The Villainess Hid Her Identity, and Now Everyone is Misunderstanding - Chapter 88

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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 88

I avoided his gaze and scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.
“It’s just… the situation was rather urgent.”
“Urgent?”
Rakiel’s eyebrows twitched subtly.
“You mean the situation where you were surrounded by assassins.”
“…Yes, well.”
My voice grew smaller with each word.
I already knew that Rakiel was sensitive about losing people. He hadn’t even confided his past to me, after all.
That’s why he’d asked me several times before I left for the Northern Region.
‘…Not to cause trouble, he said.’
To be precise, it wasn’t so much “trouble” as it was a plea for me to stay safe.
Yet the first thing he saw upon my return was me nearly being killed by assassins. It was exactly the kind of thing to trigger his trauma.
‘I feel terrible about this.’
As guilt pricked at my chest, I watched his expression carefully and hurried to speak.
“I’m sorry—”
“Are you injured?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked if you’re injured anywhere.”
His eyes swept across my body rapidly. From the tips of my hair hidden beneath the hood to my shoulders, my exposed wrists, and down to my feet.
It was as though he was determined to examine every visible inch—no, even the parts he couldn’t see.
As my face grew increasingly flushed under his intense gaze, I finally couldn’t hold back.
“N-no! There’s nothing! Your Highness, with how overprotective you are, there’s no way I could be hurt!”
Honestly, who keeps someone’s face buried against their chest throughout an entire fight?
Even the falling blades seemed startled into missing.
The alley fell silent the moment I finished speaking. Rakiel said nothing.
‘…Hmm.’
I stole a glance at his expression.
His crimson eyes still gazed down at me.
It was an odd expression—neither angry like before, nor completely calm.
“…Overprotective?”
He asked slowly.
I watched his lips twitch and curl upward slightly.
“It’s unavoidable when you act like that.”
It was a casual remark, but his gaze remained fixed on some part of my body, as if checking for injuries.
“You stand there calmly after frightening me like that, yet you don’t seem to consider why I have no choice but to react this way.”
“Why, why, why, why are you doing this?”
I regretted asking the question immediately.
Because he let out a small laugh. A playful smile hung at the corners of his mouth, but….
‘His eyes! His eyes aren’t smiling! This is terrifying!’
I instinctively took a step back, shrinking away.
“Well, I wonder why.”
He took a step closer.
The distance between us, which had opened after I pulled away from his embrace, closed in an instant.
I kept my gaze fixed on the ground, unable to lift my head for fear my expression would show.
“You really don’t know?”
“I don’t know, but, if you could just step back a little….”
Before I could finish speaking, his shadow grew darker.
Rakiel didn’t stop and took another step forward. I reflexively retreated, but I felt the wall behind my back.
“….”
There was nowhere left to escape.
Moreover, as he pressed one hand against the wall, I couldn’t even turn my head anymore.
I felt a strong determination—the same as when he had confined me in his embrace—to prevent me from fleeing anywhere.
“Seeing you wandering around like this makes me want to lock you away somewhere.”
But you’re already locking me away!
I tried to protest quietly, but my lips wouldn’t part.
“You cause trouble every single day and wander about, so I can’t possibly leave you alone. Look, you nearly got into serious danger just now while I was away for a moment.”
“That’s not my fault….”
“What should I do about this.”
At his low murmur, I shrank like a criminal awaiting execution. I could distinctly feel anger packed tightly into his voice.
‘I’m scared! This is terrifying!’
This was the first time I’d seen Rakiel angry.
He’d always been so playful, and since he’d let everything slide no matter what I said, I’d taken him lightly.
Even when he couldn’t control his killing intent toward Ludwig before, that wasn’t directed at me.
But now his anger was directed precisely at me. Whether it was anger or rough emotions born from worry, I couldn’t tell.
Trying to avoid his gaze, I counted the pebbles lying on the dirt ground, and finally, with a pitiful expression, I opened my mouth.
“If you ask me that… I don’t know… what should I do….”
My voice grew quieter toward the end.
“I’m sorry… you were worried, weren’t you….”
After those words, silence fell for a moment. No response came back.
“Your Highness…?”
Because I deliberately didn’t look up, I couldn’t see his expression. It was a while later that I heard Rakiel’s sigh.
“…I can’t even be angry anymore.”
His voice was tinged with resignation.
“It wasn’t your fault to begin with.”
“…Your Highness.”
“An assassin sent by the Crown Prince. Did you know? No, you couldn’t have not known.”
He slowly stepped back from me, creating distance. Only then could I see his face clearly—exhaustion was written all over it.
“Because of me, you’ve been put in danger again.”
At the strained way he spoke, my expression hardened.
I hadn’t entirely failed to anticipate something like this might happen, but it felt as though I’d burdened him with yet another weight.
In that moment, an ominous feeling crept over me.
‘Oh no, what if he decides not to become Emperor?’
Prince Rakiel’s path to becoming Emperor was nothing but a bed of thorns. Of course it was. Because it wasn’t the rightful path!
‘…That would be a problem.’
I had witnessed Ludwig becoming Emperor countless times. And I knew what kind of consequences that future would bring.
Knowing that Rakiel suffered from this path, I couldn’t easily abandon it. Even if using him for my own future was selfish, I had no excuse. At least I had to survive!
After hesitating in silence for a moment, I carefully lifted my gaze and spoke.
“First of all… thank you. For worrying about me. And for saving me.”
“…It was only natural. Since I was the cause of it all, there’s no need for your gratitude.”
“No, I don’t think this is Your Highness’s fault.”
A silence passed that seemed to say he couldn’t accept that at all. I let out a sigh.
‘…Really, what am I going to do with this person.’
My gaze turned toward his right hand.
Did it not hurt?
Blood was still dripping from the wound earlier, yet he clenched his fist as if he felt no pain at all. The joints protruded sharply, and the bleeding grew worse across his pale skin.
It seemed he didn’t even realize he was injured.
After hesitating briefly, I reached out and took his hand.
Rakiel flinched for a moment, but soon accepted my touch without resistance. I slowly loosened the tension in his grip and continued speaking.
“Rather, it was thanks to Your Highness arriving in time that everything ended safely.”
I pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket and pressed it firmly against the wound on his hand to stop the bleeding.
Even though I pressed quite hard, he showed no sign of pain, remaining perfectly still with his arm extended toward me.
He watched what I was doing in a daze for a moment, then furrowed his brow and responded.
“You almost got hurt.”
“But I didn’t get hurt.”
“Not this time. But there’s no guarantee the next time will be the same….”
“If I didn’t get hurt this time, that’s what matters.”
Something complex flickered in Rakiel’s eyes as he looked at me.
“…Aren’t you afraid?”
“I am afraid.”
I answered honestly.
How could I not be afraid? Even after experiencing it ninety-nine times, there was nothing more unpleasant than dying.
“But Your Highness, the way the world works is strange—something seems like a catastrophe when you’re going through it, but once it passes, it rolls along as if nothing happened.”
I nearly died, but thinking about it later, this too would be… well, it was a significant incident, but compared to all the times I’ve died before, it wasn’t really that big.
It was hard-earned wisdom accumulated through living Evelyn’s life over and over again. How much longer would I have to live in constant emotional turmoil? Life was meant to flow naturally on its own, after all.
I hoped Rakiel would come to understand this truth as well.
“Sometimes things go well, and sometimes they don’t. What happened today was bound to happen anyway. So please, don’t try to assign causes to everything in this world. If you keep blaming yourself and blaming others, you’ll end up understanding nothing at all.”
Rakiel continued to gaze at me. Above the shadowed hood, his sunken crimson eyes were visible.
Since no answer came, I added more words.
“I’m telling you this after living a hundred lifetimes, so please believe me. Everything will somehow work itself out.”
I wrapped his hand firmly with my handkerchief. Though it had turned red, the stain wasn’t spreading any further, which meant the bleeding had been properly stopped.
“Now you just need to go get proper treatment.”
I looked up with a satisfied smile, only to find Rakiel still staring at me intently.
As if gazing at something beyond a hidden veil, a strange shimmer rippled through his crimson eyes. Like emotions swirling in a whirlpool.
‘Is he alright?’
Though my words were somewhat clichéd, he was clearly moved by what I said.
Perhaps I was a master of consolation?
I giggled to myself, completely forgetting that Rakiel had been angry with me just moments before.
Then Rakiel opened his mouth.
“Why do you keep….”
“Yes?”
He slowly extended his hand.
As if about to touch the hood, or rather, my cheek hidden beneath it, he drew near—but then, as if he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it, his hand faltered and he gently clenched his fist.
“…Why do you keep making me curious like this?”
At that moment, I flinched and trembled.
Feeling inexplicably anxious, I deliberately averted my gaze and changed the subject.
“Your Highness, did you happen to find those medicinal herbs…?”
I needed those herbs urgently right now.

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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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