The Villainess is on a Quest - Chapter 61

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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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Episode 60
Every nobleman’s gaze turned toward Sonelopi. They’d known all along, but had chosen to ignore it.
It was, after all, a matter within the Imperial Family—a family affair.
It was no one else’s place to comment on how a parent educated and disciplined their own child.
That was why ignoring such matters, however uncomfortable, was commonplace.
“Is raising a child this way a unique tradition of the Imperial Family, or merely your own selfishness?”
But when someone dragged such things into the light directly, in front of everyone’s eyes and ears, the conversation changed entirely.
“This is none of your concern! It’s strictly a family matter!”
“Then it seems you’re managing your family affairs poorly.”
“Are you finished speaking?”
Leina glanced around, her displeasure evident.
She was appealing to the nobility for support—asking them to quickly teach this woman who didn’t know her place about the Empire’s unwritten laws.
But no one stepped forward for Leina. The banquet hall had frozen over like thin ice.
The nobles were staring at Leina, not Aine.
It was the Duchess of Siodor who spoke up.
“I wonder how much further you intend to shame us all.”
Until that moment, Leina had been full of confidence. She hadn’t grasped precisely who the word “shame” was directed at.
“What kind of mother starves her child like that?”
“Look at how skeletal the child is.”
“It breaks my heart for her. I’ve never seen an Imperial Family member this thin.”
But as Leina heard the murmurs rippling through the crowd, she began to understand.
“When will she finally come to her senses? How warped and immoral it is to raise a child like that.”
The target of their criticism and condemnation wasn’t Aine.
‘Why? Why on earth?’
Leina couldn’t comprehend it. She was a Second Imperial Consort.
In the Empire, no lady of higher standing existed except for Odin’s imperial consorts.
But Odin’s consorts had retired completely from politics and were sequestered in remote countryside estates. This meant the highest-ranking woman in the realm was herself.
Leina Hartz.
“Mother….”
Someone pulled at the hem of her dress, and the agitated Leina yanked her hand away. But she immediately realized she shouldn’t have.
The one pulling at her dress was her own daughter, Sonelopi.
Sonelopi’s hand was swollen bright red. And whether from pain, tears were welling in her eyes.
“Don’t cry! Don’t you dare cry!”
As rage and anxiety surged through her to the tips of her hair, Leina snapped at her. Stop the tears at once.
Tell her quickly that it was that woman before her who was wrong—don’t make herself look like a bad mother.
But Sonelopi did nothing. She merely looked as though she’d been shocked by rejection itself.
“I genuinely don’t understand what your refusal to acknowledge me has to do with tormenting this small child.”
It was Aine who spoke then. Though her voice wasn’t loud, it reached everyone’s ears.
The hostility, mockery, and blame from the crowd—Leina hadn’t anticipated any of this, and she gasped for breath.
The moment the urge to flee this place struck her, Leina didn’t hesitate. She ran.
“Mother! Mother!”
She gave no thought to young Sonelopi. She abandoned her alone in the banquet hall and vanished.
Left behind like discarded goods, Sonelopi trembled with fear. Though her mind might be sharp for her age, she was still only a small child.
“Dear.”
Aine, who had been watching Sonelopi with compassion, approached her. The cold expression from moments before gave way to a gaze that was warm and gentle.
“Will you come with me, or shall I take you to your mother?”
She offered a choice. And more—she said Sonelopi could ask for anything else she wanted.
Sonelopi didn’t understand Aine at all. They had only just met.
By rights, Sonelopi should have been angry—Aine had essentially insulted her mother.
But Sonelopi found she couldn’t be angry. Having seen how people looked at her just moments ago, she understood who was truly in the wrong, and that she had been treated unjustly all along.
‘And I know exactly what’s waiting for me if I go back.’
The things her furious mother would do to her.
Sonelopi didn’t want to return there again. She didn’t want to be locked in a solitary room, didn’t want to eat the flavorless food given just enough to keep her alive.
She wanted warm eyes watching over her, wanted to eat what she craved, to laugh and chatter and simply live.
“I’m very hungry.”
Sonelopi took the hand being offered to her and spoke. There was something about being with her that felt safe.
* * *
‘The banquet ended successfully.’
It was an unexpected turn of events. Perhaps one might call it inadvertent.
It could have become a major problem—people questioning what she thought she was doing, interfering in others’ affairs.
But she couldn’t bring herself to stand idle. The moment she’d nearly lost Wilhelm haunted her—she wouldn’t let the children suffer while she watched.
“His Majesty has said this: if you wish it, he will entrust Sonelopi to your care.”
“Why would he consent so easily? I find it hard to believe.”
Kleid, sensing the situation from a distance, went straight to Odin and persuaded him.
A member of the Imperial Family couldn’t be left in limbo indefinitely, he’d argued. Odin hadn’t deliberated long.
“The reason is that Leina abandoned her. To leave in such a way is equivalent to renouncing guardianship.”
Aine hadn’t understood the weight of that meaning. She’d simply thought that if she followed, Sonelopi would come with her.
She hadn’t grasped that abandoning the child in such a manner meant surrendering all parental rights. Her brow furrowed.
“Ordinarily, a parent would return to ask for forgiveness, pledging never to repeat such actions and requesting acceptance.”
But Sonelopi had not returned—she’d chosen Aine instead. What that choice meant was that she would step out of Leina’s shadow.
That was why Odin had decided so swiftly, without prolonged deliberation.
“If you could make such a decision so readily, why didn’t you save that poor child sooner?”
It sounded like an accusation, but Aine didn’t care. It was an accusation, after all—a justified one.
Kleid himself felt the sting of shame.
“The parents are Philip and Leina—legally, there was little we could do. But you’re right. We shouldn’t have left the child to languish.”
He bowed his head in contrition, and Aine smiled through a soft sigh.
“In moments like this, I feel how good a person you are. Many people cling to their pride rather than accepting their mistakes. But you—you feel shame, and you apologize.”
Those who move forward always feel shame. In that sense, Kleid was always moving forward.
The child’s pain was already done, unchangeable, but Aine felt certain they could navigate what came next with care.
“So guardianship has passed to us, then?”
“With His Majesty’s approval, yes.”
“Can you accept the child?”
“With you at my side, I can accept anything.”
Aine couldn’t suppress the soft laugh that escaped her.
“I wonder how they’ll react. And Letaria, no less.”
Though Leina had been the one to leave first, it seemed she’d acted in a state of confusion.
Aine wondered whether, once she’d regained her senses, she would take issue—and whether Philip, her husband, would remain silent.
But the person who worried her most was Letaria.
She feared that those who already resented her existence wouldn’t simply let Sonelopi be taken away.
“Don’t worry. I will protect you and the children, no matter what.”
In that moment, Kleid pulled her close and made his vow—that he would keep them safe, always. Though briefly startled, Aine didn’t pull away from his embrace; she felt the warmth of it.

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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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