The Villainess is on a Quest - Chapter 53

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 53
Kleid was caring for Wilhelm as Aine had asked.
In truth, there was no real need for him to intervene directly.
“Your Highness, I can handle this.”
“It’s no trouble. I wanted to spend some time with my son myself.”
A nanny was already in place, and she had already earned Wilhelm’s trust.
Though he could have simply left the boy in her capable hands, Kleid played with him instead.
It gave him something to talk about when he saw Aine—what he and Wilhelm had done together.
But there was also a personal fondness for Wilhelm that ran deeper than mere pretense.
‘This child, like me, has been caught in the grip of eternal nightmares.’
It was a kind of kinship—the same loss of someone precious in childhood, the same experience of poison.
Perhaps that’s why the boy felt so special to him.
“Where is Mother?”
Wilhelm asked the question in the middle of their play. Where Aine was. Surely he missed her.
Kleid hesitated for a moment. He had told her to summon him without delay if anything arose, yet she had not sought him out.
The meeting between the two of them seemed to be progressing smoothly.
“Aine is speaking with her younger brother.”
“Mother has a sibling?”
Wilhelm’s eyes widened with genuine surprise, and Kleid felt his lips curl upward at the sight.
“She does. He would be your maternal uncle. They haven’t seen each other in ages, so they’re catching up.”
“An uncle! I’d love to meet him!”
Wilhelm seized on the news immediately, eager to ask for an introduction.
Kleid rolled his eyes, considering how best to answer.
According to the information he had gathered, Theo, who had once been the heir of the Klaine Family, had left the family years ago.
It was likely that the two had not met in quite some time.
Though Kleid understood that he should not interfere in such a dramatic reunion, there was one reason he did not immediately refuse.
“Why don’t you ask for his permission first? Your uncle may not yet be ready to meet you.”
“Hurray for Father!”
He was curious too. About what Aine and her brother were discussing at this very moment.
Kleid ruffled Wilhelm’s hair as the boy cheered, then took his hand and led him toward the Reception Room.
* * *
“Sister, what on earth has brought you to this?”
Meanwhile, in the Reception Room, the two had moved into the substance of their conversation.
“I made my way here at great risk because I heard rumors that you, who fought so valiantly in the Orion Kingdom, were here.”
Aine understood Theo’s concerns well enough.
She could see the logic from the opposite perspective just as clearly.
Who would have expected the valiant hero who had threatened the very gates of the Verona Empire to vanish without word, only to resurface like this out of nowhere?
“You haven’t been kidnapped, have you?”
Suspicion lingered in his gaze. Kidnapping, exploitation, coercion—these were the possibilities that had driven him here.
Whether the Empire’s people were trying to use his one and only blood relative.
At that thought, Aine’s smile grew melancholy. That suspicion was partly right and partly wrong.
After all, she herself was using them as much as they might be using her.
“Absolutely not. I’m here of my own will.”
“Can’t you explain?”
“Not yet. It’s too complicated.”
Too many threads were tangled together to speak of it now—particularly anything touching on Wilhelm’s origins.
Even within the Chesshire Estate, someone could be listening.
If word leaked and spread across the Empire, it would make her the Retaria’s primary target.
“Very well. I understand. I won’t press you and will wait until you’re ready to tell me.”
“As expected—you haven’t changed a bit, my brother Theo.”
She smiled with gratitude for his consideration. While observing him, her gaze fell upon the ring adorning his finger.
“You’ve married.”
“Ah, you noticed.”
He made no attempt to hide the ring on his ring finger, speaking with a touch of bashfulness.
“I met her while I was wandering from place to place.”
Watching him smile with such contentment, Aine felt curiosity bloom, but she resolved to wait until he offered the introduction himself.
“I wanted to bring her here and introduce you both, but she’s in no condition to travel.”
“You don’t mean—”
“Yes, she’s expecting.”
Fortunately, Theo did not leave her waiting long before beginning to tell her everything.
Aine’s expression brightened more than it had in a long time upon learning she had gained a nephew.
Yet Theo remained tense.
“My wife… she is not of noble birth.”
It was the most trembling moment he’d experienced—even more than when he’d revealed what he did for a living. In aristocratic society, which prized bloodline above all else, there was scarcely any reason for a nobleman to marry a commoner.
He was consumed with worry: would Aine object? Would she take offense?
“If you chose her, then she must be someone of great worth.”
“Sister.”
Yet Aine harbored no intention to condemn him. There was no reason whatsoever for her to voice such reproach to a younger brother who had parted from her to live his own life.
“I support your marriage. And the children who will be born to you both in years to come.”
“Miss Aine, if I may have a moment?”
A knock sounded at the door. The butler Hamlet appeared, summoning Aine. She rose from her seat, seeking Theo’s understanding.
Theo nodded, and felt instead a quiet gratitude for this time to collect his thoughts.
He could feel it clearly—his sister had changed so much. Time, it seemed, naturally matured a person.
And watching his own sister grow sufficiently over the years, Theo found himself filled with anticipation.
For what might unfold between them going forward.
“Theo. Would it be all right with you if I introduced you to someone?”
When Aine returned, her expression complex, she posed the question to Theo. He saw no reason to refuse and nodded his assent.
“You may come in.”
And the moment Aine gave permission, the door opened and a small face peeked out from within.
The child, whose hair shone like spun gold, reminded Theo of someone, but more significant than that was what the boy said.
“Uncle!”
“…Uncle?”
Theo was bewildered by an answer he’d never anticipated.
He wondered, doubting himself, whether the child was truly addressing him—but then he saw the face that appeared next, and his tension mounted.
“Father! Mother and Uncle are here!”
The man who entered was someone Theo, having only recently settled in the Empire, already knew.
A figure so famous that it would be strange for any Empire citizen not to recognize him.
Mentioned as a leading candidate for the next Emperor, the man the Empire loved most and spoke of as a true hero—Kleid Hartz.
“So the rumors were true after all.”
He had thought Kleid was merely protecting her.
He’d never imagined he would marry a woman from an enemy nation—Aine had neither the political influence nor the connections to serve as his strong backing.
“Uncle! Hello, I’m Wilhelm Hartz!”
But watching the child approach and greet him warmly, Theo understood. The relationship between those two was indeed exactly as he had heard.
“So I truly am your brother-in-law. Forgive me—I should offer a proper greeting.”
“Your Highness, there is no need for such formality. And please, speak more freely.”
“No. If you are Aine’s brother, then you are family to me as well. All the more reason to show proper courtesy.”
When Theo had first arrived at this estate, he could never have imagined that man—so cold he seemed incapable of feeling anything—would ever wear such a gentle expression.
“I am Kleid Hartz, Crown Prince.”
With his name, he extended his hand. Binet gazed at it quietly for a moment.
He had committed the discourtesy of not immediately accepting the hand offered by royalty, yet the prince waited in silence.
Binet’s gaze shifted toward Aine.
He needed to confirm that this relationship was not born of coercion.
When he saw her expression—as though she were anticipating precisely this moment—Binet swallowed a sigh and quietly clasped the extended hand.
“Binet Klaine, brother of Aine Klaine. I am overwhelmed by Your Highness’s generous welcome.”
He could only hope this situation was not entirely unfortunate.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————