The Villainess is on a Quest - Chapter 21

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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 21
Not long after Aine arrived at the Chester Estate, the Capital descended into chaos.
The Imperial Household, concerned that word would cause an uproar if it spread among the people, had planned to keep Aine’s asylum strictly confidential until she could meet with Odin.
But given the nature of the matter, the information leaked in the process and the news rippled outward like wildfire.
Before long, everyone in the Empire knew of it, and whenever people gathered in the streets, they spoke of nothing but Aine Klayne.
“Is it really true that the witch surrendered to us of her own accord?”
“Surrender? Look at this article—it says asylum, not surrender.”
“But the Zeus Newspaper here says His Imperial Highness captured her.”
“Fool. Do you believe every story written by some third-rate hack?”
The real problem was the endless deluge of gossip columns.
They couldn’t let slip an exclusive like Aine, so they churned out articles day after day.
After the Imperial Household issued orders to cease, things quieted—but third-rate journalists kept spreading rumors, crying freedom of the press and defying the imperial decree.
“If that’s true, we must arrest her at once and execute her!”
“The war must continue!”
“We must sever the witch’s head and bolster the morale of our soldiers on the Battlefield!”
Some people, upon hearing the news, voiced extreme opinions.
Whether it was surrender or asylum, they cried that the enemy general had to die.
“Tch. This is why those Retarians are like this.”
“It’s because of fools like them that we keep fighting this pointless war.”
“Besides, if we kill Aine Klayne, do you think the Kingdom will stand idle? That woman is the second-most popular person in the Kingdom, right after the King.”
Yet the majority of reactions were cold.
People disagreed with the demands to continue the war and with the calls to execute Aine.
Though confused by the sudden news, people were viewing Aine’s arrival in a positive light.
“Maybe—just maybe—this miserable war will finally end.”
To them, she seemed like a kind of hope.
Hope that would bring the curtain down on war.
* * *
Though the Imperial Palace seemed in upheaval, Odin acted as if unconcerned, conducting himself as he always did.
He simply reviewed matters, summoned bureaucrats for meetings, and watched the situation unfold.
“Your Majesty. I have gathered the public’s reactions regarding Aine Klayne.”
“Well done.”
Yet his lack of apparent concern belied his true interest. He had dispatched his eyes and ears—the newspaper companies—to survey public opinion.
He wanted to know exactly what the public thought of Aine Klayne.
“But was it truly necessary to go to such lengths?”
Rotein, the chamberlain serving as his aide, looked at Odin and asked.
Odin feigned ignorance, but Rotein would not let it go.
“I mean to ask whether it was necessary to announce that Aine Klayne was here.”
Cled had assumed the information had leaked somewhere, but Rotein’s assessment, having seen all the circumstances, was different.
It looked to him as though someone had deliberately spread the information.
And the only person with enough audacity—or perhaps with few enough consequences to fear—to do such a thing was Odin.
Odin immediately admitted it, making his earlier feint transparent.
“Well, I was curious how the people would regard Aine Klayne.”
He was confessing to being the culprit who had announced her arrival.
“And I was also curious to see how Retaria would respond.”
<SPECIAL EDITION: The Hero of Orion Kingdom, Aine Klayne, Defects to the Empire!>
[ALERT] Location Exposed
All newspapers in the Empire are reporting news of your presence.
Newspapers: Dincent, Klein, Valthentis, and 16 others
Awareness Level: 54%
Checking the System Window, Aine was bewildered.
It had been around 31% the first time she checked—a 23-point increase in just one night.
‘Does this even make sense?’
Of course, if word spread that an enemy general had surrendered during wartime, people would take interest. But judging from Cled’s reaction, the Empire seemed to have no intention of making a grand show of it.
The Empire’s plan had appeared to be concealing her existence entirely while the true powers negotiated behind the scenes—yet now it was falling apart spectacularly.
She looked at the newspapers Cled had brought. All of them announced that Aine had surrendered to the Empire.
Some articles even mentioned that Aine Klayne was currently in the Capital.
‘Perhaps that’s how much they want me dead.’
She was the one who had dealt the Empire successive crushing defeats.
Especially those who had lost loved ones on the Battlefield—wouldn’t they want to drag her to the execution block?
She did not fail to understand the rage of those who had lost family.
He himself was acutely aware of how anger burned within him at the loss of someone dear because of Vinet.
So while Aine was attributing the people’s interest in her to enemy sentiment, someone knocked at the door.
“May I come in?”
“Please do.”
The figure who entered was Cled.
His face still bore the signs of sleeplessness, yet unlike yesterday, he wore a crisp uniform when he came to see her.
Aine offered him a seat, and Cled accepted, settling in.
“Hamilton mentioned you’ve been staying in your room continuously.”
At his opening words, Aine gave a wry smile.
“It seemed the best way I could help you was to keep myself unobtrusive indoors.”
It still wasn’t even confirmed who had spread the rumors in the first place.
At least until the truth came out, it seemed wisest to avoid drawing attention through conspicuous action.
But Cled shook his head.
“I didn’t bring you here to keep you caged like a bird. And your presence here is not troublesome. Merely a small inconvenience.”
Cled rose from his seat and extended an invitation to Aine.
“The weather is fine. How would you like to take a walk through the gardens with me? Surely being indoors alone must feel stifling. I’d be pleased to show you the gardens of Chester Estate.”
She hesitated briefly, but Aine rose as well.
It seemed wrong to refuse such a direct invitation, and besides, she was genuinely feeling the oppression of spending all her time confined to the room.
‘I should ask about Wilhelm’s treatment as well.’
* * *
“It seems to reflect its master.”
“I hope you mean that as a compliment.”
“I do. In all my years, I’ve never encountered gardens quite so beautiful and serene.”
Whether a skilled gardener was retained full-time or not, Chester Estate’s gardens exuded an undeniable beauty.
She had visited the gardens of nobles several times before, but they had either been ostentatious or merely flaunted their splendor, leaving her disappointed.
In contrast, Cled’s gardens were unpretentious yet elegant in their arrangement, serene, and possessed a harmonious balance.
After they had walked some distance, Aine broached the subject first.
“May I ask you about our Prince?”
What was to be done regarding Wilhelm.
Though they had passed the critical moment, Wilhelm remained unconscious.
They could not leave him in this state indefinitely, so Aine hoped to resolve this matter first.
“I’ve already spoken to His Imperial Majesty about it. He has graciously promised to dispatch the Imperial Physicians to Chester Estate shortly.”
“Do you think they will be able to treat the Prince’s condition?”
The Imperial Physicians were considered the finest not only in the Empire but across the continent, yet anxiety lingered.
What if even they could not awaken Wilhelm?
Observing her unease, Cled’s gaze fell upon her hands.
‘Does she not think of herself at all?’
One hand, despite years spent traversing battlefields, remained unblemished and delicate; the other bore burn scars from an injury that had gone untreated.
Scars that might well remain for life—and yet she continued to concern herself only with others.
He wondered why she did not look after herself first, but it was none of his concern, so Cled resolved not to voice it aloud.
Though he had made that decision, his eyes kept returning to her hands. It was truly strange.
He, who had no interest in others at all, found his attention drawn again and again to her alone.
“I too once lay near death in the grip of the Eternal Nightmare.”
“You, Your Highness?”
“Yes. Just as that prince experienced it, I too endured it in my childhood.”
Though it was a distant memory now, it remained an event the Empire still forbade even to mention.

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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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