The Villainess is on a Quest - Chapter 49

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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 49
Even after Odin had made his decision, Retaria resisted to the end.
“Your Majesty! This decision is unwise!”
“To bring a lioness into the household—that Orion woman will bring ruin upon the Berona Empire!”
She was a woman of an enemy nation.
Retaria insisted repeatedly that the woman would surely steal information for the sake of her homeland, or guide the empire toward calamity, and begged him not to accept her.
“Whether she is from Orion or Berona or the nomadic tribes—it matters not. I have already met her in person and decided to welcome her as my daughter-in-law.”
But her argument could not sway Odin’s resolve.
“Aine shall be accepted as the Crown Prince’s consort. And…”
It made no difference whether their claims were true or false.
This was a perfect opportunity to erase completely the disqualifying stain from his chosen heir’s record.
“A grand banquet shall be prepared to celebrate the new Crown Princess. All shall attend without exception and offer their congratulations to the new Crown Princess.”
Of course, in Odin’s eyes, the relationship between the two would soon become reality.
“This is an Imperial Decree.”
Having sealed the matter with the Imperial Decree, Odin dismissed them all, making clear he would hear no further objection.
Even as they were driven out, Retaria raised her voice in protest, but her words no longer reached Odin’s ears.
“Is Philip still outside the Imperial Palace?”
“He shows no intention of leaving until he has audience with Your Majesty.”
Sensing there were still matters requiring his attention, Odin sighed and issued an order.
What was the source of such confidence?
He was giving Philip not a shred of leeway.
One would have hoped Philip would have recognized his place and withdrawn, yet he stubbornly refused to yield.
“Let him enter.”
Deciding it was time to settle the matter once and for all, Odin commanded that Philip be admitted.
Lotein was uneasy, but he obeyed Odin’s will.
Even he could see that some resolution was necessary.
* * *
‘His Majesty has admitted me inside!’
Under ordinary circumstances, Odin would have left him standing out there all day.
But now, summoned to enter, Philip glimpsed a possibility.
‘Surely His Majesty has realized his mistake! That he is more suited to the throne than that wretch who brought shame upon the imperial house by taking in a woman from Orion!’
Odin must be furious.
They were at war. By any reasonable measure, one could not help but be angry with someone who arbitrarily brought a woman from a nation threatening the empire into the palace.
“Sonelopi. You must perform well. You must make our family look favorable to His Majesty.”
Even now, Reina, the Second Prince’s consort, was burdening her daughter with pressure.
Though Odin regarded them with a cold eye, he at least did not display outright hostility toward his granddaughter Sonelopi.
Under the keen gazes of Reina and Philip, Sonelopi nodded her head.
“His Imperial Majesty has summoned you inside.”
When Lotein appeared with the summons, Reina and Philip moved toward the Reception Hall as though they had been waiting for exactly this moment.
But Sonelopi hesitated.
‘Should I really go in?’
The two ahead might not realize it, but Sonelopi knew with absolute clarity.
Odin would never welcome them.
With that knowledge, she wanted to turn back and leave the Imperial Palace altogether, but seeing the two moving forward with faces full of hope, Sonelopi bit her lip.
For better or worse, they were the parents who had brought her into this world.
“Your Majesty. It has been long since we last met. I trust you have been well in the meantime.”
“We are greatly honored to see Your Majesty again.”
And so she had no choice but to follow.
When they reached the Reception Hall, Odin was waiting with an expressionless face.
Reina and Philip offered their greetings, but he did not answer once.
“Since you’ve come, sign this.”
“Your Majesty? What do you—”
The two were bewildered. Barely through the door and already he was thrusting a document at them, demanding they sign.
From a distance, Sonelopi watched and somehow sensed what the document contained without even looking at it.
“Sign a statement renouncing your claim to Succession to the Throne. If you do, you may retain that position for the rest of your life.”
“Your Majesty!!!”
A single word from Odin’s lips.
Perhaps because it was the complete opposite of what he had hoped for.
The moment he heard the response, Philip’s face flushed crimson and he raised his voice.
“Why should I renounce my claim to Succession to the Throne!”
Though Odin might have frowned at the ringing tone of voice, he did nothing of the sort.
Rather, as if he had already anticipated such a reaction, he replied quietly.
“Then why do you harbor such greed?”
Why he believed so boldly that the throne would fall to him.
“I have never once told you I would give you the Emperor’s seat.”
This was true. When those around him had tried to shake his resolve about not naming a Crown Prince, they had asked what he thought of Philip.
If Cled would not do, then Philip too might have a chance at the throne.
But each time, Odin had made himself clear. He had already decided, and he had no intention of changing his mind.
Yet watching Philip stubbornly refuse to abandon his ambition for the throne, Odin himself felt his heart burn with frustration.
“Because I am still your child, Your Majesty!”
Blinded by hollow ambition as he was.
“Even if Your Majesty has not taken notice, I too possess the aptitude!”
Philip felt wronged. Odin looked only at his older brother and never at him.
Everyone around him had told him he had talent.
Some had even said he surpassed Cled in certain respects. And so Philip had come to believe that he too was worthy.
“No. You lack the aptitude.”
“Your Majesty!”
But Odin saw differently.
In Odin’s eyes, Philip was already being swayed by those around him.
“I will never sign it!”
With disappointment etched across his face, Philip tore the paper to shreds. Then he declared boldly.
“And I will not acknowledge that lowborn woman who crawled out of Orion either!”
He cried out his refusal to recognize Aine and then stormed from the room.
Reina hurried after him in panic.
Left behind in the reception hall were only Sonelopi, utterly abandoned, and Odin.
“A man who cannot even manage a single child properly—how does he dare claim he can govern this vast realm?”
Odin despised those who knew neither their place nor their measure.
In that regard, he did not dislike Sonelopi, who understood her place and knew her measure.
“What do you wish to become when you grow up?”
Upon hearing the question, Sonelopi gauged the situation carefully.
Was this a grandfather’s genuine inquiry to his granddaughter?
Or was it a test, as her father had been wont to administer?
Uncertain what answer to give, Sonelopi pressed her lips firmly shut.
“Had your father possessed even a fraction of your perceptiveness, there might have been some glimmer of possibility for him.”
Yet Odin did not blame her. Rather, he pitied her.
A child scarcely more than a few years apart from Wilhelm, showing such caution before adults.
“Sit here and eat the good things I provide, rest yourself at ease, then go home.”
With a sigh, Odin decided to regard Sonelopi with caution no longer.
Once Cled was named Crown Prince and Wilhelm served as the Crown Prince’s heir for the time being, she would pose no threat.
* * *
“It seems you have become betrothed to my nephew.”
Having received word, Emilia visited the Chesher Estate.
“Speak to me as you did before. Emilia.”
“How could I do such a thing? From now on, you and I will be family.”
Emilia appeared with a newspaper in hand, bombarding Aine and Cled with questions about what had come to pass.
She had known their relationship was no trifling matter, but she had never imagined the two of them would have a child together.
“If you truly wish to acknowledge us as family, then all the more reason you should speak with formality. You will be the grand-aunt of Crown Prince Cled, after all.”
Hearing the reply, Emilia laughed as though defeated.
“Then I shall speak as informally as Cled does, but at any rate, will you explain to me how this came about?”
As Emilia returned to the matter at hand, Aine fell silent for a moment in thought.
‘Can I trust her?’
She was someone who cared deeply for Cled. If that were not the case, she would never have made the trip here.
It was no bad thing to cultivate more people from whom she might seek aid.
But Aine harbored one concern.
‘Wilhelm’s origins.’
After all, she herself was a woman of the Empire.
The question hung on how Emilia would react once she learned of Wilhelm’s birth.
She might accuse Aine of dragging her nephew into a perilous situation.
In the moment Aine resolved to keep those who knew the truth as few as possible.
[SYSTEM : Emilia Andre]
[Favorability: 51]
[Trustworthy Level]
The system had informed me.
She had reached a level worthy of trust.

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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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