The Villainess is on a Quest - Chapter 26

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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 26
Would seasoned commanders, veterans of countless campaigns, fall for the same trick twice? Linus shook his head.
“Then what do you propose! Should we simply stand aside and do nothing?”
Yet Vinet was right—they couldn’t afford to remain idle much longer.
Some solution had to be found, and so Linus smiled thinly and asked:
“Your Majesty, where exactly do you stand in this moment?”
“How is that relevant now!”
“It is relevant, Your Majesty. Consider this: are not most of the 1st Legion’s officers drawn from the Capital’s nobility?”
Vinet recoiled at his words.
“You’ve gone mad. You’re suggesting we take their families hostage?”
“Why not? Since ancient times, emperors and kings have held the families of frontline commanders as security against rebellion.”
“It’s madness. I cannot do it.”
This was entirely different in scale from the hostages they’d taken from the pursuit force before.
If the 1st Legion truly went mad and launched an actual rebellion, the kingdom would bleed catastrophically—especially while at war with the Verona Empire.
But Linus drew closer to Vinet and took her hand.
“Your Majesty. Dogs that refuse to listen respond only to the stick. You must accept that right now, the only way you can control them is not through benevolent rule, but through fear.”
From childhood, Vinet had learned statecraft under Matthias’s instruction. Linus now spoke words that contradicted everything they had taught her.
Not benevolence, but fear. Not honor, but power. Do whatever it takes to win, regardless of the cost.
“Even the greatest commander cannot give orders to soldiers whose families are held hostage.”
Linus held her gaze.
They had already crossed every line there was to cross. What was left that they couldn’t do?
Vinet didn’t want to admit it, but when she looked down at her own hands, she understood. She accepted it.
“Have you already confirmed their identities?”
“Yes. All of them. I’ve also taken measures to prevent them from leaving the Capital. Now it comes down to your decision alone.”
Vinet, who had wavered until the very end, thought of Reicy. She thought of what remained of Reicy, now long dead. She knew she had already crossed the river of no return.
And so she made her choice.
To arrest them all.
* * *
The Imperial Medical Corps arrived at the Lancaster Estate.
With hope and dread mingled equally in her heart, Aine waited to hear what the physician had to say.
“Well, fortunately there is no immediate threat to life.”
“But he hasn’t taken in any food or water for days now.”
“Ah, you needn’t worry about that. The Prince made excellent arrangements.”
“The Prince did?”
Aine was bewildered. Why would he mention Kled instead of the army physicians who’d been at Brandt Port?
Seeing her confusion, the physician let out a sigh as if to say ‘surely not.’
“Did the Prince not tell you anything?”
When Aine nodded, the physician exhaled, looking at a loss.
“The Verona Empire possesses a rare and miraculous elixir. A potion that can heal the body in an instant, even at the threshold of death.”
“You mean Verona’s Miracle?”
“Ah, so you know of it.”
Mane, who had been listening beside her, stepped in to explain to Aine in alarm.
Verona’s Miracle—called a miraculous elixir because it cures all ailments.
But only one or two drops could be produced in a year, and because of its priceless rarity, it was a medicine only the Emperor could consume.
Odin had given it to Kled as he departed for the battlefield, and Kled had given all of it to Wilhelm.
“Though the Eternal Nightmare is called a curse of the gods, and Verona’s Miracle cannot cure it, it did prevent death itself.”
Aine couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Why would Wilhelm be given such a precious medicine? When only a drop or two could be obtained in an entire year?
‘And back then, he didn’t even know Kled was a prince.’
That he would give such a potion to a child whose identity he didn’t even know—even if special consideration was given because Aine had brought him—she couldn’t make sense of it.
For Kled, it would be a second life.
Aine wanted to turn and find Kled at once, but unfortunately he was away, and there remained another problem that had not yet been resolved.
“When will he be able to wake?”
Could he wake at all?
That was the crucial question. They couldn’t leave him in a state of unconsciousness indefinitely.
“I am not a man who offers false hope to his patients. So let me answer clearly.”
The physician spoke as if he had anticipated this question.
“Regaining consciousness is possible. It requires only that the poisoning be purged.”
“Then….”
“The problem is that I alone cannot do it.”
With merely one or two members of the Imperial Medical Corps, it was impossible. She needed the full backing of the Imperial Palace—materials, personnel, technical expertise, all of it.
But Aine could take comfort in one thing.
‘I’ve already made a promise with the Emperor.’
That he would spare no support in saving Wilhelm.
Though she couldn’t know what Odin might say to her, the moment Aine saw Wilhelm’s face, her resolve hardened.
She would endure anything to save Reicy’s child.
“Aine. The master is looking for you. Do you have a moment?”
“Has the Prince returned?”
“Yes, he’s on the Terrace now.”
Hamilton appeared to inform her that Kled was waiting to see her.
“I’ll stay and keep watch.”
“Mane.”
“Since you seem to have some knowledge of medicine, I’ll have you fill in the rest of the details with her.”
Aine had matters she needed to discuss as well, so Wilhelm left her in Mane’s care and stepped outside.
He didn’t give much thought to why Kled was searching for him.
He assumed it was the usual inquiry about how he was settling into life here.
“Did you perhaps have a betrothed in the kingdom?”
But it wasn’t that at all.
* * *
Before even entering the Imperial Palace, Kled had steeled himself.
If Odin had once again deceived him by coming to the Lancaster Estate to see Aine, he would ban him from ever returning.
‘Though a man like that probably wouldn’t stay away anyway.’
Suppressing a sigh, he entered the palace, and fortunately, this time he had not been deceived.
Odin was indeed in the Imperial Palace. But when he was summoned, others were present as well.
“I greet your Royal Highness. I trust you have been well in my absence.”
“I heard of your arrival, but forgive me for not yet calling on you in person.”
“Now that you have arrived, Your Majesty, would you kindly explain why you have assembled us?”
A considerable number of nobles, known as Odin’s loyal retainers, were gathered there.
Kled turned his head, his eyes settling on the seat of honor.
He had only been summoned, never told what this gathering was about.
Kled wanted an explanation from Odin.
“Sit, now that you’re here.”
But instead of explaining, Odin simply told him to take his seat. Kled felt an inexplicable unease, but he could not refuse, so he sat.
Once Kled was seated, Odin finally spoke.
“The reason I have summoned all of you today is a single matter.”
The matter of Aine Kleine.
“Such dull expressions.”
“It was too obvious to have escaped notice.”
“Indeed. The fact that Your Majesty mobilized even the press—your own instrument—suggests we all anticipated it.”
Though Odin brought it up directly, very few among those gathered showed any sign of disturbance.
They too had already anticipated it. But they had feigned ignorance, fearing that Retaria might grow suspicious.
They had trusted that Odin would summon them and reveal it all eventually, and that time was now.
“Then by revealing her identity, are we to understand that you have reached some decision?”
As Kled spoke carefully from his seat, Odin’s mouth curved upward.
Only Kled sensed the chill beneath that smile, and he held his tongue.
“I have made a deal with Aine Kleine. She promised me that if I protect the son of the late King Orion and help restore his claim to the throne, she would do anything I ask.”

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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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