The Villainess is on a Quest - Chapter 16

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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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Chapter 15
Before long, the child’s labored breathing began to settle and ease.
Cled, who had watched the entire process, turned to Richard with a question.
“Richard. What do you think will become of her?”
Aine’s fate.
Richard’s lips did not immediately offer the word: kill her.
“Everything hinges on the Emperor’s decision, sir.”
Cled heard those words as if Richard had said something else.
Everything hinges on the will of God.
* * *
“You told me you’d capture Aine, didn’t you? So what now, Linus?”
Binet fixed Linus with a look of displeasure.
Though she had hastily assembled a pursuit force to capture Aine by any means, only their worthless corpses had returned to the Royal Palace.
“This has made it perfectly plain to everyone that the 1st Army stands on the opposite side from us!”
Worse still, it was not the Empire who had sent the bodies back.
Mary Stewart, the Kingdom’s 1st Army Vice-Commander, had mistaken them for Imperial soldiers and killed them, then sent the corpses back on a cart.
With that, every person in the Kingdom came to know that the 1st Army did not support Binet.
“Please do not worry yourself, Your Majesty. The 1st Army, locked in conflict with the Imperial forces, cannot engage us just yet.”
While Binet grew anxious, Linus remained composed.
“Even though we failed to capture the Commander, there are still many ways we can make use of the fact that she defected to the Empire.”
In truth, he found the present situation quite favorable.
“Consider this, Your Majesty: if she had joined our main forces, we would have had to prepare for war. But she has defected not to us, but to our enemy—the Empire.”
How could one elevate to hero status someone who had betrayed their nation to a foreign power?
“The situation remains in our favor, Your Majesty. We already have complete control of the Postal Bureau.”
With the Postal Bureau in their hands, they could manipulate all information as they saw fit.
They could transform a virtuous maiden into a shameless harlot who wandered the streets with men each night, or paint a loyal knight as a treacherous conspirator bent on harming his own lord.
Linus leaned close to Binet’s ear and whispered.
“If Your Majesty would but give the command, I can immediately remake Aine into a contemptible traitor who betrayed her own country.”
* * *
After waking and finishing breakfast, Aine was led by Aten to see Mane.
“There’s no need to worry. The surgery seems to have gone very well.”
“Still, tell me at once if anything hurts or feels uncomfortable. We can’t have it getting infected.”
“Thank you, Commander. But I’m truly fine. Fortunately, the arrow missed all the vital organs.”
Though Aine had heard this much before arriving, concern still weighed on her.
Stray arrows found their mark often enough on the battlefield.
If one was lucky, you pulled out the arrow, treated the wound, and that was the end of it. But most didn’t end so simply.
If rust clung to the arrow, tetanus and infection could set in, and there were cases where the arrow damaged nerves.
‘I truly was fortunate.’
Only after seeing Mane’s condition could Aine finally let go of the worst possibilities she had imagined.
Mane, meanwhile, glanced cautiously around before leaning close enough that only Aine could hear her whisper.
“The Commander may have noticed, but the Empire is treating us with more kindness than necessity demands.”
They were using the high-grade medicines reserved only for senior officers without stint, and her Hospital Room was markedly different from an ordinary one.
Aine, having already sensed as much, nodded in agreement.
The room assigned to her and the luxurious breakfast served this morning alone were attentive enough to make one forget the battlefield.
“I can’t fathom what they’re thinking. I was certain captivity would begin the moment we defected.”
Mane had been convinced they would be dragged into some dark space and interrogated immediately upon defection.
But the reality proved quite different from what she had expected.
Even after realizing they had awakened, the Empire had shown no coercive attitude.
“Perhaps they, too, want something from us.”
Where Mane was confused, Aine remained composed.
She regarded the situation coldly and made her inference.
When Mane asked what she meant, Aine shook her head.
“It’s not something I should speak of to others just yet.”
Yes, it was still too early to be certain.
At least until she had spoken with Cled.
“Rest a little longer. There’s somewhere I need to go for a moment.”
Aine glanced at the clock on the wall and rose to leave.
As Aine moved away, Mane asked one thing.
“Have you seen Wilhelm?”
The last image Mane had of Wilhelm was terribly precarious.
Like a candle before the wind, the boy’s fragile breath seemed ready to cease at any moment.
“I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.”
Aine, too, had been unable to visit him.
Yet she remained less anxious than Mane.
‘The Quest still exists.’
Wilhelm was still alive.
At least no notification of Quest failure had reached her, nor word that Raicy had fallen.
If he lived, there would be a way to treat him.
So Aine refused to abandon hope.
* * *
After her brief meeting with Mane, an appointment with Cled awaited.
‘Did he resolve it all in a single night?’
He had risen and left the moment he heard her proposal.
And now he was calling her to speak again.
“Your Highness, I greet you.”
“I hope the night spent here was not uncomfortable.”
“With your thoughtfulness, I was able to rest well.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Some people find it difficult to sleep when their surroundings change, after all.”

Aine met with Cled again, hoping desperately for the answer she desired.
“Might I inquire what has become of the proposal I offered?”
Dispensing with idle pleasantries, Aine pressed forward to finish yesterday’s conversation.
‘Bold, or perhaps audacious would be the word.’
Cled, hearing her directly across from him, took a sip of coffee instead of answering, studying her.
Did she know? That he had been lenient with her not once, but twice.
“Certainly, it’s not a proposal where I would lose out. Your competence is known to everyone on the Continent.”
Cled spoke, a seductive smile playing at his lips.
“But unfortunately, I’m afraid the deal cannot be concluded.”
“Might I dare ask the reason?”
The reason—Cled had every right to refuse her, yet the more he looked at Aine, the more inclined he felt to show her kindness.
He regarded this impulse of his own in a particular way.
“The Succession Structure of the Empire has already been settled.”
Like the comfort of a predator who has caught its prey too firmly to escape.
“The next Emperor of the Empire has already been narrowed down to me. So even if you wish to help, there is nothing more to assist with.”
Cled regarded Aine steadily.
With the deal falling through, her plan had unraveled completely.
He was curious what reaction she would show.
Would she be discouraged, knowing her Revenge could not be achieved?
Would she beg abjectly, unable to give up her desire?
“How unfortunate. That the Kingdom’s intelligence reaches no further than this.”
Yet Aine’s expression was little different from when she had first entered the room.
“Are you untroubled, though the deal has not come to pass?”
“From the moment you did not answer immediately in that place, I had already anticipated this.”
Anticipation is something anyone can manage.
But looking at Aine’s face, she did not appear to be someone who had abandoned her Revenge.
Cled waited for what she would say next.
“So I wish to propose a new deal.”
At the mention of a new deal, Cled felt his interest beginning to wane.
He thought that continuing the conversation here would be pointless.
So he considered rising from his seat.
“With the Empire, not with Your Highness.”
That is, before hearing Aine’s words.
“Do you believe the Empire has enough to offer for such a deal?”
“That would depend on His Majesty the Emperor and Your Highness.”
Hearing her response, Cled laughed.
She was more audacious than he had thought.
“It seems the Empire wishes to gain something through me.”
For a time after that, no words passed between the two.
They simply gazed at each other.
Yet the atmosphere had shifted entirely.
“I’m curious what led you to that conclusion.”
“Well, it seemed to me you were treating a prisoner far too generously. As if you wanted something from me.”
Conversation possessed its own momentum and direction, and in this moment, the current flowed entirely toward Aine.
Cled clicked his tongue inwardly, though he found he wasn’t entirely displeased.
This was someone with whom he might spend considerable time in the days ahead.
A sharp mind made for better conversation than a dull one.

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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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