The Villainess is on a Quest - Chapter 29

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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 28
Though it was a gift she could have refused without consequence, Aine had yet to accept a single one. Instead, she’d only asked that they be stored in the warehouse at the Chesher Residence.
Of course, Cled had graciously created a storage space just for her, saying she could retrieve them whenever she wished. But it was her absolute lack of attachment that impressed Hamilton.
‘Perhaps she is indeed the most fitting choice for imperial consort.’
It was unusual for Cled to take such keen interest in another person, and this alone justified Hamilton’s understanding.
* * *
Aine made her way to the office without any particular thoughts in mind. She had only one thing to tell Cled.
That while she was grateful for his kindness, there was no need for him to send gifts.
‘Before he warned me. This time, he didn’t.’
She had come to the office intending only to deliver this one message, but an unexpected visitor had already arrived.
“Your Majesty, Emperor of the Empire. I am honored.”
“It has been a while. Since you’re here, why don’t we share some tea?”
Emperor Odin was present. Aine hesitated for a moment, but when she saw Cled nod in agreement, she consented and took a seat.
As Odin watched Aine settle into her chair, he smiled with satisfaction and spoke.
“You must be curious about why I’ve come.”
“Does a parent need a reason to visit their child?”
“The conversation changes rather when that parent is the ruler of an empire.”
Odin, satisfied with his observation of Aine, turned his gaze back toward Cled.
“Would it be troublesome if I continued our conversation here?”
“Not at all—I shall excuse myself.”
“No, I think it best that you hear this as well. Please, stay.”
It occurred to Aine that since Odin suggested she too ought to listen, perhaps he was about to raise something concerning the Contract Romance.
But she was mistaken.
“It appears the journalists have noticed how frequently the Imperial Medical Corps has been visiting the Chesher Residence.”
The matter at hand concerned Cled.
“And now all manner of rumors are circulating.”
Several newspaper articles lay scattered across the desk.
The headline of the topmost paper read as follows:
[War Hero, Prince Cled Hartz, Sustains Grave Injury?]
The rumor had spread that Cled had returned from the battlefield with wounds so severe he might not survive another day. Upon understanding why Odin had come, Aine looked toward Cled.
Unlike what the article claimed, his body appeared perfectly intact.
Just as she was thinking that if he merely presented himself this way at an official gathering the rumor would be swiftly dispelled, their eyes met, and Cled offered an explanation.
“I did not return through proper channels.”
“Precisely. You had neither the Council’s approval nor my explicit command.”
All matters concerning Aine were to be handled as classified.
There was no telling what might happen should the information reach Retaria’s ears.
That was why Cled had informed only Odin, and why Odin had given him orders in secret to enter the Capital.
“So in the Empire, moving without orders is a capital offense, then?”
The crux of the problem was this: generals who returned without approval—or who circumvented the established exceptions—could scarcely escape accountability, regardless of rank.
“Even excluding Retaria, there are many among the nobility who check the Emperor’s authority.”
“I fear I’ve caused you considerable trouble, Your Highness.”
Since Aine had not foreseen this complication, she studied Cled’s expression carefully.
She felt guilty that her situation had created such a vexing problem.
But Cled shook his head.
“This was a condition we agreed upon from the start—that I would save Prince Wilhelm, no matter what.”
He did not want Aine to feel burdened by guilt because of him.
So he asserted firmly that it was not her fault. Odin, watching this exchange warmly, let out a delicate cough.
“The Council will attempt to ascertain the truth of these rumors by verifying whether Cled was indeed wounded.”
If he had not been injured and yet abandoned the front, Cled would face severe punishment.
It was understood that even the royal family was not exempt from this.
“What then should be done?”
Aine met Odin’s eyes as she asked. She did not want to see Cled fall into danger because of her.
He had not only saved her from Vinet’s pursuers but had used the precious Miracle of Verona to preserve Wilhelm’s life.
It was a debt of honor. She was determined to help him in any way she could.
Cled was about to insist that she need not involve herself, but it was Odin who spoke first.
“If we move before the Council does, that will be the end of it.”
But how? Aine stared at him with that same question written across her face, and Odin continued.
“I intend to host a grand banquet shortly. I would like both of you to attend together.”
Though they had not won, by bringing back the enemy general, they had ended the war.
It was a resolution that not only the Council but everyone would accept.
“Your Majesty. I fear the timing may be premature. To present Lady Aine publicly like this…”
Hearing Odin’s proposal, Cled felt apprehension rise within him. If Retaria were to confirm Aine’s existence with her own eyes, she would certainly move against them overtly.
He couldn’t imagine what trials would befall her after that.
“Your Highness. This is as much for my sake as it is for yours.”
But Aine’s thinking diverged from his.
“If you find yourself in peril, I shall fall into the same straits.”
Though she had surrendered to The Empire and become a Prisoner of War, she had no intention of living like a caged bird—not unless Cled severed both her tendons.
“Then let us consider the matter settled with both of you in accord. But Aine, there is something I wish to ask you.”
Something he wanted to ask—Aine turned her head and waited for Odin to speak.
Meanwhile, Odin gazed at Cled with a mischievous smile and continued.
“At a public gathering, you shall need to demonstrate that the two of you share a special bond. How do you intend to manage that?”
According to their arrangement, they would need to reveal to the world that the two were lovers. To do so, they would first have to deceive the Council.
Odin harbored no particular expectations of Cled. Despite being four-and-twenty, the prince had never been caught up in even the slightest scandal involving a woman.
What could one expect from a man who had never loved anyone passionately, who had never so much as spared a glance at another soul?
‘Though it does seem something may change ere long.’
In any case, at present, Aine was the only person he could rely upon entirely.
So Odin asked her in advance to test the waters.
Aine looked at Cled and pondered how she might make everyone in that room believe them.
She seized Cled by the collar and pulled him toward her.
“Huh?!”
“Quite forceful, I see.”
And without hesitation, she kissed him.
Aine’s reasoning was simple: surely a kiss before all their eyes would be enough to convince them.
‘Hmm?’
But there was one thing she had not anticipated.
[SYSTEM: Hidden Quest Success]
[Steal Cled’s First Kiss.]
[Success Reward: Cled’s Affinity +10]
That kiss had been Cled’s first.
* * *
On the way back to the Imperial Palace, Lotein regarded Odin with confusion.
Whenever the prince visited the Chesher Residence, he always appeared weighted down with worry.
But now, for some reason, he seemed almost elated.
“You seem curious about what happened.”
“Yes, I am.”
Meeting Lotein’s persistent gaze, Odin spoke first.
“A great burden has been lifted.”
“A burden, you say.”
“Indeed. Like a thorn lodged in one’s throat, it gnawed at me with every swallow. At last, it is resolved.”
Though the world knew Odin as a cruel emperor, he was still a father to his household.
He had lost his own mother at a tender age, and not long after, he himself had nearly met death after drinking the poison known as eternal nightmare.
Almost immediately upon awakening, he found himself afflicted with a lingering aftereffect—he could no longer see a woman’s face.
‘The child most like myself is Cled.’
He was capable in both the martial and civil arts, uswayed by personal sentiment or the manipulation of those around him.
Cled, in particular, did not rush headlong into matters like lesser youths might.
He knew how to wait for the opportune moment, and when to withdraw.
Proof of this lay in his dispatch to the Battlefield at the Council’s insistent demand—they had sent the foremost candidate to succeed Odin as emperor, hoping he would fall and never return.
The Battlefield was a place where death could come to anyone, at any moment, in any form. Had he held back, the power struggle with the Council would have only intensified.
Yet Cled advanced without the slightest hesitation, enduring every hardship imaginable and even earning great distinction in that crucible.
‘Nearly flawless, that one, yet there remains one flaw.’

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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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