The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 49

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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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Chapter 49

Had I ever expressed anger directly to anyone in my life?
I’d been too busy accepting and understanding, or swallowing my frustration alone. I’d wept in solitude before, but never once had I shown my pain to another soul.
“Father’s right, you know. Cotton-puff.”
Fellens added quietly, his face cold as he stared at the closed door.
“Not just him—I won’t forgive you either. And neither will our brother. Don’t you dare make peace before you’ve had your fill. Your feelings must always come first.”
It felt as though Duke Craitan and Fellens were pulling out thousands of needles that had pierced my entire body, one by one, with their own hands.
“…Okay.”
But after that day, I couldn’t meet Havelian.
He didn’t come to the Library, nor did he appear at the Dining Hall.
He ate alone in his Bedroom instead of joining me, and he no longer read in the Greenhouse in the Garden.
As if all this time spent together had been nothing but his consideration for me.
I stopped going to the Library too, though I’d peeked in several times before.
I was accustomed to cruelty, and surrender and acceptance were all I knew.
“Reponya. I’m planning to visit the Imperial Palace today.”
Duke Craitan broached the subject during our shared breakfast.
“The Imperial Palace? Why?”
“Duke Billemen has requested Personal Protection. A meeting was held, so I must attend.”
“Rudeuum?”
I widened my eyes in surprise. The spoon I’d been holding froze mid-sip.
“A Personal Protection Request doesn’t mean something’s happened—it’s a request to carry a sword when visiting the Imperial Palace, other Estates, or attending parties, because the situation is dangerous enough to threaten one’s safety.”
Duke Craitan naturally continued feeding me soup as I sat there with my spoon still in hand.
It seemed Rudeuum had requested the right to carry a sword everywhere because he was being tormented by assassins sent by Duchess Billemen.
“Was he wounded somewhere?”
He hadn’t sent any word, hadn’t visited my Bedroom, and wouldn’t answer even when I called his name several times—I’d been wondering whether I should go meet him directly.
“No, that’s not it. It’s probably for protection because his House is expanding so rapidly. At his age, he’d have difficulty defending himself.”
Wait? It’s not because of assassins?
“…His House is expanding rapidly? Duke Billemen’s House?”
Duke Craitan nodded, continuing to feed me soup.
“Right after inheriting the Dukedom, he started buying up islands. Abandoned islands on the periphery of the Euriel Strait—an important point on trade routes—so they had little value. After that, he bought up all the nearby coastal regions. They have ports, sure, but just as waypoints, so they weren’t major revenue sources. People weren’t interested.”
I knew about this too from my studies.
In those waters, merchant ships pass along the trade routes, so any disconnected islands or regions nearby are worthless.
To buy it all up like that—people must have laughed at him.
“He even demanded ownership of the Territorial Waters around those islands. He was swallowing the entire region. He offered the Emperor an enormous sum to purchase the rights, and since there were limited resources to extract there and it was abandoned anyway, the Emperor didn’t particularly refuse.”
“Why would Rudeuum do something so foolish?”
Why spend so much gold on abandoned waters? I tilted my head, thinking of Rudeuum.
Duke Craitan let out a soft laugh at my reaction.
“Everyone thought the same thing.”
“…Hmm?”
“Until pirates started lurking around the Euriel Strait, preying on merchant ships.”
“Pirates?”
“They plunder ships and flee into other nations’ Territorial Waters, so they’re hard to eliminate. But no nation wants to take the initiative in pirate suppression and bear the losses. So the pirates grew bolder and more reckless. …And then, do you know what that monster of a man did? Reponya.”
“Hmm?”
“Duke Billemen opened his Territorial Waters. Those waters that bordered the Euriel Strait—useless until now, dismissed by everyone.”
“What.”
“He pioneered a new, safe trade route. Ha—unless he’d known beforehand that pirates would be raging, this makes absolutely no sense.”
Duke Craitan laughed again as if he still couldn’t believe it, running a hand through his hair.
“And he promised to protect merchants from pirates while they pass through his own Territorial Waters.”
House of Craitan boasts military might that rivals House of Billemen, or so I’d been told.
“In exchange, the Transit Fee is 25 percent.”
“What.”
“The standard Transit Fee is 5 percent, so it’s absolutely insane. But what choice do they have? Face the pirates, lose everything, and receive no compensation—or pay the Transit Fee and be protected safely.”
…….
“They all chose the latter. Every merchant ship is now paying Duke Billemen 25 percent Transit Fees. There’s no way to stop it.”
I swallowed hard.
“Right now, House of Billemen is experiencing growth that defies all reason.”
It wasn’t merely a matter of the enormous wealth flowing in from tolls.
Once things reached this point, his influence would spread to neighboring nations before the pirates were even eliminated.
He already had a perfect shipping route, yet he was purchasing abandoned islands and territorial waters to chart new ones.
‘Are there spirits with Foresight among them?’
Of course not—but was this really something that could happen simply by being “lucky”?
“So a Personal Protection Request makes sense in that context.”
Reponya nodded in agreement.
‘Wow. Here I was just amusing myself, while Rudeuum was doing something completely different.’
She felt a flush of embarrassment remembering how she’d grumbled every night that Rudeuum wouldn’t come even when she called for him repeatedly.
Fellens, who had been listening to the two of them talk while picking out the tasteless vegetables from his plate, added his own remark.
“Oh, Reponya. I need to stop by the Academy for a bit today myself.”
“The Academy?”
“Remember I told you I submitted a Leave of Absence Form saying I’d be absent until the Graduation Exam? The Academy Director sent a letter saying there’s an issue with the form I submitted, and they’re asking me to come by today to verify it. Looks like I made a mistake somewhere.”
That tracked—Fellens was perfectly capable of that. Reponya nodded.
“If something goes wrong, I won’t be able to take the Graduation Exam this year at all. I need to graduate this year properly and officially take my place as your guard. Reponya.”
Fellens propped his chin on his hand, smiling lazily as he twirled the ends of Reponya’s hair between his fingers.
“Are you graduating this year?”
“Of course. I’ll show you what it looks like to place first on the Graduation Exam.”
Fellens smiled with confidence. It seemed he’d truly made up his mind to graduate this year.
Though relations between Duke Craitan and Fellens were still strained, at least Fellens was spending time here at the Estate rather than at the Academy.
“Mm. I’m looking forward to it.”
Reponya nodded.

* * *

This was the first time both of them had gone out simultaneously since the adoption.
‘Truth be told, it was strange that they were both at the Estate constantly since the adoption.’
Reponya had been so worried that she never ventured beyond the Estate gates and remained constantly at their side—which was, in itself, an unreasonable state of affairs.
‘After all, I’m always going to be at the Estate. What danger could there possibly be?’
Reponya gazed out the window with her chin resting in her hand. Rain was falling softly outside.
She thought of how difficult it must be for Fellens to travel to the Academy, and sipped the Cream Milk that Becky had brought her—made by melting chocolate.
The soft, fluffy cream tasted sweet, lifting her spirits.
Tap, tap.
“There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
Havelian’s voice came with the knock. He’d been avoiding her, keeping himself out of sight all this while.
“Yes.”
At Reponya’s permission, the door opened. When she saw Havelian for the first time in a while, he wasn’t looking at her face. His gaze was desperately averted.
“Do you have a moment? There’s something I need to discuss with you. Just the two of us.”
Duke Craitan had told her to react with the same anger whenever she saw Havelian, but Reponya had no such intention.
Havelian simply had a better memory than others and couldn’t forget his family—how could she resent him for that, much less grow angry?
“Yes.”
Reponya nodded. Havelian gave a slight gesture for her to follow, then turned and walked ahead.
Reponya asked Buddy, Becky, and Sir Canwell, who had been staying in Fellens’s place, to wait before following Havelian.
They’d all offered to come along, but Reponya had stopped them.
She didn’t want to show them Havelian upset in front of Buddy, Becky, and Sir Canwell.
He’d been avoiding everyone, and it was only today, with everyone gone out, that he’d sought her out—surely to pour out his troubled heart.
But if others saw it, the report would reach Duke Craitan’s ears, and Havelian’s position as Heir could be jeopardized.
Reponya didn’t wish for that.
Because she truly understood Havelian, who cherished his younger sister dearly and couldn’t forget her.
Until only recently, she herself had envied the real princess and thought how wonderful it would be if, even after she died, there was someone who wouldn’t forget her, who would search for her and wait for her.
“How much farther?”
Reponya hurried along behind Havelian on her small feet, asking the question.
Seeking a quiet place, he passed through the corridor and headed toward the exterior.
But Havelian didn’t answer her question.
After walking for some time, he came to an abrupt halt.
“…Huh?”
Beyond him stood a carriage—so shabby it couldn’t even be called the Duke’s carriage.
“This is better for you too. Stop living for others and live your own life—that might be the better choice.”
“What do you mean—mmph!”
Before she could finish speaking, a large hand from behind covered Reponya’s nose and mouth.
Her small frame lifted sharply into the air.
“Eek!!”
“Hush. Please stay quiet, miss.”
A familiar voice came from behind. Once heard, it was a voice one didn’t forget—she recognized it at once.
It was one of the retainers still staying within the Estate.

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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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