The Villainess Hid Her Identity, and Now Everyone is Misunderstanding - Chapter 48

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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 48

A week slipped by in the blink of an eye.
During that time, I hadn’t laid eyes on Rakiel even once.
I was busy with my own affairs, and it seemed Rakiel was equally occupied with his own endeavors.
‘Otherwise, there’s no way this progress would have climbed so dramatically on its own.’
I opened the Quest window briefly to check, then nodded to myself.

[Politics – 12%]

The Politics gauge, which had hovered near zero not long ago, had somehow climbed to 12%.
Since I hadn’t done anything in particular, it meant Rakiel was actively seeking out and recruiting nobles worthy of joining his faction.
This proved that not only my actions but also Rakiel’s movements affected the Quest’s success.
‘At least I’m not alone in this….’
If I had to make Prince Rakiel emperor by myself, it would have been an impossibly long and arduous journey.
Still, success remained distant.
The ‘Socializing’ I’d barely obtained through spreading rumors was only at 40%, and ‘Military,’ one of the influence categories Rakiel already possessed, stood at merely 33%.
‘To think that even after leading wars as Commander-in-Chief, it’s only at 33%….’
Information about Rakiel that I’d obtained from the Information Organization Twilight came to mind.
‘They said his direct unit was completely annihilated.’
Could there be just one or two units that were wiped out in such a manner?
It was a reasonable suspicion.
So that incident might certainly be connected to the ‘secret of the continental war’….
“…see?”
“….”
“Hey!”
“…!”
I snapped back to attention and focused on the presence before me.
Yan, who had stepped away briefly, had returned with a stack of documents and was leaning in close as if trying to peer into my very face.
Startled, I naturally leaned back.
He settled back into his seat with a worried expression.
“Is something the matter?”
“No… I was just lost in thought for a moment….”
“What on earth were you thinking about that you didn’t hear me calling multiple times? I thought you’d fallen asleep sitting up.”
“…Didn’t you think you were away from your desk for far too long?”
I pouted my lips in displeasure instead.
I had come to the Twilight Hideout after so long, but the item I had commissioned didn’t appear immediately—instead, they made me wait for quite a while.
Tired of waiting, I eventually opened my Quest window and lost myself in my own thoughts, pondering this and that.
However, Yan paid me no mind, simply shaking the stack of documents he had brought to dust off the accumulated dirt.
“Well, you commissioned information and then showed up this late. Has it been over a month?”
“…I was quite busy. I had been elsewhere.”
That was a lie.
I had simply forgotten about it.
It was something I had commissioned before heading down to my Estate, but I had completely forgotten about it, and only now remembered after arriving in the Capital City.
And that was right before the Emperor’s birthday celebration.
‘Thank goodness I remembered now, or I would have been in serious trouble tomorrow.’
Because the information I had requested was…
Yan tapped the documents with his hand, brushing away every last speck of dust, then handed them to me.
“Information on Grand Duke Kashen Rufenbayne. Is this what you requested?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
I nodded and accepted the documents.
The thickness and weight were similar to when I had received information about Rakiel. Ah, the only difference was that this time the materials seemed slightly more organized. It felt closer to an ‘official document.’
“Oh… hmm, something like this…”
After receiving the documents, I began reading through them page by page right there.
Even wetting my finger with saliva as I turned the pages enthusiastically.
“Mm, I see…, oh…”
After examining every page to the end while Yan watched, I tapped them on the table to organize them again, then handed the documents back to him.
“…?”
He looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“I’ve finished reading.”
“…What?”
“Since I’ve read it all, you can take it back. Oh, and…”
I pulled out another stack of papers from my bosom.
It was the information about Rakiel that I had received previously.
“Take this back as well.”
“…?!”
Yan accepted the stack of papers from me with a dazed hand. Yet his expression still showed he didn’t understand.
“You don’t need it…? Why?”
“Why? Because I’ve read it all.”
“What?”
His voice sounded as if he were saying something completely nonsensical.
But it was the truth.
It was something I had discovered recently while collecting stats—that the ‘Memory’ stat wasn’t just there for nothing.
‘What did it say… that I could analyze and compare with previous cycles?’
That was 【Memory】 Lv.7. And not long ago, that Memory stat had reached its maximum level.
The effect was extraordinary!
Once I’d seen something, I could recall it in vivid detail with just a fleeting thought—I didn’t even need to memorize it. And it didn’t matter whether it was a memory from a previous loop or not.
In any case, I waved my hand dismissively at Yan, who still wore that dazed expression.
“Since I’ve obtained all the information I need, could you dispose of these documents for me? It’s rather troublesome to handle them myself.”
It wasn’t just one or two sheets of paper—burning an entire stack without drawing attention would be difficult.
But Yan seemed to have only half-heard my words, stammering out his response.
“S-so you’re saying… you read all of this and… remember it all? You really don’t need to take it with you?”
“…?”
What was he going on about?
“How could you possibly remember all of that? There are dozens of pages of information.”
As long as I’m human, there’s no way I could remember it all naturally. I’m simply borrowing the system’s abilities a little.
I never considered my memory, analytical ability, or observational skills to be truly my own. It was merely a slight correction from the system—like a virtual reality game.
Yan stood frozen, clutching the stack of papers in both hands, unconvinced.
“Huh? So, then these… huh? Not needed… why? You could read them again later anyway, right? You’re really throwing them away?”
“Yes, well. Those documents aren’t necessary anymore, so please dispose of them.”
“….”
His face went slightly pale.
But I rose from my seat with noticeably lighter movements.
Until now, I’d been constantly anxious about someone discovering the documents, but now that I’d organized everything in my mind and disposed of the materials I’d been hiding, I felt refreshingly at ease.
So much so that I almost whistled.
“Wait….”
“Hmm?”
Yan hurried after me and grabbed my arm urgently.
“What is it?”
“Did you perhaps have a fight with Rakiel?”
“What?”
What kind of nonsensical question was that?
I furrowed my brow and asked back, and Yan flinched before finally shaking his head.
“Ah, no… never mind. Just forget you heard that.”
“How anticlimactic.”
Even as I said this, I narrowed my eyes.
‘It seems he’s closer to Rakiel than I thought.’
Yan still wore a confused expression, unaware that my silence had grown oddly prolonged because of it.
Unaware that I’d just realized Rakiel wasn’t merely a simple client of Twilight.

* * *

Soon Eve disappeared, and Yan stood alone, staring blankly at the door that had just closed.
‘What on earth just happened?’
He felt quite flustered. Actually, very flustered.
Just moments ago, their relationship had seemed quite good?
Creak.
The door opened, and a dark-haired man entered with a yawn, appearing exhausted as his eyes were half-closed.
Upon noticing Yan, he stopped abruptly.
“What are you doing standing like that?”
Only then did Yan realize his posture and awkwardly lowered his arm—the hand that had been holding Eve was still raised.
“Oh, it’s nothing… really.”
Even as he said this, Yan glanced at Rakiel’s expression. Something seemed amiss, but since it had been so long since they’d seen each other, it was difficult to guess what.
Yan carefully chose his words and finally opened his mouth.
“About that woman from before—”
“Brother… I mean, the Crown Prince.”
But Rakiel asked first, interrupting him.
Startled, Yan stammered before uttering a word.
“What?”
Rakiel walked over and plopped down into the chair where Eve had been sitting. Yan examined him and flinched.
Despite his tired eyes, Rakiel stared at him without blinking.
“He seems to be plotting something. It looks like he’s planning to do something at the Emperor’s birthday celebration.”
“The Crown Prince is?”
Rakiel nodded.
“He provoked me. He seems to have grown anxious.”
“Well, it’s not entirely unexpected. Ever since Ludwig Bernhardt turned to your side, problems have been arising.”
It all began with the Conrat Mine.
The Crown Prince, engaged to the young lady of House Rosenthal—the wealthiest family on the continent—had benefited considerably from the arrangement.
Contracts that would normally be difficult to obtain came easily with the Duke’s assistance.
Though that ended when the engagement was broken. Surely Ludwig Bernhardt wouldn’t simply overlook the Crown Prince’s actions in breaking off the engagement with his daughter.
Consequently, the financial channels the Crown Prince had obtained through the Duke were being cut off one by one. And this was one of the plans Evelyn had orchestrated.
“So what? Have you learned anything from the North?”
At Rakiel’s question, Yan’s expression gradually hardened.

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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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