The Villainess Hid Her Identity, and Now Everyone is Misunderstanding - Chapter 22

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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 22

Hidden behind a tree at a considerable distance, I instinctively tracked Rakiel’s movements.
He glanced around before running his fingertips along the gaps between bricks at the base of the outer wall. It was a spot obscured by dense undergrowth, easily overlooked.
‘Hmm, that’s suspicious.’
A prince feeling along the Imperial Palace’s perimeter wall—anyone would find it strange.
After fumbling for quite some time, he suddenly smirked and grasped one of the bricks.
And remarkably, when he pulled the brick, the surrounding stones popped outward together, creating a small opening large enough for a person to slip through.
“Huh.”
I let out a hollow laugh.
So this was what he was doing in secret—a passage used to sneak out of the Imperial Palace undetected.
‘No wonder we keep running into each other on the streets.’
I’d heard Prince Rakiel had a free-spirited nature, but I hadn’t expected it to be this extreme. It seemed the escort knights and attendants who would follow if he left through official channels were becoming a nuisance.
He leaned the dislodged stones against the nearby wall and glanced around once more.
‘Oh no, he’s going to leave.’
The moment Rakiel bent down to enter the opening, I moved swiftly.
Just as he was pushing his body into the passage, I thrust my face forward abruptly.
“Your Highness, what are you doing?”
“…!”
Thud!
Rakiel startled violently and struck his head against the stone wall.
“Ugh!”
He crouched down, clutching the back of his head.
I looked down at him with cold, expressionless eyes as he rubbed his skull.
“…Are you all right?”
What kind of comedy was this—a prince bumping his head while crawling through a hole in the wall?
Truly, this was absurd and ridiculous.
Like a student caught skipping class, he lifted his head with a deeply furrowed brow. Fearing my face might be recognized, I hastily stepped back and grabbed my hood, pulling it down deeply over my head.
“What in the——!”
I kept my lips pressed firmly shut, tense for no reason, but Rakiel’s eyes widened as he spotted me. He seemed to recognize me instantly.
He looked flustered, then bewildered by the fact that I was here in the Imperial Palace. His eyes widened, then narrowed, and he let out an incredulous laugh.
Watching him react so frantically was oddly entertaining, and I observed him with curiosity until Rakiel finally composed himself and opened his mouth.
“It’s been a while. What brings you here?”
“…I don’t think crouching down like that will help you set the mood.”
“Ah.”
Rakiel’s face flushed crimson in an instant, and he covered it with his large hand before rising from his seat.
Though his clothes were caked with dirt, I found myself at a loss for words at this clumsy side of him I’d never witnessed before.
He cleared his throat without even attempting to brush the soil from his garments.
Was this truly the same man who had discussed state affairs with the Duke in the Ducal Mansion with such an icy expression?
I began to doubt my own eyes.
“Are you leaving?”
At my casual question, Rakiel hastily pressed his back against the wall.
“Ah, that’s not… I mean…”
“I’ve already seen everything.”
“…”
“It seems you frequent this passage quite often. You looked rather practiced at it.”
He clamped his mouth shut, looking like a thief caught red-handed.
…
I narrowed my eyes as I studied him, then let out a soft laugh and shrugged my shoulders.
“It doesn’t concern me. I have no intention of telling anyone.”
“…Is that so?”
He laughed awkwardly and lowered the hand that had been blocking the passage.
“What exactly is this place…”
He suddenly seemed to remember something, raising his eyebrows as he changed the subject.
“Did you just call me ‘Your Highness’?”
“Ah.”
A small gasp escaped my lips.
Did he not yet know that I was aware of Rakiel’s true identity?
“…I never expected to meet you here in the Imperial Palace.”
Rakiel narrowed his eyes and regarded me with suspicion.
His tone had grown subtly colder, and I felt myself tense instinctively. A pair of crimson eyes settled into an icy gaze.
Was the recognition suppression effect powerless against suspicion directed at my disguised self?
Once suspicion takes root, it grows uncontrollably. I opened my mouth quickly, yet with an air of complete innocence.
“I came to meet Count Rosenthal. I had urgent matters to discuss, so I was searching for him when I lost my way…”
“…”
“Since this is my first time in the Imperial Palace, I didn’t realize it was so vast. As for knowing about Your Highness…”
I shrugged and continued.
“The young lady described Your Highness’s appearance to me. That’s how I immediately recognized that the person I met was Prince Rakiel.”
“The young lady described my appearance…? Why would she do that?”
Rakiel moved slowly.
My eyes followed his movements. He advanced as if to cut off my escape route.
His sudden change in demeanor made it clear that I had yet to earn any trust from him.
‘Well, I wasn’t expecting it anyway. Trust can’t be built from just seeing someone’s face a few times.’
Still, this was within my expectations. This much was manageable.
I opened my mouth slowly.
“Actually, visiting the Duke was just an excuse. I came to see Prince Rakiel.”
“…Me?”
“The Lady sent me.”
Rakiel’s expression shifted subtly.
As I studied his face, I swallowed hard.
I was about to deploy my trump card—a method that could only work on the Second Prince who didn’t know my true identity.
“The Lady has had a change of heart.”
“What?”
Rakiel’s eyes widened.
“The Lady has decided to accept the betrothal to Your Highness, the Second Prince.”
It was the only method I could employ.
Because I am Evelyn, after all!
Well, truthfully, I did believe that marrying the Second Prince was the best course of action in this situation, so it wasn’t entirely a lie.
‘All right, let me play Cupid.’
The problem being that I’m the one in question.
“The Lady… has accepted the betrothal?”
Rakiel continued to murmur, his eyes still bewildered.
He seemed so flustered that he’d completely forgotten his earlier suspicions of me.
I nodded without the slightest hesitation.
“Yes, because I persuaded her.”
“You did?”
He scrutinized me with a doubtful gaze.
“Were you the Lady Rosenthal’s personal maid? I didn’t know that.”
“Well, something like that.”
Since it’s come to this, I’ll just push forward shamelessly!
“…I can’t understand it. If it’s ‘that’ Lady, she would never accept.”
“I know what the Lady truly desires.”
“And what is that?”
“Revenge.”
As I answered calmly, his expression grew serious.
“The Crown Prince used the Lady and cast her aside. That he intended to betray House Rosenthal from the start… you’ve likely heard about it.”
The Duke probably told him some of it. Otherwise, there would be no clear way to explain why the Duke was pushing for the Second Prince.
Sure enough, Rakiel nodded.
“…Yes.”
“After learning that, the Lady came to a complete realization. That the Crown Prince never loved her.”
I paused to collect myself before continuing.
“So she told me she wanted to bring down the Crown Prince. When I heard that, I told her that to do so, she would need to join hands with Your Highness, the Second Prince.”
Rakiel’s eyes still held a trace of doubt.
Anyone who knew the original Evelyn would never believe such words. I wouldn’t believe them either.
But what could I do? The current Evelyn is me, after all.
“I can’t believe it. Everyone knows how obsessed—no, how much the Duke’s daughter loved the Crown Prince, and now she’s changing her mind overnight?”
“People change when they’re betrayed.”
I spoke with conviction.
“The Duke’s daughter is angry right now. At the Crown Prince who used her, and at herself for blindly following such a man.”
“….”
After that conversation yesterday, I don’t know what Rakiel was thinking.
But one thing became clear now. He too was regretting yesterday’s choice quite a bit.
I could tell just by looking at his face. Anyone could see he was being persuaded.
‘…Thank goodness.’
If this hadn’t worked either, I might have had to abandon the plan to make Prince Rakiel emperor.
Just as I was relieving myself internally, Rakiel suddenly tilted his head.
“Even if what you say is true… the Duke’s daughter’s attitude yesterday is still difficult to understand.”
Ugh.
He looked directly at me and continued.
“Of course, her calm reaction was unlike her usual self, but did she really need to say it that way? She still seems to love my brother… the Crown Prince very much.”
“That’s….”
“It’s also suspicious that she sent a maid to relay this instead of speaking directly. How am I supposed to trust you, someone I’ve never seen at the Ducal Mansion?”
It remained.
That sharp gaze from before.
Receiving that piercing look, I met his eyes without even swallowing.
I tried not to show panic and responded casually.
“Am I suspicious to you?”
“Of course. The only reason I thought you were a maid of the Noble Family was because of that robe. But the Duke’s daughter’s personal maid?”
He continued without dropping his suspicious gaze.
“I’ve never seen you at the Ducal Mansion, let alone by the Duke’s daughter’s side.”
Feeling my face grow cold, I slowly reached my hand into my bosom. Rakiel watched my movement intently.
And the moment I grasped something in my hand, I calmly opened my mouth.
“If you can’t trust me like that, then let me show you proof.”

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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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