The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 89

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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 89

Reponya froze at the Emperor’s words. As she turned her head, her expression growing cool, he continued.
“Don’t misunderstand—I’m not reproaching you for being adopted. But as you know, just as my consent is required for an adoption, it is also required for a disownment.”
The Emperor was, after all, the master and father of this empire.
“You need certainty, don’t you? If that’s what you wish, I will refuse to accept the disadoption papers. Of course, I’ll keep it secret from Duke Craitan and fabricate an appropriate reason.”
……
“Then you would never be disowned, never leave House of Craitan. Does that suit you?”
The Emperor asked.
Reponya lowered her gaze. Then she shook her head.
“I don’t want that either, Your Majesty.”
“What?”
The Emperor, who had naturally expected her to agree, asked in surprise.
“Why? I can give you that certainty.”
“Certainty?”
“If you and I make a promise, you’ll never be disowned, and your anxiety will fade, won’t it?”
“How could that ever be ‘certainty,’ Your Majesty?”
Reponya spoke with genuine difficulty in understanding.
“The moment you make that promise to me, I would only grow more suspicious and anxious.”
“Suspicious of what?”
“Whether Duke Craitan truly wishes me gone, whether all of this has been forced upon me—I would second-guess everything, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor looked as though he had been struck, unprepared for this.
“Then I would be watching Duke Craitan’s face at every moment, wondering if this was the instant of my disownment. It wouldn’t prevent disownment—it would make every single day feel like it.”
……
“That’s why I don’t want that either. If Duke Craitan brings you the disadoption papers….”
What expression would Duke Craitan be wearing as he presented those papers? The question suddenly arose in her mind.
Would he be smiling? Or would he wear that familiar, composed mask—expressionless as always?
“…then I ask you to accept them, as you have done with the other nobles, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor offered no reply.
“Living with a family that wishes to disown you is no different from disownment itself for an adopted child. You’re already abandoned in their hearts.”
She didn’t bother to mention what nobles called it—the adoption game.
Though she was speaking now as the daughter of an old friend of his, Duke Craitan’s ward, he remained an emperor of an entire empire.
There was no telling how he might treat Reponya, an adopted child, if his mood soured.
She had no intention of wagering her life on such a point.
“I have… thought too narrowly.”
The Emperor murmured in a thick voice.
“I apologize sincerely, my dear. You are the daughter of my old friend—I never meant to treat you this way. I only wished to be an uncle you could rely on.”
“Your consideration alone is an honor, Your Majesty.”
“Truly. Before Havelian and Fellens had even reached ten years of age, they would call me uncle in private moments and run to embrace me. I only hoped to become that kind of relation with you.”
“I am grateful for your generous regard, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor smiled bitterly as he watched Reponya bow with flawless propriety, no matter what was said.
“I only wanted to give you perfect peace of mind when I heard you feared disownment might follow adoption.”
……
“I had no intention of making you anxious or suspicious in such a manner. I apologize, my dear.”
“…Thank you, Your Majesty.”
She suddenly understood why Duke Craitan had rushed his newly found daughter straight into the Estate and had not left it since, burying himself there with all his affairs.
“But there is one misunderstanding I must correct, my dear.”
“Yes?”
“Duke Craitan will never bring me those disadoption papers. Never.”
The Emperor gazed at Reponya with soft eyes, almost stroking her with his gaze. Reponya could find no words to answer.
In that silence, the Emperor caught a glimpse of her fragile distrust and merely held a gentle smile.
“Trust in Duke Craitan, my dear. He will not betray your faith.”
Well, who knows.
Reponya answered only with a smile.
“It seems I’m the one being taught today, not the teacher.”
“Compared to the Secret Garden you revealed to me, Your Majesty, such things are nothing.”
The Emperor laughed heartily.
“I look forward to the young lady’s future.”
Look forward to it—as if.
‘I know my own future better than anyone.’
A life spent as a Papal Spy until twenty years old. Still, the only thing she desired was to simply go on living.
‘Look forward to what.’
There was no such thing.
“Then I suppose I should prepare a gift for the Empress, as you suggested.”
The Emperor gestured to a distant servant, commanding him to bring the Garden Shears.
It seemed he intended to cut flowers from his private Secret Garden as a gift.
Reponya bowed according to protocol.
“Since the recipient of this surprise gift for Her Majesty cannot see it beforehand, I shall take my leave now.”
“It was delightful, thanks to you.”
“The honor was entirely mine, Your Majesty.”
“Ha. Should the opportunity arise, I shall invite you separately to an occasion with the Empress later. She does love cute things very much, you see. She takes quite an interest in you.”
As the Emperor spoke of the Empress, his face softened with a gentle smile.
Reponya bowed once more according to protocol and turned to leave the Garden.
The Emperor had offered to assign a knight to escort her back to the hall, but Reponya declined, saying she wished to walk and admire the gardens.
Since she had observed the surroundings on her way to the Secret Garden, she would not lose her way.
The Emperor respected her preference.
‘He will never hand over Disadoption Papers.’
Walking alone through the gardens, Reponya recalled her conversation with the Emperor.
Perhaps Duke Craitan did not view Adoption as merely a game, but truly considered her family.
After all, there were nobles among the aristocracy who loved their children genuinely, not merely playing at Adoption.
But then.
‘Would he feel that way after knowing who I am?’
Reponya was not simply a six-year-old child.
Just last winter, she had been a Papal Spy—hunted by House of Craitan’s knights and nearly captured by Duke Craitan himself.
Would House of Craitan, known as the Empire’s guardian house, truly call her family even after learning her true identity?
Reponya shook her head firmly. She had not agreed to become family in the first place; this was needless worry.
‘Let’s go back.’
It was at that moment she quickened her pace.
“Young Lady?”
A voice called to her from behind. Reponya stopped abruptly.
A familiar voice. One she had heard all her life, one she had heard mere moments ago.
‘Why here….’
Reponya turned her head like a creaking joint doll.
Pope Fretes was smiling—an artificial smile, his eyes crinkled wide and his mouth drawn up in a long line, wearing the mask of a kind man.
Reponya knew that expression.
It was the peculiar face he made when forcing down his cruelty—the cruelty that even divine benevolence could not hide—and smothering it.
That face which the children, including Reponya, had feared most. For after donning that pleasant expression, he always vented his anger upon them.
“I saw you on my way and presumed to call out and pay my respects. Forgive my rudeness, Young Lady.”
“…Your Holiness, it is an honor to meet you.”
Swallowing a trembling breath at the sudden encounter, Reponya greeted him calmly.
His downward gaze was sharp as a pointed iron thorn; even the slightest movement felt as though it would pierce.
‘He saw… me.’
Suppressing all turbulent emotion deep within, Reponya looked up at Pope Fretes steadily.
He knew the six-year-old Reponya. That was when he had first brought her to him.
So Pope Fretes could not possibly fail to recognize the six-year-old face before him now.
The name might be common enough that it didn’t matter, but if he saw this face as well, then surely he would certainly….
“What a spirited young lady you are. Have you perhaps lost your way? Might I be of assistance?”
Huh? Something about his reaction….
Reponya blinked, swiftly assessing the situation and shook her head immediately.
“No. I was just on my way back. I’m fine.”
“I see. I was merely wondering if there was anything I might help with, but since there isn’t, I am relieved.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
“When I heard that Duke Craitan had adopted a child, I was quite worried. Children are said to be Divine Messengers who convey the will of God. I feared that you, as a Divine Messenger, might suffer harm. But seeing you now, I realize my worry was excessive.”
What? Wait, what?
“…Thank you for your concern. Duke Craitan treats me very well.”
“That is good to hear. A relief indeed. Should you ever find yourself in need of my aid, please do not hesitate to speak. And should you wish to convey any words to God, you may visit the Temple of the Divine Messenger and seek me out. I shall always be open to you, Young Lady.”
“Yes, I will remember that.”
“Then I shall take my leave.”
Fretes turned away first, an artificial smile fixed on his face.
“…….”
Reponya remained frozen in place even after every trace of Fretes had vanished.
For a very long time.
“Ponya? Ponya!”
A familiar voice called from somewhere in the distance.
“Sigh—finally found you, our youngest. Fellens and Father are still looking for you too, Ponya. His Majesty said he’d sent you back long ago, but when you didn’t arrive no matter how long we waited, we grew worried. It’s cold out here—what are you doing alone?”
Until the voice of Havelian, who had come searching for Reponya, reached her ears.
Reponya blinked at last when she heard him speak.
“Po… what? What is it. Ponya. Why do you look like that.”
“…What?”
“Who did this to you. Who was it.”
“No one. I just lost my way. …Havelian. Let’s go.”
Reponya lifted her head and walked past him, moving forward.
‘The Pope didn’t recognize me.’
What had just happened was no act.
‘He couldn’t see my name, couldn’t see my face at all.’
He’d called her his eldest daughter. Over and over, that’s what he’d called her.
‘He doesn’t know who I am.’
She had seen this face with her own eyes, lived alongside it for over ten years.
‘I never thought of this. That he wouldn’t recognize me.’
She’d been trembling the whole time, terrified he might recognize her and see through her. Now all that worry seemed groundless.
He was something to be used and discarded—something for which he’d never needed to remember a name or face—and yet she’d spent it all shaking in fear that he might know her. The absurdity of it made her want to laugh.
‘It’s fine. It’s good that he doesn’t recognize me. I can stay hidden and alive. It’s actually an advantage. Yes. It’s good.’
As if she’d swallowed ash, black as coal, her insides had turned hollow and dark.

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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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