The Villainess is a Millionaire Solver - Chapter 141

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 141

The streets were filled with waves of flower lanterns and balloons symbolizing the Founding Festival. When the sun set later, the lanterns would light up and make it even more spectacular.

Street stalls lined up along the center of the road where carriage traffic had been restricted.

Performers who had come from distant provinces for the Founding Festival were playing music and showing tricks, further enhancing the festive atmosphere.

Walking through such scenery while receiving the perfect escort of the blonde Crown Prince. It felt like being in another world.

“I didn’t know the Princess had such interest in swords.”

“I can’t help but be interested. After all, Windfearer is also expensive jewelry when you think about it.”

We walked in quite a pleasant mood, having a naturally harmonious conversation.

And finally we arrived at the Academy Archive.

Looking at the magnificent building with its ancient circular roof, I asked.

“You must come here often?”

Even though I followed you around for so long, I had no idea.

Perhaps noticing that my words carried such meaning, Aldensis smiled gently.

“I’ve started visiting frequently recently. I thought I might find answers in the ancient texts to various difficult problems troubling my mind.”

Even his worries are so refined.

I thought that as I followed him.

Aldensis presented his pass to the employee at the entrance, then took me inside.

The pass with the golden laurel wreath emblem engraved on it looked truly special.

Below the emblem, it was written in tiny letters that only those who had contributed to the academic circle could be reviewed, and moreover, it had to pass unanimously.

‘So that’s why Serene and Zicrenno couldn’t say anything.’

Serene aside, Zicrenno definitely wouldn’t qualify. Since this was like a rare book protection zone.

Access was normally extremely restricted, and since the festival had just begun, we were the only visitors.

“Wow…”

I exclaimed in admiration as soon as I stepped inside.

Under the arched ceiling so high you had to crane your neck to look up, countless books were packed tightly on all the walls in every direction.

“This is really incredible. Finding where what book is located must be no ordinary task.”

“Once you learn the classification codes, it’s not that difficult.”

Aldensis said that as he led the way.

Our footsteps echoed through the magnificent space.

Looking at the emblems on the walls, this seemed to be the literature corner.

After going deeper inside, we came to the arts corner, and only then did the double-axe emblem finally appear.

‘So the weapons corner is here.’

Indeed, Aldensis went to a certain bookshelf and immediately pulled out a book.

“This is the book I found recently. A text recording the effects that appendages from ancient creatures, including dragons, have on weapons.”

He opened to a place marked with a bookmark ribbon attached to the book.

“Right here. Since there are so few texts related to Windfearer, I was reading this happily thinking I’d found treasure, but when the ‘concealment’ story came up, I closed it for now.”

“Why?”

“Because I suddenly didn’t want to read it.”

Aldensis tilted his head to one side.

“Transcendents don’t really need to learn such knowledge. If word spread that I was looking into such content, I might receive unnecessary suspicion.”

In other words, he didn’t read it because he didn’t want to increase people’s anxiety by reading about concealment techniques when he had no need to learn them.

Aldensis certainly had this fastidious side. Though it was probably a personality he had developed to live alongside ordinary people.

I looked at him for a moment, then lowered my gaze.

“Where would the part about being able to hide the owner’s appearance be? I can’t understand any of it since it’s in ancient language.”

“I’ll interpret it for you.”

We sat side by side at the wide desk right in front of us.

After waiting for me to take out writing materials, Aldensis pointed to a certain passage in the book.

“Let’s see. It says dragon wings have the power to transcend time and space. If you completely subjugate the sword, you can activate that power.”

“What does completely subjugating it mean?”

“I don’t know that either. It’s a matter between the sword and its owner. Anyway, once that power is activated, time and space change from a ‘fixed’ state to an ‘unfixed’ state. In other words…”

Aldensis used his Transcendent power to draw pictures in the air as he explained.

“For example, we’re currently in the Archive at 4 PM, aren’t we? This fixed time and space suddenly becomes changeable in any direction. The owner becomes an existence that belongs to no time or space at that moment and disappears from people’s sight.”

It was a puzzling story.

Still, I could roughly understand that the owner temporarily becomes an invisible person freed from the constraints of time and space by borrowing the sword’s power.

“Even though everyone researched Windfearer so diligently, this is the first time I’m hearing this. Why wasn’t such important information known to the world?”

“Because there was a mistranslation.”

Aldensis answered my question that way.

“The translator may have had knowledge in literature, but seems to have completely failed to understand the concept of spatiotemporal movement. They mistranslated it as the sword disappearing from people’s sight, not the owner.”

“I see. Thanks to someone with knowledge in various fields like Your Highness reading the original, new information has been revealed.”

At my words, the corners of Aldensis’s mouth turned up slightly.

He gets pleased by such words?

I thought that as I asked.

“The next part seems to continue as well, what does it say?”

“Oh, this? Since it’s an ability that’s so easily abused, it says the ancients greatly feared it. When our ancestors built important buildings long ago, they placed restrictions to prevent using such abilities.”

“Is this that restriction?”

Just as I reached out to point at the diagram, Aldensis also reached out his hand. He seemed to be trying to turn the book more toward me so I could see better.

So our hands brushed against each other.

Ah.

We both flinched and withdrew our hands simultaneously.

Then I suddenly realized.

While looking at the book together, we had somehow gotten too close.

The perfume Aldensis favored was wafting gently along with the smell of old paper.

‘So that’s why I’ve been feeling strangely familiar since earlier. Smell really is honest.’

Aldensis straightened his posture in surprise. He seemed to have noticed that he had been leaning too far toward me.

“I apologize.”

“It’s fine.”

I also quickly straightened my posture and looked down at the book again.

“It’s really fascinating that the ancients feared that ability and blocked it. This is exactly the kind of knowledge I wanted to know.”

A certain moment from my memories immediately came to mind.

When I was cleared of the false accusation of poisoning Serene, released from confinement, and first entered the Main Building.

At that time, I had discovered strange emblems carved at regular intervals on the ceiling, thought it odd, and stored it well in my memory.

According to the butlers’ explanation, those emblems only existed in the Main Building that the Founding Lord had built himself.

‘So that’s why they couldn’t stop the murderer in the Annex. I feel like I’m getting closer to the truth of that night.’

When I nodded, Aldensis asked.

“The content ends here, was it helpful?”

“Of course. Very much so.”

Now that I’d gained new knowledge, I should go home and investigate Windfearer again.

I thought that as I looked at Aldensis.

Perhaps being careful not to unconsciously lean forward like before, he was sitting with his back straight in a somewhat stiff posture.

Did I withdraw my hand too coldly earlier?

No. I was just flustered because it was too much like a ‘heart-fluttering tutoring session with a teacher you have a crush on’ situation.

He had pointed things out one by one and explained so kindly, waiting until I understood, so there’s no way I would have been cold.

Aldensis had been a good teacher today.

‘I was wrong.’

The unexpected situation I had worried about didn’t happen. Aldensis showed perfect manners and a kind attitude until the end.

‘I guess I was too worried for nothing. I feel a bit sorry.’

Thinking that, I stood up from my seat.

“Let’s go now.”

“Shall we?”

Aldensis stood up following me.

As we left the archive, listening to the sound of our two sets of footsteps echoing through the empty space, noise rushed over us as if it had been waiting.

We had returned from the quiet world of books to the world of the festival.

Aldensis glanced at me and asked.

“How far shall I escort you?”

“Hmm…”

Going home to examine the Windfearer was my plan for now.

Just as I was about to answer that.

One of the food stalls lined up in the middle of the street caught my eye.

They were selling apples there. But not just any apples.

Apples coated in chocolate, sprinkled with colorful sugar powder, decorated with caramel sauce, and stuck on wooden sticks.

It was a symbol that perfectly embodied the two words ‘festival.’

As I stared at it intently, Aldensis followed my gaze.

Yes. That’s it.

“Wait a moment.”

I left Aldensis standing there for a moment and walked over with big strides, buying two candy apples. Then I held one out to Aldensis.

He tilted his head and asked.

“Are you giving this to me?”

“Yes.”

I tried my best to make the most gentle expression of gratitude as I spoke.

“Thank you for helping me today… And it’s a festival, after all.”

“…”

Aldensis reached out and took the apple.

He looked down at it for a moment as if seeing something very unfamiliar, then smiled softly.

In that moment, his blonde hair seemed to shine even brighter and his blue eyes appeared even more radiant.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————