The Villainess Hid Her Identity, and Now Everyone is Misunderstanding - Chapter 15

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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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The Villainess Hides Her Identity, and Everyone Misunderstands
Chapter 15

True to the Rosenthal Estate’s standards, even the prison door was expensive—it opened smoothly and silently.
In novels, you’d hear spine-chilling sounds descending into places like this, but apparently all of that was fiction.
‘Well, it would be stranger to have a rusty iron door on a concealed underground prison that no one knows about.’
Beyond the elegantly crafted door, like any other, lay a short corridor, and beyond that, I could see stairs descending into darkness.
“Hmm.”
This might be dangerous….
System windows began appearing frantically, as if warning me that I shouldn’t have entered this place.

[Warning: Restricted Area – You have entered “Rosenthal Mansion’s Underground Prison.”]
[If your identity is exposed, all Quests will immediately fail and Reputation –1,000]

I quickly dismissed the alarm and stepped inside.
After descending through the darkness for some time, I hadn’t brought anything useful for light, so I was groping along the wall.
Then at some point, I saw a faint glow of light from below, seeping out from around a corner. Along with a harrowing scream.
‘Ugh, so it’s down there. I never knew such a place existed in the Ducal Mansion….’
Even after living a hundred lifetimes, this was the first time I’d actually seen it. Of course, I never doubted it existed, but seeing it in person was a first!
I hid my body around the corner and listened intently.
Then someone’s wailing became clearer. I frowned and turned my gaze away from peeking.
It wasn’t that I suddenly felt pity now, but neither was I pleased by others’ misfortune.
‘Well… there’s nothing I can do about it anyway.’
Still, I should refrain from watching directly. If I got startled and made a sound, it would be a disaster.
“…did you? …also gave up… didn’t you?”
“I, I don’t know… please… Your Excellency!”
As I held my breath in concentration, the voices gradually became clearer.
“Fabian, is it… He is a most loyal retainer of the Crown Prince. Are you saying you don’t know about him either?”
“I don’t know! I truly don’t! I, I don’t know why such documents were in my room… it’s a false accusation! Or perhaps the Young Lady was playing a prank!”
Silence fell.
Why would they drag me into this when I’m just sitting here quietly?
….
After thinking for a moment, I nodded in understanding.
Well, if it’s the usual Evelyn, she’d definitely be capable of framing someone as a spy as a joke.
Okay, I’ll admit it!
However, the Duke didn’t seem to agree with this thought, and spoke in a voice that had grown even colder.
“…It still seems insufficient. Continue.”
“Yes!”
Another horrific scream pierced through the air.
After a while, silence fell, and only Jonas’s ragged breathing could be heard. It seemed the Duke was waiting for her to regain consciousness, and soon he spoke again.
“Then let me change the question. Why did you infiltrate the Rosenthal Estate?”
Oh, nice question.
I’d been curious about that anyway. There was no reason for the Crown Prince to send a spy specifically to our family.
But Jonas remained unmoved.
“I, I just… I merely entered a family I had long admired! I, truly… kyaaaah!”
The sound of her collapsing forward came with gasping breaths.
“Judging by what you’ve been embezzling, it’s been quite profitable. Well, a financial advisor skimming a few gold coins could be overlooked, but….”
What? Five hundred thousand gold is just a few coins? The Estate’s annual budget is trivial?
“…What’s the reason for stealing military records related to the western border?”
“Th, that is to say, I….”
“During the last continental war, all operational records my main family possessed were destroyed. They disappeared so cleanly that it was clearly intentional—someone deliberately burned them. That was your doing, wasn’t it?”
Jonas seemed startled, as I heard her swallow hard.
‘But a continental war…?’
Why on earth would records of a war already concluded be necessary?
Hmm, perhaps the Crown Prince was preparing for unforeseen circumstances as befits his station. No, if that were a legitimate reason, he could have simply requested the records officially.
I tilted my head in thought, pondering earnestly, but no answer came to me at that moment.
“You have the expression of someone who didn’t expect to be caught in this too.”
“Y, Your Grace, I…!”
“Very well. If you speak now, I’ll spare your life at least. And more than that—I’ll even provide you an escape route to completely free yourself from the Crown Prince’s grasp.”
“…!”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know? The reason you’re keeping silent now. You know that once you speak, from that moment on you can never escape from him for the rest of your life.”
The Duke continued in a low voice.
“But from what I can see, the Crown Prince has already lost interest in someone like you. Who would cling to a discarded pawn? He never intended to keep you alive in the first place.”
“Th, that’s…!”
When I thought about it, it was an obvious truth.
A spy whose cover is blown is essentially abandoned from that very moment.
A moment passed as if she were deliberating. And finally, with the sound of her kneeling and prostrating herself on the ground, her answer came.
“…Y, Your Grace, please, I beg you to spare my life! I, this was never something I did of my own will!”
“A wise choice.”
“The Crown Prince… no, the Crown Prince never intended to join hands with the Rosenthal family from the beginning!”
Hmph, I knew it.
Fury welled up from deep within me. It was like the accumulated resentment built up over a hundred cycles.
“He had already made a secret pact with Duke Cashen years ago. And, and my engagement with the young lady… was merely bait to lower the Rosenthal family’s guard! He never intended to proceed with the marriage!”
“…Continue.”
For some reason, the Duke’s voice seemed angrier than before. Or was that just my imagination?
“My orders were to gradually siphon off the Rosenthal family’s funds and burn all military records without a trace. Beyond that, I truly, truly know nothing!”
“Why did you burn the military documents? What threat could records of a finished war possibly pose to him?”
“That, well….”
“Are you mocking me right now?”
The Duke’s voice turned glacial with fury.
“Nothing new has come from your mouth except what I’ve uncovered myself. Do you truly believe you can beg for your life with mere word games?!”
His wrathful cry echoed through the chamber.
I stroked my chin thoughtfully.
‘Could he be wary of Rakiel?’
Rakiel is this empire’s war hero. He’s not the type to boast about it himself, and the Crown Prince has never properly publicized the fact, but.
Regardless, it was true that he had returned with countless accomplishments.
‘Or perhaps….’
Destroying documents related to the war would suggest there’s something incriminating connected to them.
This warranted further investigation. Jonas, being merely a low-level spy, appeared to know very little.
I decided to leave at this point.
If I lingered any longer and was discovered, that would be the absolute worst scenario.
I climbed the stairs, discarded my robe and hat, and transformed back into the noblewoman Evelyn. Normally, I should never reveal myself as Evelyn, but….
‘Hehe, I’ve found a loophole in the system.’
Grinning wickedly, I rushed to the door and began pounding on it frantically.
Boom boom boom!
“Open this door at once! Is anyone there?! Have you all lost your minds?!”
Warning windows began flashing wildly. Red alerts flickered before my eyes.

[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[Foreign gaze detected.]

This is driving me insane!
When the startled Knight opened the door from outside, I rushed toward him before the system window could even display a notification of my identity being exposed.
“You incompetent fools! I’ve been wandering lost, and not a single one of you thought to tell me! Have you all lost your minds, or are you just mocking me?!”
I jabbed the bewildered Knight’s chest repeatedly while shrieking with feigned indignation.
“Y-Young Lady? Why are you…?”
“I must tell Father at once to replace every last one of these useless servants! How dare you treat a daughter of House Rosenthal this way!”
“Y-Yes?”
Exactly the kind of behavior the real Evelyn would display—inside the system window!
In that instant, the system window flickering before my eyes seemed to glitch, displaying characters that vanished again with a distorted flash.
Even the system itself appeared confused.
‘Success!’
While the Brown-Haired Knight stood vacant-eyed with his mouth agape, the people imprisoned below heard the commotion and came rushing up toward the entrance.
Behind them, the Duke appeared as well.
“Evelyn! What are you doing here?!”
His expression was one of complete bewilderment.
“Father! I opened the wrong door, and honestly, there was this filthy, damp place—can you believe it?! But these incompetent fools didn’t say a word to me!”
“What? I’m certain I stationed Knights in front!”
“There was no one there! Surely you don’t think I would ignore Knights standing right there and just walk in? Do I really seem that mad to you?!”
The Duke turned to the Brown-Haired Knight with an angry expression. The Knight lowered his head, at a loss for words.
“I-I apologize, Your Grace! I heard what seemed to be someone present, so I stepped away to check for a moment, and it appears the Young Lady entered while I was gone.”
I’m sorry… I’ll make sure to give you a bonus later, truly.
“You’re suspended for a week!”
The Duke shouted in a voice filled with fury.
It was the first time I’d seen him raise his voice so thunderously.

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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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