The Villainess is on a Quest - Chapter 17

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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 16
“It is precisely as you suggest. The Empire desires something through you above all else.”
Klede extended two pieces of paper toward Aine.
Without hesitation, Aine picked up one of the papers before her and read it.
“You command a subordinate whose loyalty is enviable.”
The paper she held was a threatening letter that Mery, the vice-commander, had sent to Klede.
Aine smiled bitterly and this time drew out the other paper to read.
The texture of this second letter was different from the start. The paper itself was gilded, and a refined perfume had been sprayed upon it.
After confirming the hidden meaning beneath the elegant script and various flowery phrases, Aine stared at Klede as if to verify that the contents were indeed as she understood them.
“The letter contains exactly what is written there. His Majesty the Emperor wishes to meet with you.”
Klede provided the answer Aine sought.
The Emperor of the Empire hoped to meet with her and hold a conversation.
“For some time, the Kingdom will not launch any attacks against us.”
Aine nodded in agreement as she gestured toward the letter Mery had sent.
Being merely a threat, it was written in a way that suggested they would refrain from offensive action for the time being.
“Then would it not be wise to depart tomorrow at once?”
Klede, with no reason to hesitate, made the proposal immediately, and Aine likewise desired to leave this place without further delay and settle matters directly with the Emperor.
So she had prepared to leave at once, but one thing gave her pause.
“What has become of the child who came with me?”
She could see Mane’s condition with her own eyes and confirm it directly, but she had yet to verify Wilhelm’s state.
Until she could confirm Wilhelm’s condition, she could not make a hasty decision.
“What name should I use for the child?”
“Please call him Wilhelm.”
“Wilhelm. A truly excellent name.”
Unlike before, Klede did not answer immediately.
He paused for a moment.
“Rise from your seat. It may well be faster to confirm it directly.”
* * *
Following Klede, Aine began to move.
With each step, the surroundings grew sparse, quiet, and dark.
“Wilhelm is being cared for in a special ward.”
“A special ward, you say?”
“The poison the child suffered from is hardly ordinary.”
Klede had already deduced which poison had afflicted Wilhelm.
Aine turned her tongue, uncertain how to explain, but Klede’s mouth moved first.
“My questions are many.”
He preferred direct speech to circumlocution, and now was no exception.
How had the child come to suffer such a poison, why had she brought such a child to the Empire, and what was the child’s true nature?
He directed countless questions at Aine without reserve.
“I cannot explain until I meet him directly.”
“Then I shall wait for now.”
But she could not answer each of his curiosities until she met Wilhelm.
“Wilhelm lies beyond this door.”
Upon arriving, Aine immediately opened the door to confirm Wilhelm’s condition.
Fortunately, there was no difficulty in locating Wilhelm.
After all, besides Wilhelm, there was no one else in this special ward.
Just as when she had last seen him, Wilhelm remained unconscious.
But there was a clear difference.
‘No fever.’
Beyond that, he showed no signs of suffering or groaning.
To outward appearance, he seemed entirely recovered, but the System Window hovering above Wilhelm made the truth abundantly clear.
<Wilhelm’s Status>
[SYSTEM] Unconscious
Addicted to the Eternal Nightmare.
The state indicates he has not yet been fully healed.
“What is Wilhelm’s condition?”
After checking the System Window, Aine asked Klede what state Wilhelm was in.
“He barely escaped death’s door. Had you arrived even a single day later, he would surely have gone before God.”
He had barely escaped death. Upon hearing those words, strength nearly drained from her legs, but it was too early yet to feel relief.
His explanation did not fully account for Wilhelm’s condition, so Aine continued to await Klede’s answer.
“Right now we’re merely keeping him alive. The best we can do here is to ensure he doesn’t slip deeper into the nightmare.”
She recalled what the Eternal Nightmare poison truly was.
A toxin that drove people toward death through nightmares—terrible even to hear spoken aloud.
If even a grown man could scarcely endure suffering endless nightmares, how much longer could a five-year-old child possibly hold on?
“That he’s lasted this long—that’s remarkable in itself.”
Aine gripped Wilhelm’s small hand tightly.
Because he’d refused to surrender, had endured to the very end, he could now live without being tormented by the nightmares any longer.
There was still hope.
“If we go to the Imperial Palace, he’ll be able to wake completely?”
The question that remained now was whether Wilhelm could awaken at all.
Klede fell silent at the question, lost in thought.
The process of curing the Eternal Nightmare was extraordinarily delicate, with a high failure rate.
The possibility of full recovery depended on how quickly treatment was administered after the poison was ingested.
For this reason, all the military physicians who examined Wilhelm had reached the same conclusion.
Full recovery was unlikely; even if he did wake, the prognosis would be poor.
‘He may well never wake at all.’
Klede’s own assessment differed little from the physicians’. In fact, awakening itself might be impossible.
Nearly everyone he’d seen in such a state had simply closed their eyes for the last time.
He was a man of iron, stripped of sentiment, and he had planned to lay bare this truth to Aine without reservation.
No one knew better than he did that false hope could be crueler than despair.

“You’ll certainly recover if we go there.”
But when he saw tears streaming down Aine’s cheeks for the first time, Klede found himself unable to speak.
Gripping Wilhelm’s hand, she spoke with desperate urgency.
That they would recover once they reached the Imperial Palace.
Watching her, Klede’s thoughts turned inward.
‘She is an enemy general.’
Until just recently, they had been sworn enemies, each pursuing the other’s death.
To bring victory to his homeland, Klede had needed to end her life—and so from the moment he woke at dawn until sleep claimed him like a death blow, his mind churned with strategies for her destruction.
She was dangerous, yet worthy of respect.
The only woman who could shatter his carefully laid plans as if they were nothing, and who had even tried to kill him.
‘Yet this moment…’
Perhaps it was because he was seeing the vulnerability of someone he’d believed to be the strongest person on the continent. Klede felt struck by something entirely new.
“It’s true we cannot know for certain until we reach the Imperial Palace.”
He swallowed the words he had been about to speak.
In their place came words unlike anything he would normally say.
“The Imperial Palace houses physicians of great renown, as well as rare medicines. It’s possible—just possible—that the Eternal Nightmare could be cured there.”
The odds were slim, but he was not deceiving her.
It was not truly impossible.
After all, he himself had nearly died from the Eternal Nightmare’s grip.
‘If this child is as fortunate as I was, perhaps he might survive.’
He looked at Wilhelm sleeping quietly on the bed.
‘From what I can see, luck has favored this one.’
After all, the one protecting the child was none other than Aine Kleine.
‘Now I understand who he takes after. This child is surely…’
* * *
With Klede’s answer, Aine had no reason to hesitate any longer.
She made the decision at once: prepare the carriage and depart immediately for the Imperial Palace.
“You should rest a bit longer before traveling.”
“How could I leave the commander alone? Besides, the wound wasn’t deep—please don’t worry about me.”
“In that case, I suppose I can’t stop you.”
Though Klede suggested that Aine remain in Brontfort or rejoin the main force where Mery was stationed to continue her treatment, Mane rejected both proposals.
She insisted firmly on staying at Aine’s side, declaring she would go wherever Aine went.
When Aine pointed out that she wouldn’t be needed to monitor Wilhelm’s condition, Mane reluctantly accepted the argument—but not the dismissal.
In the midst of this exchange, Klede appeared and extended his hand toward Aine.
“Everything is ready. Shall we depart?”
“Then, sir, I’ll see you later.”
Before Aine could say anything, Mane had already accepted help from another soldier and boarded a different carriage.
Left alone, Aine hesitated for a moment before taking Klede’s offered hand.

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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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