The Villainess is a Millionaire Solver - Chapter 96

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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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Chapter 96

In front of the wide-open door stood a small child with an imposing presence.

It was the Princess.

The daughter born to the current Empress. A five-year-old who was half-siblings with Aldensis and Zicren.

“Did that monster from the north leave?”

The Princess looked around at the people gathered here, spotted me, and turned her head away with a “Hmph!” as she spoke.

“She hasn’t left yet.”

“Princess.”

The Empress spoke sternly.

“Shouldn’t you greet everyone properly before taking your seat? Where did you leave your butler and come alone?”

At that moment, the butler came running breathlessly from behind.

“Your Highness the Princess has arrived… You’re here.”

“I greet Father and Mother.”

The Princess bowed on her knees toward her parents, then climbed onto the child’s chair the butler brought for her. Then she stared straight at me.

I broke out in a cold sweat.

I asked the Empress.

“So, does this mean Princess will be in charge of this guild competition?”

“That’s right.”

The Empress said with a gentle smile.

“According to protocol, it’s the Princess’s turn this time. The Princess will set the task and decide the winner.”

It was shocking news like a bolt from the blue.

The Princess really disliked Aristina. Every time she tried to meet Aldensis, the Princess would interfere, so in revenge, she had shown her bugs and made her cry.

The Princess considered that incident her defeat and only looked for opportunities to get revenge whenever she encountered Aristina.

‘For things to turn out this way.’

I looked at the Princess with a forced smile on my trembling cheeks.

“I see… Please take care of me.”

“Please take care of you?”

The Princess pursed her lips.

“Does the Lady even know my name?”

“…”

I was at a loss for words.

In my memory, the Princess was just ‘Princess’ or ‘that one’, ‘her’, ‘that thing’, ‘annoying brat’… and so on. No matter how much I searched, no name came to mind.

As I was struggling, Sion whispered to me as if he couldn’t bear to watch.

“Princess Violet Glace Etienne Balcaide.”

“Sion!”

The Princess stepped on her chair’s footrest and jumped up, shouting.

“You remembered me?”

“Of course. Your Highness remembered me too?”

“Naturally! I kept asking my nanny when Sion would return! I thought you had forgotten me!”

A smile bloomed on the Princess’s face. If not for the Emperor and Empress being there, she looked ready to run over and cling to him immediately.

‘This is going from bad to worse.’

According to my memory, the Princess really liked Sion. He was handsome, kind, and gentle, and he would listen to a little kid like her chatter nonsense for hours without getting tired.

Two years had passed, so she might have forgotten those memories, but apparently not.

‘So that’s why Sion seemed so confident. Did he know the Princess would be in charge of the competition?’

That could be possible.

But this really isn’t right. Would a five-year-old even know what fairness means?

The Princess would naturally want Sion to win and would select a topic very favorable to him.

“Hmm…”

Aldensis, who had been quietly keeping his mouth shut, suddenly spoke up.

“I suddenly have this question. Why is the guild competition always the responsibility of royal women? Shouldn’t royal men participate at least once?”

“That’s right, Mother.”

Zicren also nodded.

“There used to be knight tournaments, but they can’t be held this year either. How about letting us join the guild competition too? Starting this time.”

“That won’t do.”

The Empress said firmly.

“That would corrupt the long-standing traditions of the Imperial Court. Crown Prince and Second Prince should look into other events.”

“Empress is right. According to protocol, it’s proper for Princess to oversee this event.”

Ruellian nodded and supported her.

“I’ll provide the religious consultation needed for the event. Princess, you wanted to see the secret areas of the temple, right? All our meetings will take place in secret locations.”

He smiled and threw a subtle tempting bait to the Princess.

The Princess seemed momentarily tempted, but soon came to her senses and slammed her fist on the table.

“Stop!”

Everyone was startled and fell quiet.

The Princess spoke with slight huffing, seeming angry.

“I know why everyone’s acting like this. You’re all anxious about a five-year-old judging a competition. But I’ve received the Imperial Court’s strict education for a whole two years since I was three, making me very different from ordinary five-year-olds. I’ve prepared an excellent competition task too.”

“What is it?”

I asked.

It must be related to monster business. She’ll choose Sion’s Argos Guild’s specialty field to make me fail.

That’s what I thought.

But completely unexpected words came out of the Princess’s mouth.

“Retrieve the ‘Windfearer.'”

The Emperor, Empress, and everyone else were surprised once again.

Windfearer?

Serene opened her eyes wide and said.

“That’s the First Emperor’s sword. Its whereabouts are currently unknown…”

“That’s right.”

The Princess replied.

“When Radeaus Balcaide, who founded the Empire, was still a knight, he won a martial arts tournament and then presented his sword Windfearer to his beloved. To Lady Lillian, the strongest dragon and ‘Mother of All Dragons.'”

Everyone listened to the Princess’s words.

“To commemorate them, descendants held knight tournaments every year during the Imperial Tournament, temporarily giving Windfearer to the winner. Then the winner would present that sword to their beloved. There’s a legend that couples united this way love each other forever.”

Oh no, the story is getting dangerous again.

The atmosphere seemed to tense up again, but fortunately the Princess skillfully avoided the landmine.

“It’s such a beautiful tradition, but I never got to see it. The tournament was suspended long before I was born because that sword disappeared. But recently my nanny read me a newspaper article. The owners of inns, restaurants, blacksmith shops, and so on were very disappointed that the knight tournament wasn’t held this year either. It used to be good business for them.”

The Princess said this while looking at both of us.

“The guild competition’s purpose is to create buzz and develop commerce, right? So I thought this would be good as a task. I’ll select whoever retrieves Windfearer and brings great benefit to the Empire’s commerce as this competition’s winner.”

Ah…

It was such a good cause and mature thinking that I felt ashamed for suspecting she would make a biased selection.

The Emperor and Empress were also nodding with gentle faces, seeming pleased with the Princess’s words.

But would finding that sword really be easy when its whereabouts had been unknown for nearly 10 years since the late Empress lost it? The Imperial Court must have already searched thoroughly.

The Emperor stroked his beard and said.

“Yes, Violet. Let’s think about it carefully first.”

“I’ve already decided, Father. This is the Princess’s decision.”

“Yes, yes.”

The Emperor patted his daughter’s head while looking at the clock.

“By the way, has it already gotten this late? Since Duke Rosen came to the Imperial Palace, there are several more things to discuss. Duke and Duchess Hyperion should come along too.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The tea time ended like that.

After the Emperor and Empress left and Serene’s parents and Duke Carnel followed behind them, the Princess immediately ran to Sion and clung to him.

“Sion! Show me monsters! Dead monsters!”

“Your Highness is still too young for that. Instead, I’ll give you the gift I prepared.”

Sion and the Princess had also disappeared.

“Wait a moment.”

Having thought of something, Ruellian quickly followed after them.

And I stealthily approached Serene and tugged at her sleeve.

“Should we go out too? There’s something I’m curious about…”

“If it’s about what happened earlier, Princess Hyperion will find it difficult to answer. It’s related to my late mother.”

Aldensis said. I was surprised.

“With the late Empress? That saying ‘A pair bound through the sacred sword at that year’s Imperial Tournament must be fulfilled, or one of them will die’? Then…”

I stopped speaking.

She had passed away. In other words, their love was not fulfilled.

Then it wasn’t His Majesty the Emperor who gave the sword to the Empress.

“Mother originally had someone else she exchanged hearts with. He’s a Sword Master and our brothers’ swordsmanship instructor. He now lives in seclusion within the Imperial Palace, dedicating himself only to education.”

Zikren summarized it neatly.

I finally understood. The late Empress had probably entered into a loveless marriage. Since this was tantamount to saying that the ending wasn’t good, it really had been a dangerous statement.

The current new Empress naturally wouldn’t have liked hearing it either. Come to think of it, both of them had managed their expressions incredibly well.

‘Sion, you devil!’

While I was astounded, I became embarrassed enough to want to crawl into the ground. I bowed deeply before the two brothers.

“I’m sorry. I apologize. I really didn’t know. Truly…”

“Well, it’s not the Princess’s fault. It’s not the kind of story that would be widely known. The Windfearer hasn’t shown himself for a long time either.”

Aldensis shrugged his shoulders.

“I thought it would just remain buried like this, but to think Violet would have such thoughts…”

Just then the door opened and Ruellian returned. Zikren asked.

“Where did you go?”

“To the Princess. She said she’d judge fairly, but it seems like she’ll only leak internal Imperial information to their side. Information that would help in finding the sword.”

“I think so too. This can’t be fair.”

Zikren nodded his head.

“There must be some secret behind that sword’s disappearance. Actually, Mother was a bit strange before she passed away.”

Ruellian raised his eyebrows and asked.

“Strange? How so?”

“Starting a few months before she passed away, I felt like she was somehow distancing herself from us brothers. Even though she loved us so much.”

Zikren’s face became somewhat dark. Aldensis was the same.

“Thinking it might be related to Mother losing the sword, we also tried to find that sword once. We wanted to resolve our uneasy feelings. But we eventually gave up after failing to find it…”

He turned his gaze to look at me.

“With the Princess’s drive joining us, perhaps this time we might be able to find that sword and uncover the secret.”

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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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