The Villainess Hid Her Identity, and Now Everyone is Misunderstanding - Chapter 86

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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 86

“Maren?!”
“My apologies, Evelyn. However, I must fulfill my duty.”
“D-duty? Let go of me! Release me this instant!”
I thrashed about desperately, but there was no way I could break free from the grip of a knight honed by rigorous training.
Even as I struggled, he held me firmly without wavering and began moving toward the tent’s entrance.
“I can’t leave Genie! Let go right now—that’s an order!”
“I cannot obey.”
“Genie! No! Genie—!”
As I rained blows upon his forearm and lifted my head, our eyes met with Genie’s. She was smiling faintly—with a face that looked ready to burst into tears.
“Evelyn….”
Her parched lips barely moved as she called my name.
“Please stay safe.”

[A riot has broken out.]
[Prince Rakiel Bernhardt’s support rate has declined.]
[Prince Rakiel Bernhardt’s support rate has declined.]
[Prince Rakiel Bernhardt’s support rate has declined.]
….
….

* * *

Thwack!
A club that had been swinging was deflected by Maren’s blade and flew through the air.
It was complete chaos.
“Miss Evelyn! Don’t fall back!”
At some point, Maren had forgotten that I was even in disguise, throwing around my title carelessly.
Well, there was no time to worry about such things anyway.
“Damn it….”
Why did I leave Genie behind if it was going to be like this?
We had barely stepped out of the tent before we ran into people. The madness of the completely enraged crowd was beyond imagination.
Their eyes were wild, as if they had been swallowed by the atmosphere itself, and they were desperate to pour their overflowing rage somewhere.
“The demon is over there!”
“Catch the fake saint and kill her!”
I heard occasional shouts, but when my eyes met those of the voice’s owner, I let out a hollow laugh.
‘I’ve never seen these guys before.’
If they were people who lived here, I would have recognized their faces at least vaguely. The fact that I was seeing them for the first time meant they had come from somewhere else.
‘How thorough—he’s planted agitators here.’
I was astounded by Ludwig’s meticulousness.
The problem now was how to escape from this pandemonium….
Unless Maren had ten hands, there was no way he could handle this many rioters alone.
That was when it happened.
“Miss Evelyn! Be careful!”
He pushed me urgently. But that was only for a moment—another club came crashing down toward me.
Ugh, I can’t dodge….
“Saint!”
“…!”
Thwack!
Someone pushed away the man who had been swinging his club with all his might.
“How dare you lay hands on the Saint! Divine punishment shall befall you!”
Starting with him, people suddenly began blocking the space in front of me.
“What are these guys? The Saint is escaping over there! The Saint—ugh!”
“Saint, this way!”
A man who had struck the back of the head of the one inciting people to capture me, knocking him unconscious, gestured urgently.
“What….”
“Don’t worry! I am a devoted follower of the Saint!”
I almost hit that smug face of his.
‘Wait, now that I think about it, these people….’
Now I could see them whispering among themselves, forming a formation to block the space around me. Even though no one knew what might happen in this chaos.
Moreover, I recognized the person directing most enthusiastically among them.
‘That woman!’
I could see the woman who had appointed herself my follower shouting at the top of her lungs.
“The Saint’s safety is our top priority! Protect her at all costs, no matter what!”
It wasn’t just her.
“Hey, this young punk just shoved an elderly man! Guards! Guards, could you come here please!”
“Did you just touch me? What family are you from with such terrible manners?”
“Oh, my back! Who hit me just now? I almost collapsed! I’m dying, I’m going to die!”
Whenever an escape route was blocked, the slum residents would casually step in and subtly hold back the rioters. As I stood there dumbfounded watching them, Maren pulled me along.
“Hurry, Saint!”
“I told you not to call me Saint.”
I gritted my teeth and muttered under my breath.
“This way!”
“Saint, come this way!”
The place people were pointing to was a dark and winding alley.
Maren stared at me with a tightened expression for a moment, then led me in the direction the people were indicating.
“Wait, huff, Maren….”
I followed him, breathing heavily. I was genuinely curious whether he even knew where we were going.
“Do you even know where this is? This place is so complicated, and you’re just going like that….”
“The people are showing me the way.”
“Showing you what?”
It was the moment we paused briefly.
“If you go this way, there’s another passage!”
Someone at the far end waved their hand. It was a signal to hurry.
Maren pointed at them and shrugged.
“Like that.”
“How would I know who that is…!”
They didn’t even seem to be a believer.
“Don’t you remember what I told you?”
“…What?”
As I frowned and asked, he sighed.
“I said there are those who follow you. They’re guiding us now. Showing us the fastest way to escape.”
“…!”
“This is why you lack self-awareness, Miss Evelyn. You don’t even realize how much people follow you.”
He added with a smile.
“Or maybe you just have no sense of perception.”
“…Do you want to die?”
My face must have turned red. I was grateful I was wearing a hood.
I stopped responding and walked forward with long strides.
‘They’re helping, so I suppose I should accept it….’
As I followed the people through the winding paths for a while, gradually familiar streets began to appear.
“…This place…”
Maren finished my unspoken words.
“If we take this path, we should be able to reach the Ducal Mansion.”
The people who had been guiding us moments before vanished in an instant, likely retreating to their shelters to avoid being swept up in the chaos.
“In any case, it would be best to return to the Ducal Mansion as quickly as possible.”
The moment I took a step forward following his words, Maren drew his sword with lightning speed.
Clang!
His blade flashed brilliantly, deflecting a dagger that had been hurled at us. The sharp metallic clash echoed through the narrow alley.
‘…A dagger?’
I scanned my surroundings at this strange turn of events.
The dagger had come from the darkness. It was as if someone had deliberately aimed it at us.
I slowly stepped backward, my expression hardening. The attack hadn’t come from the crowd swept up in the fervor of the riot.
“Maren.”
He seemed to have already realized it as well.
“Step back.”
With those brief words, Maren moved forward a step, his sword held low in a ready stance.
Immediately after, masked figures slowly emerged from both sides of the alley, and simultaneously, an alarm sounded.

[Warning!]
[Killing intent detected.]

Three of them, or perhaps four. Maybe more.
Unlike the commoners, they surrounded us in silence—no ragged breathing, no curses spilling from their lips.
“…They appear to be trained.”
“Trained to kill people?”
At my casual question, Maren hesitated before nodding, as if uncertain whether he should speak so frankly to a noblewoman.
What did it matter now?
“In other words, assassins.”
“Yes. Men trained to kill for a living.”
“Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
If he wanted me dead, he could have killed me that night. Yet he chose this cumbersome method instead—clearly an attempt to flaunt his power.
“Damn….”
Unusually, Maren let out a low curse.
“The path to the Ducal Mansion is blocked.”
His gaze swept across all directions, searching desperately for an escape route, but his eyes found no refuge anywhere.
“We cannot escape this place as things stand.”
“Indeed.”
I answered briefly and steadied my breathing.
The alley was narrow.
Having fled deep into the slum, ramshackle shacks and tents blocked our view on both sides, while tattered cloth hung overhead, casting deeper shadows.
It was not a favorable structure for escape.
Most critically, we were already surrounded.
The masked figures gradually closed the distance, their footsteps measured and synchronized without hesitation—they were clearly well-trained assassins.
“…Miss Evelyn.”
I glanced at Maren.
His neck had gone pale with tension.
“What?”
“If things go south, please abandon me and run. As you know, if you head straight down that path, it’s the fastest route to the Ducal Mansion—”
“Quiet. I’ll handle it myself.”
Always so chatty.
Genie, Maren—they all kept saying the same thing: leave them behind and go.
‘Did they really think I’d obey such nonsense?’
I am Evelyn Rosenthal. An arrogant, hysterical duke’s daughter. A personality-disordered woman who absolutely refuses to do anything she doesn’t want to do!
Just as Maren, who had fallen silent for a moment, opened his mouth again, a shadow glinted from the right.
Clang!
Immediately after, another dagger flew through the air.

[Warning!]
[Danger level rising.]

With the system’s warning, the figure at the very back tilted his head slightly—as if giving a signal.
At that moment, three of them began to move.
“Miss Evelyn!”
As Maren’s cry rang out, a chill ran down my spine.
Whoosh!
When I turned, I saw a man with a massive blade raised above his head, ready to strike down at my neck. My face drained of all color in an instant.
‘Are they really trying to kill me?’
In that moment, all the events from the previous loops flashed before my eyes.
The last thing I saw was a spray of crimson blood.
Splurt!

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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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