins.
“They’re assassins sent to kill me, after all.”
He spoke of his own death threat as casually as if discussing someone else’s affairs.
“It’s a congratulatory gift from Billemen for my succession.”
“What?”
“So just stay quiet for a moment. Understood?”
Rüdeum’s golden eyes flashed with dangerous light. Then he moved swiftly, his blade cutting through the air.

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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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