The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 45

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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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45

Havelian’s words fell like a stone into still water. Reponya found herself unable to speak, caught between courtesy and truth.
Craitan drew a heavy breath, and Pelens kept his arms crossed, eyes fixed on the table.
The air in the room pressed down like a physical weight.
It was Craitan who broke the silence first.
“Havelian.”
“Father. Before we reached the Estate, I made certain inquiries of my own. The Knight Order’s pursuit of my sister—you’ve called it off. Have you given up?”
“We’ll discuss that later.”
“Is there really any need to delay?”
Havelian reclined in his chair with an air of indifference, his gaze drifting across the table toward Reponya.
“I’m told you already know something of this. Does the conversation make you uncomfortable?”
“Havelian. I know what you’re driving at—just not now.”
“Why not? Isn’t she a proper Lady of House Craitan, adopted by Father? If we’re discussing House Craitan’s affairs, shouldn’t a proper Lady hear them?”
“Havelian. This doesn’t seem like the right moment to bring it up.”
Craitan answered the question directed at Reponya, yet Havelian’s tilted head and steady gaze remained fixed upon her.
“Can’t an adopted Lady of House Craitan voice an opinion of her own? Must Father or Pelens always answer on her behalf?”
“No.”
“Then say so yourself. If you’d rather not hear it, I’ll arrange for us to discuss this privately afterward—without you.”
Reponya met Havelian’s stare directly, unflinching.
His insistence on keeping her at this table and forcing the conversation was simple enough in intent.
If she would sit in the place of the true Lost Princess, she would bear the weight of this as well.
And Reponya—
‘I already saw all of it when I first investigated.’
Having already learned the full truth, she felt no shock at the revelation.
“It’s all right. I don’t mind. I want to hear it.”
Reponya answered calmly.
“You don’t need to hear this.”
“No, Pelens. What Havelian says is right. It’s House business—I should know. It’s better than knowing nothing at all.”
Reponya nodded to both Pelens and Craitan, urging them to continue.
Seeing this, Havelian opened his lips again.
“There. The Lady agrees. So I’ll ask again: Father, have you given up?”
“Ah…”
The Duke exhaled a long sigh and ran a hand across his face. He could neither admit the truth of surrender nor kindle false hope by claiming the search continued.
“I’ve had the entire continent searched. You know this, Havelian.”
“Yes. On the day of the accident, a couple took my sister in. When we found them years later, they were already dead.”
“Exactly. More than ten years passed after that without a single clue.”
“That couple had spoken of selling my sister to another nation or a trading company. Later, there was evidence they received money from someone. It wasn’t entirely without lead.”
Havelian’s words were cold, yet beneath them burned a fury so long-held it seemed untouchable.
It was like standing before the Hwa Ma itself, the ancestral treasure of House Craitan.
“So at that time, we thoroughly investigated every slave trader and merchant company dealing with foreign nations—and what did we find?”
Craitan’s face twisted in anguish.
“We rescued many from the Slave Traders, but among them… my daughter, your sister, was not there.”
Havelian’s fingers, which had been tapping the table, went still. Veins rose across the back of his clenched fist.
‘The person who took in the Lost Princess.’
This too was information Reponya had already learned during her investigation.
A cruel couple had found a child by chance and sold her to the Slave Traders or to a foreign land.
Even during Reponya’s time at the Orphanage, slave traders would occasionally come, asking to buy children.
Those sold away would either live as slaves in darkness their entire lives or die unknown.
So surely the Lady must have—
“So you brought a replacement?”
“Havelian!”
Replacement.
At the word Havelian uttered, Reponya’s body flinched. Perhaps it was because he had finally voiced aloud the word she had only ever harbored in silence.
She lifted her head, and their eyes met.
In that moment, their gazes locked.
And somehow, on the face of Havelian who had spoken so coldly, a deep shadow of regret appeared.
But he turned his head away so sharply that she couldn’t discern the reason for his expression.
“Havelian.”
Craitan’s voice had turned glacial, a warning etched in every syllable.
“Say another word and I will show you no mercy—not even you. This is a decision made by the Head of House, and you are bound to obey it.”
“Did you properly investigate that child?”
“Havelian.”
“I’m not asking for any other reason—I’m asking for the sake of the House. Someone has to verify this without being swayed. You haven’t forgotten how many con artists have tried to approach our family, have you?”
His words were flawless, which was precisely why Reponya found herself nodding along even as she listened.
In truth, Craitan and Pelens had acted far too emotionally, when by rights they should have been suspicious and calculating, just as Havelian was being now.
Of course, it was precisely because the two of them had let their emotions run unchecked that Reponya had managed to slip in so convincingly and learn what the heirloom was.
“Brother. Father has decided on the adoption and accepted it. What exactly do you think you can change?”
“There’s nothing I can do.”
“Then—”
“Pelens. Have you already forgotten your own sister so easily?”
His voice was cold, edged with reproach.
“You were too young to remember, but I do. Clearly.”
They said the firstborn of House Craitan was a prodigy.
Pelens had mentioned it to Reponya several times, and it had been written the same way in her initial investigation.
Once he saw something, he never forgot it; he held memories for years, his mind was exceptional, and he showed talent across many disciplines—everyone called the eldest a genius.
For such a prodigy
to forget his memories with his own sister was impossible.
“I still carry vivid memories of the time I spent with my sister. When she was born, when I held her. Even the times I soothed her cries and rocked her to sleep.”
……
“And you think that child can simply replace her?”
Havelian spoke each word with deliberate force, chewing the syllables as he went.
Unlike Pelens, who burst into overt rage depending on his mood, he was the type to stack his anger methodically inside himself, waiting until he reached his breaking point before releasing it all.
‘That must be why he didn’t rush here the moment he heard the news, like Pelens did. He held it in, held it in, and only now has come.’
The fury swirling in his crimson eyes spoke volumes—he had reached his limit.
“It seems she’s already settled quite firmly into this Estate, so she probably doesn’t need my approval anyway.”
Reponya understood Havelian’s anger.
A replacement filling the void left by a cherished family member—no one could be pleased about that.
And now, with Reponya herself refusing to leave the House, what could anyone say?
The distrust, the revulsion, the rage in his eyes whenever they met—all of it made perfect sense.
“Havelian. Your approval is not required. Reponya is already a child of this House.”
Craitan’s tone left no room for further argument—his response was absolute.
“If I see any sign that you neglect her, I will deem you unfit for the role of Heir. Remember that.”
What?
Reponya’s eyes widened at the Duke’s words. He was saying that if worst came to worst, he would strip Havelian of his position as Heir.
All because of Reponya, merely an adopted daughter.
“I cannot accept as my Heir someone who would reject a family member at the Head of House’s decision.”
Havelian seemed to have anticipated even this; he sat perfectly upright, composure unshaken.
“Pelens. As Reponya’s guardian, should any threat to her safety arise, you are to deal with it without hesitation, regardless of who it is. Do not forget that this is your duty.”
It was a warning directed at Havelian.
“The reason I respected Father was simple: even when everyone told him to give up, he never stopped searching for my sister. Now that he’s abandoned that search, I have no reason to respect him anymore.”
“If you must resent someone, resent me for adopting Reponya. Don’t take it out on an innocent five-year-old child who had no choice in any of this.”
“An innocent five-year-old?”
Havelian rose from his seat.
With a sharp screech, the chair dragged brutally across the floor.
A man who didn’t make a sound when setting down a teacup had clearly done so on purpose.
“What sort of five-year-old sits there unmoved while bearing all manner of reproach? Even cadets at the Military Academy can’t do that when faced with direct condemnation.”
Reponya gave no reaction to his cutting words. She simply sat with her hands folded in her lap, listening to every word without parting her lips even once.
Watching her, Havelian turned to leave. He stopped partway to the door and added one final remark.
“At the very least, you should find my sister’s remains and bury her in the family crypt. My sister, who knows not where she’s been or how she’s lived. She might be resenting us right now—she deserves to come home. That’s all I ask for.”
Pelens glared at Havelian’s retreating figure until he vanished from the room.
The moment Havelian disappeared, Pelens moved to Reponya’s side.
“Are you alright? I should have just told you to rest in your Bedchamber.”
Reponya shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
“When I see my brother next, I’m going to give him a real piece of my mind.”
“Why?”
Reponya tilted her head, her expression perfectly composed.
“Why? You spoke about Reponya carelessly and called me a swindler—”
“You called me a swindler the first time you saw me, too.”
“What? Ah, what? Me? What? Right.”
“You told me to leave, that you’d give me as much money as I wanted or sponsor me however I liked. You said you’d arrest me if I was really a swindler.”
So for Reponya, this was nothing new.
As Reponya methodically pressed each point home, the color drained from Pelens’s face.

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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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