The Villainess Hid Her Identity, and Now Everyone is Misunderstanding - Chapter 89

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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 89

The moment Rakiel withdrew a bundle of medicinal herbs from his embrace, I snatched them away and bolted from the tent.
Toward the tent where Genie was.
‘Please, please just hold on a little longer….’
I could hear Rakiel’s footsteps following behind me, but I had no time to dwell on that.
Passing through overturned tables and the chaos of scattered debris, I spotted a tent with singed edges. I rushed inside.
“Genie!”
My face must have been deathly pale as I peered inward, and there she lay on the bed, motionless as though lifeless. It seemed Maren, who had returned earlier, had examined her and the surroundings.
I hurried over and immediately checked her pulse.
‘…She’s still alive!’
Faint though it was, her pulse still beat.
The moment I registered that fact, my trembling hands fumbled for the table nearby.
All the tools needed to brew medicine were already prepared.
I hastily gathered them and began skillfully trimming and brewing the medicinal herbs with practiced hands. I felt Rakiel’s gaze from behind, but I could only ignore it.
There was no time to answer questions about how I knew how to make the cure.
The medicine didn’t take long to brew.
“Genie!”
With urgent hands, I poured the brewed liquid into a bowl and rushed to Genie’s side.
Her face, beaded with cold sweat, remained pallid, and her eyelids didn’t flutter.
“Genie, please. Open your eyes….”
I tapped her lips with my fingertips and called her name again and again.
The thought crossed my mind that perhaps it was already too late, but I clenched my teeth and pushed away the dark thoughts.
That was when it happened.
“…Mmm.”
A faint whimper escaped.
“Genie?”
Her eyelids, which had remained motionless as if weighed down by heavy stone, trembled slightly before gradually opening.
“Eve….”
A hoarse voice barely managed to emerge.
Though the rest of her words seemed to be swallowed, producing no sound.
“Genie!”
I immediately cradled her head in my arms.
Genie gazed at me with unfocused eyes, not fully comprehending the situation.
“It’s medicine, Genie. You need to drink it! You must drink it—that’s an order!”
Overwhelmed with emotion, I brought the bowl of medicine to her lips. I forced open her parched lips and began pouring the liquid inside.
“Cough, cough!”
Half of it ran down her cheek and disappeared, but Genie reflexively swallowed the medicine that entered her mouth several times.
Her throat moved weakly.
I watched her without breathing, then poured the last sip into her mouth.
Only after confirming she swallowed it all did I pull away from her.
“Phew….”
Moments later, as Genie’s breathing gradually stabilized amid the tension, I wiped my chest. At that same instant, my legs gave out and I collapsed.
Thud!
Someone caught me by the waist.
“…Your Majesty.”
“You’re putting your hands to work more than once or twice today.”
“Th-thank you.”
At such close proximity, I couldn’t even see his face as I offered my gratitude.
He chuckled playfully and helped me into the chair beside the bed.
‘Damn, how embarrassing.’
How could my legs give out like that?
My hands had been trembling earlier like someone afflicted with palsy. I had already obtained the medicinal herbs, and I knew how to make the cure.
It was simply a matter of completing the task before me, yet I had needlessly grown tense and revealed my shameful state.
“Is it effective?”
Rakiel, who had been observing Genie, asked.
“It’s not yet at a stage where we can be relieved, but… probably yes.”
As I murmured and placed my hand on Genie’s forehead, I felt her fever had dropped considerably from before. The effect was certainly there.
Though we’ll need to keep watching.
“If Your Majesty had arrived just a moment later….”
Both I and Genie would have been dead.
Imagining the future that never came to pass, I felt a chill run down my spine.
As the situation stabilized, my surroundings finally came into focus. I glanced at Rakiel, then averted my gaze as I asked.
“…When did you arrive?”
“You ask quickly.”
He let out a hollow laugh.
I scratched my arm awkwardly and made an excuse.
“I was so preoccupied….”
“I just returned. When I came to the Capital City, it was complete chaos.”
“Ah, the riots…!”
Only then did it occur to me, and I asked urgently. He nodded.
“I suppressed them. By now, they should be identifying the ringleaders.”
I let out a sigh of relief.
‘Hmm? Now that I think about it, Rakiel seems perfectly fine?’
His trauma was not something that could be easily healed. Yet in a situation reminiscent of war, he seemed oddly unaffected.
As I tilted my head in confusion, Rakiel continued speaking.
“The riots weren’t the only thing. You remember telling me that the Royal Court’s janitor was from the Valter Empire, don’t you?”
How could I forget? That was information I had provided myself.
But at this unexpected mention, my eyes widened. The fact that he was bringing this up meant….
“I’ve captured several of those rats who tried to hide in the Northern Region.”
“…!”
Good heavens.
His lips twisted into a smile.
“They were sneaking into the Valter Empire through the Northern Region. It seems they created an escape route thinking I had completely withdrawn my forces.”
“My goodness, so it was real?”
“…Wasn’t that why you gave me the information in the first place?”
“Ah, no—I knew it was real, but I didn’t expect it to actually be….”
My words tangled together incoherently.
I had passed along the information believing it to be certain, but now that he had actually succeeded, I felt oddly bewildered. He was far more capable than I had anticipated.
‘To accomplish this in one attempt.’
A strange feeling washed over me. This time, truly, there was an odd sense that I might actually escape this cursed loop.
Once my freedom level maxed out, I could break free from being “Evelyn Rosenthal,” and if Rakiel became Emperor, the Empire wouldn’t have to fall.
Hope was beginning to emerge, bit by bit.
As I trailed off and closed my mouth entirely, Rakiel stared at me intently and spoke first.
“It’s all thanks to you. Without you, I wouldn’t have accomplished even half of what I have now.”
“…I only offered assistance. Everything else was accomplished by Your Highness.”
“No, it was only possible because you were there. I merely… followed the path you laid out.”
He paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully before speaking again.
“And I….”
It was the moment he began speaking with a subtly stiffened expression.
“Mm….”
At the faint sound, both Rakiel’s and my gaze turned simultaneously.
“Genie!”
Her fingers twitched slightly, and her eyelids, which had remained motionless for so long, struggled open with effort. Her hazy eyes wandered for a long moment before finally settling on me.
“Evelyn… …?”
“Genie, thank goodness! Are you conscious?”
I gripped her hand with trembling fingers. Though her hand was cold and damp, the definite warmth confirmed that she was alive.
“Evelyn… … are you… safe…?”
“I’m fine. I’m completely well. Didn’t you see me having a fit earlier?”
She should be worrying about herself instead.
I narrowed my eyes and tightened my grip on her hand.
Whether the medicinal herbs Rakiel had brought were genuine or not, Genie’s face looked far better than before.
Tears threatened to spill, and I fought hard to hold them back, but Genie gazed at me with a pale face, smiling weakly as if she knew or didn’t know of my struggle.
“What are you smiling about like you did something right!”
I muttered irritably as I carefully pulled the blanket back over her.
“…Evelyn?”
“…!”
My mind went blank in an instant. I understood the situation a beat too late.
I froze with my eyes wide open.
‘Ah, I forgot Rakiel was here….’
But in that moment, a cheerful system chime rang out.

[Cure Successfully Synthesized!]
[Congratulations! You have successfully completed the Main Quest “Halt the Plague’s Tide!”]
[Quest completion rewards are being distributed.]
[Hidden Route 【Guide of Light】 has been unlocked.]
[Hidden Route unlock bonus is being applied.]
[Stat 【Freedom】 is increasing.]
[Freedom Lv.8 -> MAX]

Boom-boom-boom!

[Stat 【Freedom】 has reached maximum capacity.]
[System restrictions are completely lifted.]

System windows cascaded open like pop-up notifications, and fireworks began exploding chaotically.
Then, with a time delay, one final window rose up slowly.

[Congratulations! You have now become the true ‘Evelyn Rosenthal’!]

“….”
It took me a long time before I slowly began to comprehend the message.
A single system window hung before my eyes, and an astonishingly profound silence followed. My vacant gaze swept across the opaque text before me.
‘Freedom… at maximum capacity?’
My mind became strangely quiet.
I had never gone a single moment without imagining this, never ceased yearning for it each day, yet now that it materialized before my eyes, no thoughts would come.
‘So now….’
Freedom….
I stared blankly at the system window.
“…Eve?”
I heard Rakiel’s worried voice calling from beside me.
Complete freedom—to live without any constraints, as a person rather than as ‘Evelyn Rosenthal’.
The weight of those words slowly pressed down upon my chest.
As I barely grasped the meaning of that unfamiliar word, another system window emerged through the silence.
This time, it appeared at an extraordinarily slow pace. It was a meticulous kindness, as if showing consideration for me.
Ding!

[Due to the Hidden Route 【Guide of Light】 trait, the ‘Perception Reduction Effect’ and ‘Unbreakable Hood’ of the special title 【Silent Wanderer】 are being deactivated.]

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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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