The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 53

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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 53

Even if Reponya left this place now by following Rudeuum, the odds were high that she’d return to House of Craitan.
Until Duke Craitan disowned her, she would remain a Craitan Daughter, after all.
“Is it because you don’t trust me? Do you think I can’t take you out of here alone?”
Rudeuum asked, his brows drawn tight. His voice carried the sting of doubt—as if he felt his own strength lacking.
“Reponya. If you just say the word, I could tear this whole place down right now.”
“I know. You found me before the Aura Masters of House of Craitan did.”
Reponya squeezed his hand with deliberate warmth, then bobbed it gently up and down in encouragement. Rudeuum’s gaze followed the clasped hands between them.
“Even if I leave this place, I’ll end up going back to House of Craitan. Right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Rudeuum. Do you know what it feels like when you find something you’ve lost or abandoned by pure chance?”
Rudeuum’s face grew serious as he considered the scenario.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never had that happen.”
“You feel joy. When you unexpectedly find something again, you feel joy—and before it becomes routine, it feels precious.”
“Mmm.”
“If those three people really are searching for me like you said, I want them to be the ones who find me again.”
If Havelian truly had followed Reponya, if Duke Craitan had raged as though catastrophe itself had descended because she’d vanished, if Fellens had struck Havelian down—
Then at the very least, he had no intention of disowning her. That much was certain.
So Reponya meant to become something she’d thought lost, only to be found again by chance.
Precious enough, at least while she remained in House of Craitan, to be treasured.
So that such a thing would never happen twice.
“There’s no meaning in my walking back to them by your hand. Those three need to find me themselves.”
……
“If I’m found by chance after being thought lost, then this time they’ll think themselves lucky—and swear never to lose me again. So help me, let those three come to this place. Let them find it.”
“What if I refuse?”
“Hm?”
“While I’m out bringing those three, you’d have to stay here alone in this place.”
Rudeuum’s brows furrowed deeper. He clearly disliked the thought of leaving Reponya behind in such a place.
Reponya’s mind raced.
There was no help for it. There was only one card left to play—the magic word that moved even stubborn hearts.
“Is it too hard?”
At the question, Rudeuum’s brow twitched.
“It would be quite difficult, wouldn’t it? Making sure those three notice this place… and since they’re Aura Masters, it must seem impossible, doesn’t it?”
“Ha. Don’t provoke me. I don’t like it either way.”
That wasn’t working.
“I have no intention of leaving you here alone, Reponya.”
“If we both go back together, those three won’t feel the raw relief and joy they should. To ensure this never happens again, they need to treasure me more.”
She could be safe. Abandonment is a habit, but so is the inability to abandon. Once you’ve picked something up again, you don’t think of discarding it.
“And you want me to be a Craitan Daughter again. Don’t you?”
“That’s… ha. Never mind. Forget it.”
Rudeuum sighed and dragged a hand across his drawn face.
‘But she’s already solidifying her own position. Does she need me?’
She must be at the center of heated speculation even now.
‘If we meet often, her standing will grow even stronger than mine.’
Of course, since Reponya wasn’t truly a Craitan Daughter, none of it mattered anyway.
“Besides, there’s almost no real danger. The Director is keeping me in Solitary Confinement, being cautious.”
Sigh.
Rudeuum exhaled quietly, then suddenly dissolved into the darkness as though melting into shadow. After a startled moment, he materialized again before Reponya.
‘Is this the Dark Spirit Power he was talking about?’
His hands were laden with various odds and ends, like travel provisions for a journey.
“Here. Eat this for now.”
“Huh?”
From somewhere or other, Rudeuum produced a perfectly neat sandwich and thrust it toward her.
“…Did you steal this?”
“The owner wasn’t around. I’ll pay back several times over later.”
“You confess to theft so casually.”
Rudeuum peeled back the sandwich wrapper and fed it to Reponya’s mouth with his own hands.
“So you’ll listen to what I said?”
“Yeah. I get it. All you need is for me to get him to come here, right?”
“Right. That’s it. If it’s hard, then—”
“That’s enough. I’ll figure out how. You just eat this.”
Only after receiving his confirmation did Reponya bite deeply into the sandwich.
In the meantime, Rudeuum pulled out the ointment he’d brought along. He dabbed it carefully onto Reponya’s knees, calves, and wrists—scrapes she must have gotten while struggling on the way here, too preoccupied with thoughts of escape to notice them.
After applying a generous amount, he sealed the lid and pressed it into her palm.
“Keep this with you.”
Reponya nodded while eating the sandwich Rudeuum had given her. After days of not eating properly, it tasted wonderfully good.
Nothing like what she used to eat at the Craitan Estate—the bread was dense and crumbly, and the filling was nothing but mashed egg and tomato pickled in sauce because it wasn’t fresh, yet it tasted marvelous.
Her small mouth worked busily, her cheeks puffed out.
Rudeuum crouched before her, one arm draped across his knee, his chin resting on his hand, and a faint smile played across his lips as he watched.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah.”
“Eat slowly. I’ll stay with you until you’re done.”
Reponya met his gaze as he watched her eat, her head bobbing slightly.
Rudeuum had said he didn’t even receive proper treatment at the Estate when he was injured. There was no chance he was eating properly within those walls.
‘He must be hungry.’
Reponya cut the sandwich in half. She handed over the larger portion, the side that her mouth hadn’t touched.
“Rudeuum. Let’s share.”
“What?”
“Eat with me.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Even so.”
Reponya grabbed his hand and forced the sandwich into it.
“If we eat together, it becomes a memory for both of us later.”
“A memory… for both of us?”
“Yeah. Sit here.”
Reponya patted the spot next to her.
Rudeuum hesitated before sitting down beside her, his expression uncertain—as though this were a first for him—and he took a bite of the sandwich with a bewildered face.
‘Actually, this is the first time I’ve shared food like this too.’
When she’d received a toy horse as a gift from Duke Craitan long ago, she’d thought she didn’t know what joy in sharing felt like.
But now—
“Is it good?”
Now she thought she might understand it a little.
“…Yeah.”
Reponya smiled.
The two children sat side by side, savoring the crumbly sandwich together.
“We agreed that whenever we meet, we answer one question for each question, remember?”
At Reponya’s question, Rudeuum, who had by now finished the sandwich cleanly, nodded.
So Reponya had always held a jewel and called out to Rudeuum.
“Rudeuum.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
Setting aside countless other questions, Reponya asked this one.
“When you first saw me, you said you were glad I was alive, and the second time, you told me to keep living.”
……
“But still, I keep finding you suspicious and doubt you. I search for reasons and remain wary of why you are the way you are.”
Rudeuum was as still as a waveless sea.
“So I want to set all that aside and ask you plainly: Are you thinking of killing me? Will you kill me?”
“I will—”
Rudeuum opened his lips slowly.
“I will save you.”
To the question of whether he would kill her, the answer came back: he would save her.
“I want you to live, Reponya.”
A wave rushes in. It washes away the wariness and dread that had lingered in Reponya’s chest.
“Then that’s enough.”
Reponya pressed down the corners of her mouth that wanted to lift and bit into the sandwich.
“I won’t ask you anything more now.”
“Why?”
“Every time I see you, I question you—that means I’m still doubting you. I don’t want to do that to someone I want to stay alive.”
……
“So let’s leave it at that.”
She hadn’t understood why Rudeuum felt so easy to be with, why she kept reaching for him—but now she saw it clearly.
Rudeuum was the first connection she’d made that had nothing to do with a mission.
No need to play the dutiful daughter as she did with Duke Craitan, no need to fret and worry as she did around the Pope and her brothers.
He was the only person entirely separate from her tasks, and therefore the only one she didn’t have to pretend with.
“Rudeuum.”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll be your friend now.”
Rudeuum drew in a quiet breath. At his reaction, Reponya broke into a wide smile.
“Let’s be friends.”
A friendship where you’re new to this too, and so am I.

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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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