The Villainess Hid Her Identity, and Now Everyone is Misunderstanding - Chapter 84

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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 84

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“Cough, cough!”
Shallow coughs continued to echo through the air.
I wrung out a damp cloth and wiped Genie’s forehead, her fever causing her to sweat profusely—I had no choice but to keep wiping her down to prevent her temperature from rising further.
“M-Miss….”
I frowned but didn’t respond.
I knew that kind words wouldn’t come out.
I didn’t want to open my mouth with Evelyn Rosenthal’s hysterical tone to someone who was suffering.
Perhaps interpreting my silence differently, Genie pushed away my hand as I wiped her arm.
“Miss, please don’t….”
I grasped Genie’s arm, which had no strength whatsoever.
She knew it was futile, yet she kept trying to push me away.
“You shouldn’t… do such things, Miss….”
“….”
“Go back to the Ducal Mansion…. To the Duke… cough, this place is dangerous… I’m telling you.”
“….”
“You might catch the illness from me… That wouldn’t do….”
“Be quiet.”
I uttered just one word, irritated by her rambling alone.
“But….”
“If you don’t shut your mouth right now, I’ll cut it off.”
“…You’re lying….”
Heh.
Even as her fever made her mind hazy, Genie understood my words and chuckled before breaking into a cough.
It was a cough mixed with blood.
As I wiped Genie’s neck and discovered dark red spots, I pressed my lips firmly together.
Four days had passed since Rakiel left. There had been no word from him, and death was creeping ever closer to Genie.
‘…The disease is progressing unnaturally fast.’
From what I’d observed so far, symptoms typically appeared only after about a week of incubation.
After observing the condition for another week or so, the answer usually became clear—whether the person would survive or if the symptoms would become severe.
But Genie had only shown symptoms for three or four days now. Yet her entire body was already covered in dark red spots.
At that rate of progression, she had only a day or two left.
I desperately wanted to rush out and find Rakiel right now, but all I could do was wait here.
‘This is so frustrating.’
Waiting without being able to do anything was not an easy task.
After a while, once Genie fell back asleep, I quietly slipped out of the tent.
“How is her condition?”
Maren, who had been standing guard in front of the tent, approached me.
“…Not good.”
At my answer, despair flickered across his face.
“And Prince Rakiel…?”
“Still no word.”
“….”
The situation was far from hopeful.
Maren was devoted to caring for Genie. Perhaps they had grown close during their travels together, as they seemed quite familiar with each other.
‘…Wait, they’re not developing feelings for each other, are they?’
Just as I was about to get lost in that thought, I shook my head vigorously.
“What about the situation outside?”
At my question, Maren’s expression grew serious.
“It’s equally dire. The people have split into two factions and fighting continues to break out.”
“For instance?”
“Those who follow the Saint—or rather, the Lady, and those who don’t.”
The moment I raised my eyebrows, he corrected his words and continued.
“The rumors about Prince Rakiel are also grave. It seems the people have been provoked by the fact that there’s no clear way to resolve this crisis, and there’s considerable discontent about the unresolved situation.”
“Well, that’s understandable. Practically nothing is being done.”
I understood better than anyone how suffocating it was to be cooped up because of the plague, or to live unable to do anything at all.
‘It’s been a truly terrible two years.’
As I empathized deeply, Maren narrowed his eyes and looked at me.
“…Do you truly believe there’s nothing that can be done?”
“As you said, nothing’s being resolved. Hope things improve? Or give people hope? At this rate, the Empire will suffer serious damage.”
…Unless Rakiel returns, or Ludwig breaks that herbal remedy.
Of course, Ludwig wouldn’t pretend ignorance forever either. After all, it’s the Empire he’ll rule.
“…It seems you lack some objectivity about yourself, my Lady.”
“What do you mean?”
He shook his head firmly.
“One thing is certain—simply watching this situation unfold is not good.”
“The Prince hasn’t returned, so what can I do? Waiting isn’t really my style, but there’s nothing else I can do either….”
“Still, things are ‘better than expected.’ It’s thanks to a few people taking the initiative to lead the situation. Including yourself, my Lady.”
“Well, that’s at least some consolation.”
I clicked my tongue and began gathering various things into my bag. I was thinking of going out to assess the situation for a moment.
Maren watched me with narrowed eyes.
“Are you planning to go out again?”
“There’s nothing much to do anyway… Just call Genie for a moment.”
“…Do you really have to go?”
“What?”
At the sudden question, I turned my head to find Maren watching me with a worried gaze.
“As I mentioned earlier, the situation is far from ordinary. Perhaps you should just stay here…”
“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s something I have to do anyway.”
My stats were accumulating tremendously as I resolved the plague Quest. Soon enough, I would finally achieve max level in Freedom.
With the finish line in sight, I couldn’t afford to stop here.
I clamped my mouth shut and turned away from Maren, who continued to watch me, moving forward.

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Four days had passed since Rakiel departed for the Northern Region.
The remaining Hagen Kirchner took command of plague management and crowd control that Rakiel had previously overseen.
“We’re running out of cloth! There’s nothing left to wipe the blood!”
“Please, save only my child! Oh, God, please…”
Hagen gazed at the tents beside the slum that had become a war zone.
Screams, coughs, and weeping erupted from all directions, mingling together, and patients lay collapsed in every tent.
‘…Is this an omen of ruin?’
The fact that the Crown Prince was the one who spread this disease left him deeply unsettled.
And the situation where he knew this truth but could not reveal it was equally troubling.
‘Tsk.’
Without proper evidence, he could not accuse the Crown Prince.
“We’ve run out of herbs, Saint!”
“Just a moment!”
It was then that Hagen’s eyes turned in one direction.
A woman wearing a deeply pulled hood, moving as though her feet were on fire, rushed about tending to patients—feeding them medicine, boiling water, wiping their bodies clean.
Quite a number of people followed her, and some among them called her a Saint.
‘It’s not an inaccurate description.’
As someone who had been watching her since before, at Rakiel’s behest, he was inclined to acknowledge her. She was a woman who did things repeatedly that ordinary people could never accomplish.
However, what troubled him was…
‘I cannot fathom what His Highness the Prince is thinking.’
Simply being close to her was not a problem in itself.
But that subtle gleam in his eyes was problematic. The look that occasionally appeared in Rakiel’s eyes only when standing before her was quite suspicious.
At times he wanted to ask him whether he was aware that Eve was a maid, but the opportunity rarely presented itself.
Of course, there was no major issue with her being a maid. With a purchased title or some arrangement, she could easily be transformed into a noblewoman.
‘But His Highness has a fiancée.’
Even if their relationship was not particularly good.
If word spread through society that he never met with his fiancée yet frequently met with her maid, it would be quite troublesome.
Hagen observed her absently, then narrowed his eyes.
“I’ve told you no several times! You don’t have to treat my child!”
“Listen, come to your senses. Don’t you see the child? The fever is burning hot!”
Eve was bickering with some woman.
From the brief exchange, it seemed the woman was refusing treatment. Eve had grabbed the woman’s arm, but she irritably shook it off.
“Let go! Don’t come any closer to my child!”
Just as Hagen, who had been quietly observing, was about to step forward to stop her.
“How dare you lay hands on the Saint!”
“Yes, apologize at once! You’ll face divine punishment!”
“H-help!”
…They seemed to be handling it well enough on their own.
Her followers chased the woman away with strange cries and poses. It appeared they had found their own way to overwhelm their opponent instead of resorting to direct violence.
“Shh, shh! Please stop!”
Eve beside them seemed to be in shock.
‘These followers of the Saint are quite different from those depicted in history.’
I couldn’t quite say why. Perhaps it was simply a reflection of her nature. I nodded quietly in understanding.
Then someone called out to me.
“Knight Kirchner!”
I turned my head, and a knight placed his right hand over his chest and bowed briefly.
“What is it?”
“That is….”
At the knight’s following words, my eyes widened.

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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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