The Villainess is a Millionaire Solver - Chapter 201

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Side Story Episode 1

The great incident that had shaken the entire Empire into an uproar.

Because of the ugly conspiracy of a once-respected figure, innocent people had been sacrificed and were about to be sacrificed again, but thanks to the efforts of the much-maligned ‘villainess’ Princess Aristina Rosen, the deeply buried truth was finally revealed.

Because of this, everyone was so busy passionately declaring “I can’t believe it. It’s shocking!” whenever they met that there were quite a few who expressed doubts about how much time would have to pass before things would finally quiet down…

Perhaps time truly is the greatest magic of all. Even that tremendous incident, which seemed like it would provide gossip material forever, had gradually faded into the distant recesses of people’s memories.

“Second Prince! The fact that you secretly threatened nobles at your highly successful birthday ball to extort large charitable donations has been revealed…”

“Is it true that the identity of the ‘masked man’ who completely wiped out the black magic fortune-teller organization operating near the Imperial Theater is you, Second Prince?”

“You were caught secretly and very discreetly feeding stray cats in a deserted back alley…”

Seeing journalists swarming like bees with their notebooks as soon as he stepped out of the Prince’s Palace door, Zikren, the Empire’s Second Prince, was disgusted.

“Those disgusting bastards!”

With his seasonally inappropriate revealing clothes and golden accessories dangling all over him, it was the worst outfit for playing hide and seek.

But Zikren, as always, skillfully escaped the journalists’ encirclement and fled with his attendant.

“I told you the Prince’s Palace is a journalist-free zone! Who let those bastards sneak in again? I really need to set up giant mousetraps all around the palace grounds. Where do I have time to deal with those guys right now? I barely finished breakfast. What’s my next schedule?”

“Your next schedule, you ask? Let me see…”

Hm?

Zikren stopped in his tracks. Instead of his familiar attendant’s voice, a different voice was answering.

This voice isn’t unfamiliar either, is it? Who was it?

When he quickly turned to look, that ‘attendant’ removed their wig and revealed their identity. Salt-and-pepper hair, a gaunt frame, sharp eyes that seemed ready to slice a person apart.

“Gregory!”

“It’s Gremory.”

Melissa Gremory, Editor-in-Chief of 【Justice Daily】, conspicuously pulled out a palace entry pass from her coat and pushed up her monocle.

“It’s been a while, Second Prince. Though before I could even offer my greetings, I seem to have overheard Your Highness make the unfortunate remark about catching the Empire’s journalists with mousetraps… I must have misheard, right?”

Zikren quickly interrupted her and awkwardly changed the subject.

“Your infiltration skills keep improving! Very impressive! On one hand, I don’t understand. Does the Editor-in-Chief of a successful newspaper like 【Justice Daily】 really need to do this kind of fieldwork personally? You could just sit back and give orders, couldn’t you?”

“This suits my constitution. Of course, I’m well aware that our newspaper is successful, but that’s only because we’re the sole newspaper that occasionally leaks updates about our President Aristina’s current situation…”

At this point, Zikren’s expression changed slightly. Like the seasoned Editor-in-Chief she was, Gremory didn’t miss even the slightest reaction.

“If you do that, our 【Justice Daily】 will work very hard to report on every single move. How wonderful would it be for our president to embody our company’s founding principles with her whole being?”

Just as the Editor-in-Chief herself had declared, 【Justice Daily】 had faithfully reported on Aristina’s activities since she left the capital with Ruellian.

Since the couple’s whereabouts were unpredictable, appearing here and there without warning, that newspaper served as the only source of news connecting Aristina with her acquaintances.

Zikren’s expression, as he was reminded of this fact through Gremory’s words, was…

“You’re jealous that only I can contact her, aren’t you? It hurts, doesn’t it? You’re so envious you could go crazy, right?”

“…!”

Zikren jumped up.

“What are you talking about, Gremory? Aristina is my friend. So is Ruellian. Do you think I’d show abnormal obsession just because contact was temporarily cut off?”

“That’s right. It’s a carriage that has already departed. You mustn’t forget that fact. Even if divorce rumors or discord stories appear in third-rate weekly magazines, you mustn’t get excited…”

“Excited about what! No way! I know very well that it’s already over! Why are you doing this to someone who has cleanly sorted things out and is living well? I’m sincerely praying for both of their happiness.”

“Yes, I know. I know better than anyone how upright Your Highness is. That’s why I can make such bold jokes. Anyway, please listen to what I have to say. I came looking for you in disguise specifically to discuss this. I recently realized while looking at the calendar that it’s been a whopping 388 days since our President Aristina left on her honeymoon! Isn’t that amazing? Just a little more and it’ll be 400 days. 400! A historically, philosophically, and anthropologically very important number!”

“400? I had no idea. Wasn’t that a completely meaningless number?”

“Haha… Why are you being so perceptive when you’re usually not like this? Yes, it’s true. It has no meaning at all. Except that an incredibly long time has passed…”

Gremory’s shoulders drooped.

“Our newspaper has now reached its limit. Everyone is eagerly waiting to continue seeing news about President Aristina, but we can’t meet those expectations.”

“For that being the case, articles have been coming out steadily, haven’t they?”

“Those were story materials we’d been saving as reserves. But now even the reserves of reserves are all used up. We’ve reminisced, analyzed, and created all sorts of useless special features… We’ve squeezed out every kind of article, but now it’s really the end. Since it’s a honeymoon and not some other business, we tried not to be pushy, but shouldn’t we start sending some kind of message now?”

“A message?”

“Conveying the fact that there are people here who miss Aristina Rosen. That people who cherish her are waiting. It’s time to remind her of that fact once again. So I prepared this.”

Gremory pulled out a scroll that looked like a magic scroll. Zikren blinked.

“What is this?”

“Well, to commemorate the historically, philosophically, and anthropologically very important number…”

“In other words, the completely meaningless…”

“…of 400 days, my plan is for all of us to write a kind word each to President Aristina and create a sort of chain letter to send to her. That’s my plan. I came to seek Your Highness’s cooperation first within this palace.”

“You want me to write something?”

“Yes. I heard that Your Highness has been so close to our president since childhood that you wouldn’t even hesitate to exchange blows, so you must have many memories together. Do a man and woman have to be paired up to be meaningful? Your Highness occupies a very precious and eternally immortal place in our president’s heart. Namely, as a source of money. What could be more meaningful to our president than that?”

Zikren listened as if enchanted by Gremory’s eloquent words.

“That’s true, but…”

His gaze turned to the blank space of the pristinely unrolled scroll.

Would Aristina really think of us if we did this?

Though he had such doubts, the plan of writing kind words for a friend who was far away seemed quite nice anyway. Who could say that was bad?

Realizing that Zikren was tempted, Gremory quickly seated him on a bench and handed him a pen. But just as he was about to begin in earnest, he frowned.

“Wait, this means other people will see everything I write, right?”

“I anticipated you’d say that and took care of it. Here, look at this.”

Gremory pointed to a blackened section in the corner of the scroll.

“This is a message left first by Your Highness’s Queen Aunt, Lady Peruvian, and her friend.”

“Wasn’t that a stain?”

“Yes. It looks exactly like a stain, doesn’t it? Actually, this scroll isn’t an ordinary item—I got it from Duke Carnel as a magical item from the Rosen Family. After Your Highness writes your message, the letters will turn into stains like this. They’ll only reveal their clear form again when they encounter the unique aura of the House of Rosen that President Aristina possesses. In other words, only she can read it.”

“Really? Good. In that case…”

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