The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 54

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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 54

Rudeuum froze like a broken toy, as if he’d never expected to hear such words.
“Don’t you like me?”
Rudeuum shook his head frantically. This reaction from him was entirely new to Reponya, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
“But I—”
“It’s fine.”
Reponya stroked the back of his hand gently.
“Friends don’t need to worry about these things.”
Rudeuum looked down at Reponya’s small hand covering his own. Slowly, he nodded.
“…Yes. Friends.”
“This is my first time having a friend. What about you?”
“Mine too.”
Rudeuum met her eyes.
“You’re my first, Reponya. You’re my first everything.”
His low, murmured words and intense gaze made Reponya flinch, and she quickly turned her head away. She scrambled to change the subject.
“Are you… are you doing okay these days?”
“Me?”
“An assassin.”
The intensity in his gaze that had been fixed on Reponya moments before vanished, and Rudeuum laughed as if the question was absurd.
“This doesn’t seem like the right time to worry about me.”
Not when I’m locked up in here, at least.
“I’m safe enough. You should be the one I’m concerned about.”
Rudeuum murmured and pulled a small stone from his pocket, holding it out to Reponya.
“Keep this with you.”
“What is it?”
“A Heat Stone.”
Reponya, who had finished her sandwich in haste, took the stone in her hand. A gentle warmth emanated from it.
“Wow. Something like this exists?”
Reponya gazed at the stone in her palm with wonder.
The Empire had so many strange and marvellous things. So many objects designed for comfort and convenience.
They simply hadn’t existed in Reponya’s world until now.
“It won’t last long—five days at most—but I’ll be back before then, so keep it with you.”
Reponya held the warm Heat Stone tightly in her hand, then shook her head.
“Take this back.”
“Why?”
Reponya removed the outer garment Rudeuum had given her. What lay beneath was nothing but a thin undergarment—cloth so flimsy it wouldn’t be issued even to prisoners convicted of serious crimes.
Rudeuum’s brow furrowed involuntarily.
The reason was simple.
“The pockets are too thin. They’ll notice it right away.”
“Then just hold it in your hand.”
“If they catch me holding it, they’ll take it anyway.”
Unlike Salve, a Heat Stone had to be on your person to maintain its warmth.
If they merely confiscated it, she’d be fortunate. Seeing something like this, they might suspect she was hiding something better and beat her or conduct a thorough search.
If that happened, even the Green Jewel that had summoned Rudeuum would be discovered and taken.
She didn’t want that. Strangely enough, she really didn’t want that.
“Tch.”
Rudeuum contorted his face and struggled to suppress his anger. Reponya laughed and tapped the back of his hand with her finger.
Rudeuum’s eyes, which had been tightly shut, opened. As their eyes met, Reponya broke into a radiant smile.
“I’ll wait for you.”
You’ll come back to save me again. You will, won’t you? Like the hero from the fairy tales I dreamed of as a child.
Reponya held out the outer garment.
“…All right. But promise me this, Reponya. If anything happens, call for me. You have to promise.”
“You didn’t come even when I called before.”
“This time, I will.”
Rather than take the garment, Rudeuum pulled Reponya into his arms, holding her close and warm. His voice, brimming with certainty, lingered in her ears.
“Whether there are three Aura Masters or a hundred enemies.”
“…….”
“I’ll come back.”
Reponya nodded.
Of course she didn’t trust him completely. Rudeuum was only human, after all—in a moment of desperation, he’d think of his own interests first.
“Don’t get hurt. Stay alive. Understand?”
But she wanted to believe him anyway, because what he hoped for was what she hoped for too.
“Yeah.”
“Ha. Do I really have to go alone? …Can’t we go together?”
Watching the worry cross Rudeuum’s face, Reponya couldn’t help but smile. After living like this for over a decade, it hardly seemed strange anymore—so why was he so concerned?
Could he not bear just these few days?
Even if it took him a year to return, she wouldn’t despair. Not as long as there was an ending to look toward.
“People say once you’ve lost something long enough and it keeps coming back, eventually you stop looking for it. But you want me to live, don’t you?”
“…….”
“If you really want me to live, help me.”
Rudeuum pulled Reponya close in a tight embrace, then released her and stepped back. Slowly, he dissolved into the Shadow Spirit, merging with the perfect darkness until all trace of his presence vanished.

* * *

A day had passed since Rudeuum left.
Mornings at the Orphanage began earlier than usual. The previous director had heard that collecting morning dew for washing would bring good fortune, so at dawn she’d wake the children and have each of them gather a bottle of dew.
Those who couldn’t fill a bottle had to go hungry that day, so everyone worked with all their might.
Once, young Reponya had tried a shortcut, mixing in lake water to fill hers quickly, but somehow the director smelled the fishy scent and made her suffer through an entire day of scolding and two days of fasting.

—Move faster!

Having grown up watching such things, the current director seemed to be doing exactly the same.
Reponya, lying calmly in the Solitary Cell, listened to the footsteps and shouts coming from the floors above the Basement.
The children were running about in perfect unison.
‘Nothing’s changed here at all. I can’t believe this Orphanage is still running like this.’
Reponya hid the Salve that Rudeuum had given her in a corner of the Solitary Cell.
Once all the children had left, the Orphanage fell quiet. The Basement door opened, footsteps rang out, and her Solitary Cell door swung wide.
“Get up.”
This was Reponya’s only time outside the Solitary Cell. As she struggled to her feet, the director glared at her with displeasure and urged her on.
While the children were out gathering morning dew, Reponya would slip out of the Basement and prep the ingredients.
Having heard rumors that someone might come looking for a child, the director didn’t let Reponya out into public. Instead, she had her prep food during hours when she wouldn’t encounter anyone, or wash clothes on warm days.
The director’s determination not to let a single child rest was truly remarkable.
Since it was safer to obey willingly until Rudeuum returned, Reponya offered no resistance.
“What is this? You’re going to eat just the skin? Huh? You’re leaving too much flesh on it when you peel. What are you thinking?”
“The knife’s too dull. I can’t peel it thin.”
“I told you to use polite speech. Where do you get off talking back? Huh? Just—!”
The director hollered loud enough to hurt the ears. Reponya ignored her and went back to peeling.
“Thin! I said thin! Huh? You’re eating all of this! You’ll roast every skin in here today and that’s all you’ll eat. Got it? You need to learn that food matters.”
Teeth clenched, Reponya tried harder to peel thinly. But with the dull blade, it kept slipping, leaving small cuts across her fingers.
“Hey. Don’t get blood on it. Huh? Wash your hands while you work.”
‘Can’t I go somewhere else? Why is she standing right here?’
“Hey. It’s filthy. Wash your hands while you work. Huh? Why did you cut off so much there? Huh?”
“It’s rotten.”
“Rotten? It’s only bad if it crumbles when you press it with your finger. Otherwise it’s still good to eat. Are you doing this right?”
“Rotten food makes you sick. That costs money.”
“Money? If you get sick, you just sleep it off for a day and you’re fine. Ugh, why am I even talking to a child about this. Stop wasting time and peel.”
Swallowing the urge to strike back, Reponya washed her bleeding fingers one by one and kept peeling.
Even though she’d filled one large basket completely, two more still remained.
Given how many rotten parts and soft spots she saw, it was clear the director had simply taken everything—discarded produce or whatever she’d gotten on clearance.
“Hey.”
The director, who’d been hovering nearby, tapped the basket sharply. Reponya, squatting as she peeled, was knocked sideways by the impact and toppled over. Her hand slipped as she fell, and the dull blade scraped across her arm, leaving a gash.
‘This five-year-old body.’
To fall apart so uselessly. How pathetic.
The director paid it no mind and spoke casually.
“You said before you were from a noble house.”
“House of Craitan.”
Reponya brushed herself off and stood.
“That’s right. There. You really are from that place, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You know what happens if you get caught lying? Look at you—learned to do wrong first, and you don’t even flinch when you lie. Not a flicker. What?”
He’d asked the question himself, so she’d answered truthfully. Why was he acting like this?
“Your clothes and the jewel you had were appraised, and—hey, don’t you dare stop working. Keep your hands moving while you listen. Keep working. The children will be here soon, and if you’re loafing around, we’ll all go hungry. Do you understand? If you slow down the food prep because you’re lazy, we all starve. Got it?”
If those House of Craitan people ever showed up here, she’d take this dull knife and shave that director’s head bald—every last hair.
“Anyway, I had your clothes and that jewel appraised and sold them all. Made decent money off it.”
“What? You already sold all of it?”
Reponya’s head snapped up.
“Yeah. So what would I do with it? Keep it around?”
Reponya clamped her lips shut. She’d assumed he’d sell it eventually, but not this fast.
She’d figured that if her clothes and jewels started circulating in the city now, they could trace her location—so he’d wait before selling. That’s what she’d thought.
And before that happened, she’d planned to be gone anyway. She was going to take them back then.
“That’s… not all mine anyway.”
“Then how is it your property? You handed it over to me, so it’s mine now. Hey, keep moving those hands.”
The director kicked at the basket with his foot.
Reponya gritted her teeth and resumed moving her hands. When she pressed harder, her fingers brushed raw and a cut opened up, but it didn’t hurt.
All she could think was how she’d peel that director’s head bald, layer by layer, like onion skin.
“If I’d had just a little more money, I would’ve really cleaned up this time.”
“You didn’t already gamble away all that money, did you?”
“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s my money—I’ll spend it how I see fit. Don’t make it my problem.”
The moment gambling came up, the director’s eyes shifted. It was the look you saw in addicts.
“If you’d brought out even one more jewel, I could’ve placed another bet and won big… Wait. You don’t have any more, do you?”
Reponya’s heart stopped. The Green Jewel—the one she’d hidden away in the corner of her cell—flashed through her mind.
But Reponya didn’t let it show. She bit down and reacted louder, as if indignant and unsuspecting.
“If I’d had more, I would’ve run already! Once I spend what I have, that’s it! That’s—that one’s mine!”
“Ugh. Shut up.”
The director, having watched her reaction and decided she was useless, pushed to his feet and left.
Reponya kept up the act—heaving her shoulders indignantly, huffing with grievance—until he was out of earshot.
Only once he’d disappeared completely did she stop the act and let her expression settle into calm.
‘…I have to be more careful.’
Just being able to hear what Reponya says when he speaks the trigger word was already reassuring enough.
So there was no way she was letting him take the Green Jewel—the one that connected her to Rudeuum.

And late that night.
“Damn it! I knew it!”
Reponya, who had fallen into heavy sleep from exhaustion, jolted awake at the loud voice nearby.
After Reponya dozed off, the director had come into her cell and searched. He now held the ointment she’d hidden in the corner.
Reponya’s heart sank. At least the Green Jewel was safe—she’d hidden it under her head and buried it deep in her hair, so he hadn’t found that.
Reponya casually slipped the Green Jewel into her pocket and shifted her body to keep it out of sight.
No matter how exhausted she’d been, she’d never slept this deeply before—so deep she didn’t hear him coming.
‘…Huh?’
That’s when Reponya realized her thinking had been wrong.
‘No. When I had a five-year-old body, I never woke from footsteps.’
After becoming this body, she’d always slept safely at Craitan Estate, so she’d never had the chance to know.
She hadn’t woken even when the servants came by at dawn to check the fireplace.
Only now did she understand.
“Where did you get this ointment, huh? You sneak into my office and steal from me? I was trying to treat you kindly since you’ve only just arrived.”
The director rolled up his sleeves.

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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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